Monthly Archives: August 2019

CVE Binary Tool 0.3.0

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My work open source project had its second public release! Python folk can get it via pip install cve-bin-tool or by going to https://github.com/intel/cve-bin-tool/releases/tag/0.3.0

I don’t really talk about work much here, but one of the things I’ve been doing is a little helper tool called the CVE Binary Tool. It scans your code for a select number of common open source components and warns you if any of them are out of date and have known security issues (also known as CVEs, which stands for Common Vulnerability and Exposure and is basically a numbering system for publicly known security problems). Probably most people who read my blog don’t need this tool, but if you write software that ships binaries or if you like to hack software binaries, it’s a simple but informative thing to have in your toolbox. There are more comprehensive tools in this space, but they’re usually fairly expensive and fairly slow, so a free and relatively fast one has a nice niche.

The biggest new thing I’m excited about in CVE Binary Tool 0.3.0 is that it now includes Windows support, which was provided by my Google Summer of Code Student Ziao Wang. He’s been working with us for the summer and just wrapped up his time on Monday, so I was really happy we were able to get this release out before he finished his term! He’s also done some parallelization work that should make parts of this release faster, as well as other bugfixes and enhancements.

There’s also some other great stuff in there: new checkers, new usage modes, and a number of bug fixes and improvements.

Amusingly, given that I’ve been fairly involved in the Python community for so long, this was actually the first time I’ve pushed the “go” button on a release to PyPI all by myself. I like to think this is just a sign of my incredibly amazing collaborative skill, but I still had a laugh at myself when I had to read all the docs to make sure I was doing it right!

Electric Eel Wheel Nano

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I got a neat new toy:

This is a teensy little electric spinning wheel! (Crayon for scale.) It’s called the Electric Eel Wheel Nano and I got in on the end of the Kickstarter campaign.

I’m still a relatively inexperienced spinner, so I was worried this might be a ridiculous thing to buy, but it’s tiny, can be powered off usb, and is quiet, so I’m hoping it’ll be the start to me taking my spinning places (mostly, I’m thinking Saturday knit group or my work knitting group). It took a while to get used to it (it’s definitely a lot more awkward to control speed with a knob when I’m used to using my feet) but I was soon managing a reasonable single:

I then promptly played with it so long that I tired out my hand and had to take a few days break before it was back to normal. I usually spin with a timer so I guess I’d better stay in that habit!

It’s very different than my big manual wheel, but with a lot less learning curve than the drop spindle. I’ll have to do some more practice to make sure my hand can handle it (and that I don’t need to change my ergonomic setup) but I’m looking forwards to getting a nice carrying case and taking this spinning show on the road, since knit group is one of my few toddler-free crafting blocks.

Said toddler, of course, was very upset that this toy wasn’t for him! He loves my big wheel too (i have to flip the band off when it’s not in use so he can treadle without messing with my work in progress!) but I think it’ll be a while before he has the coordination to try spinning out for real, even if this means he won’t be limited by tiny toddler legs!

#socksonvacay2019: Mama/baby Dread Pirate socks!

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Shannon Squire and Knitted Wit have my favourite summer knit-a-long: Socks on Vacay. My first pair of socks took me around two years to finish, but I liked wearing them, so I foolishly joined in last year and knit 3 socks in time, and I guess I’m a sock knitter now?

So here’s a few photos of my first 4 (!) socks for this year.

Yarn is the Talk Like a Pirate Day themed “Yarrrrn!” (From last year’s sassy holidays collection). I saved this for a whole year!

Pattern is Shannon Squire’s Short Attention Span. It doesn’t actually go down to toddler size, so I improvised those a bit to scale them down.

My baby Dread Pirate (who is also so named thanks to Talk Like A Pirate Day) was utterly pleased with the socks, which was rather a surprise to me since it was hot and I didn’t think he’d want to wear them even for photos. But I think after he watched me knit them, he was pleasantly surprised to find out they were for him!

I’ve got two more socks finished but no pictures yet, so I’m definitely beating last year’s record!

Hibisco Necklace

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Although I was terribly restrained in buying kits from Laura Nelkin, I did pick up two (plus her perfect little beading tin) so here’s the second!

This is called Hibisco, and it’s another beaded jewelry kit. I’m not normally a fan of pre-strung beads for bigger knits, but they’re not too annoying for a smaller kit and I do love the way they float in the fabric.

I should have gotten a circular, but I didn’t have any in size 2.75mm or whatever this was, so I made do. I may have to expand my small needle collection in the future, though!

Blocking was a challenge. A helpful person on the forum suggested a paper plate to get the curve consistent, which proved hard with the ruffles.

I’m super happy with the way it turned out! And it’s proved toddler-resistant, so unlike my more delicate chains, I can wear this at home! Yay!

I’ve already earmarked the next kits I want, but I’m going to try and hold off until I’m finished a few of my works in progress. They’re getting a bit out of control again!