Python question

[Steve D'Aprano]

On Sat, 25 Mar 2017 10:09 am, Cameron Simpson wrote:

> On 24Mar2017 18:08, Abdul Abdul <abdul.sw84 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>I hope you are doing fine. I have added a question on StackOverflow and
>>thought you might have an idea on it. This is the question
>><https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42991477/python-structuring-a-file-similar-to-another-pickled-file>
> 
> Hi Adbul,
> 
> Please just post the question here, with a nice descriptive Subject: line.
> 
> It is quite possible for people to be reading this list when they do not
> have web access (eg offline on a train, as I sometimes do) and it is
> anyway annoying to have to open a web browser to see what you are asking
> about, and doubly annoying to copy from that question into the list for
> replies.


I solve that problem by hitting Delete on the original post, ESPECIALLY if
they BCC or CC me without a good excuse. As I was in this case: the OP
BCCed me in his post. I'm not *that* special, so my guess is that he did a
mass BCC of many regulars here, which makes this spam.

Judging from the question on Stackoverflow, I think he's just trying to
drive eyeballs to the question so he can get higher reputation. It is a
silly question: he says he has a pickle file containing an image file, and
he's asking (1) what's in the pickle file, and (2) how can he create an
identical pickle file containing a different image.

The answer to (1) is "Whatever you put in it".

Or possibly malware: he links to an actual pickle file he has put up on-line
somewhere. Anyone brave enough to unpickle it in a sandbox and report on
whether it contains what he says it contains? Remember that pickles can
contain arbitrary executable code.




-- 
Steve
“Cheer up,” they said, “things could be worse.” So I cheered up, and sure
enough, things got worse.