Lee & Cathy Jones

Persistent USB mount locations on Pogoplug (and other Linux devices)

2011-10-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, I talked about how I set up rsync on my Pogoplug Biz for church. I had mentioned a Couple of “Gotchas”, such as the way USB drives may be a different device name upon reboot. This makes it hard to find the Optware drive consistently. Here is my solution.

Basically, you want to get the e2fs libraries and programs, then use blkid and findfs to locate the drive. As of Oct 2011, the links below are correct, but be sure to check http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/cs08q1armel/cross/stable/ and replace the file names as necessary.

The commands below will download and copy the necessary libraries and e2fs utilities for mounting your flash drive in the same location. I am assuming you are going to use the device UUID instead of the drive lable to locate the drive, but both are possible. I also assume that you want to modify the NAND (the Pogoplug internal flash drive) as little as possible. I am ONLY copying the files necessary for this task of finding and mounting specific USB drives to specific locations upon reboot.

Getting the e2fs libraries and utilities

cd /tmp
wget http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/cs08q1armel/cross/stable/e2fslibs_1.41.14-1_arm.ipk
tar xvzf e2fslibs_1.41.14-1_arm.ipk
tar xvzf data.tar.gz

wget http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/cs08q1armel/cross/stable/e2fsprogs_1.41.14-1_arm.ipk
tar xvzf e2fsprogs_1.41.14-1_arm.ipk
tar xvzf data.tar.gz

Copying the e2fs files to the internal flash memory
The following command makes it possible to change the Pogoplug flash memory, so be careful from here on out! Also, I am assuming that /usr/sbin is on your PATH.

mount / -o remount,rw,noatime

cd /tmp/opt/lib
mv libb* /usr/lib
mv libc* /usr/lib
mv libe* /usr/lib
mv libu* /usr/lib

cd /tmp/opt/sbin
mv blkid /usr/sbin
mv findfs /usr/sbin

OK, this puts the files on the NAND and I can use blkid to locate the optware flash drive by UUID, and use findfs use in /etc/init.d/rcS to mount it to /opt. Next I need to locate the actual device UUID for the startup script. Run blkid to get the UUID, and write this down.

blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="2CB9-87AD" TYPE="vfat" LABEL="LeeJones"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="fc640330-9e49" TYPE="ext3" LABEL="OPTWARE"

NOTE: the UUID and LABEL are case sensitive.

In this case, my Optware drive has a UUID of fc640330-9349. Now we should be able to locate the Optware USB drive (or any particular drive) with the findfs command:

findfs UUID="fc640330-9e49"

This returns the result of /dev/sdb1

Editing the startup /etc/init.d/rcS script

Using your favorite text editor, add the following line to /etc/init.d/rcS before anything calls /opt

mount `findfs UUID="fc640330-9e49"` /opt

NOTE: The character before findfs is a back quote (`) not an apostrophe ('). Look for the back quote on the tilde key (~) next to your number 1 key.

Once you have saved the changes to rcS, reboot:

mount / -o remount,ro

sync

reboot

Extra Credit

Personally, I want to minimize the changes to my copy of /etc/init.d/rcS, so mine is the factory default one plus the following two extra lines at the end:

mount `findfs UUID="fc640330-9e49"` /opt # mounts Optware USB

/opt/etc/init.d/optrun.sh # runs additional software

The contents of /opt/etc/init.d/optrun.sh are as follows:

#!/bin/sh
# runs optware startups in sort order
cd /opt/etc/init.d
for i in `ls S* | sort`
do
./$i start
done

This allows me to make minimal changes to /etc/init.d/rcS, just enough to find and properly mount Optware to /opt every single reboot. The optrun.sh command starts any additional things I want, such as rsync. Anything file in /opt/etc/init.d that is both executable and begins with a capital S will be ran at boot time.

Also, if I screw up on one on of my additions (been there) and disable my device, all I have to do is power off the Pogoplug, pull out the Optware USB drive and reboot. After a normal boot, I plug the drive back in and fix my mistake.

Locating a new device on your network

2011-09-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

I've been working with the Pogoplug recently, and realized that people may have difficulty locating a new device on their own network.

Most networked devices get an IP address dynamically, using DHCP. That is to say, the IP address of your net device could change on a regular basis. And you have no good way of knowing what it is.

Most of the time, this won't matter to you, but if you need to log in to a network device, you'll probably need to know the IP address.

To locate the IP address, first find the MAC hardware address. Just look at the bottom of your device, or on the label with your serial number. Usually, there will be a line for the MAC hardware address, or it may be known as the device hardware address.. This will be in the format of 16 characters, in 8 pairs, separated by a colon (":") or a dash. The characters will be 0-9 and a-f. Write this down.

Now, you'll need to look at your DHCP server and look at the client leases. One of the leases will have the MAC hardware address of your Pogoplug listed. That entry will probably not have a name, but it will have an IP address. For an IPv4 address, the address will look like 4 numbers separated by dots, like 192.168.1.101 or something similar.

For most users, the DHCP server will probably be your router. Usually, the DHCP leases are listed in a table in the "status" section of your router's web interface. If you are not sure, just do a Google search on "router-name dhcp table".

If you don't have easy access to the router's DHCP table, you can use a brute-force approach. Download an IP address scanner (I use the older version of Angry IP Scanner) and have it scan your local network. This will have the affect of populating your ARP table (which is a list of all known devices). In Angry IP, you can also display the MAC address. Look for an entry that matches your device.

To make sure it IS really your device, try to ping the IP address. (Yes, Google it if you don't know how.) Once you have managed to ping the IP address successfully, examine your ARP table for the MAC hardware address. The command to type is "arp -a". If you find a MAC address in the ARP table that matches up to your device, you should have the right IP address.

Setting up a Pogoplug with rsync and Optware

2011-09-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

Intended Audience

The post is written for the following audiences: me (in case I forgot how I got this working someday), the next person that manages my network, and other Pogoplug users that want to set up rsync and get a general idea of how to add features to the Pogoplugs.

This will be, at times, ridiculously detailed, and at other times it will be frustrating vague. Sorry, but remember that Google is your friend, as is the Pogoplug forums and the Optware community.

Background

I bought a Pogoplug (on sale) for myself and found it easy enough to use that I thought it would be a workable remote file access solution for church. The idea was, instead of using a file server for shared files I would use the Pogo, and back the drive up regularly. So I picked up a Pogoplug Biz for church.

It was not until after I started using it that I discovered even LAN users had terrible file transfer speeds. I traded some messageswith Cloud Engine’s (who makes the Pogoplug) CTO, and there is no fix and he doesn't expect to have one anytime soon (I read that as ‘never’). Oh well. (To be fair, their CTO did say that, in aggravated cases, they would work out some refund. But I’ve had the device for a year… so I didn’t pursue it.)

Anyway, if I can't get fast, usable two-way access to the Pogoplug drives, then I wanted to at least give my users access to the existing shared drives. I’d get the files from my server to the Pogoplug and then let users access the web site or the Pogodrive software.

I tried to use the Pogoplug Software version on the server, but it only worked locally, not from outside via the internet (I don’t know why). AND, likely due to the beta nature of the software, it tended to fill up my hard disk with temp files. I considered using the Pogoplug "Active Copy" feature, by installing the software version on the file server and leaving the desktop logged in. However, Active Copy does not propagate file deletions or renames. I got tired of trying to make a supposedly awesome product actually do what I wanted to do. Pogoplug’s customer service is not interested in helping me with my problem, so I decided to examine the other feature that attracted me to Pogoplugs in the first place, it's "openness".

My half-baked solution is to use my existing local network file shares (let’s call is drive S for “shared”) but to mirror the share on the Pogoplug so my users could access files remotely (via the Pogoplug P drive or http://my.pogoplug.com). This would allow my users, at least, read-only access of the files in the office. Maybe I’ll be able to rig some sort of two-way sync, but that is for another day. Since I want to synchronize file changes and deletions one-way only, rsync came immediately to mind. Thus began this adventure.

Cloud Engines touts the open source nature of the Pogoplug. Since the Pogoplug runs a flavor of Linux, has SSH access and has Busybox installed, it makes it relatively easy to install Optware. It doesn’t hurt that the an informed user like OddballHero is fond of both Optware and Pogoplug. Optware is a package manager, so it helps you download and install programs like rsync.

Some Assumptions and a Word of Warning

I'm assuming you are using either a Windows computer or have access to a Linux PC. Sorry, I don't do Macs; they're not in the scope of my budget. But most of the Linux stuff should be accessible to Mac users.

There is a LOT of assumed knowledge. For example, I am assuming your Pogoplug is activated and you can get to the web interface. A knowledge of editing text files in Linux will be required at some point. As I am not sure who may have to maintain the system I set up at church, I am going to explain far more than you (as the reader) may find necessary. Or maybe less than you’d like. Just skip any "well duh" sections you come across. On the other hand, I will not explain EVERY possible way to do something. To be blunt, if you are unable to follow these instructions with some help from Google you may want to think twice about doing this.

Enable SSH On Your Pogoplug

SSH (short for Secure SHell) allows you to access to a remote networked computer using a secure (encrypted) connection. SSH is like a secure version of telnet.

Originally, the Pogoplug shipped with SSH enabled, and a published root user password. Now, by default, SSH is NOT enabled. To enable SSH on your Pogoplug, log on to http://my.pogoplug.com, click the Settings link, select Security Settings, and then select the checkbox "Enable SSH for this Pogoplug enabled device." You will be asked to type in a password for the root user, WRITE THIS DOWN.

