Force MySQL to ignore key length error

Submitted by Darren Oh on

If the following MySQL error prevents you from creating or altering a table, you can get the statement to execute successfully by disabling strict mode:

1071 Specified key was too long; max key length is 1000 bytes

Disabling strict mode will change the error to a warning. The key will be shortened to fit the maximum key length. This is fine if you don’t need the full value in the index.

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Cryptography and the right to bear arms

Submitted by Darren Oh on

Cryptography is legally protected by the right to free speech. It is also protected by the right to keep and bear arms. Until 2000, cryptography was considered a weapon under United States law, and exporting strong encryption from the United States was banned. The same arguments used to defend gun ownership also apply to the right to use encryption to transmit and store information.

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Facts about Christmas

Submitted by Darren Oh on

I have often heard (and repeated) the claim that Christmas was originally a pagan holiday. It made sense to me because it is not mentioned in the Bible. Until now, I had assumed that the claim that Christmas was a pagan holiday would not be made unless it had a factual basis.

Some people who believe this claim argue against Christmas decorations in church, so I decided to check the facts for myself. I do not expect facts alone to settle the argument. I just hope facts will help arguments to be based on truth.

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Bypassing Wi-Fi login screen

Submitted by Darren Oh on

If you are trying to connect a device that cannot display a Wi-Fi login screen to a Wi-Fi network that requires a login screen, you will need to spoof the MAC address of the device you are trying to connect on a device that can display a login screen.

A MAC address is a hardware ID that identifies a device on a network. Here’s how to spoof the MAC address on a Mac computer.

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What’s the value of working for an agency?

Submitted by Darren Oh on

I work for Cognizant, a technology consulting company. My division, Cognizant Softvision, provides digital engineering services to clients. What this means in practice is that I am embedded in a client’s engineering team. This works fine for me, but I have wondered how the business model works for Cognizant and for clients and whether it limits my earnings.

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Too many open files on MacOS

Submitted by Darren Oh on

When a lot of things are running at once, hitting the open files limit on MacOS makes things start crashing. Running MacOS Server is supposed to help, but its configuration changes are inadequate if a lot of non-server activity is also going on. Every version of MacOS seems to have a different way of changing the open files limit. Here are some pages that try to follow the changes between versions.

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