Posts tagged client
Android Blackbook: ToDo List
Jul 4th
As of July 4th here are the current features:
- Global notifications replacement. Blacklisted and non blacklisted sms notifications are handled entirely by the application
- Dummy text messages
- Call filtering
- Call number masking
- Send calls to voicemail, with two distinct methods configurable in the main settings
- Silence contact
- Import/Export contact information. At this time only the first line of the postal address it exported.
- Support for full postal address in the application, with full address being imported
- Customizable login number
- Fully integrated SMS client
- SMS client themes
- Advanced memory tactics. The entire UI layout will has been redesigned to reduce memory use up to 10x. This will substantially reduce, if not eliminate, memory related freezes
- Photos support that import Facebook images from the main contact book
- New custom menus!
I have many things I need and want to add:
- MMS support! I know, I promise I will add it
- More SMS themes
- Blinking lights on system notifications
- Customizable dummy message
- Group SMS messages
- Password recovery. Possibly a secret gesture on the main screen? May replace main login method, or supplement it
- Contact export to email
- More custom menus rather than default
- More ui enhancements
- Compatibility with 2.2
- Compatibility with smaller and tablet size screens
SSH – Gateway Ports and Forward Reverse Tunnels
Feb 27th
SSH can create forward and reverse tunnels to transmit port data through the encrypted connection. You can create forward tunnels that link the local port of the client machine to the remote port on the server. You can create reverse tunnels that link the remote ports of the server to the local ports on the client. Forward tunnels are created using the -L option. Reverse ports are configured using the -R option. The forward and reverse tunnels work fine when working locally on the client machine, but if you want other hosts, at the client location, to connect to the tunnels you need to enable the gateway ports feature of ssh.
Gateway ports does not work with forward and reverse tunnels on Ubuntu 8.04, the long term support branch. The openssh version included in the repositories does not allow reverse tunnels, and forward tunnels combined, with the -G (gatewayports) option enabled. Forward tunnels do work with the gateway ports feature. Theoretically the option does try and work, but when you operate ssh using -VV you will see that during the connection process the reverse tunnel fails to create.
I think this is an old bug that may have been addressed. I do see posts about successes, therefore I’m inclined to think that new versions of openssh have addressed the bug.
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=228064
Instead of installing a newer version of ssh I just implemented an alternative for hosts at the client location. I wanted to use a single computer as a gateway to ports located on a remote server. It would have been nice to consolidate all communications to a single ssh connection.
I ended up using http://haanstra.eu/putty/. Each workstation, at the client location, will establish a direct ssh connection bypassing the gateway ports feature. There will be many ssh connections, but this is all behind the scenes stuff that the employees will never see, and it will provided the needed functionality.
Your Server – The Boot Process
Dec 9th
You want to isolate all your server features into background process. You don’t want any server features to be dependent on graphical or client side applications. I previously had my mail server dependent on the client side filtering capabilities of Thunderbird. This was a no no because it required me to maintain a desktop session. This was not optimal because during the day the desktop session was swapped to the hard drive and this caused substantial system lag when coming back to use the desktop. Now with VBoxTool, the web server is automatically booted with the host system, and all functions on the server are consolidated to background processes; there is no more dependency on client side filtering. The MythTV server also boots with the host, and the first screen the host encounters is the GDM login. Now the system is secure. Passwords are required to enter the system as a user.
5 Ways to Save Businesses Big Bucks, Enhance Security and Evolve
Oct 28th
Electricity is one of the biggest expenditures in the business world. Surpassed only by procurement, and human resources; reducing the amount of power consumed by electrical appliances can save a company millions. The first thing to do is configure your computers as thin clients. A computer can consume 30 or more watts each. If a Corporation has thousands of computers, and a thin client uses 50-75% less energy, then that translates directly to a 50-75% reduction in the utility bill. There might be a setup cost associated with 10,000 new thin client terminal, but that will be made back within the first year of use.
1) To implement a thin client setup the Corporation can use a Microsoft Windows product, which would cost money and be counter productive. The economical choice is to use Linux, and an out of the box setup can be achieved using Ubuntu. Talk about killing two birds with one stone; using Linux will eliminate the costly expenditure of anti virus subscriptions that all corporations have.
2) By implementing Linux the cost of maintenance will be dramatically reduced. You can have Linux machine running for years without serious security problems, and the entire update process can be completely automated and centralized to the thin client server. A corporation can significantly cut their maintenance costs with a thin client setup.
Most database applications nowadays are browser based therefore Linux is perfectly compatible with most existing systems. Firefox works on all Linux systems.
3) After switching to a Linux thin client server, all those pesky Windows license keys can be resold to needy customers. Theoretically the corporation can recoup several thousands of dollars, if not 10′s.
4) Then the old energy inefficient hardware can be resold, or donated to a organization of good will. Either an economical or philanthropic plus.
5) Then security can be enhanced by enforcing an outbound firewall to block all but the needed ports. Theoretically only several ports, clearly port 80, port 25, and several others need to be open. This will dramatically reduce the risks even if a computer becomes infected with a virus. Bye bye Norton, or Symantec. Save that 10-50k per year subscription fee.
Overall there are many reason to convert to Linux and some of the reasons are priceless. You really cannot put a cost savings on potential security risks, which is one of the biggest selling points of Linux. Ubuntu is free, how can that be beaten?
So all you tech savvy, under appreciated employees out there start dreaming up ways to approach the right people in your company with a way to save them million. If thousands of you draft presentations and attempt to talk to higher ups, at least one of you will hit a jackpot. Why not let that one person be you.