Narration for Posts, for You!

If you’ve clicked on this post itself, you’ll notice there’s a sound file at the top. That’s because if you click it, or hit the P key, you’ll hear… me, reading this! I’m working on adding this to old posts one by one, so you might see that popping up eventually. But, partially for accessibility, and partially just to make these sort of ramblings easier to take in while only half paying attention or just doing something else entirely, I’m putting audio narration on every post here that I can.

IPv6 Is a Total Nightmare — This is Why

So this is just going to be a total rant. IPv6 is, in theory, a solution to many things, including the dwindling IPv4 address space. IPv6 was officially a draft in 1997, and became a real Internet Standard in 2017. And, quite frankly, it’s one of those things that, in my opinion, just adds too much hassle for not enough benefit.

Take 2 this time. More facts. Clarified points, same worthless opinions.

What Exactly Is Federation, Anyways?

Federation, the driving name behind decentralized and self-hosted software. But what is ‘federation,’ really? Well, there’s the really complex answer, and the simple answer. The simple answer is that federation is when multiple unrelated instances of a piece of software are capable of communicating and sharing between one another. The long answer, well, if you want to see that, then…

OTR: Encrypted Instant Messaging

Yes, for once, I have not just some app for secure messaging, this time, it’s a protocol. OTR, or Off-the-Record Messaging, is a protocol for establishing end-to-end encrypted messaging between two participants over a standard instant messaging channel like IRC or XMPP (Jabber). It also allows for deniable authentication, where during the conversation you can be assured that only you two are talking, but after the conversation, there is no way for an outside third party to 100% prove you talked, since it’s theoretically possible for an attacker to have forged the communications record. It’s complicated, but not too hard to wrap your head around.

QMQP: That Other Mail Transfer Protocol

Everyone (okay, everyone this is relevant to) knows what SMTP is, the standard for mail transfer. It’s even in the name, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, which is how mail servers have been sending mail to other mail servers since… a while. Well, fun fact, there’s another protocol that accomplishes the same goal: QMQP, the Quick Mail Queuing Protocol.

VPN Protocols Explained

So I’ve talked a little bit about VPNs before, but I didn’t go into too many details. Here’s a look into the top 5 common VPN protocols, and how they work: SSTP, L2TP(/IPsec), IPsec, WireGuard, and PPTP.

How DNSBLs Work

Ff you’ve dealt with email for any longer than 5 minutes (as an administrator), you already know it’s a mess. There’s so many security measures, so many checks, so many things to combat bad actors and spam. What if we had some way to have some service publish a list of bad DPs, and mail servers could quickly check that mid-transaction so they can have up-to-date information as to if the in-flight message should actually be accepted or not?

Well, we have exactly that. Enter: the DNS Blacklist.

How Photographic Film Works

Some of you may know this. Some of you may not. But here’s something interesting: nowadays, cameras are everywhere, as in, just about everyone has one in their pocket. Sure, digital cameras are just counting photons hitting some silicon. But, before that? We had film. Film that recorded photos physically with chemical changes. And, I personally find that the science behind that is rather fascinating.

WebDAV Explained: Filesystems Over HTTP

So I take it some people reading this are familiar with what I’ll call a ‘remote filesystem protocol’ like NFS, SMB, or AFP. Well, did you know there’s one that’s found use in a few places and you’ve maybe heard of once or twice, and really… well, doesn’t sound like it should make any sense? Welcome to WebDAV. The remote filesystem that runs over HTTP.

My Next Obsolete Hobby: Film Photography

So here’s the thing. Compared to my other camera, the Nikon D7000, what I just bought is a 100% complete downgrade. However, I cannot resist the possibility of experiencing an era that had more or less ended before I was born. So, what did I do? I bought a 39 year old Nikon FG, which takes… 35mm film. But I won’t be stopping at just taking pictures… you’ll see shortly ;)