Author's posts
Mar 26 2013
using an ssh reverse tunnel to bypass NAT firewalls
There is usually more than one way to solve a problem. Back in October last year I wrote about using OpenVPN to bypass NAT firewalls when access to the firewall configuration was not available. I have also written about using ssh to tunnel out to a tor proxy. What I haven’t previously commented on is …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2013/03/26/using-an-ssh-reverse-tunnel-to-bypass-nat-firewalls/
Mar 13 2013
impolite spam
Most blogs get hit by spammers aiming to get their URLs posted in the comments section. Like most wordpress based blogs, I use the default Akismet antispam plugin. I don’t like it, I don’t like the fact that it is shipped by default, I don’t like the fact that it is increasingly becoming non-free (as …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2013/03/13/impolite-spam/
Feb 28 2013
touching update
I have recently upgraded the internal disk on my main desktop from 1TB to 2TB. I find it vaguely astonishing that I should have needed to do that, but I do have a rather large store of MP4 videos, jpeg photos and audio files held locally. And disk prices are again coming down so the …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2013/02/28/touching-update/
Jan 25 2013
now that is what an isp should be like
In my post about the astonishing speed of the DigitalOcean network compared to the appalling service I was getting at ThrustVPS, I mentioned that the free bandwidth model didn’t look sustainable in the long run. Indeed, DigitalOcean told me themselves that they would move to a more normal commercial model when they had a better …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2013/01/25/now-that-is-what-an-isp-should-be-like/
Jan 14 2013
a long time ago in a galaxy far far away
The ascii art in sl was quite cute, this is far more elaborate. To see it in action, telnet to towel.blinkenlights.nl. Why waste your time browsing rubbish websites – fire up a terminal session and waste even more time with telnet. More fun places to try can be found at telnet.org.
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2013/01/14/a-long-time-ago-in-a-galaxy-far-far-away/
Jan 13 2013
what a difference a gig makes
During the new year period when I was having a little local difficulty with thrustVPS, I started looking around for alternative providers. My first port of call was lowendbox. That site lists many VPS providers and is often used by suppliers to advertise “special deals” for short periods. Indeed, I think I intially found thrust …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2013/01/13/what-a-difference-a-gig-makes/
Jan 11 2013
dovecot failure
Today I ran a routine apt-get update/apt-get upgrade on my mailserver and dovecot failed afterwards. This is a “bad thing” (TM). No routine software upgrade should cause a failure of the kind I experienced. Two things happened which should not have done. Firstly the SSL certificates appeared to have changed (which meant that mail clients …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2013/01/11/dovecot-failure/
Jan 10 2013
my top ten
I have been collecting statistics on trivia’s visitors using counterize for some time. The lastest version, which I have been using for about five months now, allows the user to graph, and publish, site statistics in a nice form. I have today created a new page (listed under “longer trivia” on the right) called trivial …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2013/01/10/my-top-ten/
Jan 07 2013
thrust respond
This afternoon I received an email from Andrew Sinclair at thrustVPS in response to my post below. In the interests of openness I have added his email as a comment to the post. My thanks to Andrew for that email. It is just a shame that I did not get such a helpful response in …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2013/01/07/thrust-respond/
Jan 06 2013
lies, damned lies and VPS traffic
I had an interesting time over the new year period. For some time now I have run a tor node on a VPS at ThrustVPS. I also run my tails mirror on a VPS at the same provider. Their network has always struck me as pretty poor (response times to ssh login is particularly bad, …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2013/01/06/lies-damned-lies-and-vps-traffic/
Dec 24 2012
another anniversary
This time last year I noted that christmas eve was trivia’s birthday. Guess what, it’s that time of year again, and what am I again doing? Merry Christmas to all^h^h^h both my readers. Mick
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/12/24/another-anniversary/
Dec 19 2012
no sites are broken
Or so the wordpress post at wordpress.org would have us believe. However, I think there is flaw in both their logic, and their decision making here. I spotted the problem following an upgrade to wordpress 3.5 on a site I use. One of the plugins on that site objected to the upgrade with the following …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/12/19/no-sites-are-broken/
Dec 14 2012
password theft
