It is possible to put background text on the frame of Chrome by creating a custom extension. Generally, I’m pretty conservative about browser themes, because too much noise makes it difficult to scan a page. The web is noisy enough as it is. I have a need to constantly look up some information that id […]
Customizing the Chrome Frame Image
Creating an htpasswd file for NGINX
There is a python script available here that will create an htpasswd file. Here is how you configure the NGINX configuration file: location / { ……………………….. auth_basic “Restricted”; auth_basic_user_file /opt/nginx/conf/htpasswd; ……………………….. } Here is how you use the utility: /opt/nginx/conf# htpasswd.py -c -b htpasswd username password Just restart NGINX and you will get a basic […]
Creating Your Own WebID Using Openssl
Create a configuration file like this: [ req ] default_md = sha1 default_bits = 2048 distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name encrypt_key = no string_mask = nombstr x509_extensions = req_ext UID = netadmintools UID_default=”https://netadmintools.com/foaf.rdf#me” [ req_distinguished_name ] commonName = netadmintools.com commonName_default = WebID for NetAdminTools Webmaster [ req_ext ] subjectKeyIdentifier = hash subjectAltName = critical,@subject_alt basicConstraints = CA:false […]
Installing A Certificate on Internet Explorer
In Internet Options, select Content: Click on Certificates: Click Import: Next to proceed. Find your certificate. In this case it is a WebID file: Enter a password for the key if there is one (don’t worry, you only have to enter this when you import the key the first time): Choose a personal store: Choose […]
Installing A Certificate on iOS
Email yourself the .p12 cert, and open it: Install: Install now. Enter the password for the cert: Done when ready: If the certificate is a WebID, this is what it looks like: Choose a personal store: This is the cert we created in this article:
Installing A Certificate on Firefox
Go to Options, select the Advanced icon, and the Enryption tab. Make sure that USE TLS 1.0 is checked, and click View Certificates: Click view certificates. Click the Your Certificates tab: Clikc Import. You will be asked to select your .p12 file: Enter the password for the certificate. You are only asked this when you […]
Installing A Certificate on Chrome
Go into Chrome Settings: Way down at the bottom, click Show advanced settings. Find the HTTPS/SSL Manage certificates button: Push the button and you will be in Certificate manager: Click import, and you will be asked for the certificate. Navigate to your .p12 file and import: Enter your password and click OK when you see […]
Customizing the MediaWiki Toolbar Signature
One reason I enjoy the world of open source so much is that if I want something to be a certain way, I can make it be that way if I spend enough time. As an example, I use MediaWiki as a simple blog. It allows me to easily make an entry without much fuss. […]
Using Curl With PHP to Retrieve Pages With Basic Authentication
To retrieve a particular page from another web site using basic authentication, use this PHP script: <?php $path = $_GET[‘path’]; $username = “username”; $password = “password”; $uri = “https://example.com/$path”; $ch = curl_init($uri); curl_setopt_array($ch, array( CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER =>true, CURLOPT_USERPWD=> “$username:$password”, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH=> CURLAUTH_ANY, CURLOPT_VERBOSE => 1 )); $out = curl_exec($ch); curl_close($ch); echo $out; ?> Use the path of […]
Getting Rid of WordPress Comments Off
Perhaps you can override this; however, if you want a quick hack to not display “Comments Off” on WordPress blogs that you don’t have comments on, find these lines in wp-includes/comment-template.php: if ( false === $zero ) $zero = __( ‘No Comments’ ); if ( false === $one ) $one = __( ‘1 Comment’ ); […]
OpenBSD 2.9
BSD is often a good choice for utility boxes running stuff like Sendmail or BIND. The hardware support isn’t as good, and if you think desktop applications are bad with Linux, then you certainly aren’t going to like BSD. BSD is arguably more secure and stable than Linux. In the gradient of stability, though, Linux […]
Using Eterm Remotely with Clipboard on OS X
I have a GNU/Linux box running CentOS that is up all of the time, and is my main workstation. Lately, I’ve needed to use a laptop, and am running OS X Tiger on it. I’ve always enjoyed Eterm, but getting this to run on OS X is difficult. Since I mainly work on remote servers […]
Setting up X11 on OS X Tiger
After a bit of work, I have my desktop on OS X Tiger working well. I’m used to GNU/Linux, and it took me awhile to find the right combination of tools. Here is a screenshot of my desktop: click for larger image. Some key issues that I solved that are visible above: The clipboard works […]
Flushing the DNS Cache on Mac OS X
Use this command to flush the DNS cache on Mac OS X: lookupd -flushcache It appears that the cache overrides /etc/hosts.
Monitoring, Pausing, and Prioritizing Mac OS X Applications
If you simply want to monitor processes on Mac OS X, the included Activity Monitor in applications/utilities works well: There is also a free third party application called App Stop available here that will allow you to pause applications and set priority. If you have a heavy application you are running concurrently while doing more […]
Xcode is Required for Nmap and Fink
Both Fink and Nmap have problems compiling with earlier versions of Xcode. Xcode is found here. The error I got with Fink was: compress-zlib-pm586-1.34-11 failed With Nmap: ./pcap-bpf.c: In function ‘pcap_inject_bpf’:./pcap-bpf.c:348: error: ‘BIOCSHDRCMPLT’ undeclared (first use in this function)./pcap-bpf.c:348: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once./pcap-bpf.c:348: error: for each function it appears in.)make[1]: *** […]
Testing Apple Hardware With Mac OS X Install Disk
The first Install disk has a hardware test routine on it. Just boot with the CD and old down the Option key as the computer starts up. Here is what the test program looks like:
Checking the Filesystem on Mac OS X
Simply hold down Command-S as the system boots to get into single user mode. To check and fix the filesystem run fsck -fy:
Installing Apache 2.2 on Mac OS X From Source
Apache 2.2 compiles perfectly on Mac OS X. We are running an Intel Mac Version 10.5.6. Let’s create a place to compile this that is separate from other software. First we need to log on as root for convenience: srv-5:~ usr4$ sudo su Password: sh-3.2# Let’s create a /usr/local/src to compile the software in. This […]
Installing Dia on OS X
Dia is a diagramming tool that includes many symbols. Here are the Cisco symbols: Install on Mac OS X with Darwin Ports and then simply run dia from the command line: srv-8:~ usr4$ sudo port install dia —> Fetching libpixman —> Attempting to fetch pixman-0.14.0.tar.bz2 from http://distfiles.macports.org/libpixman —> Verifying checksum(s) for libpixman —> Extracting libpixman […]
