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Archive for category Web Tech
Encrypt Your Email Address On Your Website
Posted by technohermit in Internet, Web Tech on 2009/11/02
No one likes spam, except spammers. When you put an email address on a website for the world to see, you expect that a human will be sending you something interesting to read. What you get is a bunch of robots telling you how cheap they can sell you something to make your junk bigger, or your butt smaller.
I found this sweet website that will let you put in your email address and a link text (what people will see), then hit submit and it hooks you up, right there, with an HTML encrypted anchor tag to copy and paste onto your website. Sweet. I’ve seen programs that do this, but this way there is no need to download anything. Robots won’t read it, but humans can. People can even click on it to open their mail application. Nice.
Here’s the link: Mysterious Ways
Separate Public and Private Wireless Network Using Two Routers
Posted by technohermit in Internet, Networking, Uncategorized, Web Tech on 2009/11/01
How to create a separate public and private wireless network using 2 routers
Setting up a separate public and private wireless network is not that complicated. It involves basic setup of a router, and its wireless network. In order to create the two separate networks, you set up both routers (R1 and R2), their wireless networks, and plug R2’s WAN port into one of the LAN ports on the back of R1. The networks will essentially be separate, but use a single modem (the same ISP connection for the Internet.) I created a separate public and private network using this method for a client’s restaurant. The client did not want customers to have access to the private network, yet still wanted to provide a wireless hotspot for patrons.
As far as firmware goes, I recommend using DD-WRT’s firmware and a compatible router, which you can find a list of here: DD-WRT. Not mandatory by any means, as you should be able to set up separate wireless networks with the stock firmware of just about any router on the market. By following my setup, you will completely separate the public and private networks, other than access to the private router’s login page from the public network. Be sure to set a strong password for both routers’ login information, which is mandatory no matter where you’re setting up a network. If you have a couple of routers on hand and this isn’t clear enough, feel free to shoot me an email describing your setup, and I’ll do the best I can to walk you through that model’s setup screens.
Step 1: First, set up the private router (R1). I usually do this disconnected from the Internet, by simply plugging an ethernet cable into the switch on the back of the router. No need to connect to the WAN port yet. Access your router’s login screen. Login and immediately change the password, make sure it is strong (upper and lowercase letters, at least one number, and a special character or two).
Step 2: Apply your settings, and login using the new password, if necessary. Next, choose your router name, your IP range (I’m using 10.0.10.x for this setup), and turn on the DHCP server. You can also set the number of clients, etc. Set R1’s address to the first addressable host (x.x.x.1) on your IP range, for ease of remembering where it is. I use 10.0.10.129 for my start range on DHCP because I like to leave a lot open for static IP’s; this allows plenty of room for printers, NAS storage, servers, etc.
Step 3: Next, set up the wireless portion of the R1 ( if you want wireless capability on the private network) This can also be set to “off” should you not require wireless setup. You absolutely want a very strong passphrase (something like, n0W1rel3$$4U) on your private wireless network (use WPA, not WEP if you can). There’s no sense in going through the trouble of having a second, public router, only to leave your wireless access open. You can leave the SSID set to broadcast, but this allows people to see the wireless network and attempt to connect. This shouldn’t be a problem so long as you have a strong password. Leaving broadcast “off” will not stop someone from finding it if they really want to, however, so the encryption still needs to be on.
Step 4: You can now plug in your WAN port from R1 to your modem, and verify you have access to the internet. Check your wireless as well, to be sure everything is working as it should.
Step 5: Next, you want to setup your public network on your second router (R2). Again, leave the router disconnected from the R1, simply plug in your computer to a port on the back of R2 and navigate to its setup screen in your browser. If you also have a wireless connection (such as setting this up from a laptop) be sure to turn it off for now, as you will not need it. This is especially true if you used wireless to set up the first router, as it might confuse the network connections and not allow you access to the setup screen on the second router.
