Why 255 is a hard limit in Windows

You may have noticed that 255 often comes up as a hard limit in computing again and again.

A short text field in a MS Access database cannot be more than 255 characters.

It is not possible to search for more than 255 characters in the MS Word find tool.

And of course as discussed in the Tip of the Night for December 22, 2019, the number of characters in a single file path that can be accessed by Windows Explorer cannot exceed 255.

Why is 255 the numerical limit? It has to do with 8-bit computing. Compuer systems use binary code - a series of 0s and 1s to represent values. So for example, a lower case 'x' in binary code will be represented as 01111000. A combination of zeros and ones is used to represent letters and numbers. The earliest computers had 8 bits to a byte - so the most basic data blocks could have no more than 255 characters - two to the eight power, 2^8 equals 256. Modern computers can use 64-bit data blocks, which can represent a far greater number of values (2^64 equals 18446744073709552000). However, software devs often design programs so that they don't take up more storage space than necessary - and the smallest possible storage spaces are 8-bit blocks. The limit of 255 is imposed, so larger 32-bit or 64-bit data blocks are not taken up.

Dealing with WiFi that blocks VPNs

Sometimes when using a wifi network with a VPN connection for security you may find that the network will not allow you to log on.

Governments like those in power in Turkey and Russia can set networks to block VPNs, and it’s common for companies like Netflix to restrict their use to exclude unauthorized users.  VPNs typically transmit data with information that allows a provider to flag them - but this data can be obscured by a good VPN service.   Even public companies providing wifi access will restrict VPNs.  When using a wifi network for legitimate purposes, it’s always justifiable to keep your data secure with a VPN.

If you’re stuck somewhere using wifi that blocks VPNs, there are some solutions to consider.  You may wish to clear the cookies your browser has stored first to ensure you have the latest version of a wifi login site.

Browsers use port 443 for secure https sites with encrypted traffic and a VPN can be configured to run on this port.

You can also try using a service called smart DNS proxy, in place of a VPN, which works by removing location info from the connection and masks how the IP address assigned by DNS  - the domain name system - is shown to a website.  It does not offer all of the privacy protection of a VPN.  Some VPNs will include a smart DNS proxy option.

If all else fails ,try using the TOR network.  TOR will send the VPN through multiple routers set up on its network to mask the VPN but it will also slow down your connection considerably.  Some VPNs come with an option to use the TOR Onion browser.

detect whether or not text was generated by AI

It's becoming more and more common to come across text on the internet which appears as though it may have been written by AI. You may question the usefulness of the information, which may simply serve as clickbait, or want to avoid using it as a source in a legal filing. There are several services which can help determine if text was created by an artificial intelligence program. GPTZero, https://gptzero.me/ , will let you test a limited amount of text for free. It appears to be reliable.

Back on February 11, 2023, I posted about using ChatGPT to help solve litigation support problems. See this post.

I tested the answer that ChatGPT gave when I asked it to explain the EDRM.

GPTZero found that 11 of 18 sentences used in the answer were generated by AI, although oddly it said that there was an only 1% probability of the answer being AI text.

When I tested some text on a travel guide site that I thought was suspicious, it gave the same probability result, but more to the point did not think that any of the sentences were AI text.