Locate Your Pogoplug

Your Pogoplug gets an IP address dynamically, using DHCP. That is to say, the IP address of your Pogoplug could change on a regular basis.

To locate the IP address, look at the bottom of your Pogoplug for the MAC hardware address. This will be in the format of 16 characters, in 8 pairs, separated by a colon (":"). The characters will be 0-9 and a-f. Write this down. For your Pogodrive, the MAC address should begin with 00:25:31

Now, you'll need to look at your DHCP server and look at the client leases. One of the leases will have the MAC hardware address of your Pogoplug listed. That entry will probably not have a name, but it will have an IP address. For an IPv4 address, the address will look like 4 numbers separated by dots, like 192.168.1.101 or something similar.

To make sure it IS really your Pogoplug, try to ping the IP address. (Google it if you don't know how.) Once you have managed to ping the IP address successfully, examine your ARP table for the MAC hardware address. The command to type is "arp -a". If you find a MAC address in the ARP table that matches up to your Pogoplug, you can move on to SSH. For this document, I will assume your Pogoplug’s IP address is 192.168.1.101.

Establishing SSH Access

Now that we have found the Pogoplug on the network, we want to login with the SSH service we just enabled. For Windows users, try downloading PuTTY. If you are on a Linux box, just run the SSH command. In either case, use try using a SSH client to the IP address of the Pogoplug. You should receive a login prompt. Use the SSH password you wrote down earlier.

USB Device Names on the Pogoplug

For the purposes of this document, I'm going to suggest (and assume) that you'll ONLY plug in the USB flash drive for the install. Don't use other drives while you set this all up.

The USB drives on the Pogoplug are labeled sd?1 where ? is alphabetical (sda1, sdb1, sdc1…), depending on discovery order. For the purposes of this document, I'm going to suggest (and assume) that you'll ONLY plug in the USB flash drive for the install of Optware, rsync, whatever. Don't use other drives while you set this all up. When we’re all done, I’ll help you locate and mount the dedicated to Optware.

For the sake of easy identification, we'll use the front port for our software installation (Optware).

Insert an empty USB drive into the front of the Pogoplug. It can be small, but I would recommend you use a USB 2.0 drive. Everything on this drive will be erased, and you'll be leaving it in the Pogoplug, so make sure it is a drive you can spare.

Dedicating a USB Stick for Optware
I am going to assume you want to run the Optware and other additions on a USB stick. I recommend this because, in theory, there will be less wear-and-tear on the Pogoplug's internal flash memory.

For reference, you can read this Pogoplug article about “How to Partition and Format a USB Drive” for help.

Once you have the USB flash drive plugged into the front, make sure it is recognized as a functional drive. You can do this by running the "mount" command and looking for an entry for /tmp/.cemnt/sda1 or go to the web interface at http://my.pogoplug.com and find your Pogoplug’s attached flash drive. Once you have verified it is properly discovered, eject the drive from the http://my.pogoplug.com web site. (No, I haven't figured out how to eject it from SSH.)

Get mke2fs

Check and see if you have the software to format the drive already installed. Try running mke2fs and see if it is already installed on your Pogoplug (it exists on the Pogoplug Pro, for example).

If mke2fs does not exist, you can download it with the steps below. I'm going to borrow liberally from "ianjb" from that article I referred to earlier.

Note: the link to mke2fs is from a Pogoplug article, so it should be safe.
Note: anything in /tmp will disappear on reboot. If you end up rebooting the Pogoplug, /tmp will be empty, so you have to download things that are in /tmp all again. But that also means you can make a mess in /tmp and it will go away.

Download mke2fs to /tmp

cd /tmp
wget http://download.capablenet.com/pogoplug/mke2fs.zip
unzip mke2fs.zip
chmod 755 mke2fs

Now that we have mke2fs on the Pogoplug, we can proceed with the format.

Create the Linux Partition

First, partition the USB drive by typing using fdisk

/sbin/fdisk /dev/sda

This puts you in the fdisk menu. Assuming your USB flash drive is ready for Windows, it has a FAT filesystem on it. We’ll delete it and create a new Linux file system.

Use the command “d” to delete partition 1.
Use the command “n” to create a new partition. When asked, create a “p” primary partition. Use the defaults for the partition number (1), first cylinder (1), and last cylinder (just press ENTER).
Use the command “w” to write the changes to the USB flash drive.

Now you will exit the fdisk menu. Creating the Linux filesystem will cause the Pogoplug to automatically remount the drive. Go back to the web interface and eject it again. (Go to http://my.pogoplug.com, find your Pogoplug, click the eject symbol next to your drive.)

Format the USB Flash with Ext3 Filesystem

We are still in the /tmp directory. We’ll use the mke2fs command to format the USB flash drive. I like to label mine, so the -L OPTWARE part is optional

/tmp/mke2fs -j -L OPTWARE /dev/sda1

Mounting the USB Flash Drive As /opt

Now, the USB flash drive can be accessed at “/dev/sda1”. Because we’re installing Optware, we’ll attach it (that is, mount it) at the folder “/opt”. Normally the Pogoplug’s internal flash memory is read-only, so we cannot create files or folders. So we’ll make the Pogoplug internal memory available for both read and write and then create our folder.

mount -o rw,remount /
cd /
mkdir opt
mount /dev/sda1 /opt
mount / -o remount,ro

Installing Optware on the USB Flash

For this section, you can get general instructions for installing Optware on Pogoplugs at NSLU2-Linux. I am going to change things a little to install Optware directly on the USB flash drive. We’ll install the ipkg manager, then Optware, and finally rsync.

First, you need to find the current ipkg manager by visiting this web site:

http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/cs08q1armel/cross/stable/

On that web page, look for the line that begins with “ipkg-opt”. The file name will look like “ipkg-opt_0.99.163-10_arm.ipk” (current as of September 2011). Make a note of this file name. We’ll download the file (with wget) to the /tmp folder and get things installed. Modify the “wget” and “tar” commands I give below with the current “ipkg-opt_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_arm.ipk” file name.

cd /tmp
wget http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/cs08q1armel/cross/stable/ipkg-opt_0.99.163-10_arm.ipk
tar xvzf ipkg-opt_0.99.163-10_arm.ipk

The tar command will extract three files, including data.tar.gz. We’ll extract the file we want directly to the USB flash drive we mounted to /opt earlier.

cd /
tar xvzf /tmp/data.tar.gz

Now you have Optware on your USB flash drive, living in the /opt directory, which is the USB flash drive. Next we’ll tell the ipkg manager to get packages from nslu2-linux.org. The following command is all on one line:

echo 'src cross http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/cs08q1armel/cross/stable' >> /opt/etc/ipkg.conf

(If you know your way around *NIX, you can just edit /opt/etc/ipkg.conf and add the line as well.)

Update ipkg Manager

To make it easier to type commands, let’s add the new Optware commands to our environment with the PATH variable and then update ipkg.

PATH=$PATH:/opt/bin:opt/sbin
ipkg update

Installing Nano (Optional)

The rest of these instructions requires editing text files in the Pogoplug. From here, I’ll tell you what lines to insert into text files, or give you examples of the text files, but I cannot tell you which buttons to press. I am going to suggest that you do a Google search for “nano editor” and do some reading, and visit Nano’s site at http://www.nano-editor.org/. Otherwise, figure out how to use “vi” which is already available to you.

You can get some help installing Nano at this link and some basic instructions on using Nano to edit files at this link (hi Greg).

To install Nano, type

ipkg install nano

To edit a file named textfile.conf with Nano, type

nano textfile.conf

Installing Rsync

Finally, we can install rsync. We’ll use the ipkg manager to get it installed. You can read up on configuring rsync at http://www.samba.org/ftp/rsync/rsyncd.conf.html but I will give you a very basic, but not secure, set up of rsync.

ipkg install rsync

Configure Rsync

You can configure rsync by editing the /opt/etc/rsyncd.conf file, and read up on the instruction for rsyncd.conf at http://www.samba.org/ftp/rsync/rsyncd.conf.html. Any line that begins a “#” sign is ignored, so you can use those for comments. If you installed Nano, use the following command to edit the /opt/etc/rsyncd.conf file:

nano /opt/etc/rsyncd.conf

Below is an example of /opt/etc/rsyncd.conf for testing:

# rsyncd.conf
# configure according to your needs
uid = root
gid = root
use chroot = yes
max connections = 5
syslog facility = local3
pid file = /var/run/rsyncd.pid
lock file = /var/run/rsyncd.lock
secrets file = /opt/etc/rsyncd.secrets

[tmp]
path = /tmp
comment = Rsync of tmp
read only = no

Note: In my set up, I am using static IP addresses with no network security concerns. Because of this, my example does not use either encryption or passwords. If you have ANY intention of doing rsync over the internet or any unsecured network, look into using rsync over SSH, and set up passwords.

First Run of Rsync

I run rsync on my Pogoplug in daemon mode (to limit connections). To enable the rsync daemon, you need to edit /opt/etc/default/rsync and change RSYNC_ENABLE=false to RSYNC_ENABLE=true.

It also happens that the rsync I installed wants to look for temporary files in the directory /var/run (which did not exist on my Pogoplug). Just in case, let’s create the /var/run directory.

cd /var
mkdir run

Note: /var is a link to /tmp/var, so nothing in here sticks around upon reboot.

