This script will monitor your external IP address from a linux PC inside your network, and send an email if it changes.
Download it, modify it for your environment and schedule it in crontab.
Here’s a little something I’m putting together to help make the world a better place:
sites.google.com/site/wiihackingfiles
And yes, I’ve done it to ours :D
When I work at the office, I occasionally need to log into the desktop of a Linux box located remotely at the Data Center.
I could use VNC, but it is slow on this network, and unless I install tightVNC, the remote machine has to be already logged in order to access it.
My laptop is also Linux, so setting up remote X11 over SSH was actually quite simple.
Here’s a step-by-step how-to.
**Please note**
The following is case sensitive.
Pay attention to the different file names.
This assumes the ssh server is installed and running.
If your distro does not have an ssh server, consult its documentation for installing and enabling it.
On the remote ssh server machine, edit /etc/ssh/ssh_config.
Uncomment or add the following lines and make them match this:
ForwardAgent yes
ForwardX11 yes
ForwardX11Trusted yes
Still on the remote ssh server machine, edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config.
Uncomment or add the following lines and make them match this:
X11Forwarding yes
X11DisplayOffset 10
X11UseLocalhost yes
After editing and saving the above config files, restart sshd on the remote server, or simply reboot it.
From a terminal on the local ssh client machine, enter the following:
This command will create an instance of the X server at tty12:
X :12.0 vt12 2>&1 >/dev/null &
It will also switch you to the as yet unused tty12.
Press <control+alt+(F1-F7)> to get back to the terminal you launched the command from.
This command will open the ssh session to the remote server and activate X forwarding:
xterm -display :12.0 -e ssh -X -C your_user@remote_server &
Now switch to the terminal at tty12 by pressing the following keys:
<control+alt+F12>
You should see a password prompt, enter the appropriate password for the user.
If it is the first time connecting, enter yes to accept the ssh key.
Once the user is logged in, enter the command to start the desktop environment for the remote machine.
startkde
xfce-session
gnome-session
Your remote desktop environment should now come up on your local screen as if you were sitting at the physical machine.
There are a couple of minor caveats:
-You may need to set the screen resolution to be appropriate to the local monitor
-There will be a terminal window open with X11 messages scrolling in it. Do not close it or press <control+c> in it
as it will kill your X session and you will have to start it again.
-If you created and started the remote X11 session from a terminal in your local X11 session, closing this local terminal window will kill the remote session on tty12.
-I create the X instance at startup in /etc/rc.d/rc.local and then log into it when needed from a tty terminal.
-This allows my local X11 session to be completely detached from the remote one.
When you are done, simply logout of the remote desktop environment as you normally would.
You may also logout of the ssh session if you wish, or keep it active for later use.
Recently I won a VoldR Contour HD helmet camera from a contest at Singletracks.com.
I haven’t been able to go mountain biking since it arrived, and I couldn’t wait any longer, so this afternoon I attached it to my bike and went for a spin around the cul-de-sac.
As you’ll recall, my old helmet cam filmed like this:
The new camera is AWESOME! It can film in 720p HD, and the difference is stunning:
VholdrR first test from Corey Maddocks on Vimeo.
As of yesterday Comcast upped our internet speed from 6Mbps to 20 Mbps, so tonight I rebooted the cable modem per their instruction.
It didn’t come back up and we had no internet :(
I called and had them do the automated reset thingy, and it came back.
After the ‘upgrade’ our internet speed has gone from just over 15Mbps to … wait for it …
just over 15Mbps.
I’m overwhelmed with excitement. At least they didn’t charge us any extra for this amazing speed boost. :|
Are you frustrated by various songs on your Mp3 player playing at wildly different volume levels? Do you use your Mp3 player in an environment such as cycling where it is inconvenient or even unsafe to reach for the volume buttons?
If you answered yes to the above, then this free application is for you:
Mp3Gain
Mp3Gain is a simple application written in Java that scans a folder full of mp3 music files, analyzes the volume, or gain level, and corrects that level for consistent playback. You can run the application against the music folder on your computer or directly against your mp3 player..or both!
First, download the program here.
Double-click the downloaded file to install it, and then run the program:
With one of the buttons in the upper left, add a group of mp3 files or more likely a whole folder of them. Here’s me scannnig my Blackberry:
Next, click the Track Analysis button to analyze the tracks. Scroll down through the list and you will see any tracks that are out of spec, and what values will be changed. This is a good place to note the difference between track analysis and album analysis:
Once the tracks are done analyzing, click the Track Gain button to apply the new volume levels to the mp3 files. This can take a few minuets depending on the speed of your device and the size of your collection.
Once this completes, OK the success message and Exit out of the program. Your mp3′s should now have a more consistent volume level and you will be reaching for the buttons on your mp3 player a lot less!
Tonight, for something different, I tried attaching the camera to the frame, just behind the headset. For a smooth paved trail, it’s perfect, but I’m afraid the vibration would be too much for offroad use.
Here’s a sample:
So the eggbeaters pedals I got at the REI garage sale and then they turned out to be broken…
I contacted Crank Brothers and they are fixing them under warranty!
Yay!
The next entry in our series of free software comes, surprisingly, from Microsoft.
If you used imgburn to create some ISO images of CD’s or DVD’s, wouldn’t it be nice to mount those image files to a drive letter in Windows, without having to burn the image to a disc every time. (or for when the machine you’re on doesn’t have a CD/DVD burner)
It is also useful for those games that require the disc to be present, if you don’t want to tie up your CD drive all the time.
For the ability to do this in Windows (it’s built-in with Linux and Unix) you need the XP Virtual CD Control Tool.
The zipped file that you will get from that link contains a readme.txt file, the vcdcontrol executable and the virtual cd driver in the form of a .dll file.
I unzipped and copied the entire folder to C:\Program FIles and then created a desktop shortcut to C:\Program Files\vcdcontroltool\VCdControlTool.exe.
The first time you run it you will need to load the driver:
Click the ‘Driver Control’ button, then the ‘Install Driver’ button
It should default to the folder where VCdRom.sys file is located, but if not, it’s in the same folder as the executable.
Finally, click the ‘Start’ button and ‘OK’ you are done with the one-time setup stuff!
Now, any time you want to mount an ISO image to a drive letter, run vcdcontroltool, click ‘Add Drive’ and then ‘Mount’ which will bring up the Windows file browser dialog. Simply browse to your ISO file, select it, decide whether to make it persistent or not, and voila! Windows is duped into thinking a real CD or DVD is loaded into a real CD/DVD-ROM drive!