The Blog

MyBlogLog

2010-06-26T00:45:00.001-04:00

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Official Google Blog: Celebrating National Cyber Security Awareness Month 2009

2009-10-21T20:58:00.000-04:00

Official Google Blog: Celebrating National Cyber Security Awareness Month 2009

Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS

2009-07-08T10:12:00.000-04:00

Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS

Twitter Blog: Twitter Web Traffic Around the World

2009-06-03T19:51:00.000-04:00

Twitter Blog: Twitter Web Traffic Around the World

Official Google Blog: Supporting students in open source software development

2009-04-10T22:49:00.001-04:00

Official Google Blog: Supporting students in open source software development

Official Google Blog: Send a video message with Google Latitude

2009-04-10T22:49:00.000-04:00

Official Google Blog: Send a video message with Google Latitude

Official Google Blog: Enhanced Gmail and Calendar web app for iPhone and Android

2009-04-09T15:25:00.000-04:00

Official Google Blog: Enhanced Gmail and Calendar web app for iPhone and Android

Florida Linux Show 2009

2009-02-26T19:17:00.000-05:00

The Florida Linux show is here again.
I didn’t make it last year I am hoping to make it this year.

http://www.floridalinuxshow.com/

Florida Linux Show 2009 JACKSONVILLE
March 9, 2009
UNF University Center
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

and

Florida Linux Show 2009 ORLANDO
October 26, 2009
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Anyone in the Central Florida area attenting?

http://blog.biggsk.net/?p=154

Linux command of the week

2009-02-23T19:42:00.002-05:00

Check out my new blog where I will be posting, http://blog.biggsk.net.

http://blog.biggsk.net/?p=160

wc

wc - print newline, word, and byte counts for each file

Which is useful for comparing line, word, and character count of files

[kpb@localhost ~]$ wc *.txt
3 6 29 test1.txt
5 10 49 test.txt
8 16 78 total

The first column is line count
The second column is word count
The third line is character count

You can also use it to get a byte count of a file:

[kpb@localhost ~]$ wc -c test.txt
49 test.txt

See the man pages for more info

Previous commands of the week:
http://blog.biggsk.net/?p=114

Stuff on new on new blog

2009-02-18T15:32:00.001-05:00

Linux command of the week:
http://blog.biggsk.net/?p=132

New blog coming soon...

2009-02-15T19:31:00.001-05:00

I'm launching a new website/blog http://blog.biggsk.net/

Official Google Blog: "This site may harm your computer" on every search result?!?!

2009-01-31T14:58:00.000-05:00

Official Google Blog: "This site may harm your computer" on every search result?!?!

Great Linux article

2009-01-28T18:05:00.002-05:00

Here is a great Linux article on blogs.zdnet.com:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/community/wp-trackback.php?p=156

It talks about the lack of ad campaigns on TV for Linux.
The Linux Foundation is sponsoring a “We’re Linux” video contest for uses to express what Linux means to them.

The grand prize is a trip to Tokyo for the Japan Linux Symposium in October 2009.
Pretty cooooool ...

Anyone submit a video?
Leave a comment with a link!

Fedora 10

2009-01-28T17:14:00.002-05:00

I see a lot of traffic coming to by blog by people searching for "Fedora 10 Dell 1520".
So I thought I would ask the question... What information are you looking for?
I will try to answer all questions, or point you in the right direction.

So go ahead and post a comment with your question.

Best VPN software

2009-01-28T16:55:00.001-05:00

Which VPN software is the best. I'm thinking about setting up a VPN for my home network and wanted to get some input from others who are running a VPN server.

Ive heard openVPN is good.

Any suggestions?

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Offline Gmail

2009-01-28T10:39:00.000-05:00

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Offline Gmail

Official Google Blog: Raising data privacy awareness

2009-01-28T06:57:00.000-05:00

Official Google Blog: Raising data privacy awareness

Official Google Blog: A look back at spam in 2008

2009-01-26T14:15:00.000-05:00

Official Google Blog: A look back at spam in 2008

Official Google Blog: The Pope on YouTube

2009-01-25T20:05:00.000-05:00

Official Google Blog: The Pope on YouTube

Linux quick tip

2009-01-13T19:16:00.006-05:00

Here's a neat tip I read about in the January 2009 Issue 177 of Linux Journal.

Using netstat with the -tpe flags to monitor programs that are making connections to remote hosts.

