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Checking passwords for breach with a local script

This post presents a simple Python script for checking passwords against the have i been pwned? breach database. It's intended for people who don't trust typing in passwords in an online form to check them. The full version of the script also evaluates the password strength by bits of entropy.

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Safe-modding a C64 PSU with a USB charger

In this post an original wedge shape Commodore 64 PSU is modified with a USB charger to make it safe to use. Otherwise there is a risk of it failing and damaging the computer.

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Fixing the Rambo First Blood Part II C64 tape loader

The game Rambo First Blood part II for the Commodore 64 was released with an Ocean type tape loader that featured an amazing Martin Galway tune, but this particular tape loader has a tendency to fail on some systems. In this article the problem is investigated and fixed, and full instructions are provided on how to make a fixed TAP file.

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The RetroCropper

An original Commodore 64 generates a white line artifact at the left of the picture. It's normally invisible due to screen cropping, but some upscalers don't crop the picture making the artifact clearly visible on modern TVs. The RetroCropper device presented here can process composite and S-video signals to remove the artifact and perform other cropping tasks.

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Selecting the browser when opening links in Linux

This article describes how to setup a dialog for selecting what browser to use when opening a link in typical Linux desktop environments. The dialog is created with Zenity from a bash script. It shows up every time a URL is clicked from a non-browser application.

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Introducing Filmgrainer

Filmgrainer is an image processing algorithm that adds noise to an image resembling photographic film grain. It's implemented in Python and runs as a command line utility on Linux platforms, installable with pip.

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Quick and dirty NGINX directory listing behind login and HTTPS

This guide explains how to set up a simple NGINX autoindex directory listing page behind HTTP digest authentication and a self-signed HTTPS certificate. The goal is to set up a "poor man's" directory listing with minimal dependencies and bare minimum authentication and HTTPS features.

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Docker containers as virtual machines for build environments

This article describes a way to use Docker containers as lightweight virtual machines suitable for building software. Containerizing build environments makes it possible to build with different Linux distributions and to isolate the build environment from the host system, with only a negligible performance penalty.

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