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James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 10h

I take it you mean that this file supports signatures / encryption on a base level, and will not read via API without a key. Correct?

(this matches what I've seen, re protected word documents).

Seems like there's good plumbing for this scenario.

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 10h

Yeah, this was the inspiration. I've known about it for years but last week I went and made a base module for OpenXML

github.com/PowerShellWe...

That got my brain churning a bit more on the subject.

Putting unwelcome content in another package is bad, but making a new one....

GitHub - PowerShellWeb/OpenXML: Automate OpenXML with PowerShell

Automate OpenXML with PowerShell. Contribute to PowerShellWeb/OpenXML development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 11h

Yeah, I'm thinking one of the benefits of a consistent packaging abstraction is the ability to scan content.

I suppose you would know better than most :-)

I figure a good tool will leave a trace, and a package without those traces is a risk. The more tracing, the less risk.

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 12h

Happy for help on this front.

I'm thinking I'd like to provide ample provenance information from git where available, along with some static analysis that can be safely double-checked.

(i.e. if it says it doesn't invoke-expression, and it really doesn't invoke-expression)

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 16h

Kicking things off:

I want to be able to treat any directory as a package.

I want to be able to inspect commands without running them.

I want to know where a package came from.

I want to be able to browse a package.

What else...?

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 16h

Eh, I wouldn't complain.

I love my #vscode these days, and appreciate all the #PowerShell ISE could do, but/also/and...

Wrote everything during the Vista / Win7 ship cycles in notepad.

So, ~4 years of pure notepad (editors under construction)

Truly helps you learn languages. And is a pain.

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 17h

Yeah, it wasn't the team's call, and there are _lots_ of mitigations to this. Exchange's attachment blocking is the cloud mitigation.

Opening to read instead of run is the local mitigation

The ISE is/was a whole other ball of wax.

Short version is: totally different surface area.

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 18h

Last week I remember just how many different files are "zip files in a trenchcoat"

This week I'm wondering:

What would you want in a PowerShell / Shell archive format?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Pa...

Open Packaging Conventions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2 2

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 19h

Because for a hot minute there were VBScript viruses that spread thru email and nobody on the PowerShell team / org wanted that to be easy with PowerShell.

So many layers of countermeasures were devised.

Chief among them: double clicking a PowerShell script should not run it.

1 2

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

Just a bit of #Fibonacci #Friday #Fun #Math #PowerShell

Here's a _really_ fast Fibonacci Sequence generator.

It gets me the first 1024 numbers in around ([TimeSpan]'00:00:00.0002212') seconds.

On a #RaspberryPi 😉😎

gist.github.com/StartAutomat...

Enjoy!

Gist a fast Fibonacci

Gist a fast Fibonacci. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

💯👍

#PowerShell makes life beautiful.

BTW, based off the screen name, you might enjoy this uncreatively named module for Neocities.

github.com/PowerShellWe...

(it needs stars, and love)

GitHub - PowerShellWeb/Neocities: Personal Webpages in PowerShell

Personal Webpages in PowerShell. Contribute to PowerShellWeb/Neocities development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

2

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

I believe everyone needs to share their knowledge:

You can't take it with you, and hoarding your knowledge hurts the human race.

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

💯

I helped build a language ( #PowerShell ), and I am still _constantly_ having to double-check a thing.

Just because I know a language like the back of my hand doesn't mean I know _everything_ about it.

Even if you make languages, you'll be constantly surprised by them.

5

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

For nerdy reference / understanding...

STL is basically a series of triangles. There are two "unfortunate" parts of this.

1. It repeats intersecting coordinates
2. It does not make the vertices clear

So 3MF uses less space, and is more clear to read.

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

#TodayILearned #TIL #Microsoft #AppV is a zip file in a trenchcoat.

This one is probably pretty useful, since it lets us peer inside of an app in #Virtualization:

learn.microsoft.com/en-us/micros...

Application Publishing and Client Interaction (Windows 10/11) - Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack

Learn technical information about common App-V Client operations and their integration with the local operating system.

learn.microsoft.com

2

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

#TodayILearned #TIL that family trees are also Zip Files in a Trenchcoat, at least if you use Family.Show.

Also learned "Family.Show" is still a thing:

github.com/fredatgithub...

Anyone have a family tree in this format that's not the Windsors?

GitHub - fredatgithub/FamilyShow: Fork of the Family show project from CodePlex. This is a genealogy application.

Fork of the Family show project from CodePlex. This is a genealogy application. - fredatgithub/FamilyShow

github.com

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

#TodayILearned #TIL that .3mf files are just a .zip file in a trenchcoat.

This one I like 😉

A .3mf file is "mostly" just a compressed #XML file representing the model.

It mainly contains the vertices and triangles between them.

Very simple and easier to understand than STL. 😀

#3DPrinting

1 3

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

Exactly what I mean.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Pa...

(wrote an OpenXML module the other day, and seeing what else in this area might be useful)

Open Packaging Conventions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

Yep, and I'm just trying to encourage and hopefully steer anyone away from the rocks.

Some things in tech are easy.

Lots of things in tech are an endless rabbit hole to wonderland, and it helps to have a friend holding a rope to the real world.

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

I feel like #Gnome "recent" menu is judging me and no longer showing music I play too often.

Anyone else feel that way about #Gnome judging them?

a gnome statue in a garden with imgflip.com written on the bottom right

Alt: Seriously, Gnome, I just played that song an hour ago and it's no longer in my recent menu because...? I know I've listened to the song a dozen times... recently!

media.tenor.com

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

Yeah, I feel like a bunch of that list is "I use this most weeks", and the rest of that list is "what file format is this and does anyone actually use it nowadays?"

(hence asking the internets)

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

Today I learned that #PowerBI files (*.pbix, *.pbit) are zip files in a trenchcoat.

😀

Sadly, I also learned that they are (mostly) full of byte[]s

🤔😞

Any PowerBI geeks know how I might decode those bytes?

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

Hey #PowerShell people:

How many of these file formats do you use? Which ones?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Pa...

Thinking about making a module for Open Packaging.

Open Packaging Conventions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1 1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

Yeah, I wasn't suggesting copy/paste.

I was suggesting looking at the techniques being used.

And I'm serious about the compliment.

Learning to dev is all about minmaxing pain of implementation vs gain of functionality.

And it's an endless process.

You're getting better.

Keep at it!

1

James Brundage | MVP @mrpowershell.com · 3d

To highlight a compliment:

I think that GUST is the most useful tool I've seen from you yet.

Part of why is that it builds upon existing technology (git), to do something that's of everyday use (simplifying interactivity).

It's not reinventing the wheel.... it's improving it's traction.