Demise of Wordpress

I am a very capable IT resource, i run technical projects for a living, however eveyone makes mistakes, my mistake was to run my own WordPress server for over 12 months at home and then when it failed find out i had an inadequate backup & restore method, what a complete dumbthick i am.

Back to Blogger for me......

Updates and Notifications

I have been running my own Linux server (debian 6.0.7) running LAMP and Wordpress for some time now servicing www.tonycossey.com , I started running my own server setup as both a learning exercise and as a comparison to using service like Google Blogger, where this article is hosted. First point that struck me was the need to constantly check wordpress and linux for updates, the recent spate of Wordpress security incidents re-enforced the need for this

I started using 'apticron' as I do not trust automatic updating of any OS and prefer to be in control of my own destiny, 'apticron' checks daily via cron scheduled script for outstanding updates and mails a target address with the updates.

To use 'apticron' under Debian

as root
'apt-get install apticron'

you will be prompted to supply parameters for the '/etc/apt/listchanges.conf' file which will include the target email address.

Test by running '/etc/cron.daily/apticron'........

If you lack an SMTP agent (MTA) on your system to send mail, run SSMTP via these instructions

as root
'apt-get install ssmtp'

once installed edit '/etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf' and edit the 'mailhub' pamameter with yoyr ISP's outbound smtp server, the file also contains options for SSL connections and credentials for protected SMTP servers. I noticed that as of 2009 ssmtp is no longer being devloped by it's maintainers, if you wish to use an active package see this excellent wiki article at archlinux, it may need some adapting to work with debian. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/MSMTP

Wireless Keyboard for Linux

After building my new home Linux based workstation i was left with a slight issue with physical space for a keyboard, the tradional full size WYSE keyboard i was using just failed to fit comfortably on my desk. After a quick visit to ebuyer i spotted the Keysonic ACK540RF Mini wireless keyboard with a built in touchpad. My only concern at the time of purchase was the compatability with Linux, however after some reseach i took the plunge

The keyboard has been a great success, good key action but a rather difficult placement of the CTRL key. The batteries last very well due to a good power saving implmentation by Keysonic, you can take the keyboard out of power save mode by pressing the 'ESC' key which works flawlessly. The Linux integration works very well with a true plug and play experience, the USB dongle provides an amazing range for the wireless function. All in All a great device,You can pickup this item now for around £30 from ebuyer and amazon......a Very Nice Linux Device but change that CTRL key placement !

Mindmaps for Projects

I use Mindmaps to help me deliver projects, this technique of using mindmaps as project support documents really helps me co-ordinate activities within plans across multiple projects, in effect visualizing a programme of project activities. I recently changed my software tool that i use to create the Mindmaps i now use to the open source Xmind application, for which i can provide a hearty recommendation.

The real trick of mindmapping is ensuring you have the discipline to update the mindmap on a very regular basis along with your other project logs and project support documentation. I am a Prince2 Practitioner and i have adopted the methodology where possible in my work environment, i really should work out what the mindmap could replace if at anything in my project support documents.However for the time being i am happy to be possibly duplicating effort.

If you feel you could benefit from mindmapping check out the wikipedia article below for a guide to Mindmaps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

Also search for Xmind on google or indeed Freemind which is another great open source application. You may also enjoy this article on lifehacker which reviews both free of cost and commercial mindmapping applications

http://lifehacker.com/5188833/hive-five-five-best-mind-mapping-applications

I Core therefore i am

So i have decided to refresh my desktop PC for home, in general i like to build my own system, giving me total control over the features and component pricing.

I have looked at HEX core, core i5, i7 and even i3....the processors i normally deal with are server models for high frequency trading financial sector, Xenon Gulftown

The home workstation component market these days is minefield of differing specs chips, boards and suppliers, i only refresh my home PC every 4 or 5 years as i spec well and future proof the system, however this time my choice is bewildering. I ad to resort to buying a magazine to get the best advice and inside story.