Now we can start the rsync daemon and see if it works. Type in the following:

/opt/etc/init.d/S57rsyncd start

To check and see if rsync is running, type the following command and see if there is a line for rsync:

ps | grep rsync | grep -v grep

Congratulations, you are running rsync.

Sorry, this is where I start getting more vague. Remember, you can always search on Google!

Installing an Rsync Client

If you are using Linux or a Mac (OS X or later) you should already have a rsync client. For Windows, the free choices I am aware of are cwRsync, DeltaCopy, and QtdSync. I’d recommend either DeltaCopy or QtdSync, take your pick. DeltaCopy has the advantage of being well-known, but QtdSync has better support for email notification.

You can find cwRsync at http://sourceforge.net/projects/sereds/files/cwRsync/ (via http://rsync.net/resources/howto/windows_rsync.html),
DeltaCopy can be found at http://www.aboutmyip.com/AboutMyXApp/DeltaCopy.jsp, and
QtdSync can be found at http://qtdtools.doering-thomas.de.

Testing Rsync

Let’s test the connection. Remember, I am assuming your Pogoplug has an IP address of 192.168.1.101.

If you are running Linux, test the connection with the following commands, which should list the share named “tmp”, and the contents of /tmp:

rsync rsync://192.168.1.101
rsync rsync://192.168.1.101/tmp

To connect with rsync from Windows (either DeltaCopy or QtdSync), set up a new “profile” and specify the server with your Pogoplug IP address. In DeltaCopy, run “DeltaC.exe” and click “add new profile”, type in the server IP, and click the “…” box on the right. For QtdSync, click the round yellow “…” button on the right next to “User” and type in your IP address.

If the client automatically populates the directory name of “tmp” for you, you’re up and running. Now you have a basic, working rsync server on the Pogoplug.

Saving the Setup to the Pogoplug

Let’s make the settings we’ve got permanent. We’ll make the internal memory of the Pogoplug writable with the following command:

mount -o rw,remount /

You’d need to run that command any time you want to edit files that are not in /tmp or /opt (which is the USB flash drive). Once you run the above mount command, you can really and truly mess up the Pogoplug, so be careful. When you are done editing files, protect the Pogoplug memory again with the following command:

mount / -o remount,ro

Assuming that this is your first foray into adding things to the Pogoplug, the files /etc/profile and /root/.bash_profile do not exist. Using either vi or nano, you can edit or create these files to add some of the settings we’ve used. If you are not sure, try the following commands from the SSH prompt and see if it tells you there is no such file:

ls /etc/profile
ls /root/.bash_profile

In either case, you want the contents of /etc/profile to look have the following lines at the top if they do not already exist:

#!/bin/bash
export PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin

And, you want /root/.bash_profile to have the following line:

export PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin

If neither file exists, you can create them with the following commands (watch out for line wraps on your screen):

mount -o rw,remount /
echo '#!/bin/bash' > /etc/profile
echo 'export PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin' >> /etc/profile
echo '#!/bin/bash' > /root/.bash_profile
echo 'export PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin' >> /root/.bash_profile
mount / -o remount,ro

Next, we must modify the startup command, which can be found in the /etc/init.d/rcS file. This file will already exist. Edit this file with vi or nano to include the following lines:

mkdir /tmp/var/run
mount /dev/sda1 /opt
/opt/etc/init.d/S57rsyncd start

First, make a backup of the rcS file.

cd /etc/init.d
mount -o rw,remount /
cp rcS rcS.bak
mount / -o remount,ro

Assuming you’ve never edited the /etc/init.d/rcS file before, you can use the following commands to add these lines to the end of that file. Be really, really sure there are TWO great-than signs (>>) in the commands:

mount -o rw,remount /
echo 'mkdir /tmp/var/run' >> /etc/init.d/rcS
echo 'mount /dev/sda1 /opt' >> /etc/init.d/rcS
echo '/opt/etc/init.d/S57rsyncd start' >> /etc/init.d/rcS
mount / -o remount,ro

Take a look at /etc/init.d/rcS with the command

cat /etc/init.d/rcS

It should look like this, with the last three lines in bold that you added:

#! /bin/sh

mount -t proc none /proc
mount -t sysfs none /sys
mount -t devpts none /dev/pts
mount -t tmpfs none /tmp
mount -t usbfs none /proc/bus/usb
mkdir /tmp/var

echo "/tmp/core_%e_%t" > /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern

hostname Pogoplug

ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1
ifconfig eth0 169.254.37.133
udhcpc -b `hostname`

#telnetd
/etc/init.d/db

/etc/init.d/hbmgr.sh start

#/bin/mount –a
mkdir /tmp/var/run
mount /dev/sda1 /opt
/opt/etc/init.d/S57rsyncd start

Rebooting and Checking Setup

Now that everything seems to be working, you can reboot the Pogoplug and make sure everything works upon reboot with just the USB flash drive installed. Type in the following commands to tell the Pogoplug to save its work and reboot:

sync
sync
reboot

At this point you will be disconnected from the Pogoplug. Give it about 30 seconds, then connect again with your SSH client. Once you are able to log in, type the mount command and it will show you a mount table. Your screen should look like this:

rootfs on / type rootfs (rw)
/dev/root on / type jffs2 (ro)
none on /proc type proc (rw)
none on /sys type sysfs (rw)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw)
none on /tmp type tmpfs (rw)
none on /proc/bus/usb type usbfs (rw)
/dev/sda1 on /opt type ext3 (rw,data=ordered)
/tmp/.cemnt/sda1 on /tmp/.cemnt/mnt_sda1 type ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,data=ordered)

If it looks like this, try your rsync client again (follow the directions from the “Testing Rsync” section above. If you can connect with a rsync client, you’re all set.

Sorry, this is where I start getting really vague. Remember, you can always search on Google!

Sending Files from A PC to the Pogoplug Rsync Share

I highly recommend that you use a small set of files for testing the rsync client to send file to /tmp on the Pogodrive. Once you have your command all figured out, then you can add a real hard disk.

Note: NEVER try to send files via rsync to anything other than /tmp or to an attached USB drive.

Note: Understand that the rsync option "--delete" will delete hidden files on the Pogoplug. If you use "--delete" you should also add "--exclude .ceid --exclude .cedata" to your list of options.

For example, this command should be safe, even if your target is the automatically mounted Pogoplug drive:

rsync --exclude .ceid --exclude .cedata -rtv --delete /cygdrive/D/test/ rsync://192.168.1.101/tmp

Finally, when you are trying to send a folder named “test”, there is a difference between /cygdrive/D/test and /cygdrive/D/test/ (the “/”). A “/” at the end of a source directory copies the contents only, while no “/” copies the directory as well. For more information, see http://ss64.com/bash/rsync.html.

Adding a Hard Disk and Changing Rsync

You should probably add another hard disk. As the second disk, it should show up as /dev/sdb1 on the Pogoplug in SSH. Because the Pogoplug software links /dev/sdb1 automatically to /tmp/.cemnt/sdb1 and mounts it as /tmp/.cemnt/mnt_sdb1, you could go back and edit the /opt/etc/rsyncd.conf file and change the share name from [tmp] to something more suitable, and update the path to /tmp/.cemnt/mnt_sdb1 instead. You can restart rsync by running /opt/etc/init.d/S57rsyncd start (if it complains, just run it again).

Also, consider making your rsync session more secure. In my setup, I’m merely sending files to the Pogoplug from the same computer all the time, and the sending computer has a static IP address. It is all within a small, trusted network. Thus I can use the “allow” and “deny” settings in the rsync share to “whitelist” my sending PC. Consider doing so as well.

hosts allow = 192.168.1.10
hosts deny = *

You may also want to configure users and passwords using the rsyncd.secrets file. Do a Google search and you’ll find plenty of help.

A Couple of “Gotchas”

There’s a few small “gotchas”… First, sometimes upon a reboot the Pogodrive will find the other USB drives before the flash drive with Optware installed, making it /dev/sdb1 instead of sda1, which throws off all the startup scripts. I don’t know why. I have a solution, but that requires a separate post here. Just remember that, when you reboot, you may have to check the mount command to make sure that /dev/sda1 is mounted on /opt. If not, power off and reboot a couple of times, it will eventually get it right.

Second, your Optware drive will show up in the Pogoplug web site at http://my.pogoplug.com – if you don’t want to accidentally put files in there, you can eject it from the web and rsync will keep working.

What’s Next

For homework, here are some things you can find on Google that may be helpful.

You may want to try to configure the Pogoplug with a static IP. You can do this with a DHCP reservation, or you can use the ifconfig command on the Pogoplug to add a VLAN.
Configure rsync to run over SSH for the encryption. Add passwords to rsync shares.
Figure out how to schedule the rsync command so that the Pogoplug stays current.
Figure out how to get email notices if your rsync command does not work right.
Install Samba on your Pogoplug.

If you come across a good way to do two-sync, let me know! I’m thinking of using Allways Sync, but not so sure yet.

Boaz is 5 today!

2011-09-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

Our Russian Blue, Boaz, is 5 today. :-)

Disneyland Blackout Dates iCal via Google Calendar (Public)

2011-08-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

I have been unable to locate a calendar feed for Disneyland's Annual Passport blackout dates. The blackout dates are listed on Disneyland's Annual Passholder Gateway Page but there are, again, no subscribable, always-up-to-date calendars available on Disney's site. That strikes me as odd each time I have looked.

