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The most recent update of Google Chrome on Ubuntu 9.10 Linux appears to have fixed the annoying crashing behavior with my self-hosted Wordpress (WP) sites. Read more about that problem here. Chrome version 5.0.307.7 really drove me bonkers, forcing me to use Firefox again. The updated version of Chrome v.5.0.307.11 appears stable with WP and incorporates a new Bookmark Sync feature.

I have wrote a few tutorials on bookmark sync and backup solutions for Firefox in this blog, but it looks like Google has created a solution for us. Incorporated in this new version of Chrome, is the aforementioned bookmark sync. Settings for this feature are found by clicking the wrench symbol on the top-right of the Chrome browser.

Your bookmarks are stored in Google Docs in a folder called My Folders > Google Chrome. Superb!

It seems like WatchMouse took a look at URL shorteners and their impact on getting you to the site you are visiting. The worst performing shortener is that really long red line. Yup, Facebook is the slowest of all shorteners tested, with Google being the quickest at redirection.

http://www.watchmouse.com/en/

The next URL shortener criteria was availability or uptime. The two winners in total uptime are goo.gl and twt.tl. Nice job!

I worked for several days configuring the software to stream my RadioShack Pro-50 scanner online. The Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater dispatch is currently online at http://wacomputing.com. I configured a .ogg stream that is audible as an in-page player or as a .m3u stream in your media player. The final configuration utilizes my existing Ubuntu Server (v.8.04) with software and libraries including:

• icecast2 – streaming server
• darkice – live audio streamer and encoder
• jackd – audio server daemon
• libogg0 – library
• libvorbis0a – library
• libvorbisenc2 – library

The literature that I read indicates that Darkice is compiled without mp3 support. You must compile from scratch, versus installing from the repositories if you want mp3 support. Once you compile from scratch, Darkice will stream .mp3. Then, you can use software such as Wimpy Media Player to embed it into your site.

If you are installing from scratch on Ubuntu Server 8.04, here are the steps to get you streaming and online. I start this install regimen assuming that you have at lease one functioning domain name on your server. Icecast will not interfere with your Apache installation as it operates on port 8000.

sudo apt-get install icecast2

sudo apt-get install jackd

sudo apt-get install darkice

sudo apt-get install screen

And, just to make sure the libraries were installed…

sudo apt-get install libogg0

sudo apt-get install libvorbis0a

sudo apt-get install libvorbisenc2

I have attached my configuration files for both icecast and darkice. Copy those files below:
Darkice.cfg

# sample DarkIce configuration file, edit for your needs before using
# see the darkice.cfg man page for details
# this section describes general aspects of the live streaming session
[general]
duration        = 0        # duration of encoding, in seconds. 0 means forever
bufferSecs      = 5         # size of internal slip buffer, in seconds
reconnect       = yes       # reconnect to the server(s) if disconnected

# this section describes the audio input that will be streamed
[input]
device          = /dev/dsp  # OSS DSP soundcard device for the audio input
sampleRate      = 11025     # sample rate in Hz. try 11025, 22050 or 44100
bitsPerSample   = 16        # bits per sample. try 16
channel         = 1         # channels. 1 = mono, 2 = stereo

# this section describes a streaming connection to an IceCast server
# there may be up to 8 of these sections, named [icecast-0] ... [icecast-7]
# these can be mixed with [icecast2-x] and [shoutcast-x] sections

# this section describes a streaming connection to an IceCast2 server
# there may be up to 8 of these sections, named [icecast2-0] ... [icecast2-7]
# these can be mixed with [icecast-x] and [shoutcast-x] sections
[icecast2-0]
bitrateMode     = abr       # average bit rate
format          = vorbis     # format of the stream: ogg vorbis
bitrate         = 16        # bitrate of the stream sent to the server
server          = wacomputing.com
# host name of the server
port            = 8000      # port of the IceCast2 server, usually 8000
password        = your-password    # source password to the IceCast2 server
mountPoint      = olypd.ogg  # mount point of this stream on the IceCast2 server
name            = olypd.ogg
# name of the stream
description     = This is only a trial
# description of the stream
url             = http://www.wacomputing.com
# URL related to the stream
genre           = scanner    # genre of the stream
public          = yes       # advertise this stream?

# this section describes a streaming connection to a ShoutCast server
# there may be up to 8 of these sections, named [shoutcast-0] ... [shoutcast-7]
# these can be mixed with [icecast-x] and [icecast2-x] sections

Icecast.xml download as .txt

Starting the Services

The great thing about darkice is that you can run the configuration file from anywhere on your system. It does not have an init.d script. However, the only downside from Darkice is that when you initiate the script, it has to be running – unless there is a better way. That is where the program screen comes into play. Once you start Darkice, you will see the:

Your terminal will be unusable at this time. This tutorial (http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Live_Audio/Ubuntu_Darkice)provides a script to use screen to create a virtual terminal so that Darkice can still run while you have use of your Terminal. The process to start your stream is below:

sudo /etc/init.d/jackd start

sudo /etc/init.d/icecast2 start

darkice -c /etc/darkice.cfg

Listening to your stream

Once you get this going, it should be available on the parameters you stated in your darkice.cfg. My stream is located at http://wacomputing.com. If you have questions, I can try and help you to the best of my abilities. Leave a comment…

Many thanks to RenoScanner.com for the help in this configuration process.

