Siltala.net is live

Now that my domain registrar Gandi.net is offering a blog service, I’m moving my blog to a more convenient location. Hopefully this will be the last move. I’ve enjoyed WordPress.com but I really like the option of having my web precense hosted under my own namespace, yet on somebody else’s servers. :)

Old content will remain on wordpress.com until I figure out how to cleanly move it to DotClear (an open source blog system sponsored by Gandi). Gandi’s RSS import would only import the latest few entries, and importing WordPress XML backup failed. Help from the LazyWeb appreciated here! The old site will remain useful until the transition is complete.

So please update your bookmarks and rss feeds if they currently point to the wordpress.com redirect, no new content will be showing there unless i want to open another blog for some specific purpose in the future.

Links:
New site
New feed

GPRS via Bluetooth and Nokia 9300

(Update: Instructions for connecting via the DKU2 cable now at the end of the post.)
This is how I made the GPRS Internet connection working from my Ubuntu Dapper laptop via a Nokia 9300 and Bluetooth. I found this info on an Ubuntu forums thread, kudos go to emperon:

1. Have a working bluetooth setup.
2. hcitool scan gives you your phone’s BD address. Make a note of this.
3. sdptool search DUN will show you the appropriate channel to use. Make a note of this.
4. Check that you have a 4-number code in /etc/bluetooth/pin unless your phone and the machine are very friendly already. Your phone may ask for this number later.
5. Type rfcomm bind /dev/rfcomm0 X:X:X:X:X:X YY (where X:X:X:X:X:X is the BD address and YY is the channel number).
6. Type rfcomm and check that the channel is either “clear” or “closed”.
7. Create /etc/ppp/peers/gprs with the following contents:
   /dev/rfcomm0
connect '/usr/sbin/chat -v -f /etc/ppp/peers/gprs.chat'
        noauth
        defaultroute
        usepeerdns
        lcp-echo-interval 65535
        debug
8. Create /etc/ppp/peers/gprs.chat with the following contents:
   TIMEOUT                 15        
ECHO                    ON
HANGUP                  ON      
''                      AT
OK                      ATZ     
OK                      ATD*99*#
(NOTE: *99*# above is the number to call. This one works for Sonera in Finland and many other providers, but call your friendly provider helpdesk and make sure you have the correct one.)
9. Initiate bluetooth pairing between your phone and the computer.
10. Make the call: sudo pppd call gprs
11. Surf away!

Here’s instructions for connecting via the DKU2 cable supplied with the 9300. Cables are uncool and sometimes get in the way, but the procedure is simpler. This info comes mostly from gr0kzer0 in another forum thread:

1. Install wvdial.
2. Connect the cable.
3. Run wvdialconf /etc/wvdial.conf
4. Edit the /etc/wvdial.conf just created. Look at the last four lines, we edit the Phone, Password and Username lines (the username and password are bogus ones. wvdial wants non-empty ones but you can enter Batman’s credentials there if you like), and additionally force the modem into Stupid Mode.
   [Dialer Defaults]
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Modem Type = USB Modem
Baud = 460800
New PPPD = yes
Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
ISDN = 0
Phone = *99#
Password = foo
Username = bar
Stupid Mode = 1
   (NOTE: Again try to find a suitable phone number)
5. Now you should be able to dial out with wvdial or GNOME PPP.

Technorati Tags: gprs, linux, bluetooth, nokia, howto

May 19th is the Open Discussion Day

If you still have legacy instant messaging accounts on MSN, Yahoo!, AIM or whatever, don't log in on them on the 19th. Don't forget to inform your buddes first! :)

Encourage your friends on these networks to chat with you via Jabber instead, so you can get free from incompatible proprietary channels altogether. Read more about it on Ploum's blog. Thank you.

BBC 6music radio channel’s Last.fm statistics

MetaFilter reports on the neatest hack I’ve heard about for a while. A BBC systems architect wrote a Last.fm plugin that submitted all the songs played on BBC’s 6radio channel to a Last.fm account called Sekrit.  Not only can you see what kind of “musical taste” BBC’s player robots have, but you can also check out what kind of friends the channel has. Judging from these statistics, I just might try this channel myself and see if I like it :)
 

When the Social Web goes sour: the Digg editorial mess

When the ForeverGeek blogger MacGyver noticed that two stories on the Digg front page were dugg by the same 16 people in the exact same order, he got curious. After all, Digg is supposed to be a social and user-driven technology news website, with no editorial control. Digg is one of the poster boys of the Web2.0 buzz, right up there along with Flickr, del.icio.us and the various AJAX application services. So, what does a blogger like MacGyver do if he suspects the system is rigged? Naturally, he blogs about it.

Uh-oh, wrong move. All of a sudden, strange things started happening on Digg, as described on McGyver’s blog entry from the next day. This of course is just his side of the story, but others have taken into investigating the matter as well. Roblomoso posted about the matter on Google Blogoscoped and was banned from Digg. Naturally, ForeverGeek in its entirety was banned as well.

I’d say this is editorial control, and not very “user-driven”. If users don’t like ForeverGeek’s stories, they wouldn’t digg them and all would be well, no? That’s how the social web is supposed to work, and that’s definitely how Digg claims to work. Digg founder Kevin Rose sort-of responed to the mess, but didn’t really succeed in explained anything, as illustrated by McGyver’s reply. What does matter is that ForeverGeek stories are suddenly starting to appear on Digg again.

People and communities do fight in real life all the time of course, so why wouldn’t they do the same on the internet (let alone the chaos that makes up the “Web2.0″?) Nothing new in that. I guess my point is that it’s just as sad in both cases.

