Tag: Python

xkcdpass - secure passwords for transport

Passwords are problematic. Always. Especially during COVID-19 - were you have to securely transport data via insecure means. What I want to say: Sending confidential data via email. Actually, thats quite easy: (7)-zip everything with AES256 using a long enough key - transfer the key via additional, more secure lines of communication (e.g. phone) and you are ok for the most part.

However, spelling %-FoPN#~OeJQ0h9g3_JWrvnq9h^ip))srzg{\vnj via phone is "a bit cumbersome". Thats the moment you recall Randall Munroe's xkcd #936 Password strength:

And with this basic idea, xkcdpass was born. It can generate passwords from multiple dictonary entries, seperated by some symbols and generate things like showcase surging swoosh bakeshop smoked duffel - and you can also tweek the settings to change the amount of words used, length, delimters, etc.

It is written in python and can be installed via a quick pip install xkcdpass and then used with the command line paramter xkcdpass

All infos are in the Git repo found here.

Long enough sentences are good enough - and are awesome as "transfer keys" to secure the real data.

Quickly check python imports

If you happen to write a lot of python scripts and just want to check which of the added "imports" are actually needed to function - and do not want to use an IDE - just check out https://pypi.org/project/importchecker/ - it comes down to a quick 

easy_install importchecker

and afterwards you can check your scripts by using

importchecker myScript.py

It will only output the imports NOT needed, which you can then remove by hand

[ØMQ] Getting started with ØMQ and Python on Windows 7, x64

ØMQ (zeroMQ) is one of these sexy "new" Message Queue Systems. I wanted to dive into it right away, starting with Java. However, building zeroMQ with Java Binding on Windows 7, x64 is a pain (read: Did not work out fast enough - as I wanted to get my feet wet fast!) - so I switched over to Python. Well. Getting that to work is quite easy.

1.) Download and install latest zeroMQ
You can get the Windows Downloads on http://zeromq.org/distro:microsoft-windows, i choose the Stable Release 4.0.4 for Windows, x64 Release for Vista and newer. Just download and install it.

2.) Download and install Python
As I really like the 2.7 branch, I went for Python 2.7.9 which can be downloaded at https://www.python.org/downloads/.
You should install it with all default settings, but enable the "Add Python to System Path".
After installation you should check that the Path Variables for your Python Install are added correctly, i.e. "C:\Python27;C:\Python27\Scripts"
( More information on how to add path variables on http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000549.htm)

3.) Download and install the Python Binding pyzmq
Open a cmd / command prompt and enter pip install pyzmq. That should install pyzmq.

4.) Final words
After that you can open your Python IDLE and start with some demo code, which can be found on the Github of pyzmq: https://github.com/zeromq/pyzmq/tree/master/examples

The getting started guide is also an awesome source of information:
http://zguide.zeromq.org/py:all

Common Problems:
If you get an "pip not found", you most probably have not set the Path / Enviromental Variables correctly.