Step 6: Set up a new username (if your router allows it) and password, and save your settings. Next, setup the network address. If you followed my first router setup and used 10.0.10.x for R1, use 192.0.10.x for R2. Again, set the router’s address to the first addressable host (192.0.10.1). Turn DHCP on, and setup your maximum clients, and your DHCP range. You could probably set this to 192.0.10.2 if you don’t need static IPs on the public network. If you are going to have a public accessible printer, set it to 192.0.10.10, so you can have a few static IPs if you ever need them.
Step 7: Apply your settings, and log back into the R2 by going to the router’s new address in your browser. It is highly recommended to set the R2’s WAN PORT to STATIC IP and set the address to something R1, outside of the DHCP range. See the screenshot below (click to enlarge). Basically, I set it up to be the second host on the router’s network, 10.0.10.2. The gateway will be 10.0.10.1, subnet mask 255.255.255.0.
WAN LAN Setup Screen Public Router
Step 8: Apply your settings, and you can now set up the SSID (be sure to pick a name different from the private router) and client type for your public network. If you want people to be able to access it, leave the encryption off, and broadcast the SSID. You may want to look into a hotspot server, such as set up a DD-WRT enabled router with Chillispot, but that is out of the scope of this post. To really make this work efficiently, you may want to set the channels of both routers apart (i.e., one to channel 1 and one to channel 11), but you can also leave them on auto. Another idea might be to have the public network on the 5ghz spectrum, as it would get less interference from surrounding networks and give your clients a better experience. An Airport Extreme or a TRENDnet TEW-672GR offer dual band functionality, although you sacrifice not being able to run the DD-WRT firmware with either of those.
Step 9: Finally, disconnect your computer from the R2. Plug R2’s WAN port into one of the switch ports on R1. You can now use a wireless connection to verify internet connectivity through the public router’s SSID.
Step 10: You should probably reboot everything at this point. Power down the modem and both routers. Leave off for 30 seconds, and plug the modem in again. Allow it to fully boot, then turn on the first router, allow it to fully boot. Turn on the second router, and you should be good to go.
Letter to Congressman Regarding Net Neutrality
Posted by technohermit in FCC, Internet, Net Neutrality, Uncategorized, Web Tech on 2009/10/29
I’ve been entertained lately by Fox news and some other reading on net-neutrality. So much so, in fact, I felt obliged to write my Congressman John Hall, who is in district 19 here in NY. The last letter I wrote to him was begging him not to vote for Bush’s money for the banks bill that Congress really had no time to review. He went ahead and voted for it anyway, which was disappointing. Alas, I digress. Here is the letter I sent him:
“It is imperative for the future success of our country that you form stringent opposition to Sen. John McCain’s proposals against net neutrality. Net neutrality is making the infrastructure neutral, meaning data is data no matter who put it on the wire.
Forcing people (or allowing) payment in return for priority on the national grid is absurd, and will only serve to keep and strengthen the basic oligopoly that stands to weaken and destroy our country.
Separating the infrastructure from the content providers is paramount to quality, affordable prices, and universal access to services. It is time we catch up to the rest of the world on this issue. We have gone from 4th to 15th in broadband penetration due to the policies of the last administration, and cannot afford to slip backwards any longer (even though we are still declining.) Please read the Berkman Broadband Study (Harvard University) here: http://www.fcc.gov/stage/pdf/Berkman_Center_Broadband_Study_13Oct09.pdf which was presented to the FCC for a better understanding of what the government policies across the globe have accomplished as compared to ours here in the United States. It is very well researched and makes it very obvious where Mr. McCain gets his money. They spend less, and their country gets more. The trend is not in our favor, and will only get worse if we keep or strengthen the current policies in place today.
Don’t let us down!
I try to stay informed the best I can on this issue, and hopefully when it comes time to vote, we can see some real change. Here is the response I received from Congressman Hall:
Thank you for contacting me about “net neutrality.” I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue.
Over the last decade, the Internet has grown and evolved at a rapid pace. People now shop online for clothes, cars and even groceries. People can buy music and movies and download them immediately. They can also send photos and home movies to friends and family all over the world. The development of the Internet has revolutionized the way people communicate, innovate, and do business all over the world.
