diff options
Diffstat (limited to '_posts')
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2013-10-25-namecoind-ssl.md | 25 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2013-10-8-generations.md | 16 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2013-4-9-erlang-tcp-socket-pull-pattern.md | 12 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2013-7-11-goplus.md | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2014-1-11-clojure-diamond-square.md | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2014-10-29-erlang-pitfalls.md | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2015-07-15-go-http.md | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2015-11-21-happy-trees.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2015-3-11-rabbit-hole.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2017-9-6-brian-bars.md | 19 |
10 files changed, 56 insertions, 33 deletions
diff --git a/_posts/2013-10-25-namecoind-ssl.md b/_posts/2013-10-25-namecoind-ssl.md index c2efcf2..2711a92 100644 --- a/_posts/2013-10-25-namecoind-ssl.md +++ b/_posts/2013-10-25-namecoind-ssl.md @@ -1,5 +1,8 @@ --- title: Namecoin, A Replacement For SSL +description: >- + If we use the namecoin chain as a DNS service we get security almost for + free, along with lots of other benefits. --- At [cryptic.io][cryptic] we are creating a client-side, in-browser encryption @@ -18,7 +21,7 @@ from tampering in-between leaving our servers and being received by the client. Unfortunately, SSL isn't 100% foolproof. This post aims to show why SSL is faulty, and propose a solution. -# SSL +## SSL SSL is the mechanism by which web-browsers establish an encrypted connection to web-servers. The goal of this connection is that only the destination @@ -31,7 +34,7 @@ be decrypted by anyone else. SSL is what's used to establish that secret key on a per-session basis, so that a key isn't ever re-used and so only the client and the server know it. -## Public-Private Key Cryptography +### Public-Private Key Cryptography SSL is based around public-private key cryptography. In a public-private key system, you have both a public key which is generated from a private key. The @@ -53,7 +56,7 @@ attacker could create messages the other person would think are from you, and the other person would encrypt messages meant for you but which would be decrypt-able by the attacker. -## How does SSL work? +### How does SSL work? SSL is at its heart a public-private key system, but its aim is to be more secure against the attack described above. @@ -72,7 +75,7 @@ gave you, which means you can trust it too. There's a bit (a lot!) more to SSL than this, but this is enough to understand the fundamental problems with it. -## How SSL doesn't work +### How SSL doesn't work SSL has a few glaring problems. One, it implies we trust the companies holding the root certificates to not be compromised. If some malicious agency was to get @@ -87,7 +90,7 @@ few root authorities there's an effective monopoly on signatures, and there's nothing we can do about it. For 200 bucks I know most people simply say "no thanks" and go unencrypted. The solution is creating a bigger problem. -# Bitcoins +## Bitcoins Time to switch gears, and propose a solution to the above issues: namecoins. I'm going to first talk about what namecoins are, how they work, and why we need @@ -101,7 +104,7 @@ still a bit of a novelty in the tech realm, but they're growing in popularity. The rest of this post assumes you know more or less what bitcoins are, and how they work. -# Namecoins +## Namecoins Few people actually know about bitcoins. Even fewer know that there's other crypto-currencies besides bitcoins. Basically, developers of these alternative @@ -118,13 +121,13 @@ You spend namecoins to claim arbitrary keys (once you've claimed it, you own it for a set period of time) and to give those keys arbitrary values. Anyone else with namecoind running can see these values. -## Why use it? +### Why use it? A blockchain based on a digital currency seems like a weird idea at first. I know when I first read about it I was less than thrilled. How is this better than a DHT? It's a key-value store, why is there a currency involved? -### DHT +#### DHT DHT stands for Distributed Hash-Table. I'm not going to go too into how they work, but suffice it to say that they are essentially a distributed key-value @@ -140,7 +143,7 @@ chain, and then replicate all the work put into the existing chain into that new compromised one so that the new one is longer and other clients in the network will except it. This is extremely non-trivial. -### Why a currency? +#### Why a currency? To answer why a currency needs to be involved, we need to first look at how bitcoin/namecoin work. When you take an action (send someone money, set a value @@ -163,7 +166,7 @@ In the case of namecoins, there's even more reason to involve a currency. Since you have to spend money to make changes to the chain there's a disincentive for attackers (read: idiots) to spam the chain with frivolous changes to keys. -### Why a *new* currency? +#### Why a *new* currency? I'll