I have mentioned odd postings to bugtraq before. Today, one “gsuberland” added to the canon with a gem about the Netgear WGR614 wireless router. He says in his post that he has been “reverse engineering” this router. Now for most bugtraq posters (and readers) this would mean that he has been disassembling the firmware. But …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/12/14/password-theft/
Dec 12 2012
horse-terity
Steve Bell’s If… cartoon in yesterday’s Guardian was wonderful, and wonderfully opportune in its timing given my letter to Jeff Bezos. I wanted to include a copy here so I emailed Steve this morning asking for permission. Astonishingly he replied, saying yes, only minutes after I had sent my request (clearly he wasn’t very busy…..) …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/12/12/horse-terity/
Dec 11 2012
moonlighting in parliament
Yesterday I followed a link from Duncan Campbell’s Reg article on the joint parliamentary committee’s scrutiny of the Communications Data Bill referred to in my post below. That link took me to the UK Parliamentary website which I confess I haven’t visited in a while. I was initially irritated that the video format used on …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/12/11/moonlighting-in-parliament/
Dec 10 2012
tor and the UK data communications bill
As a Tor node operator, I have an interest in how the draft UK Data Communications Bill would affect me should it be passed into law. In particular, I would be worried if Tor ended up being treated as a “telecommunications operator” within the terms of the Act (should it become an Act). Fortunately, Steven …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/12/10/tor-and-the-uk-data-communications-bill/
Dec 07 2012
an open letter to Jeff Bezos
Dear Jeff You don’t know me(*), but I used to be a customer of yours. I say “used to be” because I am no more, nor shall I be again. I have today closed my Amazon account (and I must say that you do not make that process very easy). You may be aware that …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/12/07/an-open-letter-to-jeff-bezos/
Nov 29 2012
why I read el reg
The Register today carries a story about the discovery of a truly massive black hole named “SDSS J1106+1939” at the center of a dying galaxy. That black hole is reported to be emitting energy “equivalent to two trillion times the power output of the sun.” The story itself is classic Reg material and is covered …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/11/29/why-i-read-el-reg/
Nov 27 2012
what gives with dban?
Recently I have been faced with the need to wipe a bunch of hard disks removed from some old (indeed, in one or two cases, very old) PCs before disposal. Normally I would have used DBAN to do this because it gives me a nice warm feeling that I have taken all reasonable steps and …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/11/27/what-gives-with-dban/
Nov 22 2012
why mysql crashed
Update to previous post According to bytemark, a bug in the bigV system caused some disk corruptions for a small number of customers. It seems that I was just one of the unlucky ones. I am assured that all is now well.
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/11/22/why-mysql-crashed/
Nov 16 2012
forcing innodb recovery in mysql
Today I had a nasty looking problem with my mysql installation. At first I thought I might have to drop one or more databases and re-install. Fortunately, I didn’t actually have to do that in the end. I first noticed a problem at around 15.45 today when I couldn’t collect my mail. My mail system …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/11/16/forcing-innodb-recovery-in-mysql/
Oct 27 2012
using openvpn to bypass NAT firewalls
OpenVPN is a free, open source, general purpose VPN tool which allows users to build secure tunnels through insecure networks such as the internet. It is the ideal solution to a wide range of secure tunnelling requirements, but it is not always immediately obvious how it should be deployed in some circumstances. Recently, a correspondent …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/10/27/using-openvpn-to-bypass-nat-firewalls/
Oct 23 2012
book theft
Back in August 2011. I wrote about my preference for real books over the emerging electronic version. In that post I noted that Amazon had famously deleted copies of Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm purchased by some customers. It now appears that Amazon has gone even further and deleted the entire contents of a Norwegian …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/10/23/book-theft/
Oct 20 2012
grep -R doesn’t search amazon
Towards the end of last month, following the release of the unity lens in ubuntu which searches amazon, “akeane” posted a bug report on launchpad complaining that “grep -R doesn’t automatically search amazon”. In his first posting he said: Dear “root owning” overlords, When using grep recursively I only get local results: grep -R fish_t …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/10/20/grep-r-doesnt-search-amazon/