May 2007 - Roundtable

potential HTML/Flash job
by Trevor Cordes 02 Jun '07

02 Jun '07

If anyone knows any budding independent web artists, I may need some contract work done very soon for a client of mine. $500-$2000 or so, depending on final requirements and results. The job is a site redesign (mostly just the template / nav), perhaps revamping some of the content pages for a more polished look and integrating (maybe even taking) new pictures. It should be pretty easy / cookie-cutter. May have to submit a couple of mockups first. Also required is one or two Flash presentations integrating pictures and text to highlight new products. Artist must be capable of clean HTML / CSS *hand-coding* (or use a tool that produces neat human-readable HTML without inline CSS). Knowledge of PHP/Linux is a bonus. Site must look good on both IE and Firefox. The look required is clean / professional in both the HTML and Flash. If you know anyone who does small contract work like this, forward this on. Please reply by email. There may be future opportunities as well if I like what I see.

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Blocking Port 25
by Kevin Scott 30 May '07

30 May '07

> Was there any notification of the change? > If there was no notification then I'm very sad and wonder why they have > such terrible administration policies. There was zero notification, just like when MTS did it. Just one day they unilaterally block a port. Awhile back, Shaw one day blocked most of the P2P traffic using packet-shaping technology too, with no notice, no warnings, one day my upload speed went from 100kb/s down to 1kb/s. Shaw didn't even tell the CSR's that they had done this. Repeadly Shaw techs kept telling me it was internet conditions and the network outside Shaw that was causing it. DSLReports is where I was able to find out what was going on. Have they notified their techs this time that they have blocked the port? MTS at least had a service bulletion on this, after the fact mind you, but they still made it public what they had done. Hopefully starting at Shaw soon, hopefully then I'll be able to watch for 'news' such as this in the internal communications so that way at least I know whats going on with things... lol Kevin

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Shaw now blocking SMTP port 25
by Trevor Cordes 29 May '07

29 May '07

Shaw is now blocking OUTGOING port 25 (SMTP) to anything except their own mail server (shawmail.wp.shawcable.net) This is similar to what MTS did about a year ago. This is only affecting one of my customers right now, so you may or may not be affected already. The Shaw rep says that it should be affecting all non-business-class customers. Obviously that's baloney because my personal home system still has working port 25 access. Incoming port 25 appears to be open (unlike MTS which for some retarded reason thinks incoming port 25 is a spam risk). As when MTS did this, I think it's complete nonsense and a clear example of net bigotry. Complain to your Shaw rep today!

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Shaw Internet going away
by Bill Reid 29 May '07

29 May '07

There have been a number of posts about the problems of Shaw Internet going away. It is not clear what the problem is and when Trevor and starting runing scripts which did pings, etc. the problem went away for me. I was installing a new server and of course the MAC address is different. When I powered cycled the cable modem it still would not allow my MAC address to communicate. After fighting this for a while I phoned Shaw tech support. I having the modem reset, etc. I guess the tech went away to consult. It turns out that the arp cache is not updated continuously and is cleared every 4 hours. So a MAC IP pairing hangs around for a while. This potentially could cause the problems I was seeing if someone was using my IP address. It seems a bit far fetched but not updating the arp cache could lead to problems that correct themselves when the cache is clear. My solution was to clone the old server MAC address. This will become standard procedure since if you want to go back to the old server you do not want to wait 4 hours. Of course this is really only a problem with static IPs since if you do a dhcp renew you should get a new IP address. -- Bill

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Re: [RndTbl] Shaw now blocking SMTP port 25
by Trevor Cordes 26 May '07

26 May '07

> The way I got around this issue was by letting sendmail listen on port 25 as > usual, but having a iptables rule that redirected all incoming connections on > port 25000 to 25. Hey, great idea, quick and easy and no sendmail voodoo. iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -p tcp --dport 27 -j REDIRECT --to-port 25 iptables appears to do the prerouting change first then run the normal port 25 rules on the altered packet. Perfect. Then Outlook Express clients just change: Tools -> Accounts -> <your mail account> -> Properties -> Advanced -> change outgoing mail SMTP number from 25 to 27 iptables is my hero!

