MEC's Blog

SSH Using Public Keys For Authenication

Micah — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:06:36 +0000

This will be a quick post, just wanted to provide a link to a site for learning how to setup public key authentication for your SSH server. What does this mean to you? Well, it means that there will be no more brute force attacks allowed on your SSH server. If the offenders don’t have your private key then they will be SOL (Shit Outta Luck).

Now here is the cool part, if you are accessing this sever from a computer without the private key that you generated, you will not be allowed to even try to enter a password. It will immediately kick you out, only if you have the private key that matches the key that you install on the server will you be asked for a password. If the password matches then you are allowed access and can go on with your business. You get three shots at getting the password right, after that you have to try logging in again.

Some configuration must be completed to the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file for this to work, and while in there be sure the turn off clear text authentication once you have the public/private key combination working.

Much more detailed information can be found here

Everything is installed and running good

Micah — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:44:15 +0000

Just wanted to chim back in and let everyone know that the components that were chosen for my main Ubuntu Linux box are installed and working fine. I had no trouble with the install at all, the computer was up and running within 30 minutes (including all the wire tying of the excess cables). Everything seems to be working, both cores of the CPU, all the voltage, fan and temperature sensors, video, sound, network interface card….etc. The CPU is even throttling down when there is nothing to do to conserver power and to help keep the temps down.

So far I have installed Samba, VMware Server, all my Firefox extensions, Automatix (for all the goodies not included by default).

I did run into an issue with having 1 SATA HD and 1 IDE HD installed, it looks like it was trying to boot off the IDE drive, even though that was my “throw junk on” disk and not the main system drive. This was cleared up by editing the menu.lst file in the /boot/grub directory. I have GkRellm installed and it is displaying the temps for my motherboard, processor, and video card, my fan speeds for my system and processor fans, and all the voltages coming from the power supply.

I am very impressed by the speed of this machine now, it makes a big difference going from what I had before (Athlon XP 2400+) to what I have now (AMD X2 4800+). I could not be happier with the performance.

If I run into anything I will post back and let everyone know, but as of right now I am having a blast.

Computer is DRT (Dead Right There)

Micah — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:22:45 +0000

I worked all day long to load the latest release of Ubuntu Linux onto my main Linux desktop computer. I did not devote much time to setting up the previous release that was installed on it, and I vowed to try harder with this one. I had everything working that I needed including VMware Server running Windows XP SP2 with all the updates. I installed something that required a restart and wouldn’t you know it….the computer was never to boot again. Not sure what happened but the HD light came on solid and the motherboard made some sound (nothing like the normal POST sounds that you would expect). I installed the HD into another computer thinking that might be the culprit but it seemed to be working fine. I guess that the motherboard had finally decided to call it quits. I built this computer in 2003 and it has served me well, but the hardware was getting a little dated and it was time for an upgrade.

Here are the new components that I bought online from newegg.com

Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3 AM2 Nvidia GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard

MSI NX8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2 65W Processor

G.Skill 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) Ram

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

Samsung 20X DVD+/-R DVD Burner w/ LightScribe SATA

Antec 75003 120mm Case Fan

All of this set me back about $560 before mail in rebates. This will be a pretty good upgrade over what I was running (AMD 2400+ Throughbred Core Athlon). I already have the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and case, so the above should take care of about everything. I will be sure to post back to this and let everyone that is interested know how well all of the components work with Ubuntu. Hardware compatibility with Linux is kind of a hit or miss thing, most of the time it comes down to just how hard you are willing to work at making everything play nice together, as a friend of mine has found out with his video card. He now says that he has a known working xorg.conf file stored in 3 different spots to prevent it from being lost and having to retrace his steps.

Getting back to the VMware Server for a moment, for those that are interested, there is a great guide on setting this up that can be found here. This is the same guide that I have used and it worked great. Don’t forget to install VMware Tools once you get windows updated, it makes things much nicer to use (mouse is no longer locked in the screen, the resolution of the guest OS is much improved…etc).

That is about all that is going on, I am just waiting for all the stuff to get here so I can start installing it all. I will report back once everything is in and running.

Shipping Is Not Always A Sure Thing

Micah — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:48:32 +0000

In an eariler post I said that I had sold my Pentax 67II medium format camera. Everything was going fine, it was on its way to California…when out of nowhere I get an e-mail from a person in Georgia letting me know that they have recieved a camera in the mail that they did not bid on. I was more than somewhat unhappy upon hearing this. I had been holding off on purchasing the accessories for my bike until I was sure that the camera was delivered and everything with the transaction was fully completed. It took about 2 days of getting in touch with everyone and getting everything straightened out but it was finally back on the road and bound for California. It was delievered without further drama and I have since placed the items mentioned below on order from MeanCycles.com.