Since i don't play games on my home PC (i use a ps3 for that past time) and run Linux, i can build a real screamer of a desktop for a relatively low cost, in fact i amy even throw in a copy of windows 7 and dual boot into Microsoft's latest offering, in fact i may just it within virtualbox.

anyway, the point of this post is the subject of difference in CPU's from Intel, from the specifications the higher spec Core i7 looks a little like a Xenon 5600 series CPU, the high line i7 is hex core with similar frequency ratings.

It only when you see the photorealism in high end games on the PC platform that you realise a gamer now needs as much grunt as a high frequency trading firm these days.

see here

Where next for workstations, servers and gaming rigs....

SLR London to Monaco

Fat Joy......

https://picasaweb.google.com/tonycossey/SLRToMonaco

Nothing Rivals a SLR when it comes to rolling down to Monaco from the UK

Clonezilla to the rescue

I had to convert my test bench computer to an upgraded hardware specification (more RAM) and a 64bit version of Linux to run multiple virtual machines via Virtualbox. I cloned and restored 8 virtual machines hosted via Virtualbox open source edition using clonezilla-Live and a local SAMBA server flawlessly, without doubt Clonezilla is the leading software to achieve bare metal restores for machines running windows or linux that i have used, congratulations and thanks to all the team at Clonezilla.

I was absolutely stunned how easy the Clonezilla Live Cd made the laborious task or backing up and restoring 8 different virtual machines, i have used in past Ghost and the differing Arconis products, all worthy items of software, however this open source solution simply made my task so easy in regards to both portions of the job that i simply had to post this BLOG entry to sing its praises, also i am working on publishing a guide on how i did this as others may find this useful.

In Love with Crunchbang

As i have an extensive SOHO network in my residence run almost entirely on Linux, I tend to use a single workstation as my 'admin' base camp, configuring and manipulating configs of other machines from that central point via SSH or even via tools like webmin or phpadmin.

However i have been using lately the most underpowered machine on my network to perform this task, the ancient Compaq workstation is powered by a Intel Pentium III 733 Mhz (Coppermine) CPU and has a measly 384 meg of RAM, the hard disk is a tiny 10Gig and the network card is a sturdy Intel Pro 100, the machines graphics are driven by a built in Intel 82815 graphics card. Why use this low specification?

Crunchbang linux is why......this distro provides a minimal openbox desktop and is so lightweight that it runs incredibly well on this machine, even in the full resolution of the 22inch LCD monitor i use.

I am so impressed by this distro, i started using around 12 months ago, now i use it as the central point of administration almost every day, i obviously use my more powerful machines for work that requires CPU grunt but as an underpinning OS for an admin workstation the Crunchbang distro hits the spot.

In its latest flavor 'statler' based on Debian Squeeze the distro includes FUSE and thus the ability to mount file systems on remote machines via SSH, which is a great facility, also the terminator shell which includes spilt screen capability is a great tool for a system admin.

The meager hardware spec of my crunchbang workhorse really is hidden by this lightweight distro which seems to be designed to run well on a PC that is 10 years old.

Many thanks to the team at Crunchbang, i am have totally fallen in love with this distro, in fact i am going to re-purpose a powerful worktation on my network to run this great OS to see if i can use it as a day to day workstation rather than an admin buggy.

Watch this space.

Linux Success Story

My father has been using an Atom based PC for some time now, it's a modest system specification but it matches his needs perfectly. The system is an ASUS EEEBOX which is about the size of a paperback novel.

Spec:

• 1.6 Ghz Intel Atom CPU
• 1 GIG of RAM
• 160 gig hard drive
• Wireless and Ethernet
• USB 2.0

After about 12 months of use the system started suffering from 'slowing' performance under Windows XP, as an example it was now taking around 7 minutes to boot into s state where XP could run programs. The system was well protected and after the following diagnostic steps no error or problem was found.

• Spyware/malware/bot/Rootkit scans
• Hard disk optimisation
• Optimisation of startup programs (remove unneeded staryup apps)
• Registry clean
• Check of updates of software,firmware, bios, drivers

The performance problem seemed to be related to XP but all the normal culprits were not to blame, I decided to backup his data and reload the OS from scratch.