I believe that much of the Internet’s ability to spur innovation and change is rooted in the ability of individuals to enjoy equal access to a wide array of sites and services. There is significant concern that this principle, known as “net neutrality,” could be undermined by 2005 decisions by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)and the U.S. Supreme Court that broadband Internet service is an information service as opposed to a telecommunications service, and therefore not subject to the more stringent regulations that govern telecommunications services. Specifically, questions have been raised about whether or not telecommunications providers will be able to create a “two-tiered” internet that will allow individuals to connect to provider-owned or favored sites and services more quickly than those run by competitors or small businesses and groups that cannot afford to pay for high-speed preference.
I am concerned that compromising the principle of net neutrality would undermine the fundamental principle of open access that has fueled the growth of the Internet, and could hurt consumer choice, discriminate against sites involved in public discourse or espousing political views, and disadvantage small businesses.
I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind as Congress considers this issue. Please feel free to contact my office whenever I might be of assistance to you.
What I am particularly concerned with, is this quote:
“the fundamental principle of open access that has fueled the growth of the Internet, and could hurt consumer choice, discriminate against sites involved in public discourse or espousing political views, and disadvantage small businesses.”
The rest of the world has been putting in place legislation that truly affords open access to the backbone, whereas our legislation has not.
If you managed to read this long-winded post (and maybe even that Harvard study linked up top in my letter), tell me what you think.
How do you feel about net neutrality?
If you care about a free and fast internet…
Posted by technohermit in FCC, Internet, Uncategorized, Web Tech on 2009/10/27
Berkman Broadband Study
Please visit the above link and read their pdf, a worldwide broadband review for the FCC. It outlines why the infrastructure of the United States is outdated and ultimately fails us as a society. There aren’t enough providers because the companies who laid out the infrastructure (on our dime) also control who gets to use it, even though we heavily subsidized their implementation as taxpayers. This Harvard study seeks to inform our government what has worked worldwide to advance other countries telecommunications policies, and why they are “winning” a technology race.
I think the only thing to get the average person in this country to get up and voice their opinion is to be scared about being behind. If this research doesn’t wake you up and get you to vote for a better future, nothing will. Here’s to hope about getting rid of the terrible oligopolies in the US, and to a brighter future (with faster internet 
.)
Please read this and exercise your voice to the FCC about it. People who install cable shouldn’t have the final say in who gets to use it, as they are given heavy subsidies and grants to install it. They should be broken up into separate businesses and made to compete, like everyone else has to do.
Downloading and Installing Applications on OS X
If you are a new Mac user, switching from Windows, or just new to computers in general, you may not know there is something a little bit different in the way you install programs on Mac OS X.
Many people I know run into trouble installing applications they download from the internet, simply because they are not used to dropping an application into the “Applications” folder from a mounted virtual disk. My brother had 4 copies of Google Earth downloaded, none installed, and wondered why it was “reset” every time he tried to run it. So, for those of you out there trying to figure out why you cannot just drag the icon into the dock and run it at will, here is a tutorial made just for you.
First, download your application. In OS X, on Safari, the default location for your downloads is in your “Downloads” folder, located inside your “Home” folder. To access this location, find “Finder” on the left hand side of your dock (by default.) It looks like this:
Finder
When you click on the icon in the dock it will open a new Finder window. You can accomplish this same task by holding down ⌘ and hitting N, or “Command-N”. Be sure it says “Finder” by the in the menu bar, upper left hand corner of your screen. You should see something similar to this:
New Finder Window
I am currently running OS 10.6.1, Snow Leopard, but the above ⌘-N works throughout OS X. Also, I have already clicked on the “Home” folder (looks like a house) and the Downloads folder inside of Home. That is why they are highlighted in blue. If you do not have this view enabled, it may look like this:
Cover Flow View in Finder
You can see the top center of the window shows my Home Folder, meaning this is the directory you are currently located in. You can use your arrow keys to navigate down the list shown in the bottom half of the window until you get to the “Downloads” folder. Hitting enter, however, will not get you into that folder. You can use ⌘-Down Arrow to go into the folder, or you can use ⌘-Right Arrow to open the folder’s contents and display it in the list. As a matter of fact, when you select any file and want to open it, using ⌘-Dn (I’ll list command-down arrow like ⌘-Dn from now on) will work. You can also hit spacebar to see a QuickView of the file. Yet, I digress.
