The 1TB Toshiba disk I bought a couple of weeks ago to upgrade storage on the slug has one big drawback in my view. Whilst the disk itself is fine, Toshiba have made the mistake of sticking a very intense blue LED on the front panel, presumably because they think it looks “cool”. Well it …
Category: trivial musing
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2009/03/29/the-strong-blue-light/
Mar 16 2009
so what is a netbook?
Having just invested in an Acer Aspire One (which I’ll write about later), I also enjoyed this FAQ from el Reg. Nice chart.
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2009/03/16/so-what-is-a-netbook/
Mar 16 2009
a thirteen amp plug just won’t cut it
I normally read the register for its IT tech related reporting – and I enjoy it just because it is a wonderfully scurrilous rag. However, an article about the Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg’s “Quant”, which el Reg chose to call “Mary”, piqued my interest somewhat. I can’t quite make the arithmetic work out. To quote …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2009/03/16/a-thirteen-amp-plug-just-wont-cut-it/
Mar 01 2009
upgrading the slug – a lesson in addresses
My ever growing DVD collection has been taking its toll on my disk storage. Despite the fact that ripping a DVD to PSP format typically shrinks it to between 300 and 500 MB, that still means that I have over 300 GB of videos on my PC. Add to that the OGG vorbis audio collection …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2009/03/01/upgrading-the-slug-a-lesson-in-addresses/
Feb 13 2009
party like it’s 1234567890
Unix geeks the world over today celebrate the passing of unix time = 1234567890 at 23:31:30 GMT on friday the 13th of February 2009. Personally I’ll be asleep.
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2009/02/13/party-like-its-1234567890/
Dec 28 2008
are we lost yet
I bought my wife a car SatNav system for christmas. She complained about the voice. I can’t understand why. (My thanks again to xkcd.)
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/12/28/are-we-lost-yet/
Dec 27 2008
small doesn’t have to mean slow
Much as I love my slugs (and low power consumption coupled with almost completely silent running means I love them a lot) I do sometimes need just a little more “grunt” than they offer. I have been running a PHP based webserver together with postfix on an old (actually very old) Compaq Armada 4160T (that’s …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/12/27/small-doesnt-have-to-mean-slow/
Dec 27 2008
egroupware mail with dovecot and postfix
I have recently built an egroupware system to be used as a social networking site. The application suite itself is relatively easy to install and configure, but the webmail system it offers (a fork of squirrelmail called felamimail) is rather poorly documented. It took me some time to figure out how to authenticate mail users …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/12/27/dovecot-and-postfix-on-debian/
Dec 24 2008
and yet more DNS lunacy
A company called Unified Root is offering to register new top level domains in advance of the proposed ICANN changes. The company describes itself in the following terms: “UnifiedRoot (Unified Root) is an independent, privately owned company, based in Amsterdam, which makes corporate and public top-level domains (TLDs) available worldwide. Through our own efforts and …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/12/24/and-yet-more-dns-lunacy/
Dec 24 2008
more DNS silliness
I came across an interesting post on Avert labs site recently. That post pointed to an earlier SANS posting, which in turn, referenced a Symantec discussion of a new Trojan called Trojan.Flush.M. This trojan is an interesting variant of a class of trojans which hijack local DNS settings to force the compromised machine to use …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/12/24/more-dns-silliness/
Sep 25 2008
gun, foot, shoot
As a chartered member of the British Computer Society (BCS) I recently received through the post my voting forms for the 2008 AGM. The process gives me the option of voting electronically using a website run by Electoral Reform Services. My security codes (two separate numeric IDs, one of six characters, the other of four) …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/09/25/gun-foot-shoot/
Sep 12 2008
webanalytics – just say no
I have just built myself a new intel core 2 duo based machine to replace one of my older machines which was beginning to struggle under the load of video transcoding I was placing upon it. The new machine is based on an E8400 and is nice and shiny and fast. Because it is a …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/09/12/webanalytics-just-say-no/
Sep 12 2008
french slugs?