I did not look before Google removed Public Calendar Search, but I got tired of not having one available on the broader Internet. It's probably out there, but I can't find it. So, I created my own and will probably update them so long as I live in California. The Google Calendar iCal links are below:

Disneyland Annual Passport Blackout Dates - Southern California Select (160 days available)
Disneyland Annual Passport Blackout Dates - Southern California (215 days available)
Disneyland Annual Passport Blackout Dates - Deluxe (315 days available)

For those of you who want to cut-and-paste:

SoCal Select -
https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/9ig68ck1fhaomd1u8u9eg7d3n0%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
SoCal -
https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/tfsihuj5h0o33rau7o6ljc9s10%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Deluxe -
https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/nl43jb4pnjs7akaei0fcm7pib4%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

For users of Google Calendar, you can find instructions to add these public calendars here.

XP unable to use Samba after recent Windows Update KB2536276

2011-06-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

On June 15th, we started getting calls from clients using Samba that had XP workstations unable to connect to shares. These were established clients running Samba 2.x. It didn't seem to affect our inhouse Samba systems, whether Samba 2 or Samba 3.

The inability to connect with the Samba shares was correlated to a Windows XP update KB2536276. This update includes changes to the SMB protocol.

The problem was tracked to Samba systems sharing with unencrypted passwords (I don't think it matters what kind of share security you use, e.g. SHARE or USER). The Samba variable "encrypt passwords" may have defaulted to "No" on older versions of Samba. In any case, the fix is to enable encrypted password shares, and making sure that the secrets.tdb file exists.

To do this, find your Samba bin folder. You should be able to run "ps -ef | grep samba" to and look at the running processes to find both your smb.conf location and the samba bin folder. Run testparm and look for the "encrypt passwords" line. If it says "No" then edit smb.conf to make "encrypt passwords = Yes" in the GENERAL section.

Newer versions of Samba should already have a secrets.tdb. If it does not exist, run "smbpasswd -a user password" to create it. Restart Samba and you should be all set.

A church IT informal acceptable use policy (comments?)

2011-05-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking about using this as a one-page into to a church IT acceptable use policy. Comments?

One-Page Summary

Acceptable Use
Any IT resource or materials furnished to you are intended for

church business. Yes, you can use church resources for personal use, just don’t
overdo it. Don’t do anything illegal or immoral with church property, please.

Content Filtering
The church will try to make it as safe as possible to use

church IT resources. Yes, we’ll try to keep you from accidentally getting spam,
being exposed to pornography, and prevent viruses while you are using church
computers on the church network. No, we can’t protect you from everything
that’s out there. Let us know when the protection doesn’t work as expected.
We’ll try to keep the innocent innocent.

Please don’t try to get around the protection we put in

place. There literally there to help you, and we won’t like it if you try to
break it. If you need help with some personal issues, please ask.

Limitations on Usage
Don’t use church IT resources for anything illegal or

immoral. Be nice. If you do screw up, hey, we’re Christians and we’ll lovingly
help you overcome any offense and cope with the consequences.

Resource Limitations
Please don’t abuse the church IT resources. We should be

good stewards. Please don’t let your activities interfere with other people
trying to get things done. If you should (perhaps unknowingly) cause IT
resources to underperform, you might find something stops working for you
suddenly. Try to play nice.

Expectation of Ownership and Privacy
As a church, we may have confidential or personal

information on the campus. You must not violate the trust put in us. If you
have any doubt at all about whether something can be shared or sent to someone
else, ask. When in doubt, don’t share information that isn’t solely yours.

Don’t expect your files and emails using church IT resources

to be private. If you store something on a church computer or use a church IT resource
like email or printing, chances are someone else will see it. Anything you create
at the church belongs to the church, so if you need an exception to that, talk to
someone who can decide otherwise, or don’t do it at church.

Violations
Again, please don’t do anything illegal or immoral. If you do,

as a church we’re here to help each other and to forgive. There may be consequences,
up to losing your job, however, and some things may be legally required of us whether
we like it or not. But remember that we’re here to help others and each other, so
ask for help if you need it.

Since the motorcycle crash

2010-12-30T08:48:00.000-08:00

As my friends know, I was in a hit-and-run motorcycle crash in September. It has been more than three months, and it seems appropriate that I update the blog.

So, I'll start with the crash itself. I was riding the motorcycle to work on surface streets. I have a strong affinity for driving the speed limit, so as I was coming down hill towards a stop light, I was off the throttle and coasting at about 40 MPH. There was traffic behind me about 1/8 mile away, and had a comfortable cushion of space in front and behind. It was about 7:40 AM.

It was a four-lane road with a turning lane in the middle. I was in the left lane coming upon a red light with traffic stopped. There were two cars in the middle facing me, waiting to turn left into the shopping center. The woman in the car waiting to turn looked right at me (or through me) and turned when I was 30 feet (maybe three car lengths) away.

The practice and training I received in the motorcycle safety training course paid off: I let off the throttle, applied both breaks, and downshifted. Unfortunately, I locked my front break, so I was committed and could not steer. Another unfortunate thing was the woman stopped directly in front of me (instead of continuing through into the parking lot). So I could not stop in time, or steer around her.

I remember thinking, "Don't go over the car." I don't know what happened next, as I do not recall consciously deciding to do so, but I found myself laying down the bike (to the right) and sliding toward her car.

The next thought was, "Don't get caught under the car." I remember watching pieces of the bike tearing off, bits of tinted plastic and glass flying by as I slid along the pavement. My helmet skipped along and I curled up to make myself NOT fit under her car, and then hit it.

The bike hit the passenger side back tire/door area, and I'm not sure what I hit. Once I came to a stop, I pulled my right arm out from next to the back tire, and the car started moving again and drove into the parking lot.

It must have been adrenalin, because I rolled onto my hands and feet and look looked around at the stopped cars, down at the bike (still running) next to the broken hubcap (Nissan), and ripped off my helmet. I was satisfied I wasn't in any more immediate danger, and I hit the shutoff on the bike. As I got up, I saw the car pull into a parking spot, and the woman got out and started walking toward the street. I ripped off my gloves and pulled out my phone (7:42 AM, I think) and stuffed it back in my pocket. Why oh why did I not use the camera feature and snap a photo of the car and driver?

The guy in the truck behind the woman was on the phone calling 911. Two more women ran up to me and one identified herself as a nurse and started asking questions. As I answered her, I looked at the driver of the car: she was grey-haired, about 5'2", a little over weight but not obese, a light-colored stripped shirt, and an olive complexion. She stared at me with her mouth gaping open, and looked back at her.

One of the women who stopped traffic behind me was a nurse. She told me she saw the whole thing as she was following me, and that I did everything perfectly to save my life. (I don't know how she assessed that, but it was comforting.) She asked me questions and helped me realize that 1) I was shaking and 2) I could not take a full breath. She told me I was going into shock, and helped me sit down.

Next thing I heard was the sirens. I looked up, and the woman in the Nissan got a worried look on her face, then turned and hurried (she didn't run, it was more of a fast mince step) back to her car. I tried to yell for people to get her license plate, and all we came up with was the first four letters, not the last three numbers. I watched her drive toward the grocery store, turn in front of it, and drive through the parking lot the street and turn right.

Well, the cop showed up as the woman was driving away and the ambulance shortly after that. I told the cop my license and insurance were under the bike. As soon as the cop got the three witnesses he pulled them aside for information, and an ambulance spewed EMT people, and a fire engine showed up to and more people swarmed around me. The next minute was spent assessing me as they poked and prodded me to check for injuries.

They asked things like if I hit my head, my name, my age, my date of birth, where I was going, where I was, if I blacked out, where I work, that sort of thing. I think they were trying to figure out if I had bad head trauma. Then it was the questions of what hurt. I said I think I was going to be O.K. and they told me I was no judge of that at that time (fair enough). They strapped on a cervical collar, strapped me to a back board, then into the ambulance.

Wow the ambulance drive hurt. I'm glad I was not hurt any worse. The helmet, bike jacket and bike pants really did their job as I had no abrasions.

Interesting thing about emergency rooms: they start a chart for you before you arrive, so they assign you a pseudonym alphabetically. I was named Autumn. They wheeled me into the E.R., asked me all the same questions again, and stripped me bare. A social worker asked if I needed to contact anyone, and I asked her to call my work to update them, but not to call my wife yet as I did not want Cathy to worry.

There were IV's, and it was a good thing I hadn't had breakfast yet as they wanted to scan me and take x-rays. They took blood and fluid samples, and gave me a pain killer in the IV.

Wow, painkillers. The medical folks called it a synthetic narcotic, and I don't remember the name. However, a warm feeling spread through me and the pain just went away. It was amazing, and I am still impressed with the pain management technology available to us today.

I was pretty out of it, but I was also pretty bored. At some point, I got a phone and called Cathy, and told her I was OK but at the hospital. She came down and we spent time together waiting.

I spent the night at the hospital and my night nurse was from Taiwan and she took a liking to me and checked on me often.

The upshot was three or four (depending on which doctor I asked) cracked ribs and a broken clavicle. And a LOT of bruises - I was purple and eventually yellow for weeks to come.

The next day, I was on pills instead of IV. I still hurt but was able to get up with help and walk around. The doctor said my clavicle break was clean, and they used to operate but now they just let it heal. I like the idea of NOT operating. I performed well enough that they agreed to discharge me that afternoon.