I am a Open Source advocate and suggested that my father tried out Ubuntu as a desktop OS and use the open source equivalents of the Windows Software he used.

I placed the 10.04 LTS version of ubuntu on the system, gave a small training course to my dad and let him loose for week on the system.

The results were impressive, his feedback is highlighted below

• Very fast system response in the GUI
• Online banking and other sites work well in Firefox and Chrome.
• All excel and Word documents work perfectly with OpenOffice
• The simple Linux gnome games were to his liking as a casual gamer
• Printing and scanning via his Canon Device worked perfectly
• the quality of audio from the system was really improved as windows suffered from an audio 'stutter'
• Microsoft outlook is easier to use than Evolution for email
• DVD's played back perfectly via his USB 2.0 DVD drive
• Was i sure this system software was free of fees :-)

The only change i have made to the system since was to install the 'Cairo-Dock' application to add a Mac-OSX style dock to the system which in my opinion improves the app window management and app launching better than the standard ubuntu desktop.

My father is over 80 years old and enjoys using his home computer for basic home office work, accessing the internet and likes simple desktop games such as cards and logic puzzles. Also he enjoys viewing DVD's on his computer. Ubuntu 10.04 really has met and exceeded my fathers computing needs and provided a performance boost over XP, this configuration has now been in place 3 months with great success.

I do really think that Linux is a viable desktop for home use for the most basic of users, ubuntu is friendly and seems to allow the user to grow with the system as his/hers experience increases with usage.

I use Windows XP in my workplace in a large corporate and it performs well and rarely lets me down, however there is a team of IT professionals who maintain that desktop environment, for the home user when things go wrong or problems occur there is very little choice when it comes to getting help. The linux community however provides lots of help straight out of the ubuntu forums this again helps out users like my father.

Overall i do think for the most basic of users that a Linux desktop is the best choice.....however i do appreciate it may not suit everyone's needs.

Bethere or be square

I have just completed my first there months with a new ISP, BEthere, they are in fact a spin off of the O2 mobile phone network and separate from O2's own internet service provision arm.

I am very impressed by BETHERE, i get a 24meg ADSL2 connection, my download speeds which i have seen top out at 1.5mbps, which has made my internet usage a pleasure. I also get a permy IP address, a good ADSL WiFi router and the bethere user community is active and chatty on the websites forums.

Best of all the help desk staff are intelligent and friendly, most ISP help desks just want to you to hang up the phone ASAP, these guys obviously take pride in their work, the two support calls i have made were related to activation and a little support on my options in using my own ADSL modem (to facilitate the use of MONOWALL and IPSEC VPN's), on both occasions the phone was answered quickly and the person on the phone had great technical knowledge, no being shunted up the technical food chain to a 2nd level support person.

Well done to Bethere, keep up the great work.

40 and 100G Ethernet: It’s ratified!

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

40 and 100G Ethernet: It’s ratified!

View more webinars from IP EXPO.

Voice Trading in Derivatives Is Not Dead: Long Live the Squawk Box! by Advanced Trading

Voice Trading in Derivatives Is Not Dead: Long Live the Squawk Box! by Advanced Trading

iPad @my pad

OK i am not a big Apple fan, mainly due to the Powerbook i purchased and the sunset policy of Apple of PowerPC driven devices. However last night i used a friends iPad here at my flat, wow its a nice device, easy to use and great display, however i can't see apple banking my cheque.....

HD Snob

I am lucky to have a advanced setup at home for the viewing of TV and Movies, in fact it brings a lot of enjoyment to myself, friends and family. The centrepiece is a Samsung 46 inch LCD TV, TV coverage arrives via SKY-HD, Games & Movies are delivered via a playstaion 3 and finally High quality audio blasts out of a Yamaha Sound Projector Soundbar and Subwoofer....all great right? Well yes but also there is a downside.

