I'll be upfront, I mostly got this eReader because it's the only one on the market with a USB-C connection. OK! OK! That's not the main reason. It has pretty good support from the manufacturer and a vibrant community around it. Masses of memory, warm lighting, and oodles of space. And, I think, pretty hackable. Quick video Specifications Android 6.0 - with a promise to update it to Android …
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A few years ago I wrote an Alexa skill to see what bin day it was. The skill only worked with my local council - Oxford. I've since moved house and wanted to recreate the service for my new council - Bexley. Demo Terence Eden is on Mastodon @edent Replying to @edent @AgileAppsGroup Success! Blog post coming soon for my Alexa powered bin day thing. pic.x.com/eCoHMii0nI ❤️ 3💬 3🔁 007:58 - Mon …
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I really wanted to write a rant about how incompatible smart lights are ruining the world. But... errr... Everything just works. Previously on my smarthome adventures, I kitted my house out with LIFX Bulbs and some WisQo Switches. I've moved home and none of my bulbs are compatible with the existing sockets! What else am I going to do except BUY MORE LIGHTBULBS! As much as I enjoy LIFX,…
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Here's a quick write-up of a minor XSS (Cross Site Scripting) vulnerability on the website of Three.co.uk - one of the UK's mobile providers. A brief recap... Most websites have a search function. If you search for something which cannot be found, the site will often say "No results found for XYZ." If we can convince the search engine to spit out HTML, we can inject malicious content into…
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The internet isn't the first technology to alter how we communicate, but it is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Linguistically inventive niche online communities spread slang and jargon exponentially faster than in the days when new dialects were constrained by physical space. What's more, social media provides a fascinating laboratory for…
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I'm increasingly concerned with the power that CDNs wield - and CloudFlare in particular. So I decided to delete my CloudFlare account. While they claim to have removed my account, they still seem to count me as an active customer. I wonder how many people bought shares in their IPO based on inaccurate customer numbers? Timeline 2019-08-04 I raised a support ticket to close my account.…
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If you've seen that episode of The West Wing, you'll remember this scene: I'm not a paying member of the OCSE, but I fully support their aims. Because messing around with maps is fun. So, can I build a web-first maps which is South-up, Pacific-centred, and Peters-projected? Here's what I managed to do using OpenLayers - an Open Source web maps library which is pretty hackable. Get started …
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Post-birthday haze, it's time to set out my resolutions for the upcoming year. Get better at empathy I have a theoretical understanding that other people are humans, with their own complex lives and decisions. I'm not always good at putting that into practice. Groups of people and abstract personae, I feel like I have a good handle on. Individuals, less so. I don't want to be this: But I…
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It's my birthday! As is customary, here's my year in review. See 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010. Sadly, I am a poor diarist, so if I've missed off something important to you - sorry! It has been a year of great change. A new house, new jobs for us both, new countries visited, and many books read. November 2018 Carol's blog about Hackference Brum In the funniest session…
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I set myself an unofficial New Year's Resolution - to read more books and write a review of each of them. I wanted to read about one new book per week. Well, I fell a little short of that target - what with getting a new job, moving house, road-tripping across Australia - but I'm pretty pleased with the total. 50 books read and reviewed! It has been a bit tough getting into the swing of…
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Somewhere, stuffed in a cupboard or undeveloped on an old roll of film, is a photo of me laughing and joking with a murderer. It was one summer, while I was visiting home between university terms, and I was out with friends celebrating our youthful vigour. A group of us - very much in the Lads! Lads! Lads! phase of our life - were out drinking, catching up with each other, drinking, and trying…
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In my ongoing quest to open my house to hackers create the ultimate smarthome, I've added a new toy. A video doorbell! Why? I've got a tall house and can't be bothered walking down several flights of stairs just to tell a peddler to piss off. And, when I'm away, it's nice to know where couriers are leaving my packages. So, here's my review of the DophiGo DV-200. It was £40 on special offer. …
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