Utah Open Source Planet

Richard K. Miller
no nic
Richard K Miller

» How to browse securely with SSH and a SOCKS proxy

I was in Moab this weekend with my family and our motel had free wireless Internet. I used SSH and a SOCKS proxy to create a secure tunnel to my iMac at work. This allowed me to browse Gmail and Facebook securely.

Here’s a screencast on how to create an SSH tunnel and browse securely in Safari and Firefox:

Here’s a full-size video:
How to browse securely with SSH and a SOCKS proxy (full size video)

These are the basic steps on a Mac:
1. Open Terminal. (In your Applications/Utilities folder.)
2. Type “ssh -D 9999 username@example.com”, replacing “username” and “example.com” with the actual username and address of your remote machine. The remote machine will need the SSH service, or Remote Login service, turned on.
3. Open System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced tab -> Proxies.
4. Turn on the “SOCKS Proxy” and enter “127.0.0.1″ and “9999″ in the fields. Click OK and Apply.

Now your Internet connection will be tunneled through a secure connection to your remote machine — a poor man’s VPN.

by Richard K Miller at 4:54 PM under mac , main , privacy , security , tech , unix (Comments)

Clint Savage
herlo
Sexy Sexy Penguins » Tech

» UNIX Completes Me

Okay, okay. I’m taking a quick break from my SUSE comparisons (and I will reply to all the comments I’ve been getting as well, keep them coming, its great) to entertain you all with this lovely picture my friend Aaron Toponce just sent me. I laughed out loud when I read it and knew it had to be posted online ASAP.

Sorry Aaron if I am stealing your thunder….

Enjoy,

Herlo

by herlo at 8:11 AM under humor , networking , tech , unix (Comments)

=Utah Open Source=
Utah Open Source
The Utah Open Source Foundation

» MDRP: Multi-Distro Release Party this Saturday, 1-5pm

Another reminder for the Multi-Distro Release Party being held this coming Saturday. Ubuntu (Gutsy Gibbon), Fedora (Werewolf) and OpenSUSE (10.3) will be available via network install.

Map: http://tinyurl.com/yprnqr
When: Saturday, November 10, 2007 1pm-5pm MDT
What: Installfest, pizza, drinks and more.

Cheers,

Clint Savage
The Utah Open Source Foundation, Open Source for Utah, and the world!

by herlo at 2:23 AM under community , events , fedora , food , gutsy gibbon , installfest , linux , meetings , multi-distro release party , news , ostc , pizza , presentations , suse , ubuntu , unix , utah , utah open source , utos , werewolf (Comments)

=Utah Open Source=
Utah Open Source
The Utah Open Source Foundation

» Reminder: Multi-Distro Release Party, November 10, 1-5pm

Just a quick reminder that Saturday, November 10, from 1-5pm will be the Multi-Distro Release Party at the Open Source Technology Center at Novell. Ubuntu (GutsyGibbon), Fedora (Werewolf) and OpenSUSE (10.3) will be available via network install. Also, we’ll have a few short presentations about the three released distributions, food and a network install server for the Installfest.We hope to see you all there!

Map: http://tinyurl.com/yprnqr
When: Saturday, November 10, 2007 1pm-5pm MDT
What: Installfest, pizza, drinks and more.

Cheers,

Clint Savage
The Utah Open Source Foundation, helping Open Source grow in Utah

by herlo at 12:16 AM under community , events , fedora , food , gutsy gibbon , installfest , linux , meetings , multi-distro release party , news , ostc , pizza , presentations , suse , ubuntu , unix , utah , utah open source , utos , werewolf (Comments)

=Utah Open Source=
Utah Open Source
The Utah Open Source Foundation

» Multi-Distro Release Party

Only once in a great while will we see an event like this one. Only once will there be so many shiny new distributions to choose from. Only once will OpenSUSE, Ubuntu and Fedora be released within one month of each other.

Because of this The Utah Open Source Foundation is announcing the first and probably only Multi-Distro Release Party in Utah. The release party will involve all three major distros, plus anyone is welcome to bring their own distro to hand out.

The party will be held on Saturday, November 10, from 1-5pm at the Open Source Technology Center at Novell. We’ll have a few short presentations about the three released distributions, food and a large network install server for the Installfest.

We hope to see you all there!

Map: http://tinyurl.com/yprnqr
When: Saturday, November 10, 2007 1pm-5pm MDT
What: Installfest, pizza, drinks and more.

Cheers,

Clint Savage
The Utah Open Source Foundation, Making Open Source better in Utah!

by herlo at 10:58 PM under community , events , fedora , food , gutsy gibbon , installfest , linux , multi-distro release party , news , ostc , pizza , presentations , suse , ubuntu , unix , utah , utah open source , utos , werewolf (Comments)

Richard K. Miller
no nic
Richard K Miller

» The Patriot Act and Customer Service

I. Mac and Linux computers come with a command called “rsync” that makes backup and synchronization easy. Every morning before work I synchronize my 4 year old dying Powerbook to my iMac at work. When I get home, I synchronize back. This way, I get my same mail, documents, and music wherever I am, and if something were to happen to one computer, I’d have a backup. I synchronize over the Internet, but I know a local guy that synchronizes to his iPod so he can physically carry his updates in and out of the office.

Photo by quimby

II. At work, we’ve begun using a service called rsync.net for backup. We synchronize our files to their service and pay them $1.60 per gigabyte per month. It’s a pretty inexpensive way to do backup, and it’s nice to have the backup offsite. The rsync.net engineers with whom I’ve spoken have been top notch.

For privacy, we actually use a derivative of rsync called “duplicity”, which encrypts our data before storing them at rsync.net. Their website explains how to use duplicity and other encryption techniques, but I thought it was particularly interesting to find they publish a “warrant canary”. Because the Patriot Act allows the service of secret warrants for the search and seizure of data, and criminal penalties for failing to maintain secrecy, rsync.net publishes a weekly declaration that they haven’t been served a warrant:

rsync.net will also make available, weekly, a “warrant canary” in the form of a cryptographically signed message containing the following:

- a declaration that, up to that point, no warrants have been served, nor have any searches or seizures taken place

- a cut and paste headline from a major news source, establishing date

Special note should be taken if these messages ever cease being updated, or are removed from this page.

Source: rsync.net Warrant Canary

If the “canary” dies, you’re supposed to close shop and get out.

I don’t know the legal implications of a warrant canary, but it seems like a particularly unique example of putting the customer first!

by Richard K Miller at 3:09 PM under business , government , law , main , tech , unix (Comments)

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