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Using EncFS with Copy Cloud File Storage

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:11:42 +0100

I have been trying out Barracuda Networks cloud file storage "Copy" for the last few day. The Linux client seems stable and syncing has been reliable up to now. Although there are claims that Copy stores files encrypted, it is also an architectural fact that Copy needs to store your encryption keys on the server side.

So, if you want to store private Data, then you'll have to setup encryption yourself - Enter EncFS.
Continue reading "Using EncFS with Copy Cloud File Storage"

copycom2deb - Create Debian packages for the Copy client agent

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 21:35:14 +0100

Copy is a new cloud storage solution similar to Dropbox. They have a better price model, allowing you to use 250GB of storage for 99$ per year. The free account starts with 5GB and you can get a few extra GB by promoting the service. You get client agents for most operating systems, including Linux.

Barracuda only supplies Linux users with a simple tgz installer. This installer is perfectly working, but I wanted to install and update software with dpkg. So I hacked a little script to download the current version of the client agent and build a Debian package from the tgz.

You can find the script on GitHub: https://github.com/neovatar/copycom2deb

Spotify and Linux: Backing it up with dpkg-repack

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:54:54 +0200

Spotify is great and it is nearly the only choice if you want a music streaming service with a native Linux client. But the client is still in a "preview" stage. So if Spotify releases a new version of the Linux client, it sometimes botches your spotify installation. So if you do your "apt-get update && apt-get upgrade" dance, it might leave you without music (eeeeeeek!). But fear not! There is an easy way to backup your working Spotify installation on an Ubuntu/Debian system.
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Caching authenticated downloads with Varnish and VCL

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:02:00 +0100

Imagine the following scenario: You have an web application that delivers data, you have a huge number of requests per second, the data is identical for all users, but you want to limit access to authenticated users. Your back end application is slow and does not cache the created data. You also want to lighten the load on the authentication service. Fixing your back end application or your authentication service unfortunately is not an option. I wanted to solve this problem with Varnish and a VCL only solution, so no inline C or Varnish modules are required for my approach.
Continue reading "Caching authenticated downloads with Varnish and VCL"

Tearing when moving windows in Ubuntu 10.10

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Tue, 03 May 2011 20:15:44 +0200

I just stumbled over the ability to set vsync in compiz settings manager. I had an increased screen tearing with my new Eizo 24" monitor for a while now and switching vsync on in compiz removes it! Yay! Open compiz settings manager, then click "General Options", go to the tab "Display Settings" and check "Sync with VBlank". Move around a window and cheer .

Terroristen, überall!

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 20:23:58 +0100

Terroristen habens auch nicht leicht. Das sieht man sehr schön im Video "Extra 3 macht den Terror-Test". Und Stumpfi lässt sich erklären, woran man einen Terrorist erkennt. Das haben sich die Polizisten in Berlin dann wohl auch zu Herzen genommen.

A firefox add-on for pinboard.in

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:41:15 +0100

Since Yahoo did put delicious into "sunset mode" (marketing speech for: "we will close it down"), I was searching for an alternative. Many people did switch to pinboard.in, so I gave this service a shot. And I am really liking this "antisocial bookmarking service". If you are in search for an alternative to delicious, give pinboard.in a try. It is worth the one time signup fee! The only thing I was missing is a little firefox integration for quick bookmarking within firefox. So I wrote my own little firefox add on. Its called simplepinboardbutton and its hosted on the simplepinboardbutton site.

Die Schwabenmafia

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:06:09 +0200

Einen interessanten Artikel über Hintergründe zu S21 gibt es von Spiegelfechter

Not my president!

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:39:20 +0200

openssl 1.0

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 07:37:46 +0200

Yay, openssl 1.0 has been released! openssl 1.0

Optimize Firefox startup times

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:28:10 +0100

I did some research on my prolonged firefox startup time and alas I found something cool: Vacuum your Firefox databases Basically you have to do the following:

Install sqlite3:
```
sudo apt-get install sqlite3
```

Vacuum your Firefox DBs:

find ~/.mozilla/firefox -name "*.sqlite" -exec sqlite3 \{\} VACUUM \;

Reindex your Firefox DBs:

find ~/.mozilla/firefox -name "*.sqlite" -exec sqlite3 \{\} REINDEX \;

Bug in hsolinkcontrol...

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:07:19 +0200

I stumbled over a bug in hsolinkcontrol, which also seems to be reported in this pharscape forum post Bug description:

Ubuntu 9.04, with NO(!) resolvconf package installed
hsolink 1.0.118 package
HSOconnect 1.2.18 beta
/etc/resolv.conf is saved to /etc/resolv.conf.hsoc%s.tmp
the permissions of the created /etc/resolv.conf.hsoc%s.tmp file are 660 and root:root
when the saved /etc/resolv.conf.hsoc%s.tmp is moved back to /etc/resolv.conf, this file also gets the 660 permissions
after that, only root can read /etc/resolv.conf
the effect is, that DNS resolution does not work except when you are root
installing resolvconf will work around this issue

This can probably be easily fixed, by making sure that the /etc/resolv.conf.hsoc%s.tmp has the same permissions as the original /etc/resolv.conf file. Since installing the resolvconf package makes the bug go away, I did not fix the source, but just sent a notice to the author.

GNU statt CDU

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:07:11 +0200

PHP...

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:50:41 +0200

... just sucks. PHP function crc32 misbehaves on 64 Bit OS To quote the braindead php developer: "Its not broken! Nanananananaaaaaa!" *plugs his ears*

Polizisten prügeln auf Demonstranten ein ...

nospam@example.com (Tom) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 11:18:01 +0200

... und zwar nicht in irgendeinem Staat auf der anderen Seite der Welt, nein hier in der Bundesrepublik, bei der Demonstration "Freiheit statt Angst". Ein Demonstrant auf einem Fahhrad möchte sich die Namen der Polizisten notieren, die vorher einen Mitdemonstranten rüde einkassiert haben. Na so ein Querulant! Das ist doch sicher ein Terrorist! Nix wie runter mit dem vom Fahrrad und erstmal provisorisch ein paar aufs M0wl! Ein anderer Demonstrant bekommt da auch noch gleich eins auf die Nase. Was macht der auch da, mitten im Polizeieinsatz... Leute, bitte verbreitet diese Videos über den Vorfall, wo Ihr nur könnt. Wir müssen diesen Vorfall solange in der Öffentlichkeit halten, bis die Polizisten und Ihre Vorgesetzten zur Verantwortung gezogen worden sind. Hat noch jemand Fragen, wie das in Zukunft sein wird, wenn die Bundeswehr im Inneren eingesetzt werden soll? Infos über den Vorfall: Bericht über die prügelden Polizisten bei Fefe Artikel bei der TAZ [update]Peter Piksas Blog mit aktualisierten Informationen zum Vorfall[/update] Das Video gibts hier: Video in HD beim CCC Video in verschiedenen Größen bei basdrive.org