In an earlier post I speculated that the CherryPal PC might be a possible option for users considering replacements for the slug. But that device has still yet to hit the streets and is beginning to look suspiciously like vapourware. However, linuxdevices, the site devoted to linux on embedded devices, wrote about the interesting looking …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/09/12/french-slugs/
Sep 08 2008
chrome *can* get rusty
Amidst all the hype and hullabaloo about Google’s chrome, el reg tells it like it is. Yes, “it’s a f***ing web browser”. You just have to love the reg.
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/09/08/chrome-can-get-rusty/
Aug 20 2008
where did my bandwidth go
Have you ever wondered what was eating your network? Would you like to be able to check exactly which application was responsible for that sudden spike in outbound traffic? NetHogs might help. This neat little utility calls itself a “small ‘net top’ tool”, and that is exactly what it is. NetHogs groups bandwidth usage by …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/08/20/where-did-my-bandwidth-go/
Aug 10 2008
trusting DNS
Dan Kaminsky has (quite rightly) been hitting the press a lot in the weeks since 8 July when he announced the work done to fix a flaw he had discovered in DNS. The vulnerability itself was new, but its impact (cache poisoning) was not. Indeed, we’ve known about the dangers of poisoned DNS caches for …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/08/10/trusting-dns/
Jul 26 2008
replacement for the slug
I noted in an earlier post that Linksys were ceasing production of the NSLU2. There are now a variety of NAS systems coming onto the market which might make good replacements – but most of them look expensive when compared to the slug. However I’ve just seen a review of a box which looks as …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/07/26/replacement-for-the-slug/
Jul 16 2008
ooops
An apt-get dist-upgrade (to bring the kernel up to date and install some new patches) on the slugs killed the webcam. Of course I should have remembered that the gspca module was built against the old kernel and might fail. One quick “m-a auto-install gspca” later and all is working again. Of course the kernel …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/07/16/ooops/
Jul 09 2008
slugs are history
Jim Buzbee, of batbox fame and one of the original NSLU2 hackers, apparently gave a presentation about the history of slug hacking at the Boulder Linux Users Group. A PDF copy of his presentation can be found on his batbox.org site. Jim also notes that Linkys are ending production of the NSLU2 after four years …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/07/09/slugs-are-history/
Jul 02 2008
mine’s longer than yours
You could regard this as another pointless entry to go alongside the webcam. But hey – so what. I had cause to check the uptime on my slugs a little while ago now that they are largely stable and providing the services I want. After doing so I thought it would be good to be …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/07/02/mines-longer-than-yours/
Jun 19 2008
dental dos
On Tuesday 17 June, Craig Wright, supposedly “Manager of Risk Advisory Services” in an Australian Company called “BDO Kendalls”, posted a rather odd note to Bugtraq and a few other security related lists titled “Hacking Coffee Makers”. In that posting he said that the Jura F90 Coffee maker (which can apparently be networked) was vulnerable …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/06/19/dental-dos/
Jun 05 2008
xkcd on the openssl fiasco
I’ve had my attention drawn to Randall Munroe’s take on the openssl coding change problem. Beautiful.
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/06/05/xkcd-on-the-openssl-fiasco/
Jun 02 2008
debian and the openssl flaw
Ben Laurie wrote about the Debian SSL problem a couple of weeks ago. That particular post has attracted a huge response which is well worth reading if you care about free open source software and/or privacy/security issues (or even if you don’t). The key point to take from the discussion is that about two years …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/06/02/debian-and-the-openssl-flaw/
Jun 02 2008
recursion: see recursion
I have written about how I use one of my slugs to backup my internal files via rsync over ssh. Well it turns out I made a pretty silly mistake in my rsync options. I thought I’d been careful in specifying the files I specifically wanted excluded from the backup (ephemeral stuff, thumbnail images, some …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2008/06/02/recursion-see-recursion/