Folks, after 12 years, I've decided to start up a new blog at https://tangiest.co.uk/. The new blog is a bit minimal right now, but I plan to extend it, and eventually migrate all the content from this blog to the new site.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, and I look forward to seeing you at the new one!
The latest in an irregular series of posts on what I've been reading.
by Stephen King
A pretty decent crime thriller, showing that Stephen King can write a lot more than just horror. I recently read his novella, The Colorado Kid, and learnt from the foreword to that book about the Bill Hodges trilogy. Having read this, the first novel in the series, I'm looking forward to reading the rest, and also watching the TV series.
by Chuck Wendig
This Star Wars novel was recommended by a number of people to me, and I have to admit, I found it well written and even moving at times as it imagined the massive changes following the supposed end of the Empire. But in the end, it just didn't keep my attention, and I don't plan to read the rest of the series.
by Neil Gaiman
I picked up this collection of short stories simply for the first story, 'A Study in Emerald'. This is is cross-over of a Sherlock Holmes mystery and Lovecraftian horror, and it is just excellent. I tried to read a few of the other stories and gave up - I find Neil Gaiman pretty self-indulgent at the best of times, and this collection confirmed it. As much as I enjoyed the re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes, I really can't recommend this book.
by Joe Hill
A simply fantastic read. You aren't just reading this horror story, you feel you are living it.
by Scott Rosenberg
Again, a book highly recommended by others, but one I felt was ultimately disappointing. While this exploration of an open-source project was interesting, the project's initial technology choices meant it was ultimately doomed, and this was compounded by weak project leadership. Some of the meta-discussion about open source and technology was interesting, but I ended the book wondering what the point of it all was.
by John Naughton
John Naughton's review of An Ugly Truth by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang reads like a long overdue indictment of Facebook, and I've added An Ugly Truth to my reading list as a result.
by Dr. Neal Krawetz
This long and forensic article takes apart some of the claims made by Apple in defence of their proposed (and now postponed) Child Sexual Abuse Material solution.
by Rachel Hall
This article on the jump in applications to 'panic Masters' courses due to the uncertain economic climate caught my eye.
by Tom O'Reilly
This article dissects exactly how Elon Musk got so amazingly wealthy despite owning an unprofitable car maker.
by Alex French and Dan Adler
My wife and I recently watched the Storyville documentary, Hillsong Church: Church goes viral. As Christians, we found it an extremely unsettling film. One of its themes was the double standards that operated in the Hillsong church movement - this article looks at (only) one instance of this, the scandal around one of the more well known pastors, Carl Lentz.
I noticed yesterday an unknown label, 'ˆf_bisa' appearing in Gmail. I assumed it had been created by my son messing with the keyboard whilst he was watching YouTube earlier (not yet 5 and already a Lego Ninjago fan), and deleted it.
I thought nothing more about it... until I noticed it was back today. I have tried deleting it a few times, but it refuses to go. I'm assuming it is a bug, possibly due to the synchronization between Gmail and the iOS Mail app? Regardless, a search shows I'm not the only person experiencing this issue:
Both posts have appeared on Gmail forums in the past few days complaining about the label. Nice to know I'm not alone. Apologies to anyone who has come here looking for an answer - I haven't a clue what is causing this. If you know, please get in touch!
I came across this article that suggests it may be due to a third party read receipt script hosted at https://t.sidekickopen45.com. The subdomain t.sidekickopen45.com redirects to the page https://www.hubspot.com/abuse-complaints. Sidekick also used to be the name of Hubspot's email tracking tool.
In the original update, I mis-identified the company that was behind the read receipt script. Apologies to those concerned. Thanks to Derek/Dmitry for reaching out to let me know.
For the last few years, I have been taking regular backups of the various iOS devices around the house. As well as using iTunes, I have taken backups of the photos stored on the device directly. Over time, these photos backups have built up, until I took some time last week to finally organise them.
