tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:33:51 +0000Mutterings of an evil genius in training.http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/noreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)Blogger163125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-8705422881627828394Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:46:00 +00002010-02-07T13:24:42.843ZMicrosoft Updateprinter sharingUbuntu ServerLinuxWindowsVistafile sharing7I've recently had to rebuild my Linux server following a hard drive failure and have had to go through the hassle of once again getting my file and print shares correctly configured. As with all system rebuilds, you learn from the process of last time and add in the improvements and extra features that you wish you'd thought of then. This time around I've gone with the x64 version of Ubuntu http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/GmvlSjv93DE/connecting-to-ubuntu-shared-printer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/GmvlSjv93DE" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2010/02/connecting-to-ubuntu-shared-printer.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-9186715385567180850Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:29:00 +00002010-02-04T21:51:17.317ZgamingEvonyRPGPlayers of the online RPG Evony have apparently logged on today to find there's something missing. Something as in everything. Nothing left. Gone. The forum dwellers are going mental.The game has been running for quite some time now and people plough real cash into it, so there's going to be some seriously pissed off gamers out there! The companies' main site says that they are doing some server http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/6pskY1QFMfI/evony-interupted.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/6pskY1QFMfI" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2010/02/evony-interupted.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-2586678444467690388Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:04:00 +00002010-02-04T01:02:45.551ZiPhonemediacentreappsTouchmouseLogitechAppleFor my media centre at home I have pretty simple system of a PC connected to my TV via S-Video and the sound run through my stereo system. I'd previously been controlling it either via a wireless keyboard and mouse, or by using the free version of VNC. Both of these have drawbacks. The keyboard and mouse are an absolute bitch to keep paired. They both run through the same receiver and every time http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/TNHjf4NrX54/logitech-touchmouse-app.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/TNHjf4NrX54" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2010/02/logitech-touchmouse-app.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-3688258766162648960Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:44:00 +00002010-01-17T21:17:24.055ZWindowsSSHencryptionproxyI've been playing with SSH tunnelling for a little while for things like forwarding RDP sessions into my home network, and encrypting web traffic. I've usually done this either by using the tunnelling options within Putty, or I've done it via command line (e.g. 'ssh -ND 9999 you@example.com' - do a 'man ssh' in your terminal for a full range of options).I had had suspected that there was a http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/iAwhS7nZCbg/myentunnel-ssh-based-encrypted-web.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/iAwhS7nZCbg" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2010/01/myentunnel-ssh-based-encrypted-web.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-7853823739261138658Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:05:00 +00002009-12-06T23:54:55.387ZOpensourcefilmsXBMCTVmediaI've been looking for some decent media centre software for a while. Most of the ones I've tried had some sort of killer flaw, whether it be a horribly complicated interface or a database backend that hogs far too much of the system resources.A friend recommended that I have a look at XBox Media Centre (XBMC). I'd seen it before, a few years ago on a friends chipped XBox, but I hadn't realised http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/xd0bVizRLSM/xbox-media-centre.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/xd0bVizRLSM" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/12/xbox-media-centre.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-7880963782619876153Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:15:00 +00002009-11-01T21:21:42.770ZserverMCSAMicrosoftnetworkingIt's amazing how work tends to eat up time. All my good intentions for putting more into this blog seem to have come to naught for now. At least I'm starting to get into the swing of the day to day stuff for the job meaning that it's no longer one big constant frantic rush to keep on top of things. I've had an interesting variety of things to deal with over the last couple of months. It's ranged http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/Y-HK_CjgmhE/busy-busy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/Y-HK_CjgmhE" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/11/busy-busy.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-2211544059612697777Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:03:00 +00002009-08-09T13:17:51.969+01:00VPNserverDraytekWindowsnetworkingStill loving the new job. A generally brilliant opportunity to start applying my skills. It's quite a surprise to see how much I'm finding myself starting to do something, scratching head, looking up how to do it, then the penny dropping - I know how to do this! Definitely a matter of learning how to apply things in certain contexts. At the moment it's still very much a case of learning the basichttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/38RkYkaOk_w/it-gets-better.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/38RkYkaOk_w" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/08/it-gets-better.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-4821221898333667523Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:34:00 +00002009-07-14T22:47:30.810+01:00universityjobnetworkingWell, that's graduation over and done with. Was pretty tedious in places, but overall I'm glad I did it. It draws a line under things, so to speak. For anyone who's interested, have a pic of me in my academic finest.I also started my new job today. Pretty promising so far. Did a couple of client visits today - simple stuff, but all part of the job, built a server, set up my work machine, etc. andhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/1EUCwpqyFS4/graduation-and-new-job.