Rafe Hart

Thoughts on security, privacy, and building software.

WIP & Why multitasking is costly

05 March 2018

5am on the road, and the streets are empty - you get from point A to point B rapidly, as does everyone else awake at that hour. Several hours later there are many more cars on the road; everyone gets where they are going much slower. It’s not that there isn’t enough room in the lanes for the cars, it’s that every has to start and stop, reacting to the car in front of them, not just the lights. These interruptions, in essence, are the problem with high levels of concurrent work.

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What *actually* is DevOps?

23 February 2018

DevOps is a pretty popular term right now. It's well established in many companies and even made it into frameworks like SAFe 4.5. But what actually is it? Most people are aware that it involves automation, but deeper understanding seems to be rare.

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Installing Kali Linux on a Dell XPS 9550

27 December 2017

I've used Kali Linux as a daily driver on my Dell XPS 15 for most of the last year, and it works well for that purpose. There are a couple of things you need to do when setting it up to get it to run smoothly though.

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Encrypt your home directory in Kali Linux

22 September 2017

Full disk encryption requires you to enter a password on boot, and isn't the smoothest experience. It is the best approach from a security point of view, but I'm a believer in practical compromises. With linux, for me that means transparent home folder encryption.

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Does my non-EU business need GDPR compliance?

10 September 2017

The answer is maybe. There are a lot of consultants making a bundle off GDPR at the moment, selling opinions. What is definite is that we have the wording of the legislation, prior EU laws and guidelines.

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Upgrading RAM & WiFi in the Dell XPS 15 (9550)

04 September 2017

After spending a reasonable amount of time running Linux on the Dell XPS 15 (9550), I can say that the only hardware I can't get to work reliably is the Bluetooth support. I've had partial success, but really this is something I just want to work when I need it. The solution is to change out the existing Broadcom card for a cheap Intel AC 8260 card (cost me AUD $40), after which I now have good WiFi and Bluetooth support. Provided you have the right hex tool, the Dell XPS is easy to open and upgrade.

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