You become a HD snob, standard definition TV now does not quite cut it for me,a classic example is the current British Open Golf Coverage on BBC-HD. Clear crisp coverage, showing the exact detail of every drive, iron shot, chip and putt. The players swings are shown in their full glory when the x-mo coverage is shown, however HD coverage stops at 6pm and to carry on watching the completion of the rounds you have to switch to a Standard def BBC channel. What a difference ! once you have been watching HD all day long, SD turns into a cavalcade of blurred edges, invisible ball flight and fuzzy players from long distance shots.....awful. In fact the quality really detracts from the content.

In fact Sunday lunch with my parents has transferred venue recently so myself and my father can watch the Sunday sporting events on my home setup, the 32 Inch standard def setup at my parents place just does not cut the mustard anymore.

I have seen the recent developments in 3D TV at the local pub, provided by SKY, 100 grown men in a pub wearing sunglasses watching football with rather unconvincing depth did not appeal that much. It looked to me if the players were rather like 2D cutouts moving on a 3D pitch, thus i can't see me being a 3D snob (yet)......but i just can't take SD TV anymore......spoils the whole viewing experience as you are constantly shocked by the HD differential.

Essential Tools for Managing Debian Based Linux

Essential Tools for Managing Debian Based Linux (debian-ubuntu-mint etc etc)

A quick post, here are some tools i use that make me sleep easier at night for managing my Debian based Linux systems that have a interface exposed to the public Internet.

1) Denyhosts -- sudo apt-get install denyhosts -- great python script that blocks users who have failed to login with the correct username or password via ssh by putting their IP address in /etc/deny.hosts -- Also emails you with all the relevant information. (http://denyhosts.sourceforge.net/)

2) apticron -- sudo apt-get install apticron -- Great script that checks for software updates and mails you when updates are available to install (http://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=apticron)

3) etckeeper -- sudo apt-get install etckeeper -- uses a version control system like GIT / Bazaar to provide automatic revisions of the files in /etc. If you make an error when installing or changing a config, backout is much easier with etckeeper (http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/etckeeper/)

4) Tiger -- sudo apt-get install tiger -- runs scheduled security checks on your system and warns you via email of any potential issues. (http://www.nongnu.org/tiger/)

These tools make remote admin a lot safer and you can attend to your system when notified that you NEED to attend to it, rather than checking manually yourself

A Food Tip

Had some great food and drink over the weekend, I enjoyed the combination so much I thought I would share it online. This combination was served at end of a nice meal, but the final course was so nice it somewhat became the star of the show...plus two of three ingredients are from British Suppliers and all three are modestly priced.

1 x Bottle of taylors 10 year old tawny port slightly chilled - see www.taylor.pt

1 x Portion of Tesco's Finest Mature 'long clawson' Blue Stilton Cheese

1 x Portion Tesco Finest Brie De Meaux

its a classic combination but i was really impressed by both the cheeses and port so much i just had to put something online. The creaminess abrupt flavour of the Stilton cheese and the almost toffee like flavour of the port was a brilliant combination and both are readily available from the high street, the Brie is also a real classic treat, don't miss out.

1 More Reason Why You gotta Love Linux

I am a linux desktop and server fan, however professionally and socially (for friends and family support) I also have to use Microsoft's operating systems. At home i have one physical Windows XP PC and Virtualized Windows Server 2003, both legal copies i must add.

I have had some very good experiences with Microsoft operating systems, the desktop i used while working for a futures and options exchange performed flawlessly for years running XP on a powerful HP workstation. Also i have a nicely running XP PC @home as previously mentioned. The rules to have a trouble free desktop for Microsoft are pretty much the same as for any other OS.

1# Give the system room to breathe with plenty of RAM
2# Install hardware appropriate to the task at hand IE You don't need to spend £300 on a video card if just need 2d video performance for office productivity
3# Make sure you have a method of obtaining software security updates from your vendor
4# Configure your system to have a firewall enabled and disable unneeded system services to try and keep the bad guys out.
5# Mainly for Microsoft this one, have a good anti virus/malware package installed and updated. For Linux perhaps a good rootkit checker installed.

However for the average home user items 3 and 4 from the list above

Number 3 is where Linux really wins over Microsoft, the best way to explain is why an example.

My home XP PC had not been used for about 3 weeks, use an excellent package called Secunia PSI to track my software updates for the software installed on my XP PC.....why?