I wrote the PowerShell script below to process the backup photos by:
There are numerous examples of similar scripts out there, so this is nothing special. It could do with being optimised further, and I need to look into assigning a frame resolution for videos. But it took just two hours to put together, and ended up saving me 60 GB of disk space, so it was time well spent.
| # ============================================================================= | |
| # | |
| # Script Name: Organise-Photos | |
| # | |
| # Author: Andy Parkhill | |
| # | |
| # Date Created: 09/07/2021 | |
| # | |
| # Description: A script to organize my photos (and backups) into a coherent | |
| # file structure, and remove duplicates, etc. | |
| # | |
| # Usage: .\Organise-Photos.ps1 -sourceDirectory C:\Temp -targetDirectory D:\Photos | |
| # | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| # Parameters | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| Param | |
| ( | |
| [Parameter(Position=0,Mandatory=$true, HelpMessage='The source directory path.')] | |
| [string]$sourceDirectory, | |
| [Parameter(Position=1,Mandatory=$false, HelpMessage='The target directory path.')] | |
| [string]$targetDirectory='' | |
| ) | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| # Constants | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| Set-Variable ScriptName -option Constant -value "Organise-Photos" | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| # Script Variables | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop" | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| # Functions | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| # Taken from https://gist.github.com/woehrl01/5f50cb311f3ec711f6c776b2cb09c34e | |
| function Get-FileMetaData | |
| { | |
| param | |
| ( | |
| [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)] | |
| [System.IO.FileInfo] $file = $(throw "Parameter -file is required.") | |
| ) | |
| if(!(Test-Path -Path $file.Fullname)) | |
| { | |
| throw "File does not exist: $($file.Fullname)" | |
| Exit 1 | |
| } | |
| $pathname = $file.DirectoryName | |
| $filename = $file.Name | |
| $hash = @{} | |
| try{ | |
| $shellobj = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application | |
| $folderobj = $shellobj.namespace($pathname) | |
| $fileobj = $folderobj.parsename($filename) | |
| for($i=0; $i -le 294; $i++) | |
| { | |
| $name = $folderobj.getDetailsOf($null, $i); | |
| if($name){ | |
| $value = $folderobj.getDetailsOf($fileobj, $i); | |
| if($value){ | |
| $hash[$($name)] = $($value) | |
| } | |
| } | |
| } | |
| }finally{ | |
| if($shellObject){ | |
| [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject([System.__ComObject]$shellObject) | out-null | |
| } | |
| } | |
| return New-Object PSObject -Property $hash | |
| } | |
| function Get-DateTaken | |
| { | |
| param | |
| ( | |
| [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)] | |
| [PSCustomObject] $metadata = $(throw "Parameter -metadata is required.") | |
| ) | |
| $dateTaken = $metadata.'Date taken' | |
| if(! $dateTaken) | |
| { | |
| $dateTaken = $metadata.'Date created' | |
| } | |
| $dateTaken = $dateTaken -replace '[^a-zA-z0-9/: ]', '' | |
| $dateTaken = $dateTaken -replace '/', '-' | |
| $dateTaken = $dateTaken -replace ':', '' | |
| $dateTaken = $dateTaken -replace ' ', '-' | |
| return $dateTaken | |
| } | |
| function Get-ImageSize | |
| { | |
| param | |
| ( | |
| [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)] | |
| [PSCustomObject] $metadata = $(throw "Parameter -metadata is required.") | |
| ) | |
| $dimensions = '' | |
| if ($metadata.Dimensions -ne $null) { | |
| $dimensions = $metadata.Dimensions -replace '[^a-zA-z0-9]', '' | |
| } | |
| return $dimensions | |
| } | |
| function Get-HashesForImagesInTargetDirectory | |
| { | |
| Write-Host "Entering Get-HashesForImagesInTargetDirectory()" | |
| $existingImages = Get-ChildItem -Path $targetDirectory -File -Recurse | |
| $hashes = @{} | |
| foreach($image in $existingImages) | |
| { | |
| $hashes.Add($image.FullName, (Get-FileHash $image.FullName).Hash) | |
| } | |
| Write-Host "Exiting Get-HashesForImagesInTargetDirectory()" | |
| return $hashes | |
| } | |
| function Main | |
| { | |
| if(! (Test-Path -Path $sourceDirectory)) | |
| { | |
| Write-Host "The source directory does not exist at '$sourceDirectory'." -ForegroundColor Red | |
| return | |
| } | |
| if(! (Test-Path -Path $targetDirectory)) | |
| { | |
| Write-Host "The target directory does not exist at '$targetDirectory'." -ForegroundColor Red | |
| return; | |
| } | |
| $extensions = @('.mp4', '.jpg', '.mov', '.jpeg', '.m4v', '.png', '.bmp', '.gif') | |
