11 Sep, 2006
panic reducing tip
This morning I couldn't connect to one of my servers. I started to feel some panic, while I submitted a support ticket. Before I got a response, I figured out what the problem was.
On Friday, I tested XNmap by doing a port scan on this server. I forgot that I had installed portsentry, so the port scan added my ip address to iptables to so all connections are dropped, and to the hosts.deny file so services would reject these connections.
So my tips for the day are pay attention to what you are doing, and think about the unexpected side effects could be. Also, try not to run tests on production machines.
Technorati Tags: iptables, portsentry, system admin, XNmap
10 Sep, 2006
Network QuickEntry
In my last post I mentioned how I think it would great if QuickEntry worked across a network. This is how I think that this could work.
- When Quicken is installed it generates a large public / private key pair.
- There would be a new option in Quicken to generate a QuickEntry widget. When the widget is generated, a public / private key pair is generated for the widget itself. Also the user can assign a label for each widget generated.
- Quicken would create a daemon that would allow QuickEntry instances to be added to the Quicken data file, even when Quicken is not running.
- When a QuickEntry widget sends the transactions to Quicken, it will first sign the data with the private key for the widget. Then it will encrypt the signed data with the public key for the Quicken installation.
9 Sep, 2006
Quicken 2007
Intuit released a while ago their latest in yearly update to Quicken. (Remember when Intuit said that they were discontinuing support for Mac quicken?) Quicken 2007 is a minor update with the only major feature being the resurrection of QuickEntry. QuickEntry has been implemented as a Dashboard Widget.
I really like this feature, especially it takes too long to launch Quicken just to enter some receipts. It was a shame when it was removed in Quicken 2002.
(More)
9 Sep, 2006
Harmony Remote Software
I just noticed that Logitech has updated their Harmony Remote desktop software. Now instead of using a separate web browser to configure the remote settings, and an application to update the remote, the application now integrates these two functions. The Logitech Harmony Remote application is a java application that essentially a web browser that initially goes to a specified url.
This solves the problem that I mentioned before where the old Harmony Remote Application started reading the configuration file before Firefox finished downloading it.
Technorati Tags: browser, Harmony Remote, java, Logitech
8 Sep, 2006
DiggThumbs
DiggThumbs is a Firefox extension that shows thumbnails for entries on digg. These thumbnails are provided by WebShotsPro.com. This is very similar to the functionality provided by BetterSearch, for search engine results.
This doesn't appear to slow down the page loads in digg.
[via Download Squad]
Technorati Tags: BetterSearch, digg, DiggThumbs, Firefox, WebShotsPro.com
8 Sep, 2006
XNmap
I have been using nmap to inventory my network for various reasons (1, 2). XNmap is a Mac OS X application that make nmap easer to use. This is essentially just a wrapper that calls the nmap command line tool.
[via TUAW, Nirlog.com]
Technorati Tags: networking, nmap, security, XNmap
8 Sep, 2006
Limiting hybrids in carpool lane
It looks like Caltrans may be limiting the number of hybrids that get access to the hybrid lanes in California. I personally think that this is a good thing for several reasons:
- One of the ways that carpool lanes are supposed to reduce congestion is to encouage people of share a car. But now you see a solo driver driving a hybrid in the car pool lane.
- Carpool lanes are supposed to help reduce environmental polutants. I would claim that 1 gasolene automobile with 2 or 3 people (depending on the carpool rules for the area) emmit less pollutants than 2 or 3 hybrids with single occupants.
The current system is geared for the wealthy. Those who can afford a hybrid, regardless of how efficient it is, can drive in the carpool lane. I would rather the state be upfront about this, and enact a rule where if you spend $1000 - $2000, you get a sticker to enable you to drive in the carpool lane with a solo driver.
[via A Sad Salvation]
Technorati Tags: Caltrans, carpool, hybrid
6 Sep, 2006
BitRocket
BitRocket is a new BitTorrent application for Mac OS X. It brings some of the great features of Azureus to a native Mac OS X application, like the ability to download torrents from an rss feed.
Download Squad has a pretty extensive walkthrough of the features of
Technorati Tags: Azureus, BitRocket, BitTorrent, Mac OS X
6 Sep, 2006
Programmatic Interfaces: the MovableType XMLRPC API
The MovableType XMLRPC API documentation can be found here.
(I want to finish the implementation for LifeType.)
Technorati Tags: API, LifeType, MovableType, XMLRPC
6 Sep, 2006
2 Firefox extensions
Recently I saw a couple of posts on Download Squad (1, 2) that mentioned these Firefox extensions. I have installed them, and they work pretty well
- Fasterfox - This extension will help the perfermance of Firefox, by prefetching links and adjusting network settings.
- ErrorZilla - This extension improves the Firefox error page with links to additional tools. These may help track down the problem.
Technorati Tags: ErrorZilla, extension, Fasterfox, Firefox
6 Sep, 2006
LifeType 1.1
LifeType 1.1 has been released. 1.1 includes a large number of improvements over the 1.0.x releases.
Technorati Tags: LifeType
5 Sep, 2006
VirtueDesktops
One of the software packages included in MacLibre is VirtueDesktops. This is a Mac OS X virtual desktop application that is based upon DesktopManager. It has some interesting features:
- Bringing an application into focus, will automatically switch to that virtual desktop
- Cool transitions when switching between virtual desktops
This doesn't resolve all of the issues that I mentioned before, but it has made it easier to use all of the applications that I usually have open at once.
Technorati Tags: DesktopManager, MacLibre, virtual desktop, VirtueDesktops
5 Sep, 2006
MacLibre
I use yum on my linux machines to update various software packages. yum makes it very easy to keep things up to date by automatically maintaining lists of dependent packages, and downloading and installing them when necessary. On my mac, I have been using fink to update various posix and X11 Open Source software packages.
Now MacLibre has been released that will do the same thing for Mac OS X applications. It already has a list of standard Open Source application like Firefox and ClamXav. It will download and install theses packages with a standard package management interface.
(More)
1 Sep, 2006
Amazing optical illusion
This is an amazing optical illusion. It is very interesting how the brain sees images.
[via digg]
Technorati Tags: optical illusion