Well of course "Microsoft Update" ONLY updates software from Microsoft, any other software updates you have to track yourself, secunia PSI does a fantastic job of this for you and its free for personal use.

However I have to then spend the next 90 minutes updating the following software manually, which requires a restart of the PC for most of the updates

# Java
# Firefox
# Commodo Firewall
# AVG internet security
# open office
# Microsoft Updates
# sandboxie
# malwarebytes anti malware

This is painful and without secunia PSI, i would have to check all the software manually which lets face it 90% of ordinary computer users would not bother with. I am quite proud of the XP install i have, the modest PC spec (1800 Mhz Sempron, 1 gig of ram, ancient MX Nvidia GPU, 160 gig eide disk) runs VERY well, but it takes a great deal of love and computing knowledge to preserve the configuration.

For example

# I use the free version of Winpatrol to stop programs making entries in the registry without my permission.
# I use comodo firewall to replace the basic microsoft firewall
# I use opendns to prevent the browsers going anywhere near websites that may carry drive-by browsing malware payloads. Mainly by fat finger url mistakes
# I use threatfire to protect as best i can against unpatched software exploits
# I use the free version of AVG to protect against malware and virus attack
# I use Firefox as they seem to plug holes in the browser software quicker than Microsoft, plus i use the noscript add on to protect against javascript exploits.

I visit so many friends and family to fix their systems for free, again and again i see a powerful PC brought to its knees by Windows XP that has not been locked down is not protected adequately. I have a version of Windows 7 on evaluation licence running virtulaized, that seems better but have only been using that a couple of months. But you need to be standard user witouth admin privileged access to be really safe.

however as i satted previously XP does work well when configured and protected well, but its a lot of work to give yourself a chance of an acceptable experience, work that the average user just can't be expected to undertake.

Of course Linux again has to update its software too, but as an example on my Linux PC running debian, i login to root access and type two commands in a terminal (or use the graphic client supplied)

# aptitude update
# aptitude upgrade

This method also updates software from third parties IF you have added the third parties repository to your sources.list file. Whoosh all done, mostly trouble free in 10 years of using Debian or Debian based distros, you only have to restart the system for Kernel updates or other certain updates.

The difference is marked here between Microsoft and Linux, the update method on Linux is a PLEASURE to use, where it be apt-get/aptitude, yum or suse's variant.

I try and convert friends and family to Linux at the desktop, only three people out of around 40 contacts have converted. Mainly fear of something new, the need to run games for their kids/themselves (buy a PS3 or Xbox 360!) or an exiting investment in Microsoft office prevents their conversion to linux. And YES i have to revisit them in 6 months to fix the PC again as they have not followed my advice due to their relative lack of confidence to perform the myriad of tasks needed to protect XP......This is another reason why you gotta love linux....If any of my froends or family read this....PLEASE CONVERT TO LINUX :-)

Viktor Blom Biography | Poker Blog

Isildur1 is Viktor Blom.......see the post below

Viktor Blom Biography | Poker Blog

plus my previous post

http://tonycossey.blogspot.com/2010/03/online-poker-high-stakes-roller-coaster.html

The Online Poker High Stakes Roller Coaster

Anyone who has been following the fortunes of online poker player ISILDUR1, will know he has been on somewhat of a roller coaster ride, his latest adventures this week show how much his bankroll varies day to day and even hour to hour, but his taking on all comers and some of the best online pros/

The Online Railbird Report: durrrr and OMGClayAiken Pummel Isildur1 | PokerNews

Isildur1 has an interesting career history, with it seems a self built bankroll -- here is an extract from Wikipedia on his career so far, I wish I could play this style of poker, only my skill limits my horizons :-)

ISILDUR1 the anonymous online player from Sweden first appeared at Full Tilt Poker on September 16, 2009, and remained largely unnoticed until November when he began playing well known professionals such as Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Brian Townsend, Cole South, and Patrik Antonius at stakes as high as $500/$1000.^[4] He reached a career peak on November 15 with total winnings of $5 million.^[7] By mid December, however, he was down $2 million net,^[7] including an approximately $4 million loss to Brian Hastings on December 8, when the two played heads-up $500/$1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for five hours.With a few brief exceptions, Isildur1 did not appear on Full Tilt between his collapse in mid-December and his return in February 2010.

