Current project: RTC

RTC
Real-Time Compiler; SCADA & IoT management program

– soft-programmable (programmable while running)
– programming changes carry out via database continuously running, rules saved real-time to database
– the initial database is H2 (easy to change to MariaDB/MySQL or any of the 11 databases supported by Slick)
– When attaching to a SCADA/IoT source, it will measure the frequency data is received, and alert when data does not arrive timely
– receiving data is stored into a sparse spreadsheet-type representation, where it can be used like a spreadsheet using the internal language
-responses are real-time, for example, iptables filters or SCADA-style supervisory controls
GraphQL to support various JS presentations (or web) for graphic visualization; the visualization will work on any web-based device, instead of requiring an X based HMI (Human Machine Interface)
– This project has just started, but it shares a lot of code with Scanner project (same repo) — this is not my first time in a rodeo
– The IoT component reads rsyslog (including markers)


Components used:

– Scala 2.13.10, with Akka 2.7 and Slick 3.4.1
– Reflection (self-programming/compiling)
– Possible add-ons: Camel, Rhino & JProlog


Not decided (yet):

– Should RTC clean-up iptables on startup?
– RTC should conform to existing iptables (denyhosts & Fail2Ban)


Firewall rules:

– Trying to co-exist with pre-existing firewalls
– Trying to not deteriorate performance, despite potentially blocking half the internet (~2 billion IPs)
– Flush firewalls, esp (INPUT)
– Allow for pre-amble (policy, internal, DMZ, pre-established)
– Allow for “all ports” CHAIN
– Different port CHAINs (e.g. imap|pop3|smtp, web, VoIP)


Sheet/Canvas:

– The “materialized view” of this is going to be a spreadsheet, think Visicalc/Excel/LibreOffice Calc
– But another view is going to be SCADA graphic view using JavaScript libraries

Project on GitHub:

https://github.com/tanelio

Welcome to PointyHair

The name is shamelessly borrowed from Dilbert cartoon — but there is a story behind it…

A colleague, had a somewhat silly question, once… so he sent the question in an email, where he spoofed the sender address as manager@pointyhair.com — I looked at the question, and it was silly indeed, so I wrote a reply, but then I thought…

What if the domain name is available? But, YES, it is… I registered the domain name right away, set up a mail server, set forwarding to my colleagues email address (without rewrite), and then replied to his spoofed email.

You should have seen how quickly he appeared at my desk — “how on earth did this email, with a spoofed address, come back to me?!?!?”

(It’s ridiculously easy to spoof [fake] a Sender Address in an email… it’s ‘impossible’ to get a reply to a spoofed address to come back to you — I say impossible, though, there are ways, which I will not divulge in a blog post)

I kept the email address for a while, but it seems too many spiders pick random addresses from the ‘net, so you would not believe the amount of spam that address collects.

Meanwhile — being a VPEng / CTO, and being as far as possible from the Dilbert manager (in everything except my hair), I thought I’ll keep the domain for good.

This Blog [will] contain topics such as Software development, VoIP Asterisk, DNS, Ideal home routers, Computer design, Hardware, …