For the next week, I slept sitting on the recliner and generally slept, read, and got better. I dreamt for days of riding a motorcycle through mountain roads or beautiful scenery and ending up at the same intersection and replaying the same motorcycle crash, and every single time I ended up on the pavement again. I think it was my subconscious way of processing the events, my mortality, and whether I could have avoided the whole thing. I eventually concluded that really did do all that I could, except for taking a picture of the license plate. The dreams stopped after that.

Although I was warned that I would likely not get full mobility back, I feel like I am more than 90% back to normal, and my strength seems to have gotten back to almost normal three month later.

I did get a ticket from the city of La Habra for not presenting my license to the officer (wow), and had to go to court and pay a fee to have it dismissed. (The judge was very clear that it was not a FINE, they were clear they were not punishing me, just charging me a FEE to clear my name. Sheesh.) The city police says a partial plate (first four) and a make (Nissan) and description (four-door, silver or grey) was not enough to go on, so they'll never find the hit-and-run driver. Sigh. I figured there's only 1000 possible plates when you have the first four letters, so how many are made by Nissan that are four-door?

The bike was totaled, and frankly between the bike, medical, broken things that were in my saddle bags, I'm out over $5000 (ouch) and we're back to a single mode of transportation. I've learned the bus routes that get me to and from work, I catch a ride with a coworker whenever possible (which has helped me make a new friend, so that's good).

I'm glad to be alive, to still have my health, and my life is generally going to get back to 'normal' eventually. And for those of you who are curious, I would ride again.

Happy Birthday Cathy!

2010-07-26T21:31:00.001-07:00

I've got a few minutes before the show so a quick note seemed appropriate.

It had been a great weekend; we celebrated Cathy's birthday at her favorite rib place the night before and went to SeaWorld on the actual day.

The weekend was full of surprises though... First, my mom called to tell me that she fell and broke her arm. I knew this day would come. I think we'll be OK this time.

By the time I got off the phone with mom we had no chance of making it to church on time, so we went to the only church nearby that had a 11 o'clock service, a nearby Baptist church. Suffice it to say I will not be doing that again anytime soon. It may warrant a post of its own.

The rest of Sunday went well. We soon dropped off Chica at Rhonda's and had dinner at Newport Ribs, then watched the Twilight movie, Eclipse. We had a great time.

There was another surprise though... when I tried to order tickets for SeaWorld it didn't give me my tickets, but did charge the bank twice. That meant we couldn't get here at at park opening, but it worked out though. They comped us the tickets for the day and gave us preferred seating for the day, so we still got to see everything on time.

Well, the show's about to start...

Hug your cat

2010-07-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

I just read about Liz Dean's cat, Diablo, passing away, and it brought tears to my eyes. Liz's description of her relationship with Diablo struck a cord with me, and reminded me much of my own cats.

If you know me you know I love our cats. We refer to them very affectionately as our 'furkids' and I've probably spent more money on them than I have on myself in the past 10 years, both for healthcare and for toys and stuff.

Liz asked the reader to give their cat a hug. I do that just about every day, but I think I'll hug them a little tighter when I get home tonight.

Message: God Knows

2010-05-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

So, here's the text that I tried to preach from, and the audio player is below, or you could play it directly here. I fumbled in the introduction so the message does not even start until the 1:30 mark, but feel free to give me some feedback. I'd appreciate it.

Intro

Hi, I'm Lee Jones, and thank you for allowing me to participate today in such a significant way to me. I do have a text I'd like to expand on today, but first, please allow me to pray for us briefly.

Father, thanks for this day, and for the freedom that we enjoy now, and that we could gather today in Your Name. Please guide our conversation today, and speak to us, and use me to the best of my abilities, and that You may exceed my limitations and speak to us anyway. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

Me

I cannot say for you, but if you are like me, these last few years have not been easy. A few years ago, my wife and I became landlords nearby and found a good church to join. I was about to graduate from the seminary, and we were doing well enough to support Cathy's mom, who had to move in with us. I loved my situation, my job, my church, and we were pretty well-off. The future was bright.

Then, things changed for us. Cathy became sick with Hepatits C, and we were told she might have 10 years to live. A series of property issues, and a tenant who stopped paying rent got us behind the eight ball on the mortgage. Cathy lost her job, and I started working second and third jobs to try to keep up. Then, my father died suddenly and left no will, and I found myself supporting my mother financially. We lost the apartment and had to move out, and Cathy's mom had to leave, too. It was a very tough time for us.

Transition to Text

It is not an unusual story. I don't know what your story might be. But we've all heard about rising unemployment, foreclosures, the economic downturn, a global war on terror, and people losing their retirement investments. Just when we think we've made it through one thing, it seems another one happens. Now what? What do we do now?

Text

I imaging that might be how Naomi felt. Her story is found in the book of Ruth. I hope you are familiar with the story (look for nods). We won't have time to go through the whole book today so I'll be quoting a text here or there as we go along. (Maybe ask if everybody is familiar with RUTH if there are faces I don't recognize).

But think about it. The book of Ruth was set during the time of the Judges (1:1), which is a time of many wars. Naomi's husband and family moved to Moab during a famine, and for an agrarian society a family would be like a severe economic downturn, impacting everybody for the worse. Naomi lived through a tough time, and she lost everything.

Naomi

Naomi lost her husband (1:3). For Naomi, this is devastating, not just emotionally but economically, for she has no good way to support herself. In today's terms, Naomi had no marketable job skills, so now she is dependent upon her children. But then she looses both of her sons (1:5), a double blow to her, as she lost all her family, and her means of support, and Naomi has no male grandchildren to carry on the family name and inherit the property. She returns emptyhanded to Israel, except for Ruth (1:22), and Naomi is so bad off that she mortgages her land and leases it out (4:3), with no hope to redeem it.

And in all of this, Naomi know that God is aware of her situation, her plight. Naomi says that God has testified against her 1:20). Naomi has lost everything, and she knows that God knows about her problems, and that has to be a troubling thought.

Transition to Us

God know about our problems, and yet we still have problems. Does that ever bother anybody else than me? Doesn't God know that my wife is, quite possibly, terminally ill? Doesn't He know that I can't afford another plumbing problem, another cut in hours, another reduction in my government benefits, another increase in my cost of this and cost of that? Doesn't God know I can't keep this up forever? Doesn't. God. Know?

[pause] And, more troubling than that, doesn't He care?

[pause] Of course He knows. And of course He cares.

[use the hands, gesture] But sometimes it is one thing for us to know something is true, and it is another thing for us to believe in it and live it. Of course we know that God knows. And of course we know that God cares. But things can be so hard that we know He knows, but we forget to believe it. Or, we believe He cares, but we forget to live like it.

Transition to Text

But we can remember, or we can learn, to live what we believe and know. Now Ruth illustrates how God knows and cares, and we can learn to live what we believe and know to be true. To steal a page from Pastor Mike's playbook, there are four things that God gave to His people in this story that I want us to see.

The point: God will provide

First, I'd like to point out that God provided Naomi with Ruth. Before all the trouble came around, God brought Ruth into Naomi's life. When things got tough, Ruth stuck with Naomi (1:18). When they got back to Bethlehem and had to eat, Ruth went and cleaned in the fields (2:2). God provided Naomi with Ruth. Before the trouble struck her, God had already provided both people and support.

[slowly] Like Ruth for Naomi, God may have already provide people to you, in your life, to encourage you and support you. God does know about your situation, and He may have already provided someone. So think about the people that are already in your life whom God has provided. Give thanks for them and encourage them as they encourage you.

So God provide someone ahead of time. Not only did He provide Naomi with Ruth, second, God provided Ruth and Naomi with Boaz. When Ruth and Naomi had to eat and needed to work and glean for their grain (2:2), God brought Ruth into Boaz's field. "It just so happened" that Ruth came across Boaz's field (2:3) and Boaz happened to be there (2:4) and Boaz happened to notice Ruth (2:5) and give her protection (2:8-9). Did it just happen? No, God provided for Naomi and Ruth with Boaz. God had already prepared and provided for someone new to come into their lives.

Like Ruth for Naomi, God may provide new people and opportunities and bring them into your life to help you and support you. God does know about your situation, and He may be arranging for someone to help you, right now! It will probably not be charity, and effort will be required on your part, but God has. already. provided. So look out for the people that God might bring into your life who can help you get on your feet or encourage you. Give thanks for them and encourage them as they encourage you. God had prepared someone to be a blessing for Naomi and Ruth when their need arose. God provided.

Not only did God provide Ruth to Naomi ahead of time, and Boaz to them both when they returned, and next, God provided Boaz with Ruth. Now, follow me on this. We already know that Boaz is a close relative and a redeemer (2:20). Though God had bless Boaz in many ways (2:1), Boaz was apparently still in need of a virtuous woman (3:11). There's no way to know for sure, but it seems to me that the story assumes that Boaz had no wife (3:10-13). Though Boaz had to wait many years, God not only blessed Ruth and Naomi, He blessed Boaz as well. God had prepared a virtuous woman for Boaz, and prepared Boaz to be a blessing and to be blessed as well.

It is very likely that God has already provide people in your life for you to bless them, perhaps just as much as they bless you, or perhaps more so. God will provide not only for you, but through you as well. So look for those chances to be a blessing to others, even as God is blessing you.