admit, it's a bit annoying to see all these altcoins popping up. I'm sure many of them have some solid ideas backing them, but it also makes things @@ -193,7 +196,7 @@ Additionally, if for some reason bitcoins fall by the wayside, namecoin will still have a shot at continuing operation since it isn't tied to the former. Tldr: separation of concerns. -# Namecoin as an alternative to SSL +## Namecoin as an alternative to SSL And now to tie it all together. diff --git a/_posts/2013-10-8-generations.md b/_posts/2013-10-8-generations.md index 38eeacb..c1c433d 100644 --- a/_posts/2013-10-8-generations.md +++ b/_posts/2013-10-8-generations.md @@ -1,11 +1,11 @@ --- title: Generations +description: >- + A simple file distribution strategy for very large scale, high-availability + file-services. --- -A simple file distribution strategy for very large scale, high-availability -file-services. - -# The problem +## The problem At [cryptic.io][cryptic] we plan on having millions of different files, any of which could be arbitrarily chosen to be served any given time. @@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ file lives need to be up-to-date at all times, and even then there are race-conditions and network failures to contend with, while at all times the requirements of the app evolve and change. -# A simpler solution +## A simpler solution Let's say you want all files which get uploaded to be replicated in triplicate in some capacity. You buy three identical hard-disks, and put each on a separate @@ -40,13 +40,13 @@ going to be generation 1. Repeat until you run out of money. That's it. -## That's it? +### That's it? It seems simple and obvious, and maybe it's the standard thing which is done, but as far as I can tell no-one has written about it (though I'm probably not searching for the right thing, let me know if this is the case!). -## Advantages +### Advantages * It's so simple to implement, you could probably do it in a day if you're starting a project from scratch @@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ go. replicated, or how many countries it's in, or what hardware it's being served from (given you have easy access to information about specific drives). -## Caveats +### Caveats The big caveat here is that this is just an idea. It has NOT been tested in production. But we have enough faith in it that we're going to give it a shot at diff --git a/_posts/2013-4-9-erlang-tcp-socket-pull-pattern.md b/_posts/2013-4-9-erlang-tcp-socket-pull-pattern.md index 3f42b49..3e5f0af 100644 --- a/_posts/2013-4-9-erlang-tcp-socket-pull-pattern.md +++ b/_posts/2013-4-9-erlang-tcp-socket-pull-pattern.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ --- title: "Erlang, tcp sockets, and active true" +description: >- + Using `{active:once}` isn't always the best way to handle connections. --- If you don't know erlang then [you're missing out][0]. If you do know erlang, @@ -9,7 +11,7 @@ number of active connections is desired. Each thread can autonomously handle its single client, greatly simplifying the logic of the whole application while still retaining [great performance characteristics][1]. -# Background +## Background For an erlang thread which owns a single socket there are three different ways to receive data off of that socket. These all revolve around the `active` @@ -30,7 +32,7 @@ to receive data off of that socket. These all revolve around the `active` read from using [recv/2][3] or be put in `{active,once}` or `{active,true}`. -# Which to use? +## Which to use? Many (most?) tutorials advocate using `{active,once}` in your application \[0]\[1]\[2]. This has to do with usability and security. When in `{active,true}` @@ -41,7 +43,7 @@ well as other messages from other erlang processes at the same time you can't use `{active,false}`. So `{active,once}` is generally preferred because it deals with both of these problems quite well. -# Why not to use `{active,once}` +## Why not to use `{active,once}` Here's what your classic `{active,once}` enabled tcp socket implementation will probably look like: @@ -229,7 +231,7 @@ This time our process spent almost no time at all (according to eprof, 0%) fiddling with the socket opts. Instead it spent all of its time in the read_loop doing the work we actually want to be doing. -# So what does this mean? +## So what does this mean? I'm by no means advocating never using `{active,once}`. The security concern is still a completely valid concern and one that `{active,once}` mitigates quite @@ -238,7 +240,7 @@ performance implications which have the potential to bite you if you're not careful, especially in cases where a socket is going to be receiving a large amount of traffic. -# Meta +## Meta These tests were done using R15B03, but I've done similar ones in R14 and found similar results. I have not tested R16. diff --git a/_posts/2013-7-11-goplus.md b/_posts/2013-7-11-goplus.md index e8402f6..5ee121e 100644 --- a/_posts/2013-7-11-goplus.md +++ b/_posts/2013-7-11-goplus.