Recherche avancée

Sur d’autres sites (3105)

• Small Time DevOps

  1er janvier 2021, par Multimedia Mike — General

  When you are a certain type of nerd who has been on the internet for long enough, you might run the risk of accumulating a lot of projects and websites. Website-wise, I have this multimedia.cx domain on which I host a bunch of ancient static multimedia documents as well as this PHP/MySQL-based blog. Further, there are 3 other PHP/MySQL-based blogs hosted on subdomains. Also, there is the wiki, another PHP/MySQL web app. A few other custom PHP- and Python-based apps are running around on the server as well.

  While things largely run on auto-pilot, I need to concern myself every now and then with their ongoing upkeep.

  If you ask N different people about the meaning of the term ‘DevOps’, you will surely get N different definitions. However, whenever I have to perform VM maintenance, I like to think I am at least dipping my toes into the DevOps domain. At the very least, the job seems to be concerned with making infrastructure setup and upgrades reliable and repeatable.

  Even if it’s not fully automated, at the very least, I have generated a lot of lists for how to make things work (I’m a big fan of Trello’s Kanban boards for this), so it gets easier every time (ideally, anyway).

  Infrastructure History

  For a solid decade, from 2004 to 2014, everything was hosted on shared, cPanel-based web hosting. In mid-2014, I moved from the shared hosting over to my own VPSs, hosted on DigitalOcean. I must have used Ubuntu 14.04 at the time, as I look down down the list of Ubuntu LTS releases. It was with much trepidation that I undertook this task (knowing that anything that might go wrong with the stack, from the OS up to the apps, would all be firmly my fault), but it turned out not to be that bad. The earliest lesson you learn for such a small-time setup is to have a frontend VPS (web server) and a backend VPS (database server). That way, a surge in HTTP requests has no chance of crashing the database server due to depleted memory.

  At the end of 2016, I decided to refresh the VMs. I brought them up to Ubuntu 16.04 at the time.

  Earlier this year, I decided it would be a good idea to refresh the VMs again since it had been more than 3 years. The VMs were getting long in the tooth. Plus, I had seen an article speculating that Azure, another notable cloud hosting environment, might be getting full. It made me feel like I should grab some resources while I still could (resource-hoarding was in this year).

  I decided to use 18.04 for these refreshed VMs, even though 20.04 was available. I think I was a little nervous about 20.04 because I heard weird things about something called snap packages being the new standard for distributing software for the platform and I wasn’t ready to take that plunge.

  Which brings me to this month’s VM refresh in which I opted to take the 20.04 plunge.

  Oh MediaWiki

  I’ve been the maintainer and caretaker of the MultimediaWiki for 15 years now (wow ! Where does the time go ?). It doesn’t see a lot of updating these days, but I know it still serves as a resource for lots of obscure technical multimedia information. I still get requests for new accounts because someone has uncovered some niche technical data and wants to make sure it gets properly documented.

  MediaWiki is quite an amazing bit of software and it undergoes constant development and improvement. According to the version history, I probably started the MultimediaWiki with the 1.5 series. As of this writing, 1.35 is the latest and therefore greatest lineage.

  This pace of development can make it a bit of a chore to keep up to date. This was particularly true in the old days of the shared hosting when you didn’t have direct shell access and so it’s something you put off for a long time.

  Honestly, to be fair, the upgrade process is pretty straightforward :

  1. Unpack a set of new files on top of the existing tree
  2. Run a PHP script to perform any database table upgrades

  Pretty straightforward, assuming that there are no hiccups along the way, right ? And the vast majority of the time, that’s the case. Until it’s not. I had an upgrade go south about a year and a half ago (I wasn’t the only MW installation to have the problem at the time, I learned). While I do have proper backups, it still threw me for a loop and I worked for about an hour to restore the previous version of the site. That experience understandably left me a bit gun-shy about upgrading the wiki.

  But upgrades must happen, especially when security notices come out. Eventually, I created a Trello template with a solid, 18-step checklist for upgrading MW as soon as a new version shows up. It’s still a chore, just not so nerve-wracking when the steps are all enumerated like that.

  As I compose the post, I think I recall my impetus for wanting to refresh from the 16.04 VM. 16.04 used PHP 7.0. I wanted to upgrade to the latest MW, but if I tried to do so, it warned me that it needed PHP 7.4. So I initialized the new 18.04 VM as described above… only to realize that PHP 7.2 is the default on 18.04. You need to go all the way to 20.04 for 7.4 standard. I’m sure it’s possible to install later versions of PHP on 16.04 or 18.04, but I appreciate going with the defaults provided by the distro.