According Full Tilt's insider interview with Patrik Antonius, Isildur1 had a bankroll of approximately $2000 in January 2009. He built his bankroll to $1.4 million by September and began playing on Full Tilt. He first played Haseeb Qureshi, a high stakes regular, at the $100/$200 stakes. After 24 hours Isildur1 managed to win almost $500,000. He disappeared and then resurfaced a month later and played Brian Townsend, Patrik Antonius, and Cole South at the $200/$400 to $500/$1000 tables and suffered a million dollar loss. Baar, a columnist on HighStakesDB which is a website that monitors and tracks high stakes activity online, suggested that Isildur1 was overly aggressive and could cost him playing against elite competition. Isildur1, however, proved critics wrong by winning approximately $2 million back from Townsend and South during the last week of October 2009.

Isildur1 performance in No Limit Hold'em was so dominant that most players refused to play him in Hold'em or offered to play him under the condition that he plays Pot Limit Omaha as well. He then challenged Phil Ivey, currently ranked 1st for the 4th consecutive month on ESPN’s poker rankings, playing three tables heads up No-Limit Hold’em at the $500/$1000 stakes. After a week of play Isildur1 incurred a $3.2 million loss to Ivey and stated in a subsequent interview that Ivey was the toughest opponent he ever played.

Antonius’s then challenged Isildur1 to a rematch in Omaha. Isildur1 openly admitted his experience in Omaha was fairly limited but accepted regardless costing him another $3 million after playing for only one day which, at the time, was the largest one day gain and loss in the history of online poker. This record was broken half a month later when Isildur1 played Brian Hastings. The following day they played a rematch in Omaha where Isildur1 managed to win $2 million back from Antonius.

His winnings hovered at the $2 million mark until December 8, 2009 when he played Brian Hastings for five hours. With a mixture of good luck and collusion from fellow Team CardRunners hand histories, Hastings managed to win $4.2 million from Isildur1 making it the largest one day gain and loss in the history of online poker.

It was discovered afterward that collusion had occurred between Hastings, Townsend, and Cole South in which the three shared and compiled over 30,000 hands of Isildur1’s play which may have resulted in Isildur1's $4.2 million loss to Hastings. They had gained an unfair advantage which Full Tilt defines as "accessing or compiling information on other players beyond that which the user has personally observed through his or her own game play" after Townsend admitted to acquiring hands of Isildur1's play through Hastings which he spoke of during an interview with ESPN.As a result, Townsend was suspended from his red pro status for 30 days.

A number of Isildur1’s regular opponents commented on him in the media buzz surrounding his collapse. On December 11, Ilari Sahamies appeared on Finnish radio show Radio Rock Korporaatio, saying, “He’s playing 9 tables at once against Patrik [Antonius], [Phil] Ivey, and durrrr [Tom Dwan] – the guy must be missing a chromosome.”Also that day, the Full Tilt Academy released a video in which Patrik Antonius discussed Isildur1 with Phil Gordon. Antonius, who won the largest online pot ever ($1.4 million) against Isildur1, called him “extremely dangerous” because he constantly puts his opponents to difficult decisions. Antonius further opined that the mysterious Swede would return.

The rise and fall of Isildur1 was on nearly every Top Stories of 2009 list, including those of Cardplayer, PokerNews.com, PokerNewsDaily.com, and pokerlistings.com.

On December 22, 2009, PokerNews.com published an interview with Isildur1 about his loss to Brian Hastings, but Isildur1 again refused to reveal his identity.

Beginner’s Guide to Git – Make Tech Easier

I found this great starter guide to using the SCM, GIT, its a perfect solution to revision control for software devlopment projects, allows each user to have his own branch of development and does not rely on a central server, good article and a great software utility.

Beginner’s Guide to Git – Make Tech Easier

Here is the GIT online manual for more in depth info

Online book of GIT