| $properties = @('Attributes', 'Bit depth', 'Computer', 'Date accessed', 'Date created', 'Date modified', 'Dimensions', 'EXIF version', 'File extension', 'Filename', 'Folder', 'Folder name', 'Folder path', 'Height', 'Horizontal resolution', 'Item type', 'Kind', 'Link status', 'Name', 'Owner', 'Path', 'Perceived type', 'Rating', 'Shared', 'Size', 'Space free', 'Space used', 'Total size', 'Type', 'Vertical resolution', 'Width', 'Bit rate', 'Length', 'Media created', 'Protected', '35mm focal length', 'Camera maker', 'Camera model', 'Date taken', 'Exposure bias', 'Exposure program', 'Exposure time', 'F-stop', 'Flash mode', 'Focal length', 'ISO speed', 'Metering mode', 'Orientation', 'Program mode', 'Program name', 'White balance', 'Light source', 'Max aperture', 'Saturation', 'Subject', 'Title') | |
| $imageHashes = Get-HashesForImagesInTargetDirectory | |
| $images = Get-ChildItem -Path $sourceDirectory -File -Recurse | Sort-Object -Property LastWriteTime -Descending | |
| $toSortFolder = [System.IO.Path]::Combine($targetDirectory, "ToSort"); | |
| New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $toSortFolder | Out-Null | |
| foreach($image in $images) | |
| { | |
| Write-Host "Processing image: $($image.Fullname)" | |
| if($extensions.Contains($image.Extension.ToLower())) | |
| { | |
| $metadata = Get-FileMetaData -file $image | |
| $dateTaken = Get-DateTaken -metadata $metadata | |
| $imageSize = Get-ImageSize -metadata $metadata | |
| $extension = $image.Extension.ToLower() | |
| $imageHash = (Get-FileHash $image.FullName).Hash | |
| if(! $imageHashes.ContainsValue($imageHash)) | |
| { | |
| $split = $dateTaken.split("-") | |
| $year = $split[2] | |
| $month = (Get-Culture).DateTimeFormat.GetMonthName($split[1]) | |
| $yearFolder = [System.IO.Path]::Combine($targetDirectory, $year); | |
| New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $yearFolder | Out-Null | |
| $monthFolder = [System.IO.Path]::Combine($yearFolder, $month); | |
| New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $monthFolder | Out-Null | |
| $filename = [string]::Format("{0}_{1}{2}", $dateTaken, $imageSize, $extension) | |
| $filePath = [System.IO.Path]::Combine($monthFolder, $filename) | |
| if (! (Test-Path -Path $filePath)) | |
| { | |
| Copy-Item $image.FullName -Destination $filePath | |
| } | |
| else | |
| { | |
| for($index = 1; $index -lt 10; $index++) | |
| { | |
| $filename = [string]::Format("{0}_{1}_{2}{3}", $dateTaken, $imageSize, $index, $extension) | |
| $filePath = [System.IO.Path]::Combine($monthFolder, $filename) | |
| if (! (Test-Path -Path $filePath)) | |
| { | |
| Copy-Item $image.FullName -Destination $filePath | |
| break; | |
| } | |
| } | |
| } | |
| if(! $imageHashes.ContainsKey($filePath)) | |
| { | |
| $imageHashes.Add($filePath, $imageHash) | |
| } | |
| } | |
| } | |
| elseif($image.Extension.ToLower() -eq '.aae') | |
| { | |
| # Ignore file | |
| } | |
| else | |
| { | |
| Copy-Item $image.FullName -Destination $toSortFolder | |
| } | |
| } | |
| Write-Host "" | |
| Write-Host "Total images processed: $($images.Count)" -ForegroundColor Green | |
| } | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| # Start of Script Body | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| $timeStamp= (Get-Date).ToString("HH:mm dd/MM/yyyy") | |
| Write-Host "Starting $ScriptName at $timeStamp" | |
| $scriptTimer = [System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch]::StartNew() | |
| Main | |
| $elapsedTime = $scriptTimer.Elapsed | |
| $message = [string]::Format("Script total execution time: {0} seconds", $elapsedTime.TotalSeconds.ToString("#")) | |
| Write-Host $message | |
| Write-Host | |
| Write-Host "Exiting $ScriptName" | |
| # ============================================================================= | |
| # End of Script Body | |
| # ============================================================================= |
The latest in an irregular series of posts on what I've been reading.
by John Carreyrou
Despite knowing the Theranos story, and having read John Carreyrou's reporting on the story at the time, at the end of this book, I had to stop and ask myself "WTF did I just read?". The answer was a thrilling book detailing what must be the wildest startup scandal in Silicon Valley.
by Joanna Kavenna
I found this novel to be so disappointing. It had an interesting premise for a novel, basically updating 1984 to have Big Brother make use of Artificial Intelligence and other technology, and adding an element of Kafka. Unfortunately, the author has tried to be clever, and the result was more irritating than illuminating.
by Stephen King
An excellent novel. Stephen King has been back on form for a while (check out Sleeping Beauties if you haven't already read it), and this book is proof his current run of form is continuing.
by George Dvorsky
For the attention of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. In space, no one can hear your workers scream...
