Many versioning and branching strategies are available. I prefer a simple approach: mainline development using GitVersion for automatic Semantic Versioning.
Continue reading Mainline branching strategy using GitVersion(5 min read)
Author: Sly Gryphon
Setting up iZone climate control with Home Assistant(11 min read)
The iZone Climate Control system is an effective way to manage ducted air conditioning in your home allowing multiple zones with separate target temperatures and controlling the central unit and airflow to each area.
Through the bridge component you can integrate it locally with Home Assistant, as well as other smart home platforms (Google etc, Apple Home, etc). The iZone platform supports other components (lights, irrigation, etc), however I am focussing on the climate control.
You need some additional manual configuration to bring in all the system details, including the current control zone, target temperature, supply temperature, and operating modes.
Once configured you can set up a dashboard to track the climate in your house throughout the day:
Continue reading Setting up iZone climate control with Home Assistant(11 min read)
Hands on with Matter and Thread(11 min read)
Matter and Thread offer many benefits, with standardised interoperability, local-only control, built-in security, multi-admin, and IPv6 support — helping drive IPv6 adoption and development skills.
Several devices have now launched, and I have tried out a few of the available devices with Google Home and Home Assistant, however these are early days, and feature implementation still lags behind native integrations in some significant areas.
Thread-based devices:
- Nanoleaf Essentials light bulb and LED light strip
- Eve Home smart plug
Wi-Fi devices:
- Sonoff MINIR4M inline switch
- Zemismart ZME2 dual inline switch
- Wiz light bulbs
- Tapo P110m smart plug
Most devices initially required their native app for firmware upgrades (although the new Eve device updated without it), and there were many features only accessible via native apps (even where the features are in the Matter standard).
In particular none of the switches had separate switch and relay parts for detached operation via Matter bindings, although the Sonoff does support detached mode via the native app, and the Zemismart had the Binding cluster but I couldn't get it working.
Continue reading Hands on with Matter and Thread(11 min read)
Deploying a secure LwM2M IPv6 test server on AWS(15 min read)
Lightweight Machine-to-Machine (LwM2M) is a compact protocol design for Internet-of-Things (IoT) scenarios, that provides end-to-end services including efficient transport, encryption, device lifecycle, and messaging semantics. Devices deployed to the field will connect to full LwM2M endpoints, however you may also want to deploy your own LwM2M demo server for testing purposes.
This article shows you how to deploy an Eclipse Leshan server onto Amazon Web Services (AWS), configured for secure connections (COAPS for messaging, and HTTPS with basic authentication for the Web UI), accessible over the internet, and including support for both IPv6 and legacy IPv4.
First we will configure a network in AWS, then deploy the server, and then test the deployment.
Continue reading Deploying a secure LwM2M IPv6 test server on AWS(15 min read)
AI and copyright: Addressing an incongruity(4 min read)
In our rapidly evolving digital age, traditional concepts such as copyright are being rigorously tested. The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in particular, has initiated a crucial debate on the validity and efficacy of existing copyright laws. This debate becomes particularly intense when we consider the striking difference in the treatment of photographs and AI-generated art under current copyright laws. This discrepancy calls into question our collective understanding of creativity, ownership, and the essence of copyright itself. Is it time for us to reevaluate the concept of copyright in the digital era?
Continue reading AI and copyright: Addressing an incongruity(4 min read)
AI is taking our jobs: Yes, that is the objective(6 min read)
The rise of AI and automation is disrupting industries and transforming the way we work. But instead of mourning the loss of jobs, we should embrace the opportunity to reshape our lives and focus on what we genuinely value.
Continue reading AI is taking our jobs: Yes, that is the objective(6 min read)
Device Authentication with Nordic Thingy:91 and Azure IoT Hub(22 min read)
Security is an important topic for the Internet of Things, and there are several considerations to secure device identity. A good practice is to use secure protocols (such as TLS or DTLS) for transmitting any sensitive information over the network and to ensure that passwords and other sensitive information are securely stored.
This article will provide an example of using X.509 client certificates for connecting to Azure IoT, using the Nordic Thingy:91 platform. The certificates are securely loaded directly to the device, so they are not exposed in the device firmware.
Using certificates allows a hierarchy of trust to be established, allowing system owners to delegate certificate management to third parties while retaining control of the root trust.