EOL for proprietary chat protocol support

As of today, I will no longer be logged in on the following proprietary chat networks:

• MSN
• Yahoo!
• AIM

I will be happy to chat with you on the free Jabber and IRC networks. Please see my updated contact information on the About page.

If you don’t have a Jabber account, you can easily get one for free on the jabber.org home page. If you use Gmail, you already have a Jabber account. If your current chat client does not support Jabber, upgrade to the open source multiprotocol Gaim messenger if you use Linux or Windows, or Psi if you use a Mac. Of course, I’ll continue to idle on the Freenode IRC network as well.

I stongly recommend that everybody upgrade to open chat protocols and leave the corporate networks fight their own battles.

A picture is worth a thousand words?

In his ZDNet blog, Richard Stiennon shows maps of system calls that occur when a Web server serves a single HTML page containing a single image. He cites the thread chaos on the Windows server as proof of the operating system’s insecurity. It’s true that complicated systems offer more opportunities for crackers to utilize buffer overflow vulnerabilities compared to simpler ones. Although the images don’t really show just Windows and Linux systems but combinations of LInux/Apache and Windows/IIS, the sheer visual difference in the system call maps is stunning.

Perfection

With the new theme and a less insane layout, I’m willing to declare this site version 1.0, meaning there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, and improvements are not necessary. As everything I do is always perfect, I don’t really expect to find many bugs or typos either. Thank you for your patience.

Moving everything to WordPress

I’ve been studying different blog software for a while in order to move my whole web existence to a blog style site. I’ve been using LiveJournal for a while, but it’s basically “just a blog”. Nothing wrong with that, but I fell in love with WordPress’ static pages and very sane categorizing feature.

I’ve still to choose a neat layout and theme (the page is a bit busy looking as it is), but I’ve managed to move everything under siltala.net and LiveJournal onto this single blog, so things are good so far.

Power

t0rbad> so there i was in this hallway right
BlackAdder> i believe i speak for all of us when i say…
BlackAdder> WRONG BTICH
BlackAdder> IM SICK OF YOU
BlackAdder> AND YOUR LAME STORIES
BlackAdder> NOBODY HERE THINKS YOURE FUNNY
BlackAdder> NOBODY HERE WANTS TO HEAR YOUR STORIES
BlackAdder> IN FACT
BlackAdder> IF YOU DIED RIGHT NOW
BlackAdder> I DON“T THINK NOBODY WOULD CARE
BlackAdder> SO WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THAT FAG
*** t0rbad sets mode: +b BlackAdder*!*@*.*
*** BlackAdder has been kicked my t0rbad ( )
t0rbad> so there i was in this hallway right
CRCError> right
heartless> Right.
r3v> right

SyncML doesn’t entirely suck

I can now sync (sort of) my Nokia 9300‘s calendar and the Mozilla calendar and the Thunderbird address book. As Nokia doesn’t think LInux is worthy of support, I’ve taken another route. The 9300 and the Communicators do support one open standard, namely SyncML. So, I’ve created an account on ScheduleWorld, which uses SyncML. Syncing works between the phone and ScheduleWorld. Then, you can access the address book via LDAP, and the Ical calendar. These are both read-only of course, the only way to edit the information from Linux is to use ScheduleWorld’s own Java-based application. Anyway, this doesn’t suck as much as total inaccessibility.

My totl.net Human virus scanner report: 9 viruses

Linux
Install the latest version of Microsoft Windows. Learn to love it.

Free BSD
The GPL isn't that bad really. Adopt a penguin at the zoo.

Junkfood
Eat some real food. Something which you can identify the source of every ingredient, not the point of manufacture.

Religion
Read "God's Debris" by Scott Adams (yes, the Dilbert guy)

8-Bit
Polygons, all the polygons you can get are not enough.

UNIX
Anything this old must be obselete. Go and install a nice modern operating system. I hear MSDOS has come a long way lately.

vi
Escape Meta Alt Control Shift.

Politics
Stop caring!

Macintosh
Use a mouse with more than one button.

Viruses I might suffer from:

Industrial (70%)
Everyone likes folk. No, really. Maybe you should listen to the Incredible String Band.

Discordia (90%)
Buy a suit. Invest your money. Eat hotdog buns on a friday.

X11 (60%)
I hear Mac OS 10 Aqua is nice at this time of year.

Computer Games (90%)
Stop staring at the screen and get some fresh air. You should see a doctor about the RSI in your thumbs.

Conspiracy Theory (68%)
Face it, the elected government is in control. Actually that's quite scary.

Hippyism (80%)
Free love is passe and potentially dangerous, and patchouli smells like cat piss.

Environmentalism (63%)
Consume more stuff! It's easier to buy new stuff than to recycle.

British (65%)
No need for cure. Benign virus.

TotL.net Human Virus Scanner

SomaFM

SomaFM is a major contributor to my work-related well-being. I really should give them some money.

Linux distributions, bloggers, and other aggregators

Luis notes interesting similarities between blogging and other forms of "remixable commons-based culture":

"As long as licenses are respected, for-profit content aggregation (into a software distribution, a web-based blog aggregator, or whatever) is generally acceptable. If creators don't personally find it acceptable, the onus is likely on them to choose an appropriate license. The aggregators which are perceived to give the most back to the communities and individuals they draw from are likely to be most popular, at least among opinion leaders."

This sounds plausible, but notwithstanding hypotheses concerning the differences between Sun, Red Hat and, say, Ubuntu, proper concepts are lacking. This calls for study.