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ --- title: Go+ +description: >- + A simple proof-of-concept script for doing go dependency management. --- Compared to other languages go has some strange behavior regarding its project @@ -63,7 +65,7 @@ cd "$ORIG_DIR" exec go $@ ``` -# UPDATE: Goat +## UPDATE: Goat I'm leaving this post for posterity, but go+ has some serious flaws in it. For one, it doesn't allow for specifying the version of a dependency you want to diff --git a/_posts/2014-1-11-clojure-diamond-square.md b/_posts/2014-1-11-clojure-diamond-square.md index 6c89353..a3aee03 100644 --- a/_posts/2014-1-11-clojure-diamond-square.md +++ b/_posts/2014-1-11-clojure-diamond-square.md @@ -1,5 +1,8 @@ --- title: Random Terrain Generation, A Clojure Walkthrough +description: >- + Tackling the problem of semi-realistic looking terrain generation in + clojure. --- ![terrain][terrain] diff --git a/_posts/2014-10-29-erlang-pitfalls.md b/_posts/2014-10-29-erlang-pitfalls.md index 416690d..32a8095 100644 --- a/_posts/2014-10-29-erlang-pitfalls.md +++ b/_posts/2014-10-29-erlang-pitfalls.md @@ -1,5 +1,8 @@ --- title: Erlang Pitfalls +description: >- + Common pitfalls that people may run into when designing and writing + large-scale erlang applications. --- I've been involved with a large-ish scale erlang project at Grooveshark since diff --git a/_posts/2015-07-15-go-http.md b/_posts/2015-07-15-go-http.md index 334d68a..7da7d6b 100644 --- a/_posts/2015-07-15-go-http.md +++ b/_posts/2015-07-15-go-http.md @@ -1,5 +1,8 @@ --- title: Go's http package by example +description: >- + The basics of using, testing, and composing apps built using go's net/http + package. --- Go's [http](http://golang.org/pkg/net/http/) package has turned into one of my diff --git a/_posts/2015-11-21-happy-trees.md b/_posts/2015-11-21-happy-trees.md index 49b3885..373f35f 100644 --- a/_posts/2015-11-21-happy-trees.md +++ b/_posts/2015-11-21-happy-trees.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ --- title: Happy Trees +description: >- + Visualizing a forest of happy trees. --- Source code related to this post is available [here](https://github.com/mediocregopher/happy-tree). diff --git a/_posts/2015-3-11-rabbit-hole.md b/_posts/2015-3-11-rabbit-hole.md index bf5fe52..97c2b80 100644 --- a/_posts/2015-3-11-rabbit-hole.md +++ b/_posts/2015-3-11-rabbit-hole.md @@ -1,5 +1,7 @@ --- title: Rabbit Hole +description: >- + Complex systems sometimes require complex debugging. --- We've begun rolling out [SkyDNS][skydns] at my job, which has been pretty neat. diff --git a/_posts/2017-9-6-brian-bars.md b/_posts/2017-9-6-brian-bars.md index e36304f..d626d67 100644 --- a/_posts/2017-9-6-brian-bars.md +++ b/_posts/2017-9-6-brian-bars.md @@ -1,15 +1,18 @@ --- title: Brian Bars +description: >- + Cheap and easy to make, healthy, vegan, high-carb, high-protein. "The Good + Stuff". --- It actually blows my mind it's been 4 years since I used this blog. It was previously a tech blog, but then I started putting all my tech-related posts on -[the cryptic blog](cryptic.io). As of now this is a lifestyle/travel blog. The -me of 4 years ago would be horrified. +[the cryptic blog](https://cryptic.io). As of now this is a lifestyle/travel +blog. The me of 4 years ago would be horrified. Now I just have to come up with a lifestyle and do some traveling. -# Brian Bars +## Recipe This isn't a real recipe because I'm not going to preface it with my entire fucking life story. Let's talk about the food. @@ -28,7 +31,7 @@ Brian bars: I've worked on this recipe for a bit, trying to make it workable, and will probably keep adjusting it (and this post) as time goes on. -## Ingredients +### Ingredients Nuts and seeds. Most of this recipe is nuts and seeds. Here's the ones I used: @@ -49,7 +52,7 @@ The other ingredients are: * 1.5 lbs of pitted dates (no added sugar! you don't need it!) * 2 cups oats -## Grind up the nuts +### Grind up the nuts Throw the nuts into the food processor and grind them into a powder. Then throw that powder into a bowl along with the seeds, coconuts, raisins, and oats, and @@ -58,7 +61,7 @@ mix em good. I don't _completely_ grind up the nuts, instead leaving some chunks in it here and there, but you do you. -## Prepare the dates +### Prepare the dates This is the harder part, and is what took me a couple tries to get right. The best strategy I've found is to steam the dates a bit over a stove to soften @@ -70,7 +73,7 @@ Once processed you can add the dates to the mix from before and stir it all up. It'll end up looking something like cookie dough. Except unlike cookie dough it's completely safe to eat and maybe sorta healthy. -## Bake it, Finish it +### Bake it, Finish it Put the dough stuff in a pan of some sort, flatten it out, and stick it in the oven at like 250 or 300 for a few hours. You're trying to cook out the water you @@ -83,7 +86,7 @@ filling and allow for pretty small portions. Wrap em in foil or plastic wrap and take them to-go, or keep them around for a snack. Or both. Or whatever you want to do, it's your food. -## Cleanup +### Cleanup Dates are simultaneously magical and the most annoying thing to work with, so there's cleanup problems you may run into with them: |