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/1EUCwpqyFS4" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/07/graduation-and-new-job.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-5327911844593577067Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:57:00 +00002009-07-12T17:01:52.320+01:00servicesappsGoogleProviding a blinding example of how much attention I've been paying, I've just found out that Google have ceased development of their excellent Notebook service back in January. Seems a shame as I find it an excellent tool. The reason I haven't noticed is because Google are still providing the service to those who were already using it, but not letting new users sign up. Seems a bit odd to me. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/PEiqktMBWhI/google-notebooks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/PEiqktMBWhI" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/07/google-notebooks.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-6978824734472291373Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:38:00 +00002009-07-12T16:28:29.859+01:00DNSGoogleIf like me you use a domain name provider that doesn't let you use CNAMEs for your DNS server entries, and you use Google services (such as Blogger) with your private domain name you may have noticed a problem with accessing your page/service/whatever in the last few days. This seems to be because the IP address of ghs.google.com that was floating around on various forums (72.14.207.121) no http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/4hDDyA7QOfQ/change-to-google-dns-ip-address.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/4hDDyA7QOfQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/07/change-to-google-dns-ip-address.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-2184399254930855286Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:26:00 +00002009-07-10T17:36:28.263+01:00serveruniversityjobsnetworkingGot me a decent sounding job at last. Officially titled ICT Support Technician, it'll be working with a local IT service provider doing things like network and server installation for small (or less small) companies, supporting them once the systems are in place, etc., performing backup services, loads of stuff - basically doing the work for those without the specialist in-house knowledge, or whohttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/c4hTfSERCXE/job.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/c4hTfSERCXE" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/07/job.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-7385265772046045055Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:20:00 +00002009-07-01T20:23:40.064+01:00universitydegreenetworkingGot notification through today that I've passed my honours degree. Now I can put letters after my name and everything. The foolish hat wearing ceremony (or graduation,) is in two weeks time.On with the job hunt... Someone give me something interesting to do!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/QsF3_j_qH0E/degree-results.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/QsF3_j_qH0E" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/07/degree-results.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-3947592825094780419Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:34:00 +00002009-06-26T21:44:49.815+01:00securitypoliticsSeveral sites are reporting on the UK government's recent announcement of its "cyber" attack and defence capabilities. The closeness of the timing between this announcement and a similar one from the US government may raise a few sceptical eyebrows, as will the likelihood that this is old news being pushed out by the government to divert attention from their recent failings and make it look like http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/ZHCgoG1Ew5s/uk-cyber-strategy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/ZHCgoG1Ew5s" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/06/uk-cyber-strategy.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-3525018102266554696Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:02:00 +00002009-06-24T12:55:19.999+01:00PKIencryptionsecuritysecurezipI've just been reading about an interesting product from PKWare. SecureZip is your bog standard compression program with public key infrastructure bolted on allowing for encryption and/or digital signing of the contents. I haven't had much of a chance to use it yet, but setup was very easy, and hopefully I'll get an excuse to put it into action soon.Nobody who has a clue what they're talking http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/X4l6uUD43Go/securezip.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/X4l6uUD43Go" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/06/securezip.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-222289012850951410Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:35:00 +00002009-06-18T18:51:31.484+01:00Schneiersecurityfree softwarebackupsnetworkingIt's often said that the computer savvy are the worst at practicing what they preach, and in the case of a decent backup system I've been no exception. I decided that my lack of regular backups was probably pretty foolish and the result of just not bothering. I don't even currently have the excuse of no time. So, after a hunt through the different suggestions offered on LifeHacker I decided to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/_7yV_O8xn2o/backups.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/_7yV_O8xn2o" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/06/backups.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-4012360210543226318Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:53:00 +00002009-06-16T19:04:59.725+01:00Network Managementjobsfaith no moreBeen a week of ups and downs. The Faith No More gig was amazing. One of the best things I've ever seen and I hope they keep going for long enough for me to see it again. I saw them at the Download festival, which seemed generally very good. The crowd seemed very relaxed and was clearly just there for the music, unlike other music fests I've been to where a large proportion of people going were http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/I7HGTGk_VBM/good-stuff-bad-stuff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/I7HGTGk_VBM" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/06/good-stuff-bad-stuff.