-t limits output to TCP connections
-p displays the PID and name of the program
-e displays extra information

Sample:
# netstat -tpe
Active Internet connections (w/o servers)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State User Inode PID/Program name
tcp 0 180 10.10.10.9:ssh 10.10.10.8:exlm-agent ESTABLISHED root 11831 2811/sshd: kpb [pri
tcp 0 0 10.10.10.9:39383 yx-in-f104.google.com:http ESTABLISHED kpb 13586 3023/elinks
tcp 0 0 10.10.10.9:49349 cg-in-f100.google.com:http ESTABLISHED kpb 13577 3023/elinks

Linux command of the week

2009-01-11T12:51:00.006-05:00

Linux command of the week

convert

Convert is a great command for resizing images.

I needed to change the size of some images for a web server I was working on this past week. I needed to cut the size of the file down so the page would load faster.


eg $ convert -resize 50% file1.jpg file1.jpg

It can also be used to change the file type

eg $

convert file1.jpg file1.png

For more options see the man pages

The Fedora 11 release name ...

2009-01-10T22:39:00.001-05:00

Leonidas

Voting Period: 05 January 2009 08:00:00 UTC to 09 January 2009 23:59:59 UTC

1. Leonidas 1108
*****
2. Indomitable 1054
3. Claypool  944
4. Brasília  890
5. Blarney  890
6. Duchess  838
7. Zampone  716
8. Euryalus  713

Openssl Security Update CVE-2008-5077

2009-01-09T08:43:00.002-05:00

Openssl has released a security update for anyone using releases prior to 0.9.8j.

To get the update for Fedora:

yum update openssl

for more information see the following link:
http://www.openssl.org/news/secadv_20090107.txt

Major security flaw in Internet Explorer !!

2008-12-17T10:21:00.005-05:00

I just came across this article on Yahoo!Tech:
Major flaw revealed in Internet Explorer; users urged to switch

Security experts are recommending that users switch from Internet Explorer to Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari as they are not affected.

This vulnerability affects Internet Explorer version 5 though 8 beta.

More information here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7784908.stm

Linux command of the week

2008-12-17T07:37:00.010-05:00

I was working on my system today and was wondering, "How can I see the differences between two files?"

Well, the answer is ... the diff command.

The diff command will show you the differences between 2 files and the line numbers of where the two files differ.

eg $ diff file1 file2

http://blog.biggsk.net/?p=114

Official Google Blog: Net neutrality and the benefits of caching

2008-12-15T20:28:00.001-05:00

Official Google Blog: Net neutrality and the benefits of caching

Official Google Blog: @Twitter: Welcome to Google Friend Connect

2008-12-15T20:28:00.000-05:00

Official Google Blog: @Twitter: Welcome to Google Friend Connect

Official Google Blog: Google Chrome (BETA)

2008-12-11T17:05:00.001-05:00

Google Chrome is out of beta now. I see that is only available for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Hopefully a Linux version will be available soon.
I tired this a few months ago when the beta was released. I was pretty impressed with it.
Have your tried it yet? What are you thoughts
Official Google Blog: Google Chrome <S>(BETA)</S>

Google Online Security Blog: Announcing "Browser Security Handbook"

2008-12-10T20:20:00.000-05:00

Google Online Security Blog: Announcing "Browser Security Handbook"

Fedora Weekly News Issue 155

2008-12-09T15:17:00.006-05:00

Here is the latest issue of Fedora Weekly News:
Fedora Weekly News Issue 155

Name suggestions for Fedora 11 ended yesterday.

To see the suggested names see the following link:

Suggested names

The Community vote on final name: Jan 5, 2009 - Jan 9, 2009

The name will be announced on Jan 10, 2009!

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Tasks

2008-12-09T13:09:00.000-05:00

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Tasks

Fedora 10

2008-12-08T19:48:00.003-05:00

I have noticed a lot of visits coming to my blog looking for information on Fedora 10. I apologize, I haven't kept up with the posts.
I am going to get it downloaded in the next few days and give it a review, and some helpful tips.

If you have tried it out let me know your opinion.

If you have question about Fedora let me know!
I will answer all comments.

Thanks all

Google Online Security Blog: Gmail security and recent phishing activity

2008-12-08T19:32:00.000-05:00

Google Online Security Blog: Gmail security and recent phishing activity

Official Gmail Blog: Get your Gmail stickers

2008-12-08T10:19:00.000-05:00

Official Gmail Blog: Get your Gmail stickers

Official Google Blog: Pirates vs. Ninjas: Who would win?

2008-12-05T09:41:00.000-05:00

Official Google Blog: Pirates vs. Ninjas: Who would win?

Fedora 10

2008-12-01T20:05:00.001-05:00

So Fedora 10 was released a few days ago, and unfortunately Ive been really busy and haven't had time to try it yet. Hopefully this weekend I will get a chance.

What are your thoughts on it?

Become a Fedora Ambassador

2008-10-07T19:40:00.001-04:00

So you want to be come a Fedora Ambassador?
Well, ask yourself these questions:
Do you love Fedora?
Do you want to see Fedora advance and become better with each release?
Do you want to spread the word about how great Fedora is?

