Encoding: prefixed-compact

Sun, Dec 8, 2024 ❝A new, compact, prefix-based binary encoding for structuring bytes.❞ prefixed-compact is a prefix-based binary encoding with a limited, compact header for structured serialization of bytes. Introduction The starting point were TLV, LTV, and similar “on-the-wire” value-representations. TLVs and LTVs are straight-forward, there is little overhead and they are easy to read. However, they are also very limited. They encode a type (which an application may not know/understand/support) and a length and value. The length allows skipping over the “value”-body, such that unsupported/unknown types can be ignored and skipped over.

Nostrkey - a program for nostr identities with hardware protection

Thu, Oct 10, 2024 ❝Nostrkey is a program for TKey that provides functionality for hardware-protected nostr identities.❞ Nostrkey is a small TKey-program and demonstration client that offers three levels of protection for nostr-identities supported by hardware. Each level has its own benefits and drawbacks. Nostrkey, as a project, additionally serves as a small code-base “spin-off” from a larger project and proving-ground. What is a TKey? TKey is a novel kind of security device. It offers an internal secret, a very minimal firmware, and an ability to load small arbitrary programs that each receive their own derivation of this (inaccessible) internal secret.

A simple, asymmetric AKE

Thu, Mar 28, 2024 ❝A simple, (as-of-yet unidentified) asymmetric Authenticated Key Exchange❞ In an experiment, I came across a need for a simple authenticated key exchange. It started as a stop-gap measure that is just a key exchange, no considerations for any kind of attacker. Just the minimal working solution with standard building blocks. From there, I extended the solution to protect against an attacker. Introduction The use-case is a user and a “service-provider” of some kind, in my case a device. The device responds to requests, performs computations in a separate computing environment and is, in this particular case, connected by USB port.

Very old project: driverinf

Thu, Feb 29, 2024 ❝A very old project, used extensively during my teens for retrieving installed drivers (files) on Windows-systems.❞ I recently found one of the first (useful) programming projects that I wrote. I worked at a small computer-shop in town for a few years as part-time job next to my studies. The one constant was asking .. almost begging .. for people to search for their driver-CDs. They would bring their computers, ask us to solve their problems and if a reinstallation was necessary, then we would need to have a very specific driver for the device, actually even more specifically the exact device identifiers, of that piece of hardware.

Prevent linux system freezes because of dm-crypt

Sun, Jun 25, 2023 ❝dm-crypt does not always handle I/O gracefully when slow storage devices are involved.❞ TL;DR dm-crypt is designed to include (global) workqueues for its processing of block I/O operations. The design is somewhat aged, and consequently some effects are mostly undesirable, because block devices and layered filesystems have evolved past the need. Workqueues can be disabled with a configuration option. This avoids freezes because of device-mapper operations on slow media. This seems to be an issue that, although recognized and investigated, remains largely unknown. This is unfortunate, because the fix is available and fairly simple.

Indicators for human advancement [Part 1]

Mon, Mar 6, 2023 ❝My exploration and re-envisioning of a core idea from ‟The Third Industrial Revolution” by Jeremy Rifkin❞ TL;DR I propose a different triple. One that matches closer with human progression: any kind of handling of energy, information, physicals. The pattern itself is trivial and broad. Things become more interesting when considering how these classes interoperate. The triple energy-communication-infrastructure (by Jeremy Rifkin) can be used to select, together with knowledge of real-world events, the right combination of developments as they are happening. “Shifts in human conciousness happen when new energy revolutions converge with communication revolution.

Analysis: the right angle

Thu, Jul 21, 2022 ❝Differences in preference may be trivially explained if approached from the right angle.❞ TL;DR this post goes into how big the difference is for a transportation enjoyer and the car industry. The enjoyer needs only look at the benefits (and possible costs and trade-offs), while the car industry has to adapt a complete supply-chain to a shifted balance of qualities. It is fully understandable that this is easier on the enjoyer than the industry. However, it also shows how trivial it is for genuine benefits to persist once they are proved possible, and consequently hard to reject/resist, and almost impossible to deny.

The Venus Project - resource-based economy

Wed, Jul 20, 2022 ❝Why Jacques Fresco's ideas on the resource-based economy in The Venus Project may be closer to reality than we might realize.❞ In “The Third Industrial Revolution (VICE)”, Jeremy Rifkin points out that – in general – things change for the better. Humans are (generally) better off than before these advancements. However, he also mentions that we are at an interesting point in time, because we have attained certain advancements that do not interoperate well with the framework of capitalism. He mentions two aspects: “zero-marginal cost” and “resource-sharing economy”. The former is about products or resources that have no practical cost to be (re)produced after its initial creation so that people do not want or expect artificially high costs.

The imploded (third?) industrial revolution

Sun, Jul 17, 2022 ❝Did or did we not already transition through the third industrial revolution?❞ TL;DR In The third industrial revolution it is said that the third industrial revolution is still to come. I argue that it has already passed, a roughly 20 year period, and we just lived through it. Furthermore, I find that the triple energy-communications-infrastructure alone is not suitable to recognize all such disruptions, and I explain which events have contributed significantly to this, and the nature of the events in general. The main idea being: “secure communications enabled the internet to develop into an integral part of society and (uniquely) enhances it”.

Human Advancements: Introduction

Sun, Jul 17, 2022 ❝Introduction to the series on human advancements❞ Introduction In 2018, fairly soon after it was published, I found a conference talk by Jeremy Rifkin on a resource-sharing economy. In the talk, he discusses the past industrial revolutions, a set of indicators that were present for the past industrial revolutions (and other similar events), consequencies for our economy, society and politics, and a triple that he used for classification: significant in past industrial revolutions, and possibly an indicator for what the next industrial revolution would be.

Timelessness