After being on the wrong end of a cyber attack recently, I am fascinated by these detailed descriptions of how malware works. In particular, I love reading about how cyber criminals take the everyday tools I use in my work (.NET and PowerShell) and use them (poorly in most cases) to create new malware vectors.
by Adam Ramsay
After the recent verdict into the Ballymurphy shootings, I re-read this article on how Bloody Sunday and Ballymurphy weren't abberations, but part of a long history of illegal killings by the British Army.
The first tutorial I've came across on protecting your smart phone that goes beyond the naive 'enable the screen lock' advice. Worth a read to learn of the real threats to your smart phone's data.
by Elle Griffin
This long read details exactly why most authors fail to make a living, despite more people reading than ever over lockdown.
by Ed Caesar
A long article that details the development of North Korean state sanctioned hackers.
The latest in an approximately monthly series of posts on what I've been reading.
This is the first book I've read by Claire North, and I found it astonishingly good. It is a tale of a dystopian United Kingdom where a price is literally put on people's lives. I'm eagerly looking forward to reading more books by the author.
This was a highly rated book from Ian McGuire, with rave reviews ('The Wire by gaslight'). The first 2 thirds of the book were enjoyable, but the ending was very anti-climatic. As a result, I found it only a so-so read - not so much watching 'The Wire' but more like suffering a rather humdrum episode of NCIS.
Mark Fisher's classic take on the infighting and policing that takes place in left-wing social media.
An in-depth analysis of unionist identity from Choyaa.
An interesting article from the Pinterest Engineering team on how to experiment with search engine optimisation (SEO) at scale.
A provoking article on the future of Higher Education and lecturing in universities from Terence Eden. I'm not personally entirely convinced that online learning is the paancea that he thinks it is - the research so far suggests that online learning results in poorer engagement with students, and worse outcomes for disadvantaged students. Blended learning, as proposed by Terence, seems to have similar outcomes to traditional lecturing, but most EdTech seems focussed on online learning only, as this appears to offer the greatest cost savings for institutions (though the evidence for this seems sketchy at best). In the aftermath of the Covid-19 lockdowns, and a year of enforced online learning, it will be interesting to see what effect it has on current students, and what their opinion of it is. I susoect it will be like my opinion of working from home - that it is highly overrated.
Courtesy of John Naughton's recent column on Universities and the upheavals in Higher Education due to the pandemic, I read this prescient article (from 1995!) on the future of the University in an online world. We are certainly seeing universities being forced to consider what exactly they are for at the moment.
Over the past few weeks, I've been working on migrating my extensive collection of notes from OneNote into Markdown files. I am writing my migration process up for anyone else considering moving from OneNote to Markdown.
I recently found that I wasn't making use of my OneNote notes as much as I had previously. I realised that I hated using the OneNote client on my iPhone (5s, so a small screen), and also that my notes had grown so large (after 8 years of use) that they really needed pruning. Additionally, I didn't really like having my notes in a proprietary format that I was unable to backup and version. So I looked at the usual alternatives (Notion, SimpleNote) and also at open source alternatives (Joplin, and Laverna), but ultimately, I decided to use Markdown files in a VSCode workspace, synchronized using Dropbox.
I used this PowerShell script to export my OneNote notes into a basic Markdown file from the OneNote desktop client on Windows 10. It took approximately 4 hours to export all my notes (some 2640 files), across vraious OneNote notebooks.
I then wrote a second PowerShell script to format the exported Markdown files. This second script:
As noted already, I'm using VSCode to edit my new Markdown files on my desktop. I created a new workspace for my notes that I have colour coded using the Peacock extension for VSCode. I have my notes organised in a Dropbox directory, and this is automatically backed up daily to a Git repository.
I can then access my notes on my mobile via the Dropbox app. I tried initially to use the built-in Dropbox text editor, but found this a bit limited. I eventually settled on using the 1Writer app to create and edit notes on my mobile, and I've been impressed by how intuitive it is to use.
I have been using my current setup for a few weeks now. The main pain has actually been curating the exported notes, and archiving those no longer required. I have came across a few more structured ways of using Markdown files (Foam, Obsidian), and may end up using one in the future, but for now I'm happy with my current setup.
