Steve’s Stuff

I have to agree that Samba may be the killer Linux app. In this blog, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols writes “One of my favorite open-source applications is Samba. For me, it, and not Apache, is the Linux “killer” server app that I use all the time.”

Samba is the entry point for Linux into Windows networks. An awful lot of what does with Windows is simple file and print service and setting that up in Samba, integrated into an existing Windows domain is a matter of just a few minutes work. Need more file space but don’t want to pay the Microsoft tax for another set of CALs (client access licenses)? Pop in a PC, install a favorite Linux distro, and enable Samba. Done! On to the next project.

I bought $10 of Skype-Out credit today. I’ve been told the sound is a little muffled, but reasonably clear. The only drawback is the weird caller ID it uses, “000-012-3456″. I’m not sure what it should use, but that’s just plain strange.

skype, skype-out

In an end of the year reflection, I looked back over the ‘05 project list and noted that while we spent most of our money on commercial, closed source systems (including a certain company in Redmond, Wa), we have done a lot of interesting and useful stuff with open source software.

CCIM’s current OSS-based implemenations and projects incude:

• A front-end MX email system using Fedora Core Linux, Sendmail, MySQL, SpamAssassin, spamass-milter, ClamAV, and Milter-Greylist.
• Mailing list support for chapters and the Institute using Mailman.
• A tracking system for IT using Trac.
• Common calendaring for the leadership team with WebCalendar.
• An internal documentation system using MediaWiki.
• Forums to facilitate CCIMs reaching out to each other in response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita using PHPbb.
• A systems monitor using Nagios.
• Numerous web applications using the LAMP stack: Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP.
• The main CCIM website, running on Redhat Linux using Java and Orion.
• Website usage reports from AWStats.
• And, of course, WordPress for this blog.

oss, open source

In this CNET posting, Google says that it’s purchase of 5% of AOL “represented a vote of confidence in AOL’s plans to transform itself from a shrinking provider of dial-up Internet access into a series of advertising-supported Web sites”.

Way back when, when AOL bought CompuServe, the positive spin was that AOL would bring the CompuServe forums out of the obscurity into which they had slid and present them in a new and shiny format to the millions of AOL members. AOL has developed a new and shiny format, but that format does not seem to make the forums visible to any search engines.

My hope is that this deal will allow Google’s engineers to work with AOL and Prospero, the developer of the new AOL/Netscape/CompuServe forums, and open them to the Google search engines.

A personal note: I’ve been a CompuServe member since 1984 and Sysop/Wizop of various forums since 1992. Currently, I am the Wizop of the WUGNET Virus Central Forum.

AOL, Netscape, CompuServe, Google

Cited in the Spyware Weekly Newsletter : The Texas Attorney General’s web site has a two step check to determine if you’ve been hit by the Sony Rootkit.

1) From Windows, choose Start, then Run, then type cmd. At the command prompt, type (include the quote marks):

“cd windows\system32\$sys$filesystem”

If you are able to change to that folder, you have been infected. If you see the following message, then you likely are not infected: “The system cannot find the path specified.”

2) From Windows, open any word processor and create a text document (named test.txt). Once saved, rename the file to “$sys$test.txt”. Refresh the folder where you saved the file (by pressing the F5 button). If the file disappears, you have been infected.

sony, rootkit

This blog — Marketplace Monitor: Festoon links GoogleTalk & Skype users — points to an plugin, Festoon, that lets Google Talk and Sykpe users interconnect.

skype, google

My Polish CCIM skyper called yesterday to test his new webcam. Here’s a big shout-out to him! We rotated cameras. He showed his Christmas tree. I showed him a sunny but cold Chicago afternoon. I have to try this from home to see how well it works through our NATting firewall and DSL.

Just before he called, I did some recabling on my desktop and moved the USB headset from the front of the computer to the back. Everything seemed to work OK, but when he called, I got a popup from Windows saying something like “one of the devices on USB controller XXX is requesting more bandwidth then available.” Further, it said “click here for more information.” I clicked there and got a list of USB controllers, what was connected to each, and the amount of bandwidth each had reserved. Way cool.

This seems to be a common problem for people with USB cameras. Cisco has an page explaining how to troubleshoot the situation.

It turns out that there are two PCI-based USB controllers in the Compaq. One is for the two USB ports on the front on the machine. The other is for the five on the back. I had problems when I had plugged in the webcam, headset, printer, monitor and palm cradle into the same controller. (The monitor has it’s own USB hub.)

The Windows device manager shows three USB universal controllers and one USB2 universal controller and four USB hubs. I’m not yet sure how these map to anything.

USB, webcam, skype

Had a good conversation with a CCIM member in Poland this afternoon. When I first called, he was in the middle of a download and that definitely got in the way of the call. He called back in a few minutes. The computer-to-computer call was clearer than calling home on a a land line.

I’m ordering headsets for the International Membership staff and we’re going to get started skyping with some of our membership in the Pacific rim, Poland, and Russia.

Next, it’s time to play with Skype-In and Skype-Out (but probably not this week).

skype

Jim Asiano posted a comment to yesterday’s entry and skyped me from Buenos Aires. The conversation had a few garbled moments and wasn’t quite non-blocking, full-duplex but it was adequate.

I’m now trying to schedule a call with a CCIM member in Poland.

skype

I’m interested in seeing if the Institute can move some of its voice traffic, especially the international calls, to internet telephony. Over the weekend, I sent out a message to our membership asking about Skype and the response was enthusiastic. Many members are using it and many more are interested. Thus, this blog.

Over the next week or so, I’ll investigate add-ons like Skype-In, Skype Voice Mail, and Skype-Out. For now, it’s an experiment with the basics.

I downloaded Skype version 2.0, plugged in a Plantronics 200 USB headset and a Logitech 4000 camera, and installed the software. It works like a charm. The only trick is that I had to go into each application that used audio and tell it which audio system (built-in sound card or headset) to use.

My first call went to a CCIM member who’s listed as working in Chicago. We had a very clear conversation, even though he was sitting at his computer in the British Virgin Islands!

Check back over the next few days. I’ll be posting notes in the “skype” category here.

Oh, and Skype Me!