  I figured I would just stay with MediaWiki 1.34 series and eschew 1.35 series (requiring PHP 7.4) for the time being… until I started getting emails that 1.34 would go end-of-life soon. Oh, and there are some critical security updates, but those are only for 1.35 (and also 1.31 series which is still stubbornly being maintained for some reason).

  So here I am with a fresh Ubuntu 20.04 VM running PHP 7.4 and MediaWiki 1.35 series.

  How Much Process ?

  Anyone who decides to host on VPSs vs, say, shared hosting is (or ought to be) versed on the matter that all your data is your own problem and that glitches sometimes happen and that your VM might just suddenly disappear. (Indeed, I’ve read rants about VMs disappearing and taking entire un-backed-up websites with them, and also watched as the ranters get no sympathy– “yeah, it’s a VM ; the data is your responsibility”) So I like to make sure I have enough notes so that I could bring up a new VM quickly if I ever needed to.

  But the process is a lot of manual steps. Sometimes I wonder if I need to use some automation software like Ansible in order to bring a new VM to life. Why do that if I only update the VM once every 1-3 years ? Well, perhaps I should update more frequently in order to ensure the process is solid ?

  Seems like a lot of effort for a few websites which really don’t see much traffic in the grand scheme of things. But it still might be an interesting exercise and might be good preparation for some other websites I have in mind.

  Besides, if I really wanted to go off the deep end, I would wrap everything up in containers and deploy using D-O’s managed Kubernetes solution.

  The post Small Time DevOps first appeared on Breaking Eggs And Making Omelettes.

• Adding ffmpeg OMX codec to Genymotion Android 4.4.2 emulator

  22 avril 2016, par photon

  Basic Question :

  Is there a way to add a new audio codec to the Genymotion Android emulator, short of downloading the entire Android source, learning how to build it, and creating my own version of Android ?

  ---

  Context :

  I have written a java Android app that acts as an audio renderer, as well as being a DLNA/OpenHome server and client. Think "BubbleUpnp" without video. My primary development platform is Win8.1. The program started as an ActiveState "pure-perl" DLNA MediaServer on Windows, which I then ported to Ubuntu, which I got working under Android a few years ago. It was pretty funky ... all UI being presented thru an HTTP server/jquery/jquery-ui, served from an Ubuntu shell running under Android (a trick in itself), serving up HTML pages to Chrome running on the same (Android) device. Besides being "funky" it had a major drawback that it required a valid IP address to work ... as I could not figure out how to get ubuntu to have a local loopback device for a 127.0.0.01 localhost I use the app as a "car stereo" on my boat (which is my home), which is often not hooked up to the internet.

  I had a hard time getting started in Android app development because the speed of the Android emulators in Eclipse was horrid, and the ADB drivers did not work from Win8 for the longest time.

  Then one day, about a year ago, I ran into Genymotion (kudos to the authors), and all of a sudden I had a workable Android development environment, so I added a Java implementation of the DLNA server, which then grew into a renderer also, using Android’s MediaPlayer class, and, adding the ability to act as a DLNA control point, and more recently also added OpenHome servers and renderers to it.

  In a separate effort, I created a build environment for this program called fpCalc, based on ffMpeg, on a variety of platforms, including Win, Linux, and Android x86, arm, and arm7 devices (bitbucket.org/phorton1/) and did an extensive series of tests to determine the validity, and longevity of fpcalc fingerprints, discovering that the fpCalc fingerprint changed based on the version of ffmpeg it was built against, a separate topic to be sure, but in the process, learned at least a bit about how to build ffmpeg as well as Android shared libraries, JNI interfaces, etc.

  So now the Android-Java version of the program has advanced past the old perl version, and I am debating whether I want to continue to try to build the perl version (and or add an wxPerl UI) to it.

  One issue that has arisen, for me, is that the Genymotion emulator does not support WMA decoding ... as Android dropped support for WMA due to licensing issues, etc, a ways back in time ... yet my music library has significant numbers of tunes in WMA files, and I don’t want to "convert" them, my carefully thought-out philosophy is that my program does not modify the contents, or tags, or anything in the original media files that I have accumulated, or will receive in the future, rather treating them as "artifacts" worth preserving "as is". No conversion is going to make a file "better" than it was, and I wish to preserve ALL of the original sources for ALL of my music going forward.

