Cow. Chicken. Bell.

Today I received this gem in my mailbox:

From: XXXXXX XXXXXX
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 4:04 PM
To: FTK
Subject: RE: Scuzzi Ready

Felix, I don't have access to create a use on Scuzzi Sql.

You would think that this might be some database permissions problem, but it turns out the user kept making the same typo in the instance name when trying to connect to the server. Couldn't have guessed from the excellent error description...

Sales people are a special breed indeed.

(10:18:36 am) XXXX - Show Me the Money: dude its freakin cold down here, can we get someone to look at the temp in the conference room?
(10:19:09 am) FTK: It's winter
(10:19:42 am) XXXX - Show Me the Money: oh

The way I copy files to my N800 is via SecureShell using scp. As I keep most of my files on memory cards, I wanted a quick way of telling scp to put it there rather than the home directory. I decided on just throwing a symbolic link (kind of like a shortcut for you Windows folks) to the two card mount points.

I am assuming you already have a terminal and ssh server installed and configured.

The mount points for the external and internal memory cards are /media/mmc1 and /media/mmc2, respectively. To create links to these, open a terminal window and type the following two commands:

~ $ ln -s /media/mmc1 ~/mmc1
~ $ ln -s /media/mmc2 ~/mmc2

Now if you want to move stuff.tar.gz to the files directory on the internal memory card, you would use the following command:
user@desktop:~$ scp files/stuff.tar.gz user@ip.of.n.800:mmc2/files/stuff.tar.gz

If at any point in time you want to get rid of the links, simply do a rm ~/mmc1. Only the link will be deleted, the data on your card stays intact.

I recently got a Nokia N800, and let me tell you, it is one of the coolest (and most useful) gadgets I have ever come across. Not only does it run a Debian based Linux OS, has a beautiful 800x480 screen, ample storage, Bluetooth, VOIP, and WiFi, but it also is completely hackable. Full command line access, huge catalog of packages (ssh, vncviewer, rdesktop, etc), and Internet connectivity anywhere via Bluetooth and my cell phone...the perfect sysadmin tool. Server trouble at work while you're out and about? No more two hour phone call trying to guide someone through all the commands trying to troubleshoot. Pull over, fire up the N800, ssh into the machine and go to work. Want a desktop? Set up a ssh tunnel and forward your VNC session. Windows machine? Use rdesktop or use rdesktop out of your VNC session. Problem solved in 5 minutes. Awesome.

I had come across the i Tech Laser Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard (VKB) before, and thought it would be a neat little toy, but that's about it. Now with the N800 I was looking for a Bluetooth keyboard. Ssh-ing into it is fine and dandy when you're at your desk, but on the road I don't want to spend forever trying to type out commands with the stylus. I found a VKB on eBay for a decent price, and decided to pick it up. Once I held it in my hands I knew that this is one of the most bad ass gadgets you could own (the geek factor alone is through the roof!!). It's small size (a bit smaller than my Leatherman Wave) makes it easy to take a long on trips. Now with just a cell phone, N800 and VKB I have a complete remote admin solution that is a whole lot more portable than a laptop.

Pairing it with the N800 is fairly simple:

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Every once in a while you notice a substantial increase in the volume of spam to a users address. The new spam all seems to come from dating sites, very interesting. Now, when looking for false positives, you happen to come across a reply from a spam bot to a sex ad posted by a user -- from their work account complete with company address in the signature! You get curious. You look into this more. And then you discover that the user's replies to sex ads outnumber legit business email by a factor of 5 to 1. User gets a talking to, illegitimate email traffic stops. Eventually the user leaves the organization, and you get to do the final email archive. And this is where the fun begins...

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