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Any cfengine users out there?
by Sean Walberg 24 May '07

24 May '07

I'm just getting into cfengine, and now that it's clicking it's pretty sweet. Any other users out there want to discuss some tips and tricks? Thanks, Sean -- Sean Walberg <sean(a)ertw.com> http://ertw.com/

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Re: Roundtable Digest, Vol 29, Issue 7
by Kevin Scott 24 May '07

24 May '07

FYI Shaw's SOHO plan for $66 includes Basic analoge cable TV. My price for all of the anaolge channels and internet is $90 after tax, on the SOHO plan. Additionally, the CSRs and Techs are much much nicer to deal with then with the residental side. Kevin

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Blocking Port 25
by Kevin Scott 23 May '07

23 May '07

When MTS did this, it was a HUGE inconvience, "On Sunday August 29th through to Sunday September 12th, we will begin blocking access to the ports commonly used to send spam and viruses on MTS High Speed Internet and Dial-up Internet services." Year 2004, just so you have your info correct, I remember haveing this 'issue' dealing with some of the customer calls I took as a tech. MTS only allows their SMTP servers to be used from inside the MTS network and you can not use anybody else's SMTP servers.... When I was at home, I had to change my outlook settings (I had all mail forwarded to my cell phone as a text message, instant notification of when a mail arrived), when I got to work, I had to change the SMTP server to the companies ISP's server. That was by far my biggest complaint. However, had I known about SSH Tunneling a few years ago... I would have used that. Shaw blocking mail, its way more annoying that they block access to the pop server when using a non-Shaw account. (last time I checked, I don't use Shawmail anymore) Anybody concerned, my Shaw SOHO plan with Tiers 1, 2, and 3 is $90/month tax included (taken from my last statement), which is VERY close to what residential services are. Call to cancel the residential, then call Business Care, since you're already setup, cabling is done, you have a modem, ask the CSR to wave the $100 install fee... Mine did... And then you also get the 5 IPs instead of just 2.

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Fwd: Top 5 Reasons to Attend USENIX '07
by Gilbert E. Detillieux 19 May '07

19 May '07

Just FYI, in case any of you are planning a trip to California in mid-June... -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Top 5 Reasons to Attend USENIX '07 Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 15:43:59 -0700 From: Lionel Garth Jones <lgj(a)usenix.org> To: info(a)muug.mb.ca, gedetil(a)muug.mb.ca ---------------------------------------------- Top 5 Reasons to Attend the 2007 USENIX Annual Technical Conference June 17-22, 2007, Santa Clara, CA http://www.usenix.org/usenix07/progb ---------------------------------------------- USENIX '07 offers a cost-effective, one-stop shop for the latest in IT training, break-throughs, and systems research. Check out the top 5 reasons to join us in Santa Clara, CA, June 17-22, 2007: 1. Top-notch training: Highly respected experts provide you with new information and skills you can take back to work tomorrow. Topics include: -- Richard Bejtlich on TCP/IP Weapons School, Layers 2-3 -- Peter Baer Galvin on Solaris 10 Security Features -- AEleen Frisch on Administering Linux in Production Environments -- Steve VanDevender on High-Capacity Email System Design To view the entire training program, see: http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix07/training 2. Invited Talks that feature industry luminaries discussing timely and important topics, such as: -- Keynote Address by Mendel Rosenblum of Stanford University, "The Impact of Virtualization on Computing Systems," -- Plenary Closing by Mary Lou Jepsen, One Laptop per Child, "Crossing the Digital Divide: The Latest Efforts from One Laptop per Child" -- Rob Lanphier, Linden Lab, "Second Life" -- And more! http://www.usenix.org/usenix07/ITs 3. You'll see it here first: -- The latest developments in cutting-edge systems research in the Refereed Papers track. http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix07/tech -- An introduction to interesting new or ongoing work at the Poster Session. http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix07/activities.html#poster 4. Answers to your toughest questions: -- Guru Is In sessions feature experts who come prepared to respond to your most burning technical questions on hot topics. The full list of topics will be announced soon! http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix07/tech 5. The chance to mingle with industry leaders: -- Evening events such as the Birds-of-a-Feather (BoF) sessions offer additional opportunities to network with peers to gain that all-important "insider" IT knowledge. http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix07/bofs.html And that's just the beginning. Visit http://www.usenix.org/usenix06/progb to see the full list of offerings. Don't forget: -- Register at the headquarters hotel by May 29, 2007, to receive the discounted hotel room rate: http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix07/hotel.html -- Register by June 1 and save up to $300! http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix07/registration -- Take advantage of the multiple employee discount for groups sending 5 or more: http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix07/registration/#multi ---------------------------------------------- 2007 USENIX Annual Technical Conference June 17-22, 2007, Santa Clara, CA http://www.usenix.org/usenix07/progb Early Bird Registration Deadline: June 1, 2007 -----------------------------------------------

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b5media is looking for a server administrator
by Sean Walberg 11 May '07

11 May '07

http://technosailor.com/now-hiring-server-administrator/ Toronto company, but the position is virtual. Pretty interesting sever farm, lots of fun stuff to do. Sean -- Sean Walberg <sean(a)ertw.com > http://ertw.com/

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