I highly recommend them BTW, I placed my order on a Sunday night and the goods were out the door on Monday and should be delivered by Friday (with free shipping too). Their website is pretty easy to navigate and you can cut down the items that you see to just what will fit your particular motorcycle. They seem to be one of the first to get in new items and the owner seems to be a pretty good good guy, he interacts with customers at the Vulcan-900 Delphi Forums. His username is bikeman17, and there is a special little section called “JC to the rescue” for asking him direct questions about part availability and such.

I am liking my stint on swing shift, I have gotten alot more comfortable with all that it entails. I now have a better idea of what to do and what is expected of me , which makes all the difference. Nothing is as bad as being somewhere where you have no clue what you should be doing and what is expected of you. It has been pretty relaxing and slow going these last few days, I am sure that the busy hectic days are not far away, but I will enjoy this time while it lasts.

This past weekend I went to the Oklahoma Sooners Football Game against the University of Miami. The Sooners absolutly destroyed the Hurricanes 51 – 13. It was a “Hotter Than Hell” kind of day, where it showered around the first play of the game for about 5 minutes then the sun came out. This was only my second time to be in the stadium, but on the sports network (WWLS The Sports Animal) that covers the Sooners they were saying that it was one of the most uncomfortable days at the stadium that they can remember. I believe that the attendance was somewhere in the neighborhood of 85,387 people. Let me confirm that that is a shit load of people when everybody goes to the snack bar and whatnot during halftime. We were packed in there like sardines and it was still a blast. I could barley talk after the game from all the hollering that was going on, and the only time anybody sat down was during the time-outs.

Changing Shifts

Micah — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:54:26 +0000

Today marked my last day on the 11-7 shift. I have been on this shift for the last 5 years and have gotten pretty burnt out. I will be going to the 3-11 shift for the foreseeable future, I am looking forward to it . I did work this shift for about 1 year at my previous job and really didn’t mind the hours. It will defiantly be a change and there will be an adjustment period. Things should be a little quieter, and this will give some other people a chance to take the reigns and see what they are made of.

I recently sold my medium format Pentax 67II camera to a bidder in California. Everything was going fine with the transaction until I got an e-mail from a lady in Georgia saying that the camera had shown up on her doorstep. Needless to say I was freaking out that something worth that kind of money had been dropped off not only at the wrong address but in the totally opposite direction than it was intended for. The lady was great and is an ebayer herself and the package has been dropped off at a FEDEX location and is hopefully on its way to its rightful owner. I have not heard anything from the winning bidder, which is either a good thing of a bad thing. My upgrade plans for the bike will be on hold until I am sure that it has been properly delivered.

Today is a very nice day for Oklahoma this time of year. It is currently 82 degrees and I should be out riding, but I am trying to cut back on my unnecessary trips. I find it amusing that I had great plans of saving money on gas when getting the motorcycle, but once you own one, all you can think about is getting out and riding. My wife will be back on rotations soon and I will be here all alone. Weather permitting I will be getting alot of riding in during that time. Hopefully with all my new accessories attached to the bike. That money is burning a hole in my checking account.

Kudos to my employer, they have sent a notice that in return for filling out an online health survey both me and my wife will receive a $50 gift card to over 300 stores. I am thinking this would be a good time to stock up on some books from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Will have to start browsing and see what peaks my interest.

5 Month Update

Micah — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 18:44:24 +0000

I have been staying somewhat busy for the last 5 months….but obviously not with updating this blog

Been doing the summer thing…working….sleeping…working…mowing the damn yard…sleeping…etc

Lets see, what has changed..

I have a new computer, the other one was showing its age. I purchased a Dell XPS 410 + 24″ widescreen LCD. I am really enjoying it, it was time for a change. It came with Windows Vista pre-installed, so I have been having to get used to that. There are parts to it that I like, other parts that suck….just about like anything else. The start task manager is much improved, it gives you all kinds of useful info such as disk I/O writes and reads…etc, some of that stuff that you think that you will never use until you have a problem with something accessing your hard drive for no reason and you have to track it down.

I haven’t done just a whole lot with my linux machines lately. I did reload two of them to the latest version of Ubuntu. That upgrade went pretty smoothly, I have not gotten the GUI arranged the way that I want yet, will have to sit down one of these days and get that done. For the most part they just stay in the back room and run.