Troubleshooting

arecord -l : lists sound devices; you might need this to detect which device to place in the darkice.cfg

Resources

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=8978773

Microsfot is being quiet about when their Internet Explorer 9 will be released. However, they say that it will not be operational on Windows XP. The early version of IE9 runs on the Chakra engine, which requires Vista Service Pack 2 or better. However, the new browser should function well with HTML5. As for supported codecs, Microsoft would only commit to H.264.

QR Codes are two-dimensional barcodes created by a Japanese corporation in 1994. Differing from their repsective 1-dimensional barcodes, QR codes can store such detailed information as telephone numbers, Google Map coordinates, web addresses, hyperlinking, and URI direction for opening web pages. QR technology has much more data capacity than traditional barcodes.

• Numeric only Max. 7,089 characters
• Alphanumeric Max. 4,296 characters
• Binary (8 bits) Max. 2,953 bytes
• Kanji/Kana Max. 1,817 characters

For instance the QR code to the left contains the web address for the homepage of this web site.

There are several QR code generators freely available on the web (http://qrcode.kaywa.com/). This morning I downloaded an app on my iPhone that reads and creates the codes. Pretty cool. If you put your phone QR code scanner to this barcode above, it will take you to my mobile enabled BuckyComputing home. Coool.

The only downside is not knowing what information you are scanning. For instance, if someone wanted you to visit their malicious website, they could place a QR code on their website. If you scanned it, you could open yourself up to attack.

These codes have been used by the shipping industry for years. Now that mobile phones have the ability to utilize these technology, I am more certain than ever that we will be seeing more of these around.

As a sign that Chrome has really excited the Linux browser market, the next version of Ubuntu Linux, v.10.04, will include a theme to integrate it into the Gnome Desktop. Its design will use the native Metacity decorations instead of the blue Chrome bar.  It is designed to be used with the native (Metacity) window decorations, instead of the custom Chrome title bar. Thanks to UbuntuGeek for the screenshot (yes, I know it says v.9.04). Download the theme here.

“Is that a raid card in my pants or is it time for a distribution upgrade?”

bixter-baxter

Nikto is a Perl script that scans and identifies potential risks on a server, website, or network.It is run completely from the command line and does an excellent job of digging out potential security holes. Download Nikto on their website. Specifically, Nikto tests for:

• IDS Evasion
• 2300+ New RFI Tests
• 6100+ Files and CGIs
• Outdated Versions of 950+ Servers
• Version-specific Problems on 260+ Servers
• SSL Information

Clearly, some of you out there right now, perhaps some reading this article, will use this tool for no good. It is unfortunate and disappointing.Here are example results from a local computer store that I ran while writing this post.

- Nikto v2.1.1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Target IP:          000.000.000.000
+ Target Hostname:    some_website.com
+ Target Port:        80
+ Start Time:         2010-03-10 4:43:04
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Server: Apache/2.0.52 (CentOS)
+ No CGI Directories found (use '-C all' to force check all possible dirs)
+ ETag header found on server, inode: 9502925, size: 10836, mtime: 0xc2f2e5c0
+ Allowed HTTP Methods: GET, HEAD, POST, OPTIONS, TRACE
+ OSVDB-877: HTTP TRACE method is active, suggesting the host is vulnerable to XST
+ Apache/2.0.52 appears to be outdated (current is at least Apache/2.2.14). Apache 1.3.41 and 2.0.63 are also current.
+ OSVDB-3092: /sitemap.xml: This gives a nice listing of the site content.
+ OSVDB-3092: /service/: This might be interesting...
+ OSVDB-3268: /icons/: Directory indexing is enabled: /icons
+ OSVDB-3268: /images/: Directory indexing is enabled: /images
+ OSVDB-3268: /styles/: Directory indexing is enabled: /styles
+ OSVDB-3233: /icons/README: Apache default file found.
+ 3818 items checked: 10 item(s) reported on remote host
+ End Time:           2010-03-10 4:50:04 (430 seconds)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 1 host(s) tested

Scans

Once you think that your site is ready, it is time to scan your system. The scans can take upwards of 10-15 minutes, but don’t worry. The script is not frozen or dying. It’s working! To get a list of other helpful syntax, type in ./nikto.pl at Terminal.

Syntax Examples

./nikto.pl -h website.com -port 443,8080

./nikto.pl -h website.com

I wrote a post back in December 2009 about Comcast settling with a complainant about their alleged P2P throttling. Well, what do you know, I received my late bill notice from Comcast today and their it was. Spanning across 2 pages was a legal notice summarily saying that Comcast settled a $16 million dollar suit against them for the supposed throttling. Although they deny these claims against them, ” [Comcast] has revised it management of P2P and is settling to avoid the burden and coast of further litigation.” Unquote!

Read more about this settlement and see if you are eligible for a chunk of this money at http://p2pcongestionsettlement.com.