So, now that you are in your “Downloads” folder, you can find the file you have recently downloaded. I will use Google Earth as my example here:
Google Earth Download Page
When you click the “Agree and Download” button, you see a new “Downloads” window open, and the file begin to transfer to your computer:
File Transfer In Progress
After the file transfer completes, a bunch of stuff happens. First, OS X verifies the disk image is not corrupted, and then it will mount. A file with “dmg” after the period means “Disk Image”, which basically means it is just like a CD or DVD you would put into your drive. If you had a physical disk and stuck it in your DVD drive, it would show up on your desktop, and you could click on it. Same goes for .dmg files, but you don’t need the physical disk:
Google Earth Downloaded and "Mounted"
The download automatically verifies, and “mounts” on your desktop, just like you had a Google Earth CD and put it in your drive. The white thing above the disk name on my desktop there is the icon for a virtual disk, or some USB drives as well.
You can also see the actual Google Earth application in the window titled Google Earth and the virtual disk picture just to the left of it. If you close that window, the disk stays mounted on your desktop. What you want to do now is actually install the program by dragging it to somewhere on your computer. This is done simply by holding down the left mouse button (trackpad button, or sometimes your only mouse button) and moving it off of the window it is currently in.
I recommend always installing programs into your “Applications” folder, to keep everything nice and tidy. Open a new “Finder” window, and below your home folder it says “Applications”. Click on the link, and it will open your “Applications” folder to the right hand side:
Installing into Applications Folder
One thing to note here is above the “Applications” link, there is the Google Earth disk image with an Eject symbol next to it. More on that in a second, first let’s install Google Earth. Get your two windows side-by-side on your desktop, and drag the Google Earth application from it’s current window and drop it on the list in the “Applications” window. Before you let go of the mouse button, be sure there is a little green “+” sign, letting you know the file you are moving is going to be copied into this location. If you see it, go ahead and drop it in there:
Side-by-Side
Look for the + Sign 
Now that you have installed and application, you can unmount the disk image. First, close the window titled “GoogleEarth-Mac”. Next you can either click the eject button next to the GoogleEarth disk in the “Applications” window you still have open, or you can click once on the disk image on your desktop to highlight it. You can then drag it to the trash can in the dock (with turns into a big Eject button), or you can use the keyboard shortcut ⌘-E (command-e for ”e”-ject.)
Lastly, if you want to back up your GoogleEarthMac.dmg file, you can do so. You can leave it in your “Downloads” folder, or you can delete it. To delete it, navigate back to your “Downloads” folder, in your home directory, and highlight the .dmg file:
Highlight the File in Finder
To send it to the Trash, simply drag it there and let go, or hit ⌘-Delete.
That’s all there is to installing an application on OS X. Once you can effortlessly find your way around the windows, installing is as easy as drag and drop!
Safari and Firefox Cache Preferences
Posted by technohermit in Apple, Internet, OS X, Uncategorized, Web Tech on 2009/10/20
I have a MacBook Pro, and I’m always trying to keep it running the best that it can. Most of the time, the trouble I have is related to the amount of space Safari and Firefox use to store files in the cache. If you would like to limit Safari’s space on your hard disk, you are kind of stuck as far as the options in the file menu’s “Reset Safari” go.
In order to reset ( or clear ) your cache, history, cookies, etc., you can easily do this by clicking Safari in the menu bar, and either selecting just “Empty Cache” or “Reset Safari” from the drop-down menu. There is a lot of options in Reset Safari, and you can partially clear certain things as you like.
You may also be interested in limiting the actual size of the cache, of which you have but one option–WebPreview, or CoverFlow. You can check here for instructions on how to disable that feature. Unfortunately, there is no option in Preferences to limit the cache size of Safari, or if there is I couldn’t find it. There is a cryptic “database size” option in the advanced section of preferences, and I am trying to find out from Apple what that is in reference to (as I have none listed in the box.) The “Database Size” in the advanced section of Preferences has been an option to JavaScript developers to store code client-side rather than server-side as a way to avoid code getting trashed by storing it with a user’s cookies. Unfortunately, after my call with Apple, there is no way to limit the size of the Cache.db file yourself (from Apple directly.) They did mention that there “may be a third party” application out there that could do this for me, of which I will have to scour the intrawebs to find. My cache.db is 180MB after only two days of having cleared it. Bummer.