God provided for Naomi with Ruth ahead of time, God provided Naomi and Ruth with Boaz just in time, and God provided Boaz with Ruth as well. And, finally, through them, God provided the nation with a future king. God didn't juts provide for the people in the story, He provided through the people in the story for all the people of God. Remember, in those days when Israel had no king (Judges 21:25, Ruth 1:1), God brought two families together in unlikely circumstances to bless them, and through them, to bless the nation with a king, a king after God's own heart. The Davidic line also led to Jesus, whom God provided for our forgiveness of sin. So remember that God provides not only for you, but we cannot know what good-and-future blessing God is providing through what we do and what He is doing through us.

Outtro

And now we know the ending of Naomi's story, and how God provided in her life. Naomi no support and no heir, and God provided. Ruth had no husband, and Boaz no wife, and God provided. Israel had no king, and God provided. God knows, God cares, God provides. Even in hard times, especially in hard times, God has already provided for you. He will provide for you and you will want to be ready for God to provide through you. God knows. God cares. God provides.

Me

And how did my story end? Thankfully, our story is still being told, but I can tell you that, in spite of Cathy's normally fatal disease, her treatment was successful; against the odds 25-to-1, she has survived. I believe God provided healing. Cathy's mom is finally receiving social security and can afford her rent. We still help her on occasion, but things are looking up for her. God provided for Cathy's mom. Although my mother receives less than 1/2 of what she needs from VA survivor benefits to get by, every month God has provided extra work for me to support her. In this economy, I know God provides, and he provides for my mother every month. Although Cathy and I had to sell the property and our credit is shot, we were able to avoid a foreclosure. [insert story of RV purchase here, or if there is not enough time cut the to end] We managed to do a shortsale, and although we had to move out, God had provided pre-approved financing for an RV, and we found that we actually enjoy the lifestyle now.

Yes, times are tough, and sometimes we might wonder what God is doing. But you can know that God will provide. He has already been working in your life, He is working in your life, and He will work through your life. He will bless you and bless others through you, especially in these hard times.

You

What about you? What is your story? I don't know what chapter of Ruth you are in. Perhaps you are the blessing, or perhaps you're still looking for a Boaz. But through it all, remember that even in hard times, especially in hard times, God has already provided for you. He will provide for you and you will want to be ready for God to provide through you. God knows. God cares. God provides.

Thank you.

Finally got myself a laptop

2010-03-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

So, after 13 years of marriage and three laptops purchased for Cathy, she finally forced me to buy one.

I had been eying an Acer Timeline for church for weeks. The specs are such that it hits the sweet spot for me. 14", LED screen, 8hr battery life, 4.4 lbs, with a built-in optical drive. I love it.

At least I did until Saturday afternoon, when I closed the lid and it never came back on. Not even a POST. Acer said to send it in so I took it back to the Microsoft Store.

They have them back in stock, so I got my replacement, no hassles. They're also running a promotion, buy a laptop and get a monitor for free. Not only did I walk back out with my replacement laptop, I also got the last free LCD screen this week! They'll have more next week, though.

If you're in the market for a 14" laptop and a 21" monitor, call the Microsoft Store in Mission Viejo! It was about $540 out-the-door.

Samba 3 on SCO 5.0.6

2010-03-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

SCO OpensServer 5.0.6 came with Samba 2.2.2, and you could update to 2.2.8. With the arrival of Vista, Microsoft began defaulting to NTLMv2. There are tweaks (Vista here, Windows 7 here) to allow workstations to connect to Samba 2.x, but ideally you would want to upgrade to Samba 3.x. There is not a release supplement from SCO to do this, but you can install Samba 3.0.14Aa via Skunkware.

On SCO OpenServer 5.0.6 we'll need the following patches (in this order of dependence):

RS506A - Release Supplement for SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.6 (ver rs506a)
OSS646C - Execution Environment Supplement (ver 1.2.0a)
OSS663A - LPD supplement for OpenServer 5.0.6 with OSS646
gwxlibs-2.1.0Ba - Supplemental Graphics, Web and X11 Libraries (ver 2.1.0Ba)

The gwxlibs-2.1.0Ba update is available from ftp://ftp.sco.com/pub/openserver5/opensrc/gwxlibs-2.1.0Ba/
The OSR 5.0.7 version of Samba 3.0.14Aa is available from ftp://ftp2.sco.com/pub/skunkware/osr5/vols/samba-3.0.14Aa-VOLS.cpio

You'll want to create a directory (say /tmp/samba3) and download the .cpio file there. If you are not familiar with CPIO files, you can examine the man page, or just run this command to produce the VOL files:
cpio -idmv -I samba-3.0.14Aa-VOLS.cpio

I'm going to assume you know how to install VOL files in SCO software manager. All four (rs506a, oss646c, oss663a, gwxlibs) can be installed as media images. For the existing Samba 2.x, I usually just disable it in custom rather than removing it, but YMMV.

The startup files are /etc/init.d/smb and /etc/init.d/nmb. Samba looks for /etc/samba/smb.conf for the configuration. You should be able to backup your original configuration and drop it right in for Samba 3.

Be sure to check /etc/rc2.d for startup files. I create symbolic links to the startup files like so:
ln -s /etc/init.d/smb /etc/rc2.d/S99smbd
ln -s /etc/init.d/nmb /etc/rc2.d/S99nmbd

You can reboot the server, or just run the the rc2.d scripts:
/etc/rc2.d/S99smbd start
/etc/rc2.d/S99nmbd start

I looked for a Samba 3 solution on SCO 5.0.6 for a client that is was having streams memory leak issues, and ~~I'll have to wait to see if that helps~~ upgrading to Samba 3 helped. Neither SCO's knowledge base nor Google was terribly helpful in the memory leak or running Samba 3 on 5.0.6. Frankly, I don't know if Samba 3 would break something else (such as CUPS / LPD). But, Samba 3 is running on my SCO 5.0.6 system now.

UPDATED (04/23/2010): I added a note about installing OSS663A. Also, it did help with the streams memory leak on that SCO OpenServer system.

UPDATED (11/14/2011): Updated the links to Samba3 on Skunkware and the patches. Expanded explanation on restarting Samba.

Patch Internet Explorer Now

2010-01-25T12:42:00.000-08:00

You may have heard that Google's China operations were hacked. It turns out it was due to a flaw in Internet Explorer, and Microsoft has issued a patch.

If you are still using Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) or IE7, please upgrade to IE 8.
Also, please go to Windows Update (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/) and install the latest patches.
Consider installing another browser, such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

The flaw in Internet Explorer seems worst on IE6, but has been demonstrated in IE7 and IE8.

It wasn't just Google that was targeted by the Chinese hackers, as Adobe provided additional information, and Yahoo and Northrop Grumman were also affected. Google, however, came forward with the information, and has effectively decided to pull out of China. As an interesting side note, Google hacked the hackers right back (link via Gizmodo).

The patch has been available since Jan 22nd (for reference, see bulletin MS10-002 and KB 978207). It may already be installed, but please 1) upgrade to IE8 and 2) run Windows Update. Alternately, switch to Firefox or another browser like Chrome.

Think you already have the patch but you're not sure?

For Windows XP, look in Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs, click 'Show updates' at the top, and look for 'Windows Internet Explorer # - Software Updates' and look for an installed on or near 1/22/2010 named 'Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB978207).'
For Windows Vista and Windows 7, click Start and type 'View Installed Updates' in the search box and press ENTER. Look for the Microsoft Windows section, and look for 'Update for Microsoft Windows (KB978207)' installed on or near 1/22/2010.

Screen Shot for XP

Screen Shot for Vista / Windows 7

Thoughts on the Google Nexus One 3G/T-Mobile/HTC problem

2010-01-12T08:50:00.001-08:00

There's been a lot of complaints about the new Google Nexus One having problems staying on 3G with T-Mobile in the U.S. Early adopters are frustrated that they cannot get the issue fixed and don't have direct access to Google for customer service. I found that odd as Google provided phone support for their new DNS service, so go figure. Anyway, users are getting referred from T-Mobile to HTC and back again.

I doubt the problem is at T-Mobile. I've got the G1 on T-Mobile and it is an Android phone from HTC. The Nexus One is an Android Phone from HTC that works on T-Mobile's frequencies. So if a new phone with the same OS (Adnoird) from the same manufacturer (HTC) doesn't work on the same network (T-Mobile)... I wouldn't think it is the network, you know?

Both the G1 and N1 were branded as 'the Google Phone.' I figure that HTC builds both, but this time Google marketed it, so ultimately Google will have to lead the customer service charge. However, the problem is probably either a hardware issue (HTC) or a software issue (Google) that will need to be addressed. Hopefully, it is software, and an over-the-air update will fix it.

I don't have the N1 yet. :-( As a current subscriber, I don't get the subsidized price, so I didn't go for it (but boy is it tempting). But if I had the N1 right now, yes I'd be frustrated, but I also figure that Google will make it worth my while somehow.

Be patient, keep (politely) complaining -- they'll fix it soon.

Small Update: Steve Kondik (cyanogen) seems to think his N1 is bouncing between two 3G protocols, UMTS and HSDPA.

OpenDNS and Google Public DNS

2009-12-03T11:05:00.000-08:00

I suggested OpenDNS some time back, and I still use it widely. If you haven't started using OpenDNS yet, you get Web Content Filtering (by category), Anti-Phishing and Malware site blocking, and you can use whitelists and blacklists for web access. There's a free version, which serves my needs (and my church's needs) rather well. You can read more about OpenDNS here.

