Date: 07/13/06     Keywords: linux

DKMS - Dynamic Kernel Module Support provides a framework where kernel dependent module source can reside so that it is very easy to rebuild modules as you upgrade kernels. This will allow Linux vendors to provide driver drops without having to wait for new kernel releases while also taking out the guesswork for customers attempting [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/linux-tools-from-dell/

Date: 07/13/06     Keywords: web

Phishing has been around for years. You get an email that looks like it arrived from financial institutions like PayPal or Bank of America. It tells about some problem with your account and asks you to login to you account (web interface) and validate / correct certain details. It warns of dire consequences on failure [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/vishing-the-new-internet-crime/

Date: 07/13/06     Keywords: browser, web

The key new features of Firefox 2.0 beta (with brief commentary) are: Integrated spell-checker - no more excuse for poor spelling in form data Bookmarked web site summary - small updated headlines that sites can create that display in the bookmark sidebar in Firefox Crashed session recovery - finally I can replace tab browser extension Re-open recently closed tabs [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/firefox-20-beta-1-key-new-features/

Date: 07/13/06     Keywords: no keywords

Two vulnerabilities have been reported in Ruby, which can be exploited to bypass safe level protection and replace methods called in trusted level as well as close untainted directory streams. 1. An error in the handling of the “alias” functionality can be exploited to bypass the safe level protection and replace methods called in the trusted [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/dual-ruby-vulnerabilities-and-how-to-fix/

Date: 07/13/06     Keywords: web

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may allow for the execution of commands on the device at any privilege level, up to and including privilege level 15. Accessing the device at privilege level 15 would enable total control of the device, including but not limited to device configuration changes and device reloading. The Cisco Router Web Setup [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/default-cisco-router-web-setup-makes-cisco-routers-completely-vulnerable/

Date: 07/13/06     Keywords: web

As I informed earlier we made a major move to a new server in the last few days. All the websites have moved over. There was lots of testing. What surprised me was that most of my tester’s were getting a stale copy of the pages, despite page refresh and clearing of cache. It turned [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/solving-analog-x-proxy-dns-caching-problem/

Date: 07/13/06     Keywords: no keywords

How do you solve your disputes, your challenges? Now you can try the Zidane way, made popular by his infamous head-butt in world cup soccer / football final. Now you can say, for example, I zidanized him or he zidaned me. Watch and learn. link (mov format). In case you haven’t watched the world cup finals [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/zidanize-solving-problems-the-zidane-way/

Date: 07/13/06     Keywords: no keywords

I am amazed. This is sublime magic, like Criss Angel’s splitting a women in half. The video is safe for work.

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-change-dress-within-1-2-seconds/

Date: 07/13/06     Keywords: microsoft

Previously I described how to remove the Windows Genuine Advantage Notification Tool. It is a simple tool to get rid of the home calling of Windows Genuine Advantage notification tool. Obviously it also disables the regular “This copy of Microsoft Windows XP is not genuine” type warnings if it feels your copy of windows is [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-disable-windows-genuine-advantage-warning/

Date: 07/12/06     Keywords: no keywords

Take a look at your log file (/var/log/secure for Fedora Core 4) and you will discover numerous automated ssh hacking attempts using dictionary attack. So now you have identified the offending addresses. How do you stop them? Here comes the magic mantra which uses iptables (packet) firewall: iptables -A INPUT -s a.b.c.d -j DROP Replace a.b.c.d with the [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/h0w-to-block-ip-addresses-on-linux-server/

Date: 07/12/06     Keywords: no keywords

Take a look at your log file (/var/log/secure for Fedora Core 4) and you will discover numerous automated ssh hacking attempts using dictionary attack. So now you have identified the offending addresses. How do you stop them? Here comes the magic mantra which uses iptables (packet) firewall: iptables -A INPUT -s a.b.c.d -j DROP Replace a.b.c.d with the [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-block-ip-addresses-on-linux-server/

Date: 07/12/06     Keywords: web

Whew! Finally I have transferred my site to a sparkling new dedicated server. It was a very eventful journey. Lots of challenges were overcome and I learned a lot. I will share some of it in the coming days. There are still a lot to be done but at least the websites are usable and [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/finally-first-phase-of-server-migration-over/

Date: 07/10/06     Keywords: php, apache

After moving over my test blog to the new server, I noticed that the Admin Dashboard (with tons of unnecessary feeds) wasn’t displaying. It shows just a blank page. Apache error log had a very interesting message: Allowed memory size of 8388608 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 0 bytes) The solution is simple. 1. Increase memory_limit in php.ini [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/wordpress-dashboard-blank-page-display-solution/

Date: 07/10/06     Keywords: no keywords

I faced a hair-tearing problem. mod_rewrite was loaded and yet it was not working in .htaccess files (and httpd.conf initially). Here is the solution along with how you can debug mod_rewrite problems. Debugging procedure: Add these two line to your httpd.conf immediately after RewriteEngine On. RewriteLog “/var/log/httpd/rewrite_log” RewriteLogLevel 9 After that I added the required RewriteRule etc. The reason for testing [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/mod_rewrite-not-working-in-htaccess-solution/

Date: 07/09/06     Keywords: web, seo, google

Nowadays it is common to complain about the accuracy of Google web search results (not image search as I have done in my earlier post). Most of the people complaining about Google web search are SEO types and those who have been affected by sudden lack of Google love. In reality, with all its faults, Google [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/in-defence-of-google-web-search/

Date: 07/09/06     Keywords: yahoo, google

I did an image search for angsuman. The results are startling. Here are the top six images: Can you spot the commonality and the basis of Google’s algorithm? Is Yahoo image search any better? Finally! At least Yahoo got one image right. But the basis of the algorithm is same. Can you guess it by now? Can you [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/the-accuracy-of-google-image-search-and-yahoo/

Date: 07/09/06     Keywords: database

I am in the process of backing up my databases as part of moving them to a different server. I will not be posting any articles during this time. Any comments for the next few hours may be lost. I will let you know once everything is up and running on the new server. Lot’s of [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/backing-up-database/

Date: 07/08/06     Keywords: no keywords

The perfect setup of fedora core 4 fails you on multiple fronts. First you cannot install apt as the package it mentioned has become obsolete and latest packages do not install with rpm. The use of apt is not recommended anymore and not maintained either. Secondly the POP3 and IMAP servers do not get installed [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-install-imap-pop3-server-for-fedora-core-4/

Date: 07/07/06     Keywords: no keywords

Today I received an email from Sudhir Thirumurthy [sagthirumurthy@fastermail.com] with a subject which screamed 419 scam. However I hadn’t received any from Singapore and by someone who is clearly of Indian origin. So I decided to give him the benefit of doubt. The email in full: Hello, My name is MR. SUDHIR A.G THIRUMURTHY,a legal practitioner with SUDHIR [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/419-scams-now-made-in-asia/

Date: 07/07/06     Keywords: web, hosting

Dreamhost, why suckst thou thusly? My configs error free, all see. My width of band a mere mirage. My use of space a laughing joke. Thy wages paid in full, in time, and yet Thy temper so villain, so foul. … - Symbiotix wrote a poem to express his bad experiences with dreamhost, a popular web hosting provider. I didn’t use them [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/an-ode-to-dreamhost-shared-web-hosting-provider/