Firefox, on the other hand, does give you the option to limit the cache size in Preferences –> Advanced –> Network:
Firefox Preferences
This is nice to have, and the default is a modest 50MB. I’ve had Safari’s WebPreview images top 500MB, which is just out of hand.
Firefox also has the ability to start sessions and save information as you’d like, found under Preferences–>Security:
Custom Security Settings
Private Browsing Option
The private browsing feature should show in your window’s title bar letting you know it is activated. With this feature enabled, you just aren’t saving anything to your cache, history etc. You are not surfing the web anonymously, however, so don’t do things you wouldn’t normally do!
Safari Webpage Preview
Check out my update on this article here.
I was just going through the idea of a simple script to clear Safari’s cache. Being a new Snow Leopard recruit, I didn’t know where the cache is located, so I started looking in the usual suspect places. Before I got far, I landed in the ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Webpage Previews folder. For those of you who don’t realize the significance of that folder, I was with you up until about 5 minutes ago.
This folder contained about 500MB of webpage snapshots of various places I’d visited over the past, oh, 4 days. The reason behind all the images? Cover Flow. When you browse your bookmarks bar in Cover Flow, Safari can show you all of the sites in your history with full page images. This is cool, but seriously….does it need to keep them all? If you hit something cool like my site here (*cough*) more than once a day, it will take more than one image. 500MB?!? I never knew that just Safari’s iteration of Cover Flow was taking up that much disk space on my system. That’s a lot of space! Fortunately there is a really simple solution to getting rid of the images.
First, go to your Safari menu and click “Reset Safari”(current as of 4.0.3 on Snow Leopard):
There are many options, and I do recommend once in a while resetting all of them (check all the boxes) to keep your web browsing going smooth. This particular option, if you have a small amount of free hard disk space, could make a lot of difference on system performance. Depending on your browsing habits, this could seriously chew up a lot of disk. Clear it out, and then use the web as you normally would. Before you go to bed, to work, or whatever, check this folder for size again:
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Webpage Previews, this way you have a good idea of how much space this takes up in one of your normal web sessions.
Creating a Cat5/Cat6 cable for Ethernet
Posted by technohermit in Networking, Uncategorized, Web Tech on 2009/10/10
Here is a POV snail’s paced video explaining the magic of wiring your own *straight through* patch cables on the cheap; rather than paying someone to make one for not so cheap. Scroll down if you just want to see how I do it and don’t care about an explanation.
I assembled the cable as T568B wiring:
- White/Orange
- Orange
- White/Green
- Blue
- White/Blue
- Green
- White/Brown
- Brown
The numbered list above (and below for T568A) are in pin order. You stick these colors into the connector with the tab of the connector closest to the floor, and the open end of the connector at your belly. Pin one would be on the left sticking the cable in the open end, holding connector as described.
Although it really doesn’t matter where the colors go as long as they are the same on both ends (straight through.) You should conform to the standards set forth, but it isn’t because the cable wouldn’t work otherwise. There is also the T568A standard, which is:
- White/Green
- Green
- White/Orange
- Blue
- White/Blue
- Orange
- White/Brown
- Brown
So with that in mind, you could theoretically ignore all convention and just make sure that the color on one end matches the color in the same spot in the connector on the other end. That’s ghetto but functional.
If you are reading this to learn it as a source of income, then you’d better learn it the proper way or you won’t be working for long. Also, your butt might be sore for a while due to a client’s boot stuck in it. Some companies out there doing video surveillance cameras in the Briarcliff area know what I’m talking about. Making cables all willy-nilly, and no way to even test them! Plug one end into the router, the other end into the back of the PC, and pray? Oh brother…get the F*$# out of my office! This here video is for you guys, and keep the shoe.