The article also covers the usage of IPv6, and accessing IPv4 servers from the Telstra IoT network, running in IPv6-only mode and using NAT64.
Continue reading Device Authentication with Nordic Thingy:91 and Azure IoT Hub(22 min read)
Dogs in the Vineyard – Conflict Process(2 min read)
I've been playing a few short sessions of Dogs in the Vineyard, so put together a one page step-by-step summary of the conflict process.
- DitV Conflict Process (PDF, 82 kB)
Note that the process does not include the detailed tables for fallout. You will need to refer to the main rules for that, or the D.O.G.S. generic version.
It is an interesting system, where a conflict is not a single roll of the dice, but an entire scene that you add (recurring) elements to as it progresses; it kind of reminds me a bit of the conflict resolution in Mouse Guard.
It is not just a "I do this", roll, done, type system, but one where resolving the conflict forms the narrative story line, as you bring in elements. The more narratively important an item is to you, the more dice you should assign it - a similar example from the Cortex Plus Firefly game is "Jayne's Hat". Assigning that item 2d10 (in DitV) would mean you want to narratively bring it into every conflict that you can.
I can't even think how to approach a statistical analysis of DitV, like I have done for other systems. Systems like Corex Prime are complex enough so that you can't readily calculate probabilities in your head — you know 3d6 is better than 2d6, and 2d10 is better than 2d8, but trying to compare (1d10 + 3d6) vs (4d8 + 1d4) is not something you can do off the cuff. But you can mathemtically calculate it.
Because DitV involves some foresight (you roll a little bit in advance before you pick what to use), it relies on some tactical skill at picking dice, not just probabilities. And because what you will roll depends heavily on the narrative direction the encounter goes, it is difficult to know what even will be relevant.
The resolution is also at the entire encounter level, not individual actions. e.g. it is easy to statistically determine if you will hit in Dungeons & Dragons, and what your average expected damage will be. But trying to determine who will win in a fight between a Rogue and Cleric vs three Orcs is a lot more complicated.
I will look at doing a longer analysis of the system in the future, but for now the conflict process summary is a start.
RPG Mechanics: Success at a cost(18 min read)
Tabletop roleplaying games are generally about shared storytelling, and stories are generally pretty boring if the story ends because the protagonists don't find the clue, don't get past the locked door, or don't survive a battle. Failure needs to continue the story by leading to something else interesting, being only a partial failure, or being success at a cost.
I will detail some of the concepts and approaches used by different systems, including several open source alternative roleplaying games, that can be incorporated into your game, even if the specific mechanics are not.
A related concept is the treatment of character death, which is usually the ultimate failure.
Some systems, like early Dungeons & Dragons, or revival games like Dungeon Crawl Classics, treat the adventuring group more like a wargaming troop, where when one character dies the next steps up to continue as the protagonist. Other modern systems have more explicit success at a cost mechanics or alternative ways to handle death.
The discussion is organised by concept, with examples given from different systems, including Fate, Dungeon World (Powered by the Apocalypse), Blades in the Dark, and Gumshoe.
Continue reading RPG Mechanics: Success at a cost(18 min read)
Running NAT64 in a dual stack network(5 min read)
Network address translation 6-to-4 (NAT64, RFC 6146) is a transition technology that can be used, in conjunction with DNS64 (domain name system 6-to-4, RFC 6147), to replace NAT44 in dual-stack networks, and allowing support of IPv6 only devices.
Dual stack is a common deployment solution for adding IPv6 for both consumer and corporate networks, although IPv6-only is becoming more common, with the typical guidance being "IPv6-Only Where You Can, Dual-Stack Where You Must"
Even if you are still stuck in dual stack, it still makes sense to use some of the IPv4 as a Service technologies, such as NAT64 and DNS64, which have the upside of allowing you to support IPv6 only devices, and no downside. As an additional benefit, you also get valuable experience in IPv6 systems.
The cost is that you need to have infrastructure that supports NAT64, either provided by your ISP, or from your own networking equipment/router. This is not as much an issue for DNS64, as public DNS64 is available, e.g. Google.
If your network supports it, look at implementing NAT64 + DNS64 today; if it does not, contact your equipment provider to find out when they will support this important technology for IPv6.
Continue reading Running NAT64 in a dual stack network(5 min read)