Alan Wylie's Web Site 2008

Wed, 2008-12-17

Stop iptables blocking the snmp port:

$ telnet 192.168.0.1
Trying 192.168.0.1...
Connected to 192.168.0.1.
Escape character is '^]'.


BusyBox v0.61.pre (2006.08.31-06:27+0000) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

(for 4.01.20)

# iptables -L
Chain INPUT (policy DROP)
target     prot opt source               destination         
DROP       udp  --  anywhere             anywhere           udp dpt:161 
ACCEPT     udp  --  anywhere             anywhere           udp dpt:161 
ACCEPT     all  --  anywhere             anywhere           
ACCEPT     all  --  anywhere             anywhere           

....

# iptables -D INPUT 1

(for 4.01.28)

# iptables -I INPUT -p udp -s 82.68.155.88/29 -j ACCEPT
(you will need to modify the IP mask for your own allocation)

# exit

Walk the MIB tree: (short)

$ snmpwalk -Os -c public -v 1 192.168.0.1 system
sysDescr.0 = STRING: NETGEAR DG834 ADSL Gateway
sysObjectID.0 = OID: enterprises.4526.3.2
sysUpTimeInstance = Timeticks: (4620667) 12:50:06.67
sysContact.0 = STRING: alan@wylie.me.uk
sysName.0 = STRING: alan
sysLocation.0 = STRING: alan
sysServices.0 = INTEGER: 4

(long)

$ snmpwalk -Os -c public -v 1 192.168.0.1
...

Generate an mrtg config

# /usr/bin/cfgmaker --global 'WorkDir: /var/lib/mrtg' --global 'Options[_]: # bits,growright' --output /etc/mrtg-netgear.conf public@192.168.0.1

Mon, 2008-09-15

Alum Pot photos permalink
Photos of the Vibram M.C.'s trip down Alum Pot and Long Churn/Dolly Tubs

Videos are now up on YouTube

Tue, 2008-08-05

The UK law on Spam permalink
For the benefit of the clueless and wilfully ignorant (Donald Knox-Richards, this means you), the section of Section 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 that regulates the sending of bulk e-mail states:

(3) A person may send or instigate the sending of electronic mail for the purposes of direct marketing where -

(a) that person has obtained the contact details of the recipient of that electronic mail in the course of the sale or negotiations for the sale of a product or service to that recipient;

(b) the direct marketing is in respect of that person's similar products and services only; and

(c) the recipient has been given a simple means of refusing (free of charge except for the costs of the transmission of the refusal) the use of his contact details for the purposes of such direct marketing, at the time that the details were initially collected, and, where he did not initially refuse the use of the details, at the time of each subsequent communication.

My emphasis on the word "and": section (c) applies in addition to the previous sections, and any bulk marketing e-mail sent to a UK individual where there is no prior relationship is illegal, whether or not a means of refusing to be spammed in future is provided.

Sun, 2008-06-01

Donald Knox-Richards, Elius Books and spam permalink

I've just received (in contravention of Section 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003) a (google groups archive) spam e-mail from someone purporting to be "Donald Knox-Richards", mentioning books and John Thaw. The advertised web site was Elius Books, for which the whois record is:

$ whois  elius-books.co.uk

    Domain name:
        elius-books.co.uk

    Registrant:
        Elius Books (Internet) Limited

    Registrant type:
        UK Limited Company, (Company number: 6163685)

    Registrant's address:
        6A Wellgreen Road
        Childwall
        Liverpool
        L25 1QP
        GB

    Relevant dates:
        Registered on: 15-May-2008

It's an unusual name, so I googled for it, and turned up this BBC news report about someone of that name being jailed for fraud relating to a book he wrote about John Thaw.

There's also a press release from the DTI, headlined JUDGE THROWS THE BOOK AT BANKRUPT PUBLISHER.

Sun, 2008-03-16

Satellite Direct getting bad publicity again permalink
this time a BBC Watchdog report

previous mentions: July 2007 Jan 2007 Dec 2006 Dec 2006 Nov 2006

Mon, 2008-02-25

How to convert the Motion JPEG video files from a Canon DIGITAL IXUS 60 to a more compact format: permalink


mencoder -oac mp3lame -srate 24000  -ovc x264 -o file.mp4 -x264encopts bitrate=500 MVI_0001.AVI

Mon, 2008-01-07

Asus eeePC permalink
various notes on my eeePC

Sat, 2008-01-05

Everest Phone Spam. permalink
Everest - (does anyone remember Ted Moult and a feather) - the double glazing people phoned me today, despite my being registered with The Telephone Preference Service.

The CLI showed the phone number "01707 873629".

A complaint has been made to the TPS.

Updated, 2008-01-05 More discussion at WhoCallsMe.com