Return of the Krool.

A few years ago, I built a micro-game called Krool Joolz using Python and Pygame.

With my recent acquisition of a Unity3D license, I decided to try and recreate the game play using Unity. It was a good learning exercise, I learned several Unity concepts, how the engine works etc. I'm quite impressed so far. Deploying a build to the web with just a few clicks is great!

You can play with the prototype if you like.

There is no meta or end game yet, you just play until you lock the grid.

Dear lazyweb...

I'm setting up my Python dev environment on a new macbook... and easy_install is running like treacle down a hill. It is so slow!

Anyone else experienced this, and worked out what is wrong? I'm guessing its something network related...

I have Unity.

I've just arranged to purchase Unity 3D, a rapid game development tool.

I was first attracted to Unity because it could use the Boo language, which has some similarities to Python, my language of choice. Having played with the trial version, I've realized that Unity is an excellent tool, and will let me focus on games, instead of game libraries and frameworks.

Ironically, my first Unity project is not a game. I'll be using it to simulate industrial robots. Hopefully my client will allow me to post some screen shots as work progresses...

Apache + SSL + PSK on Ubuntu

This howto describes the process of using Apache and SSL with trusted clients, via Pre Shared Keys. Unlike the usual way of using SSL, this setup requires the server _and_ the client to have valid certificates. This means you need to create a client certificate and deliver it securely to the client.

1. Enable SSL.

sudo a2enmod ssl

2. Generate a private key without a passphrase,

openssl genrsa -out server.key 1024

or with a passphrase.

openssl genrsa -des3 -out server.key 1024

3. Create a certificate signing request.

openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr

4. Sign it yourself.

openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt

5. Copy your new certificate and keys to the appropriate places.

sudo cp server.crt /etc/ssl/certs
sudo cp server.key /etc/ssl/private

6. Edit your apache site configuration, add these lines into a VirtualHost section.

SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/server.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/server.key
SSLVerifyClient require
SSLVerifyDepth 1
SSLCACertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/server.crt

7. Create a certificate which you can give to a client, or a group of clients.

openssl pkcs12 -export -out client_cert.pfx -in server.crt -inkey server.key\
-name 'Certificate Name'

8. Make sure the client gets the client_cert.pfx file, which they install into their browser.

9. To use the client_certificate.pfx in a python httplib or httplib2, it needs to be split into a key and certificate file.

openssl pkcs12 -clcerts -nokeys -in client_cert.pfx -out client_cert.pem
openssl pkcs12 -nocerts -in client_cert.pfx -out client_key.pem

10. Strip the pass phrase from client_key.pem so Python does not prompt for a pass phrase!

openssl rsa -in client_key.pem -out unsecured_client_key.pem