ubuntu exim4 smarthost tls will not turn off
While trying to setup exim to smarthost to authsmtp.com TLS just will not turn off even with all the right options in the macro.
Finally I found this :
http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/wiki/Main/VikingNotes#Exim4
Exim4 configuration sucks. It took me 3 or 4 hours to figure this out.
Exim4 and TLS don’t work together well, apparently. To make exim work correctly, edit /etc/exim4/exim4.conf.template and add this line just under the driver line in remote_smtp_smarthost section, so that it looks something like this:
remote_smtp_smarthost:
debug_print = "T: remote_smtp_smarthost for $local_part@$domain"
driver = smtp
hosts_avoid_tls = *
hosts_try_auth = ${if exists {CONFDIR/passwd.client}{DCsmarthost}{}}
tls_tempfail_tryclear = false
DEBCONFheaders_rewriteDEBCONF
DEBCONFreturn_pathDEBCONFRe-run update-exim4.conf and then restart exim4.
My next wireless router
A positive review of the FONERA 2.0n router on openattitude.com (http://openattitude.com/2010/01/13/sharing-wifi-with-fon/) has convinced me to purchase this router.
The Fonera runs a firmware based on OpenWrt.
Unfortunately my current isn’t broken enough to join the growing electronic waste and recycling problem just yet.
Thunderbird 3 …. awesome!
I upgraded to Thunderbird 3 today. Tabs and Conversations … sweeeet!
Instructions to backup your old profile and install it on Ubuntu (should work the same on most distros):
http://www.kabatology.com/07/29/a-single-command-install-of-thunderbird-3-beta-3-on-ubuntu/
A real time saver ..
For when laundry and project deadlines collide!
Lenovo T61 and Ubuntu
I purchased my Lenovo T61 preinstalled with Ubuntu 8.05. Since the release of 9.10, the Update Manager has been tempting me to click the button and upgrade to 9.10. I finally had a free rainy weekend when I wouldn’t mind picking up the pieces in case of a disaster. Surprisingly, the update went well. It just worked!
Go for it .. Press that button.
Improving Drupal performance
There are a number of detailed articles on improving Drupal performance for high-traffic/high-volume sites. This one is a good start: http://drupal.org/node/2601
I was using a small Drupal installation running on a small server. The site wasn’t as quick as I felt it should be, especially since there were at most two people using it consecutively.
The changes listed below are what I felt were the minimum required to objectively improve the response time of the site.
Schedule cron at lowest usage times (unlikely to improve the situation in this case but always good practice)
Turn off unused modules.
Turn on output compression (gzip/deflate) http://drupal.org/node/2602
Increase PHP memory limit. 32MB is recommended
Enable built-in caching:
Administer > Site Configuration > Performance
Enable ‘Page Cache’ – only for anonymous users.
Enable ‘Block Cache’
Install cacherouter module http://drupal.org/project/cacherouter and a compatible caching technology. I use APC.
Large-Scale Distributed Systems at Google: Current Systems and Future Directions
A very informative presentation from Jeff Dean a Google Fellow in Google’s Systems Infrastructure Group:
http://www.cs.cornell.edu/projects/ladis2009/program.htm#keynote3
Terminal screen manager command keys
screen basics for Bob.
start: screen
keying commands: CTRL +[alpha] [alpha] key Control and the [alpha]
key following the + (plus) together, release both and key the next [alpha]
new window: CTRL +a c
next window: CTRL +a n
previous window: CTRL +a p
destroy window: CTRL +a k or exit the shell in the window
exit screen: destroy all windows, screen exits when last windows is detached.
detach screen from terminal: CTRL +a d You can disconnect now. You will be able to reconnect and reattach your to your screen session.
Manage sessions:
screen -r reattach to session. If there is more than once background session screen will list them
screen -rd reattach to a session, detaching it from the current running terminal
screen -ls list background sessions
yet another WP exploit in the wild?
This article on securing WordPress doesn’t make me entirely comfortable. Perhaps I should return to vim as a blogging tool 
http://wordpress.org/development/2009/09/keep-wordpress-secure/
revelation while typing: aspell doesn’t recognize blogging as a legit word.