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-1575104576961017387Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:08:00 +00002009-06-09T14:11:32.197+01:00gigsmusicfaith no moreFAITH NO MORE ON FRIDAY!! Going to be amazing!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/PiwtfrakdSo/oh-yeah-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/PiwtfrakdSo" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/06/oh-yeah-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-912777892879458124Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:01:00 +00002009-06-09T14:08:04.323+01:00ITjobGot myself a job. First line IT support. Maybe not the challenge I was hoping for, but I guess one can't be too picky on the first one, and I'm sure it'll be easier to get a decent networking position from an IT job, rather than a bar job. It's temp to perm, so that gives me a chance to see what I think as much as it does them. Fingers crossed and all. It'll be nice to be working with computers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/4B-P_XYHAXk/new-job.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/4B-P_XYHAXk" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/06/new-job.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-4374442048895494376Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:34:00 +00002009-06-03T13:47:46.955+01:00universitybooksSciFiThat's it. The degree is finally finished. Now the long wait for the results and the start of the job hunt. Not a great time to be doing it, but never mind. Now hopefully I'll actually have time to do stuff that people with lives do. Got a stack of books to get through - a friend gave me a load of Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. And I should hopefully have more to say on here. Lack of posting http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/LNKhhQLP7Fg/done.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/LNKhhQLP7Fg" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/06/done.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-8695357937388862520Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:04:00 +00002009-02-04T20:15:19.347ZKDE 4KubuntuThe Kubuntu page saw the announcment a few days ago of the projects release of their KDE 4.2 packages.I added the repository, updated my system and (a couple of small glitches aside) am very impressed so far. It looks brilliant. Much better than 4.1 (which was itself quite pretty). All of the annoying glitches in things like the system tray have disappeared and the menu and other moving features http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/UCxwxvs7yE0/kde-42.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/UCxwxvs7yE0" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/02/kde-42.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-6032138292742524965Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:24:00 +00002009-01-26T00:42:00.246Zsocial networkingtripwolftravellingWhilst I have neither the time or the money to do much of it, I love to travel. I'm very rarely happier than when I'm exploring somewhere I've never been and I really enjoy the experimenting with new foods, and experiencing different cultures that comes with it. Because I don't get to do as much travelling as I would like at present I generally try to avoid torturing myself by looking at travel http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/S-vQW4VOPAI/trip-wolf.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/S-vQW4VOPAI" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/01/trip-wolf.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-7003328519401013910Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:17:00 +00002009-01-25T20:27:47.056Zgamescommand and conquerred alertI've just completed the latest in the Command & Conquer series, Red Alert 3. This is an excellent follow on from the last Red Alert title, the inventively named Red Alert 2 (I hadn't realised it's been nearly 9 years since that was released). The new version is even more over the top (in a good way) than the last one with new toys like trained attack bears and giant 3 headed robots with swords...http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/A2OJdl1dZBM/red-alert-3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/A2OJdl1dZBM" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/01/red-alert-3.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-8654978809505303014Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:17:00 +00002009-01-08T16:17:19.816ZAnd why not?... youtube, champagne, sword, videoPowered by ScribeFire.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/F-dDld2zkDk/how-to-open-bottle-of-champagne-with.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/F-dDld2zkDk" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/01/how-to-open-bottle-of-champagne-with.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-5113436785139480019Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:43:00 +00002009-01-05T00:43:00.578ZI've been playing a bit of Day Of Defeat:Source Again recently. Originally developed as a Half-Life mod, this is an excellent team-based FPS set during WWII and available on the Steam platform. Haven't played in a while and am pretty bad at it, but it's been fun to do some online gaming again.If anyone fancies a game and wants to add me to their friends list, my profile is here.Day of Defeat, FPShttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/qAFTpUa1QDU/day-of-defeat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/qAFTpUa1QDU" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/01/day-of-defeat.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19280278.post-8754372621560954871Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:47:00 +00002009-01-01T18:48:07.365ZHappy new year all. Hope people had good nights, and that there aren't too many sore heads.A relaxing new years day, doing as little as possible and catching up on sorely neglected gaming is the way forward here.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMongoose/~3/JHLrKJCAVZw/happy-new-year.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rob Stevens)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IMongoose/~4/JHLrKJCAVZw" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.mongoosesystems.co.uk/2009/01/happy-new-year.html