I was surprised (and a little worried) when I read that Google was also offering a DNS service, named Google Public DNS. After reading the FAQ it seems that (initially) all Google is offering is faster DNS, nothing more. You can also read
OpenDNS's response to the Google offering.

Well, if you are using your ISP's DNS server and primarily use Google services, there's no good reason not to use Google's DNS servers; you'll get a bump in speed. However, OpenDNS gives you a bump in speed AND it offer anti-phishing and malware protection. There's no good reason to use Google's DNS instead of OpenDNS.

In short, if you're going to use a DNS service instead of your ISP's offering, I'd go with OpenDNS.

I don't expect that Google will stop at 'just offering faster DNS' but will probably start competing with OpenDNS more directly. Heck, they even have support numbers on the FAQ page that you can call?! If Google offers integration with DNS and Google Apps, and allow group or per user filtering options, that would strengthen their position against OpenDNS... but time will tell. The only advantages Google's DNS has right now is 1) name recognition and 2) easier to remember numbers.

Currently, though, OpenDNS wins hands down. Until Google offers more, OpenDNS is still going to be the huckleberry for other DNS services.

If you're not using an alternate DNS service, I'd totally recommend OpenDNS. Maybe you could use Google's DNS servers as your third and fourth in case OpenDNS is ever down, but I can't remember that happening.

EDIT: Looks like PCMag agrees with me, go with OpenDNS.

EDIT: I did plug in Google's DNS settings on a laptop -- it does work.

A tribute to Oliver

2009-08-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

Oliver Jones
07/09/2000 - 07/25/2009

Oliver came into our lives in the Fall 2001. We were living in Fontana at the time among the new housing developments. It was during the rapidly growing housing market, and there were developments all around us.

One day, Rhonda decided to have a garage sale. Oliver and a few other dogs wandered out of a field and came down the street. Rhonda took pity on the dogs and set out some food and water, and Oliver hung around. At the end of the day, she went back in but left some water out. He was gone when I got home.

We learned that people dumped dogs around the developments. The next day, Oliver wandered back and Rhonda gave him some food and water. There were no other dogs around; it turns out the city was picking up the strays. Cathy thought of him as an orphan and named him Oliver. Cathy and Rhonda talked me into giving the dog a chance, and we did.

Oliver had burrs in his pads and a load of ticks; it cost us quite a bit to get them removed. The vet told us he's half Basset Hound and half Terrier, and he gave us an estimate of his age, so we picked a date for his birthday. I did not want a dog. I didn't want an inside dog, even if I did have a dog. So Oliver started out living in the yard, sleeping in the garage and whining all night. Cathy convinced me to let him live indoors, and eventually he had the run of the house.

Oliver was territorial and had picked up bad habits before he came to live with us. He snarled at strangers, so we had to put him in the back yard for visitors. He dug out of the back yard a couple of times, too! But he was always very sweet with our cats.

There were several things that made Cathy think that Oliver was trained to attack, and maybe abused. Oliver would yelp like a stuck pig if you picked him up off the ground. He used to cringe when we approached him (for the first few months) and he was real aggressive at first. We know much better now, but I have to admit that I was not gentle with him when he first arrived, and it took me many years to truly come to love him and learn to motivate him with positive attention and affection.

Oliver was a good dog with a lot of baggage. I used to let him run around the front yard off leash, and he would always come when called. He was great with cats, but always aggressive towards strangers and dogs. It took our good friends, Steve and Yvonne, years to become 'part of the family' so that Oliver would let them come in to the house unescorted.

We got Amos and Zechariah when we had Oliver. Oliver loved kittens, and through the years and dozens of kittens that we fostered, Oliver watched over each of them gently. At some point, Zechariah got sweet on Oliver, and they became an item. Oliver liked all the rest of our cats, but he was especially fond of Zacky-Pooh.

Oliver was well-traveled and lived an interesting life. We took Oliver with us on as many trips as we could. Oliver went to the beach, the mountains, the lake... He even traveled out-of-state; we took him to Prescott, Arizona and back. He lived in a single-story house, a two-story house, with other dogs, with multiple cats, in apartments, in a tent, and in an RV. His was not a boring life. :-)

During this last year, Oliver seemed to have been losing his hearing. He had more trouble climbing the stairs, and he limped on occasion during his walks. He was getting old, and he was getting grumpy. But, I came to love him most during the last year.

I know people tend to eulogize the deceased. I know Oliver had his faults. But I remember him as my dog, a good dog that wanted his family to be safe, to be loved by his mom and dad and cats, and who was happy so long as his family was paying attention to him. We'll miss him.

Google Voice App for BlackBerry and Android

2009-07-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the Official Google Blog announced the release of Google Voice mobile app for Blackberry and Android. I've been waiting for this... Check out the post and get the app at m.google.com/voice.

Fix for 'Rules in Error' - 'Cannot Reply to Message' for Outlook 2007 Out-Of-Office rule

2009-07-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

I was trying to set up an out-of-office rule in Outlook 2007. If you have Exchange, this is very easy, but if you are using POP (and maybe IMAP?) account, you'd need to duplicate the effect with an email rule and leave Outlook running. You can follow the directions on Microsoft KB# 311107 to set up such an out-of-office rule without Exchange.

For Outlook 2007, I got a pop-up message with a title 'Rules in Error' indicating simply 'Cannot Reply to Message'... which was not helpful. My Outlook 2007 is up-to-date, and a Google search (example) of the error led me to believe this is actually a bug in Outlook 2007.

The rule I set up is very basic and always replies with the same template (screenshot), yet I received the error message (screenshot). Contrary to (seemingly) popular opinion, there are ways to resolve this. I have found two things to make Outlook 2007 POP3 out-of-office work.

Update to Office 2007 SP2 and use a plain-text Outlook template.
Process the rule once manually and leave Outlook running.

Option 1: Update to SP2 and use a plain-text template
If you read Microsoft's directions carefully, it tells you to use a Plain Text template in Outlook 2007, but it does not specify plain text template for previous versions. I made a plain text template and my out-of-office rule worked just fine.

I am running Outlook 2007 SP2, but on a computer with Outlook 2007 SP1 the out-of-office rule did not work (plain-text or not). I used option #2 (see below), but later updated to Office SP2 (available at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b444bf18-79ea-46c6-8a81-9db49b4ab6e5&displaylang=en) and used the plain text template.

So, that's one way... what's the other?

Option 2: Process the rule manually once
Thanks to this post at Lockergnome, there is another workaround. After you set up an email rule and it generates the error, the rule is disabled. The rule itself seems valid, and you can run it manually. So, restart Outlook and re-enable the rule, and run the rule once manually and apply it to your existing messages before another email is received. Voila, it works!

Set up the out-of-office rule
Close Outlook 2007
Start Outlook 2007 and click on Tools > Rules and Alerts and turn on your rule
Still in Rules and Alerts, click on 'Run Rules Now...' and select your out-of-office rule and click on Run Now
Close the Rules and Alerts and leave Outlook 2007 running

Interestingly, at least one email needs to be in your Inbox when you run the rule, or it doesn't seem to work. If you have trouble finishing these steps before the rule is applied, try disconnecting your network cable or setting Outlook to work offline.

Pros and Cons
Option 2 has the advantage of working with graphical templates and does not require updating to SP2. However, it stops working if Outlook 2007 is restarted - you'll have to run the rule manually again.

Option 1 has the advantage of being more 'reliable' -- you start Outlook 2007 and it keeps working. However, it is plain text and it may require a sizable update.

Summary
If you don't mind updating to Office 2007 SP2, you can create a plain-text Outlook template and use it with your out-of-office rule. If you object to either plain-text replies or to installing SP2, you can run the rule manually once and it should keep running.

Vista and Windows 2008 Service Pack 2 available now

2009-05-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

You can now download the Vista and Windows 2008 Service Pack 2 installation files. The main page is here at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd262148.aspx.

ISO for Windows Server 2008 x86/x64/ia64 and Windows Vista x86/x64
x86 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x86
x64 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x64
ia64 for Windows Server 2008 ia64

Most people will want either the x86 or x64 version. I grabbed the ISO as well since I install it stand-alone so often.

Oliver is OK

2009-05-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Oliver is going to be O.K.

After getting a different officer, Oliver was examined on Friday by the O.C. Animal Services. Like I said, the process was triggered automatically by the doctor's visit. We have to quarantine Oliver for 10 days, and then OCAS examines him again to make sure he does not have rabies. After that, he's free again.

The dad of the girl is moving today (Tuesday) and we moved Friday. The mom made no issue of it and the dad dropped it. The little girl (her name means Princess in Hebrew) even asked to pet Oliver again and is still very attracted to doggies, so that's good.

Oliver is adjusting from the move. I have since decided that I need to be a better dog owner, so I've begun reading up on dog ownership. It's not that we've been bad to him, but I think we can, and especially I can do a better job building his confidence so he'll be less likely to respond in fear when he is surprised.

:-D

Oliver is probably moving to a shelter

2009-05-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

So... lots of stuff happened today. First of all, Oliver bit a child yesterday. It turns out that he didn't draw blood or break skin, but he did bruise her shoulder. Yes, the child ran up to Oliver and surprised him. No, the mom didn't make an issue of it, but the dad was very upset. There were some threats of calling the police. We offered to pay for the doctor's visit, but their insurance is somehow through the Department of Health Services (DHS) so it didn't cost anything.