  So, I’m thinking, gee, I can build FFMPEG on 7 different platforms, and I see all these references to "OMX FFMPEG Codec Support for Android" on the net, so I’m thinking, "All I need to do is create the OMX Component and somehow get it into Genymotion".

  I have studied up OMX, OpenMaxIL, seen Michael Chen’s posts, seen the stack overflow questions

  How to make ffmpeg codec componet as OMX component

  and

  Android : How to integrate a decoder to multimedia framework

  and Cedric Fung’s page https://vec.io/posts/use-android-hardware-decoder-with-omxcodec-in-ndk, and Michael Chen’s repository at https://github.com/omxcodec , as well as virtually every other page on the net that mentions any combination of libstagefright, OMX, Genymotion, and FFMPEG.

  (this page would not let me put more than 2 links as i don’t have a "10" reputation, or I would have listed some of the sources I have seen) ..

  My Linux development environment is a Ubuntu12.04 vbox running on my win machine. I have downloaded and run the Android-x86 iso as a vbox, and IT contains the ffmpeg codecs, but unfortunately, it neither supports a wifi interface, nor the vbox "guest additions", so it has a really funky mouse. I tried for about 3 days to address those two issues, but in the end do not feel it is usable for my puproses, and I really like the way genymotion "feels", particularly the moust support, so I’d like to keep genymotion as my "windows android" virtual device under which I may run my program, deprecate and stop using my old perl source,

  except genymotion does not support WMA files ...

  ---

  Several side notes :

  (a) There is no good way to write a single sourced application in Java that runs natively in Windows, AND as an Android app.

  (b) I don’t want to reboot my Windows machine to a "real" Android device just to play my music files. The machine has to stay in Windows as I use it for other things as well.

  (c) I am writing this as my machine is in the 36th hour of downloading the entire ASOP source code base to a partition in my Ubuntu vbox while I am sitting in a hotel room on a not-so-good internet connection in Panama City, Panama, before I return to my boat in remote Bocas Del Toro Panama, where the internet connection is even worse.

  (d) I did get WMA decoding to work in my app by calling my FFMPEG executable from Java (converting it to either WAV/PCM or AAC), but, because of limitations in Android’s MediaPlayer, it does not work well, particularly for remotely hosted WMA files ... MediaPlayer insists on having the whole file present before it starts to play, which can take several seconds or longer, and I am hoping that by getting a ’real’ WMA codec underneath MediaPlayer, that problem will just disappear ....

  ---

  So, I’m trying to figure this whole mess out. There are a lot of tantalizing clues, and suggestions, but what I have found, or at least what I am starting to believe, is that if I want to add a simple WMA audio decoding codec to Android (Genymotion), not only do I have to download, basically, the ENTIRE ASOP Android source tree, and learn a new set of tools (repo, etc), but I have to (be able to) rebuild, from scratch, the entire Android system, esp. libstagefright.so in such a way as to be COMPLETELY compatible with the existing one in GenyMotion, while at the same time adding ffmpeg codecs ala Michael Chen’s page.

  And I’m just asking, is it, could it really be that difficult ?

  ---

  Anyways, this makes me crazy. Is there no way to just build a new component, or at worst a new OMX core, and add it to Genymotion, WITHOUT building all of Android, and preferably, based only on the OMX h files ? Or do I REALLY have to replace the existing libstagefright.so, which means, basically, rebuilding all of Android ...

  p.s. I thought it would be nice to get this figured out, build it, and then post the installable new FFMPEG codecs someplace for other people to use, so that they don’t also grow warts on their ears and have steam shooting out of their eyeballs, while they get old trying to figure it out ....

• 4 Ways to Embed User Privacy & Data Security in Your Business

  15 juillet 2022, par Erin — Privacy

  Customer analytics undeniably plays a vital role for businesses. Product improvements, interface personalisation, content improvements, and creative advertising thrive on data. 

  Yet, there’s a fine line between being a customer-centred company and a privacy-violating one. 

  Due to ubiquitous online tracking, 62% of Americans now believe that it’s impossible to go about their daily lives without companies collecting data about them. Still, despite the importance of privacy in business for consumers, companies are reluctant to act. Privacy initiatives often stay on the back burner due to perceived complexity. That’s true to some extent.

  Privacy in business does assume complex technical changes to your data management. But to be a privacy-centred organisation, you also need to re-think your processes, practices, and culture. 