If you answered yes to these questions, you're probably ready to become a Fedora Ambassador.

Being a Fedora Ambassador is all about spreading the word about Fedora, whether it be telling your friends, or speaking to a large group at your college.
It all about spreading the word!

More info:
Fedora Ambassadors project

Update Dell Inspiron 1520

2008-09-27T14:45:00.003-04:00

I finally got the webcam working on my Inspiron 1520 using the kdetv package.
("yum install kdetv")
It works great!

Now I just need to get the touchpad working, to where tapping simulates a
click...

Simple perl script for searching logfiles

2008-09-27T09:36:00.006-04:00

Here is a Perl script I wrote about 6 months ago.
It is used for searching log files.

Failed SSH connections
Accepted SSH connections
Websites accessed (successfully) though a squid proxy

Its a very basic script, and is based on the default locations of the log files.
Here it is:

#!/usr/bin/perl

#system commands
$cls = "clear";
$user = "whoami";
$cmd0 = "grep Failed /var/log/secure*";
$cmd1 = "grep Accepted /var/log/secure*";
$cmd2 = "grep 200 /var/log/squid/access.* | less";

system($cls);
print "Hello,";
system($user);

print "What would you like to do?\n";
print "1. See Failed SSH connections.\n";
print "2. See Accepted SSH connections\n";
print "3. See websites that were accessed\n";

$ans = ;
chomp($ans);

if ($ans eq "1")
{
system($cls);
print "Failed SSH connections\n";
system($cmd0);
}
if ($ans eq "2")
{
system($cls);
print "Accepted SSH connections\n";
system($cmd1);
}
if ($ans eq "3")
{
system($cls);
print "Web access\n";
system($cmd2);
}

What do you think?
What would you make different?

Happy Birthday Fedora

2008-09-24T19:59:00.003-04:00

5 years and still going strong!!

Fedora Project

Fedora 9 on a Dell Inspiron 1520

2008-09-04T15:23:00.004-04:00

Installing Fedora 9 on my Dell 1520 was pretty simple task, pretty much everything was recognized, but there were a couple issues.

I haven't got the integrated webcam up and running just yet.
(As soon as I do get it working, Ill post the info)

Tapping on the touch pad to click something doesn't seem to work just yet either.

I had to use ndiswrapper with the bcmmwl5 driver.
(Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4310 USB Controller (rev 01))

All together (not including troubleshooting on
Fedora Forum) it took about an hour to install the operating system and config the system to suit my needs.

Here are the specs:
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Mobile Processor T2370
4GB, DDR2, 667MHz
250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card
Integrated webcam

What is your laptop running?

Official Google Blog: Update to Google Chrome's terms of service

2008-09-04T15:19:00.002-04:00

Official Google Blog: Update to Google Chrome's terms of service

CompTIA Security+ exam

2008-09-03T21:31:00.004-04:00

I am getting ready to take my Security+ exam within the next month or so, and wanted to get some input from people who have taken it.

What did you do to prepare?
How was your testing experience?
What should I expect?

I have been going though the book and practice exams I purchased from PrepLogic.

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Google Chrome: My thoughts

2008-09-03T09:35:00.006-04:00

At first glance it looks like any standard browser, tabbed browsing, bookmarks, history, etc.

But there are some pretty interesting, and new features with Chrome.

One feature that I found really interesting is that each tab is run as its own process, giving you the ability to monitor the memory usage, CPU usage, and network activity.
If a web site giving you problems, you can kill the process without completely closing out of the browser.
Task manager

Another cool feature is “Incognito mode”.

"Webpages that you open and files downloaded while you are incognito won't be logged in your browsing and download histories; all new cookies are deleted after you close the incognito window."

This does not prevent the destination website from logging your activities, and any files you download will still remain on the computer.

Here is situation where Incognito mode would be helpful. Say you are doing some Christmas shopping for your kids online, and they are somewhat computer savvy, this would prevent them from going into the history and spoiling the surprise.
Incognito mode

For all of the features see the link below:
Google Chrome Features

It is definitely worth checking out.

Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser

2008-09-02T11:40:00.005-04:00

Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser

Download Google Chrome now

What are your thoughts on it?

Top five reason to use Fedora

2008-08-27T12:16:00.008-04:00

Here are my top five reasons why Fedora is such a great operating system, and why you should use it:

5. Updates are simple...

By running one simple command, 'yum update', all updates for packages currently installed on your system are downloaded and then installed/updated. If you are looking for a program, chances are it's in one of the repositories, just do 'yum install packageName', it will be downloaded and installed right then.