Because their coverage is through DHS, they automatically get a visit from Orange County Child Protective Services -- which didn't make the dad happy at all. They're a very nice family, but OCSSA doesn't know that.

While I can't find the ordinance, a couple of antedotal reports, one shelter and a OC Register story (here and here) all indicated that parents can press for Oliver to be euthanized. Unfortunately, the dad was certainly leaning towards it.

Last night, we went back and forth on keeping Oliver, giving him away, putting him down... Cathy was pretty adamant that we need to have him put down because a dog that bit will bite again. That's how we went to sleep.

Well, Cathy instant messaged me today, and we decided that we'd keep him and just move a week sooner. Now, we decided to move earlier to avoid the awkward feeling of living next to someone that... well, let's just say it is uncomfortable. We figured we'd keep Oliver and move, end of problem, and we'd just be really careful.

As it turns out, the involvement of DHS / OCSSA supposedly means the involvement of OC Animal Care Services and Olver possibly being destroyed. The idea of Oliver being hauled away by strangers and dying scared and alone in a cage in a county facility was terrible. I'd rather put him down myself when he's happy and calm than have strangers scare him and kill him.

The only no-kill shelter I found in SoCal wouldn't take a 'biter' - and I have no relatives that do not have children around. I even checked with Rhonda but she has no resources, either.

So, I came home to spend some time with Oliver before we took him to the vet ourselves. The neighbors seemed appeased at the news -- the mom was even sad for us. I said my goodbyes and then we drove Oliver to the vet.

Now, when the vet learned that Oliver bit someone, they told us that the law forbids them from euthanizing Oliver for 15 days. I thanked the receptionist and we left quickly, first in confusion and then in relief. But, the threat of Oliver being taken from us remains...

There are two pieces of good news, though. First, the doctor who examined the child indicated that some soap and water will take care of the scratches and the bruising will go away on its own. The child got a tetanus shot as well... so she is not badly injured and she does not even display fear for dogs (which isn't exactly good at this point). Second, a shelter out-of-state has offered to take Oliver, and Cathy jumped at the idea of driving or flying Oliver to the shelter.

So, if the dad doesn't press the issue, and if OCSSA doesn't call Animal Care Services, and if nothing happesn for the next two weeks, we should be OK. Cathy still wants to send Oliver to a no-kill shelter, though, as she is convinced that we'll eventually screw up and Oliver will bite someone and draw blood -- then he'll be taken away and put down and who knows what trouble we'd be in. So... we may be saying 'see you later' to our dog.

But, first, we have to get past the next two weeks...

Oliver needs a new home

2009-05-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

OK, my dog bit a neighbor's kid. We don't want to be forced to destroy him, but we can't keep him, either. Living in an RV, there's just too many children and dogs coming and going all the time.

Do you know someone in Southern California that could help me place him? We're looking for a new home for him. Comment below, or call me, or facebook me.

The vet thinks Oliver is part Basset Hound and part Wire Hair Terrier.

He's 42 pounds, 8 or 9 years old (we're not sure as he is a rescue). He's great with our cats but he doesn't do well with kids. He ignores some dogs but can't stand others - I am not sure what the difference is.

Here's some photos:
Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3

Worried about Conficker?

2009-03-31T14:04:00.000-07:00

Are you worried about Conficker? It's set to go off on April 1st.

It only affects Windows computers, so if you're running Macs or Linux machines, don't worry about it. (Mac users, don't feel too smug, as the recent PWN to OWN demonstrated an exploit of a fully updated Mac in mere seconds).

There's a fairly detailed analysis at Windows Secrets. If you think you might have Conficker, try visiting http://www.symantec.com/ or http://www.mcafee.com/; if you cannot, you may have it.

To remove Conficker, visit http://www.bdtools.net/ and download BitDefender's single-PC conficker removal tool. If that doesn't work on the infected PC, download it from another and run it on the infected PC.

If you are a network admin, go get Nmap (see also this) and run the following command:

nmap -PN -T4 -p139,445 -n -v --script=smb-check-vulns --script-args safe=1 [subnet]

where subnet is something like 192.168.1.0/24 -- you can thank Doxpara for that.

I would also suggest that you use OpenDNS. They have been blocking conficker since February, and there's more detail here. Seriously, sign up for OpenDNS if you are not using it yet; it's free and does more than just provide DNS. I've talked about them before, but not enough.

Sphincter Moments

2009-03-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

I had a very tense morning on Friday, what my coworker refers to as a Sphincter Moment.

The Background
On Thursday, I was doing a server migration from UNIX to Windows. The UNIX server is getting really old and the hardware is no longer reliable.

The data transfers over without conversion, so I could simply send the files via FTP. For convenience, I usually collect the files into a TAR or GZIP file before sending the files. I got people out of the system at 5 PM, made sure last night's backup had ran OK, then created my TAR files for the transfer.

The Reboot
The FTP download wouldn't complete, so I investigated. The UNIX time was off by 80 minutes (no one applied the new timezone patch), and restarting TCP didn't seem to help. System uptime was 287 days, so I figured, "Well, I have two backups, I'll correct the time, reboot and see if that helps."

I flushed the disk controller's cache to disk via the sync command, then issued a shutdown and restart command. Twenty minutes later, I still can't log in and I can't ping it locally... and my contact person on site answered the phone but just left (argh).

The next morning, the client discovered that the server room was locked and nobody had the key. After getting the vice president who had the key to unlock the server room, he turned the machine back on, followed some onscreen instructions, and we were back in business.

"Oh Crap"
I went to my backup folder to try a transfer before they got busy... and my files were gone. The timezone was still wrong, and some other files and changes I made last night were missing, too. I checked the MAC address to make sure I was on the right system, but it was like someone erased all my work. "Weird," I thought, "someone deleted my changes? Oh well, I'll re-do the backup."

Then came the call, "Hey, Lee, we have nothing in our dispatch board. No appointments, period." Then the call from accounting that the fiscal year was wrong. And as I looked at the system logs, I noted that there was a huge gap between 09/25/2008 and 03/27/2009, as if the server had been off for six months. Even our databases were the same way... no data was entered after the morning of 09/25/2008.

I restored the backup from tape (as my TAR backups disappeared with everything else), and the client lost a day of work. Fortunately, it was a light day and they could re-input their data quickly. Out of the IT director, the CIO, CTO, my manager, and myself, I was the one most bent out-of-shape over the whole thing.

What Happened
We pieced it together after the fact. The IT director is new as the previous one left without warning and without leaving any passwords or configuration information. He knew the UNIX server was having problems, but not what problems.

Nobody was monitoring the RAID array, and it is a RAID-1 with a LSIL on-board controller. The LSIL had a neat feature, in that if the array is broken, both the online drive and the offline drive retain data, and the array can be rebuilt with either drive. This allows you to build an array from existing drives without losing data on the drive you copy from.

Well, DISK 0 probably went offline in 09/2008, while DISK 1 kept working. When the server restarted, it either 1) asked which drive to set as primary and defaulted to the old data on DISK 0, or 2) defaulted to DISK 0 without asking. In either case, the drive from 09/2008 became the primary, thus causing a six-month black hole.

The Moral
The moral of the story? Make sure you have backups, make sure you have OFFLINE backups, and make sure those backups can be accessed and restored -- test your backups! Thank God Almighty that the backup restored OK, or that client would be out of business within months. *whew*

Lee & Cathy Jones

Persistent USB mount locations on Pogoplug (and other Linux devices)

Locating a new device on your network

Setting up a Pogoplug with rsync and Optware

Intended Audience

Background

Some Assumptions and a Word of Warning

Enable SSH On Your Pogoplug

Locate Your Pogoplug

Establishing SSH Access

USB Device Names on the Pogoplug

Get mke2fs

Create the Linux Partition

Format the USB Flash with Ext3 Filesystem

Mounting the USB Flash Drive As /opt

Installing Optware on the USB Flash

Update ipkg Manager

Installing Nano (Optional)

Installing Rsync

Configure Rsync

First Run of Rsync

Installing an Rsync Client

Testing Rsync

Saving the Setup to the Pogoplug

Rebooting and Checking Setup

Sending Files from A PC to the Pogoplug Rsync Share

Adding a Hard Disk and Changing Rsync

A Couple of “Gotchas”

What’s Next

Boaz is 5 today!

Disneyland Blackout Dates iCal via Google Calendar (Public)

XP unable to use Samba after recent Windows Update KB2536276

A church IT informal acceptable use policy (comments?)

Since the motorcycle crash

Happy Birthday Cathy!

Hug your cat

Message: God Knows

Intro

Me

Transition to Text

Text

Naomi

Transition to Us

Transition to Text

The point: God will provide

Outtro

Me

You

Finally got myself a laptop

Samba 3 on SCO 5.0.6

Patch Internet Explorer Now

Thoughts on the Google Nexus One 3G/T-Mobile/HTC problem

OpenDNS and Google Public DNS

A tribute to Oliver

Oliver Jones07/09/2000 - 07/25/2009

Google Voice App for BlackBerry and Android

Fix for 'Rules in Error' - 'Cannot Reply to Message' for Outlook 2007 Out-Of-Office rule

Vista and Windows 2008 Service Pack 2 available now

Oliver is OK

Oliver is probably moving to a shelter

Oliver needs a new home

Worried about Conficker?

Sphincter Moments

Oliver Jones
07/09/2000 - 07/25/2009