  Here are four ways to start your journey to better user privacy and data security. 

  1. Revise Your Data Collection Process to Gain Consumer Trust 

  The public is wary of sharing data with businesses because they are suspicious of its subsequent usage. 

  However, not all data collection is bad or wrong. In many cases, you need specific data for service delivery, compliance, or good-natured personalisation. 

  That’s exactly what consumers expect. Almost half of US consumers say they’d trust a company that limits the amount of personal information requested and only asks for data relevant to its products/services. 

  By limiting data collection and offering transparent data usage terms, you can : 

  • Reassure reluctant users to try your product or service — hence, boost conversions and sales. 
  • Retain existing audiences by gaining their trust, which leads to loyalty and higher customer lifetime value (CLV). 

  To gain consumers’ trust, implement proper consent and opt-out mechanisms. Then create educational materials about how you are collecting and using their data.

  2. Perform Data Mapping to Determine Where Sensitive Data Rests 

  Businesses are already pressed with an expanded cyber-security radar, courtesy of remote work, digital payment processing, IoT device adoption, etc. Yet, 41% of the executives don’t think their security initiatives have kept up with the digital transformations.

  Loopholes in security eventually result in a data breach. The average cost of a data breach looms at $4.24 million globally. The sum includes regulatory fines and containment costs, plus indirect losses in the form of reduced brand equity and market share. 

  Lax data protection in business also undermines consumer trust : 87% of consumers wouldn’t transact with a company if they had qualms with its security practices. 

  To improve your security posture, analyse where you are storing sensitive consumer data, who has access to it (internally and externally), and how you are protecting it. Then work with cybersecurity specialists on implementing stronger consumer security mechanisms (e.g. auto-log offs, secure password policy, etc) and extra internal security policies (if needed). 

  At the same time, start practising data minimisation. Ensure that all collected data is : 

  • Adequate – sufficient to meet your stated objectives 
  • Relevant – is rationally linked to the objectives 
  • Limited – no unnecessary data is collected or stored
  • Timely – data is periodically reviewed and removed when unnecessary 

  

  These principles prevent data hoarding. Also, they help improve your security posture and regulatory compliance by reducing the volume of information you need to safeguard.

  3. Do an Inventory of Your Business Tools

  Data leaks and consumer privacy breaches often occur through third parties. Because Google Analytics was deemed in breach of European GDPR in France, Austria and Italy, businesses using it are vulnerable to lawsuits (which are already happening). 

  Investigate your corporate toolkit to determine “weak links” – tools with controversial privacy policies, murky data collection practices, and poor security. 

  Treat it as a journey and pick your battles. By relying on Big Tech products for years, you might have overlooked better alternatives. 

  For example :

  • Matomo is a privacy-centred Google Analytics alternative. Our web analytics is compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and other global privacy laws. Unlike Google Analytics, we don’t exploit any data you collect and provide full transparency into how and where it’s stored. Or if you want a simple analytics solution, Fathom is another great privacy-friendly option.

  

  • For online data storage, you can choose Proton Drive or Nextcloud (open-source). Or host your corporate data with a local cloud hosting provider to avoid cross-border data transfers.

  

  Aim to progressively replace Google products with more privacy-centred alternatives. 

  4. Cultivate a Privacy-Centred Corporate Culture 

  To make privacy a competitive advantage, you need every team member (at every level) to respect its importance. 

  This is a continuous process of inspiring and educating your people. Find “privacy ambassadors” who are willing to lead the conversations, educate others, and provide resources for leading the change. 

  On an operational level, incorporate privacy principles around data minimisation, bounded collection, and usage into your Code of Conduct, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and other policies. 

  Creating a privacy-centric culture takes effort, but it pays off well. Cisco estimates that for each dollar spent on privacy, an average organisation gets $2.70 in associated benefits. Almost half (47%) of organisations gain 2X returns on their privacy initiatives.

  Moving Forward with a Data Privacy Programme 

  Privacy has become a strong differentiator for brands. Consumers crave transparency and ethical data usage. Regulators mandate limited data collection and proper security mechanisms.

  But sweeping changes are hard to implement. So start small and go one step at a time. Understand which first-party data your company collects and how it is stored.

  Then look into the tools and technologies you are using for data collection. Do these provide sufficient privacy controls ? How are they using data collected on your behalf ? Finally, move to wider transformations, pertaining to data management, cybersecurity, and cultural practices. 

  Be consistent with your effort — and eventually, all the pieces will fall into place.