thisisthehabit

• User calls. "How do I make a PDF smaller to email it" ?
• Me: [talks user through PDF optimiser]
• User: it still doesn't work, it comes back to me.
• Me: Odd. Did you have a look at the file size?
• User: No. [looks] It's exactly the same as the old file. 2.5 Mb.
• Me: Hmm, that's not very big. Got the bounce message? Have a look and see what the error is.
• User: Its in my trash. [looks] blah blah unknown address
• Me: Well, that's a hint, then.
• User: Guess so :S

The point? You don't have to be technically savvy to use simple problem solving skills, whether with computers or anything else. Instead, people seem to jump to a random conclusion, or at least one that's been the right answer one or more times in the past (but not always), try that, and get stuck.

I don't get it. I'm honestly puzzled and confused. We learned this stuff in primary school, right? Simple problem solving is a basic life skill. Why is it that so many people can't, or won't, do it?

Sure, they're often scared of computers and "turn their brain off" to an extent, but I see this all the time in other areas, technical and non-technical, to the point where I wonder how some people manage to live day to day.

Anyone want:

• A couple of different sizes of pine bookshelf
• Up to four off-white armchairs (very comfy)
• Some white deck chairs.

They're all just outside Perth city, off Lord St north of the freeway. Details on request.

There also might be a 24 inch CRT monitor (like this but without the hood and colourmeter) going later, though it's not a sure thing yet. Mention if you'd be interested. It's a great monitor, but do be aware that it's incredibly heavy - something like 40Kg - and not small.

Now ... I'm going to slip into blessed unconsciousness for a while.

Modern Linux systems actually have a central certificate store. It's a bit lacking in management UI so far, but it works, and you can use it instead of loading your PKCS#12 certificates into every app you use manually.

First, import your certificate into the GNOME keyring with:

gnome-keyring import /path/to/certificate.p12

Install the libnss3-tools package (containing modutil).

Now exit every application you can, particularly your browser and mail client. Kill evolution-data-server too.

Find all instances of the nss security module database on your homedir, and for each one (a) test to make sure it's not open and (b) install the gnome-keyring PKCS#11 provider in it. The following shell script snippet will do this for you. Just copy and paste it onto your command line:

for f in $(find . -maxdepth 5  -name secmod.db -type f  2>/dev/null ); do
  echo "Testing: `basename $f`"
  if fuser `dirname $f`/cert8.db >&/dev/null; then
    echo -n "In use by: "; fuser `dirname $f`/cert8.db; echo " - Skipping"
  else
    modutil -force -dbdir `dirname $f` -add GnomeKeyring \
            -libfile /usr/lib/gnome-keyring/gnome-keyring-pkcs11.so
  fi
done

Now all your NSS-based apps should know about gnome-keyring and use the gnome-keyring certificate store.

If you use Evolution and want client certificate support, patch evolution-data-server as per GNOME bug 270893 to enable that too. It'll use gnome-keyring automatically.

camel-tcp-stream-ssl.c:
-	/*SSL_GetClientAuthDataHook (sslSocket, ssl_get_client_auth, (void *) certNickname);*/
+	SSL_GetClientAuthDataHook (ssl_fd, (SSLGetClientAuthData)&NSS_GetClientAuthData, NULL );

The device you see on the right is actually the devil. Or, at least, it's close enough if you are a system administrator.

It is a single piece of hardware that controls your access to business-critical programs. Lost the dongle? Whoops, no classified ads in the newspaper this week. Dongle broke? Ditto. Dongle fried by a computer malfunction or power fault? Ditto. Computer stolen? Ditto.

What's even more fun is that as computers move on and older interfaces become obsolete, it becomes hard to even find a computer you can plug the dongle in to. Most machines don't have parallel ports anymore, so parallel dongles like this one are a big problem. At least that can be worked around using USB adapters.

Of course, then you run into exciting issues like XP being unable to allow 16-bit code access to the parallel port. The program would work fine on XP, but for the stupid bloody dongle. So you're forced to maintain legacy hardware or waste time on complex emulation/virtualisation options just to get the program working, when it'd be just fine but for this dongle.

So, if you are ever offered software for any reason that requires a dongle, just say no.

Fully electric and Petrol/Electric hybrid vehicles are currently all the rage. Based on manufacturer numbers and demos, they look pretty cool, too ... minimal fuel consumption with long ranges and decent driving performance at city/highway speeds.

Unsurprisingly, there's a lot that's not highlighted by the manufacturers and press releases. Some of it is rather troubling.

The batteries, oh god, the batteries

Electric vehicles require batteries. Batteries, unfortunately, are one of those "fast, quiet, cheap - pick two" technologies. In the case of batteries, there's a trade-off between size&weight, energy density (battery capacity), lifetime, and cost.

( See Battery University for more than you ever wanted to know about batteries. )

All the modern battery chemistries have downsides.

• Lithium-ion batteries are small, very powerful and don't suffer from problems caused by repeated small charges - but they age with time and use, falling rapidly in capacity such that under medium use a lithium battery will be under 40% capacity in 18 months to two years. Lithium batteries also degrade rapidly in heat, so if you leave your car out in the sun in Western Australia its batteries will probably be useless within the first year. Once they wear out, there's no bringing them back - they need to be broken down to extract the lithium salts and re-manufactured. New battery packs will be eye-bleedingly expensive. Oh, did I mention that lithium-ion batteries like to explode under extreme conditions and when damaged?
.
• Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries aren't as powerful as Lithium ion, and aren't as robust in the face of repeated small charges. They last a bit longer, though. NiMH batteries are used in the Prius, and seem to be a fairly sensible choice for hybrids ... but once they die, there's no bringing them back. New battery packs will cost quite a bit. At least NiMH packs aren't full of toxic nasties.
• Nickel-Cadmium batteries are even less powerful (energy-dense) than NiMH. They also don't like lots of small charges ; they tend to need to be fully charged and fully discharged regularly. Not ideal in a commuter vehicle. On the upside, they last a long time and can be reconditioned to most of full capacity when they begin to wear out (say, as part of regular car servicing). Unfortunately, cadmium is nasty stuff.
• Lead-acid batteries have low energy densities, so they weigh a lot and take up lots of room. They also contain lead, which isn't lovely stuff, but is at least easily contained and disposed of. The upside is that they're cheap and they last nigh-on forever, which is why they're the main car battery in use in normal cars even now.
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As you can see, there isn't really a great battery technology for cars. Take your pick: toxic and poorly suited to lots of small charges, short-lived and expensive, toxic and less than happy with small charges, or bulky and heavy.

Of course, the bigger, heavier, and bulkier the battery the more work the car has to do hauling its own batteries around, so there's a HUGE incemental improvement in efficiency as you increase energy density. This makes lead-acid even less attractive.

So ... before you go "wow" when you see that new Lithium-ion powered city smart car, think about how you'll feel about it when the "replace battery" light begins flashing when it's 18 months old, you discover that the battery isn't covered by the warranty, and it can now only make it to your work and half way back.

(The first person to comment with a suggestion that the "Hydrogen Economy" will solve all these issues will be ... oh, I don't even know, you should already know better)

( As if that wasn't enough, some other issues with hybrid and electric vehicles )

Passengers, bicyles, wheelchairs and prams are prohibited on escalators.

UPDATE/CORRECTION: See the update here. Dell, your call centre still sucks, but the hardware is fine. Just like normal.

"I wanna be a mongoose."