I have of course been riding the wheels off my motorcycle this summer. It is sitting somewhere in the neighborhood of 3200 miles since I bought it in late Feb. I have changed the oil once on it, bit the bullet and did it myself. Glad that I did, ended up changing it in my garage one morning in ~30 minutes for a cost of about $20 vs $75 at the dealership. I have recently sold my Pentax 67II Medium Format Camera on ebay to purchase some goodies for the bike. On the wishlist currently are:

Cobra Speedster Slashdowns

Universal Vista Cruise Control

Drifter Large Slant Saddlebags

Saddlebag Supports For VN900

That should hold me over for the rest of the year. I would like to possibly look into a removable windshield for some longer range trips. I am going to try and ride it as much as possible this winter, but my enthusiam for riding will drop off significantly after about 40 degrees.

Other than what is stated above, things have been pretty normal this summer. That is going to be my excuse for not updating this blog. I need to be better at coming up with things to write about everyday. If not I think that might mean that I am a boring person.

Passed all the hurdles

Micah — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:13:01 +0000

I have now officially passed all of the hurdles to ride the bike on base. That required taking the MSF basic rider course out on base. It was a very good class and gives you alot of things to think about. I learned the most during the low speed portions of the course. They teach you things like scanning traffic ahead of you to spot possible dangers so that you can react ahead of time. I burned the crap out of my head (sunburn) but other than that it was a very good class. It is a two day course for those interested and is highly recommended. In Oklahoma…..passing this class means that you don’t have to take the riders portion of the test at the Highway Patrol to get your “M” endorsement on your license.

Lets see…..what else have I been doing….

Oh..I cleaned up my garage, it was needing it in the worst way. I have been feeling bad that the bike kicked my car out of the garage. So today I decided to do something about it. After some major re-arranging I have the ability to park both the car and the bike in the garage. It is a tight fit to be sure, but it works. No more helplessly looking on as my car gets pummeled by hail stones

I am off to Foxes to find some reflective tape or something similar to put on my backpack. The gate guards get all up in arms if you don’t have it on at night.

Nice Day for a Ride

Micah — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 21:47:10 +0000

Went on a little ride to get the bike out on the highway the other day (02/27/07). I kept it around 60mph per the owners manual break-in period suggestions. The thing that struck me the most was the wind, it is something that you never really pay attention to in a car, but on a bike it is another story. It took me a good while to get used to letting the bike lean into the wind to keep inside my riding lane. I think the wind that day was around 20mph or so. I did encounter some Semi’s here and there, and dealing with the wake or air they leave behind was something that I was wanting to get under my belt, I think it will take me some time to get used to that.

I really like the full face helmet (Fulmer Modular AF-M) that I got. I was wanting a 3/4, and may still get one for in town riding, but being in that wind i really enjoyed not having to deal with it blowing on my face. I do need to pick up a tinted shield for it though, it is on my list of things to get, along with a jacket and a backpack or some sort (not alot of storage on my bike)

The bike did great, I had more than enough throttle left to go faster if I had wanted to. Even going up some pretty good hills or directly into the wind didn’t take much extra throttle to maintain my speed.

Here is a google map of the route that I took 02/27/07-RIDE.

Filled up the tank cause it was reading close to empty, it held ~2.1 gallons (out of a 5.3gal tank) so it looks like the gas gauge is a tad off. Got 80.1 miles on that tank, which equals about 38mpg. This was the first time that I filled up so that takes into account all of the parking lot riding that I did after buying the bike. I will be looking for something in the 45-50mpg range this next fill up.

I find myself wanting to hop on it and ride everywhere, it can become very addicting.

Licensed to Ride

Micah — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:42:03 +0000

Went and took the motorcycle drivers test today, it was a bit of a shock. I went in there expecting to have to wait a few days before taking it, but they said to come in at 1:30pm…YIKES. Went home and tried to grab some sleep (like that was going to happen) and was sitting up there are 1:15pm.

Didn’t have too many problems, couple of times I left the blinker on after making a turn (that is going to take some getting used to). Overall it went well, I was nervous to say the least.

Ending up passing it and went and got my endorsement on my license, so no more parking lots for me. One hurdle left to pass before riding it to work.

The first ride was the most awesome feeling, the bike has more power than I am used to on my old bike. Looking forward to taking the defensive driving course, because of all the good things that I hear about it.

Asphewwwwww, time for some shut eye

Pic of the new bike

Micah — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 14:21:53 +0000

Here is a picture of me on the bike as promised, I didn’t sleep at all last night

Please disregard the harley davidson shirt that I am wearing on a Kawasaki bike…lol