I’ve been trying to learn C++ lately. I read a few chapters of a few books, but I got tired of just reading so now I am trying to fix bugs in free software out there. The first step was to install Ubuntu on the Macbook Pro that I use. Second step was to find useful software written in C++ that needs small bugs fixing. First I tried to fix a bug in gnote, but I wasn’t persistent enough and the lead developer fixed the bug himself after many days without any update from me.…

I’m ashamed of how naïve and ignorant I stand regarding Python stuff. At least this time, I’ve learned a great lesson about object identities, references and sizes. Hopefully you won’t make the same mistake as I did. Here’s what I wanted to do: write an in-memory simplistic log keeper for my application, that would be used as a poor man’s brute force protection. The details don’t matter much. All this meant is I’d have to keep, say, all the last 10 authentication attempts for all users, for as long as needed, in memory.…

When configuring networking on VirtualBox for Mac OS X, I got stuck because it didn’t give me the option to use the “Host Interface” option with my ppp0 connection. The ppp0 connection is my “dial-up” Internet connection using a 3G USB modem. The solution is so obvious, that I’m surprised I couldn’t think of it before finding this post on the VirtualBox forum: just use the (amazing) Internet sharing option of the Mac.…