Matt Fahrner’s Blog

  • More on “tiny” URLs…

    I keep getting them from very smart, very security conscious people. However, to make my point: http://goo.gl/1LJ1Wz I love what they offer but… Some do offer a preview, but users aren’t used to seeing that and unfortunately won’t care (ie: they are so used to getting them without preview, they won’t expect it or demand […]

  • Python – some truth in this…

    I have to say even as a relative newcomer to Python, I find a fair bit of truth in this: https://medium.com/@deliciousrobots/5d2ad703365d/ Working in a non-homogenous (that is, heterogeneous OS) environment where Python 2.x vs. Python 3.x is not guaranteed, the lack of backwards (or forwards) compatibility is problematic. If nothing else it erodes trust in […]

  • Using LDAP Paged Controls with Python

    Most LDAP servers can be set to return an unlimited number of entries on an LDAP search, however depending on the size of the LDAP database/directory this can possibly exceed your memory. Moreover if you want to write portable code, you probably should not depend on the LDAP server being able to return unlimited entries. […]

  • How to probe ethernet capabilities…

    Mostly for my own edification – use “ethtool”, eg: [crayon-6484aaa58abc1482275434/] You’ll note two important details about this output: This NIC is gig capable but is only running at 100mbs. I claim to be running this as root, but any good sysad should be using “sudo” instead! Anyway, simple command, but sometimes you forget them.

  • Mmmm… Mmmm…

    A little off topic but, when in Philadelphia… Mmmm… Mmmm…   UPDATE: Mmmmm… Mmmmm… again!

  • Nothing new here…

    But everyone should read it:

  • How to dump the Firefox history (Linux)

    Not pretty, but gets you there: Find and go to your Firefox profile (usually you can locate by going to “~/.mozilla/firefox/*.default”). Run “sqlite3 places.sqlite .dump | grep moz_places” If Firefox is running you may have to copy the “places.sqlite” to a new file then run the “sqlite3” against it. You can’t dump it while Firefox […]

  • Out of the mouths of Astronauts…

    Applies to IT as well: “And it’s worth remembering, too, there’s no problem so bad that you can’t make it worse also.” – Commander Chris Hadfield, Canadian Astronaut

  • Testing “sendmail” with immediate delivery

    In the old days when using “sendmail” if you wanted to watch the SMTP conversation between the local host and the next mail relay all you’d have to do is either run “sendmail -v” or “mail -v” (or “mailx -v” depending on the OS). It would then output the entire SMTP conversation with the remote […]

  • Make Excel text fit row height

    As part of my job I for better or worse have to deal with Excel on a regular basis. One of the issues I have is the sizing of rows (the cell height) not properly expanding, or conversely shrinking, when I add or remove data in the cell. It turns out there is a very […]

Got any book recommendations?