Anyway, on with the show, and good luck saving yourselves some cash!
Click To Open Movie
3G IPhone – Optimum Online Mail – iPhone Mail Settings
Posted by technohermit in Apple, Email Settings, Uncategorized, Web Tech, iPhone on 2009/10/09
I originally posted this to my old blog, which I’ve deleted. Hopefully you find this , it needed to be updated anyway….
To use Optimum Online as your SMTP (outgoing) mail server for your accounts (which is how you probably have them set up at your desktop/laptop):
On the iPhone:
1. Go into Settings
2. Mail, Contacts, Calendars
3. Choose an account
4. Scroll to Outgoing Mail Server section, find SMTP, click on that
5. Add server…
6. Enter mail.optonline.net just like you’re setting up Mail or Outlook
7. You must enter your user name (WITHOUT @optonline.net)
8. Enter your password (8 chars max, even if it’s really more)
9. SSL off
10. Select Authentication
11. Choose ‘Password’
12. Click the arrow at upper left to go back one page
13. Server Port (at bottom) should read 587.
14. Turn off the AT&T outgoing server. (Might not need to, but I did to be sure it was working.)
That’s it. Now you can use mail.optonline.net as your outgoing mail server for any of your accounts, just like through your Outlook or Mail (or, um, whatever mail client you use.) I turned off all of the other SMTP servers that I had previously tried to set up.
Now it doesn’t matter if you’re on Edge, 3G, or Wifi, your mail will still get out of your iPhone and to your recipient. I did try in the beginning to have gmail do it for me, but they forward your mail and tell you who it was forwarded on behalf of. I thought that was crap. The whole point was so you could reply to someone’s email from the address they sent it to, and they need not know that you have another email address. This way is much more of what I needed then to confuse my clients with my personal email address and my family with my business address.
myBlogEdit
Posted by technohermit in Entry Level Programming, Uncategorized, Web Tech on 2009/10/09
So I decided to go all out and make it easier for me to blog, even if I’m stuck with no intraweb, somewhere where the dredded “E” is in the upper left hand corner of my iPhone. I have been looking into things like this here OS X app called….you guessed it, myBlogEdit.
Set up is pretty simple so far.
- Download and install.
- Command-Comma for Preferences. Highlighted in blue, you will see the XML-RPC thing. This is important to also set up in settings on your WordPress Dashboard.
- Fill in your site info, and you’re pretty much done.
I’m diggin’ that this app has a bunch of HTML tags for your clicking approval, as well as an empty set that does a nice drop-down list. It has taken me a while to get this first post out with the program, but it’s because I’m taking screen shots and telling you all about it as I go. Suffice it to say, it’s pretty slick so far.
Click Thumbnail For Viewable Image
Unfortunately, I cannot seem to change the CSS for the preview, and I’m going to write the developer and ask him why that is. I cannot cut and paste my CSS into the preference, nor can I drop a CSS file on it. The only option you have is blank, or “default” (program author supplied). I do note that you can type in the box, however I do not consider typing all of your CSS out all over again a viable option. You can choose cut copy and paste from the file menu, but paste seems to be the only one lacking function. Bummer. That will put the brakes on me using this app full time for sure.
Upload is pretty straight forward, and it does look like the preview version. I have to say that you should note the width of an image you want to upload prior to you accepting the upload. It seems that thumbnails are automagically generated for you after you make images in excess of 150px. Pretty neat.
Suffice it to say, though, that you really do need to love editing your blogs in HTML form in order to like this application. If you are used to the WSYWIYG web version that WordPress gives you to use, than you probably aren’t going to be a huge fan of changing strictly to HTML. For those of us out there that click the HTML tab on that web interface, this little program is pretty good.
So one thing I learned the hard way, do not delete the post from WordPress, or it won’t let you publish it again. The error I got was invalid post ID, found in the xml data in the log. myBlogEdit just gives a cryptic popup advising you to have XML-RPC enabled, and check the error log as well. Do yourself a favor and check the error log if it worked before and suddenly doesn’t. Well, that’s it for now, until I get more used to writing with this application. Give me about a month and I’ll come back and tell you how it’s been going.
