Author's posts
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/
Oct 14 2012
ubuntu is free and it always will be
But we may ask you for a contribution. Canonical have made another move in what is beginning to look ever more like a monetary commercialisation of ubuntu. On 9 October 2012, they added a new page to the “download” section titled “Tell us what we should do more……and put your money where your mouth is …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/10/14/ubuntu-is-free-and-it-always-will-be/
Oct 13 2012
password lunacy
One of my fixed term savings accounts matured at the end of last week. This means that the paltry “bonus” interest rate which made the account ever so slightly more attractive than the pathetic rates generally available 12 months ago now disappears and I am left facing a rate so far below inflation that I …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/10/13/password-lunacy/
Oct 05 2012
a positive response
Whenever my logs show evidence of unwanted behaviour I check what has happened and, if I decide there is obviously hostile activity coming from a particular address I will usually bang off an email to the abuse contact for the netblock in question. Most times I never hear a thing back though I occasionally get …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/10/05/a-positive-response/
Sep 09 2012
iptables firewall for servers
I paid for a new VPS to run tor this week. It is cheaper, and offers a higher bandwidth allowance than my existing tor server so I may yet close that one down – particularly as I recently had trouble with the exit policy on my existing server. In setting up the new server, the …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/09/09/iptables-firewall-for-servers/
Aug 28 2012
Neil Armstrong
I suppose it is inevitable that your heroes die as you get older. I was just finishing my O’ levels when Armstrong took his “one small step”. I can remember clearly looking up at the moon on that day in 1969 in awe that there were two human beings on that satellite at the very …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/08/28/neil-armstrong/
Aug 28 2012
my russian fanbase
My readership in Russia appears to be growing. For some reason I seem to be getting a lot of hits from Russian domains on my posts and pages about egroupware. And my referer logs show a lot of inbound connections from domains in the .ru TLD. Those websites I have checked appear to be technical, …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/08/28/my-russian-fanbase/
Aug 23 2012
tails has not been hacked
I run a tails mirror on one of my VMs. Earlier this week there was a flurry of anxious comment on the tails forum suggesting that the service had been “hacked”. Evidence pleaded in support of that theory included the facts that file timestamps on some of the tails files varied across mirrors, one of …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/08/23/tails-has-not-been-hacked/
Aug 21 2012
you are at 2001:db8::ff00:42:8329.
Verity Stob is having trouble getting a new IP address. What with the IPV4 address exhaustion problem, it would seem that the only alternative is IPV6. This is causing Verity some grief. Stress brings out my unoriginal streak. I said: ‘Where am I?’ ‘You are at 2001:db8::ff00:42:8329.’ ‘What?’ ‘Your new IP address at 2001:db8::ff00:42:8329.’ He …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/08/21/you-are-at-2001db8ff00428329/
Aug 21 2012
debian on a DNS-320
Back in 2009 I bought, on impulse, a D-Link DNS-313 thinking it was sufficiently similar to the 323 to enable me to install debian with some ease. As I noted at the time, however, I’d made a slight mistake and then had to settle for a compromise installation from a tarball rather than a full …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/08/21/debian-on-a-dns-320/
Aug 20 2012
what every iphone needs
I stumbled across this site today when following a link from an email on the topic of reflashing an android tablet with CyanogenMod. The guy who sent the email (to the ALUG list) had bought a generic 7″ android tablet. He was considering reflashing with CM9 and was asking for advice/guidance/gotchas or whatever before doing …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/08/20/what-every-iphone-needs/
Aug 15 2012
the stainless steel rat bows out
I read today that Harry Harrison has died at the age of 87. Harrison was one of the greats of the SF glory years. Alongside Heinlein (whose work he spoofed mercilessly) Philip Dick, Asimov, van Vogt, Ray Bradbury, Bob Sheckley, Doc Smith and a host of others I grew up with in the 60s and …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/08/15/the-stainless-steel-rat-bows-out/
Aug 08 2012
oops
An attempted quick search this morning using ixquick over tor drew a blank. In fact I hit a brick wall as the screenshot below will show. The commentary provided by ixquick is self-explanatory (click the image if you have difficulty reading the snapshot), but I can’t help feeling that this problem should have been foreseen …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/08/08/oops/
Aug 02 2012
outlook goes public – linus approves
Microsoft has (re-)launched its free public email service (previously branded “hotmail” and “windows live”) under the brand “outlook”. Outlook has been Microsoft’s email client on the corporate desktop for many years now, so they may be hoping that the new look email product will benefit from the existing brand’s goodwill. However, I noticed from a …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/08/02/outlook-goes-public-linus-approves/
Jul 31 2012
avoiding accidental google
Even though I set my default search engine to anything but google (usually ixquick, but sometimes its sister engine at startpage) I have occasionally been caught out by firefox’s helpful attempts to intervene if I mistakenly enter a search option in the URL navigation field (or just hit return too early). Firefox’s default action in …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/07/31/avoiding-accidental-google/
Jul 28 2012
too much bling
Avid readers will note that I have reverted to a simpler, two column, layout. Posts and pages are to the left, and additional navigation links are to the right. Some of my friends commented that the three column layout, with several images in the outer columns was distracting (actually, one said “bleah!”). I left it …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/07/28/too-much-bling/
Jul 24 2012
coercion
David commented on my gpg upgrade post saying: “How does one ensure that they are not coerced into signing a transition statement with a new (but compromised) key?”. Well, you can never be sure I can’t be coerced, and this is why I can’t be sure I cannot be coerced: My thanks as always to …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2012/07/24/coercion/