4. Easy / Straightforward installation...
You can select the type of installation you want, based on what you will be using the machine for.
The default is 'Office and Productivity'. Which would be a standard desktop installation, used for emailing, Internet, and typing documents.
The other options include 'Software development', and 'Web server'.
You can also add additional repositories,and add optional software you want installed during this stage.

3. Latest software...
There is a new release of Fedora every six months (roughly), which includes the most cutting edge software.
I started with Fedora 4, and haven't been disappointed since.

2. Great support forum...
Every time I have asked a question on fedoraforum.org, I have received a response within a day, most of the time within the hour. It is one of the best support forums I have ever been on, with very friendly and helpful people.

1. Its FREE...
It's free to download.
It's free use.
It's free to modify.
It's free to distribute.

So...
What distribution do you use?
Why is it your favorite?

Tropical storm Fay

2008-08-20T13:34:00.007-04:00

Tropical storm Fay is still hanging around, here's a couple shots of our backyard:

...more to come...

Maybe I'll go for a swim later on...

Fedora Ambassador project

2008-08-14T21:56:00.005-04:00

I'm finally going to have some time to get more involved with the Fedora Ambassador project. I am going to burn a bunch of the Fedora 9 live CDs and start spreading the word around town here, starting at the community college I attend.

If you want to get involved with the Fedora Project check out the link below, if your in the Central Florida area and want to help out let me know. I was also thinking about get a Fedora LUG going here in town.

Fedora Project

Firestarter Firewall

2008-08-10T20:47:00.002-04:00

Firestarter is a easy to use firewall program with a GUI interface great for a personal, or business use. I currently use it on all my Fedora machines.

It is supported by both 2.4 and 2.6 Linux Kernels, and is available for Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, Debian, Gentoo, source tarball, and source RPM
The latest stable version is 1.0.3, but you can download older versions from Sourceforge.
Download Firestarter

Management is very user friendly and can be done though the GUI or via the shell.
You can use it for internet connection sharing, controlling inbound and outbound connections, create whitelists and blacklist access policies, view traffic in real-time, and active connections, and see connections that have been blocked by the firewall.
Another great feature of Firestarter is that it can be used as a DHCP server.

Over all I think this firewall is great for the user that is new to Linux and firewalls, but its even suitable for the Linux pro! :)

Feel free to leave me your comments.

For more information see the Firestarter website:
http://www.fs-security.com/

linux, firewall, network security

Fedora

2008-08-07T18:37:00.015-04:00

I've been using Fedora since Fedora 4, it was my first taste of Linux.
I've tried some other distributions but it is my favorite distro, by far.

If you don't know about Fedora you should definitely check it out:
Fedora Project

There is a new release every 6 months, with the latest in free and open source software, the installation is pretty straight forward, you can choose to set it up as a desktop or server or for development, and they have a great support forum:
Fedora Forum
(You can find me on there posting under biggsk)

If you have time leave me some comments on what your favorite distro is and why.

The Blog

MyBlogLog

Official Google Blog: Celebrating National Cyber Security Awareness Month 2009

Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS

Twitter Blog: Twitter Web Traffic Around the World

Official Google Blog: Supporting students in open source software development

Official Google Blog: Send a video message with Google Latitude

Official Google Blog: Enhanced Gmail and Calendar web app for iPhone and Android

Florida Linux Show 2009

Linux command of the week

Stuff on new on new blog

New blog coming soon...

Official Google Blog: "This site may harm your computer" on every search result?!?!

Great Linux article

Fedora 10

Best VPN software

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Offline Gmail

Official Google Blog: Raising data privacy awareness

Official Google Blog: A look back at spam in 2008

Official Google Blog: The Pope on YouTube

Linux quick tip

Linux command of the week

The Fedora 11 release name ...

Openssl Security Update CVE-2008-5077

Major security flaw in Internet Explorer !!

Linux command of the week

Official Google Blog: Net neutrality and the benefits of caching

Official Google Blog: @Twitter: Welcome to Google Friend Connect

Official Google Blog: Google Chrome (BETA)

Google Online Security Blog: Announcing "Browser Security Handbook"

Fedora Weekly News Issue 155

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Tasks

Fedora 10

Google Online Security Blog: Gmail security and recent phishing activity

Official Gmail Blog: Get your Gmail stickers

Official Google Blog: Pirates vs. Ninjas: Who would win?

Fedora 10

Become a Fedora Ambassador

**Update** Dell Inspiron 1520

Simple perl script for searching logfiles

Happy Birthday Fedora

Fedora 9 on a Dell Inspiron 1520

Official Google Blog: Update to Google Chrome's terms of service

CompTIA Security+ exam

Google Chrome: My thoughts

Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser

Top five reason to use Fedora

Tropical storm Fay

Fedora Ambassador project

Firestarter Firewall

Fedora

Update Dell Inspiron 1520