Category: Computers

I have just released an update to the hugely popular document Free Spam Filtering for MacOS X. SpamBouncer has been updated to version 1.5 so the updated documentation has the new installation procedures, plus many improvements and new procedures. The new version of SpamBouncer includes the latest anti-spam technology. So get it.

I was offline for a day while QWest worked on my DSL line, but now I’m back (sort of). There is an abundance of good and bad news. The bad news is that the main trunk line between the telco and my neighborhood junction box was bad. The good news is that they replaced it. It was a long cable run, DSL hasn’t been available in my neighborhood, this far from the telco before. But when QWest repaired the trunk line, they discovered the local line between the junction box and my house was corroded and noisy. So they replaced that too. Now I have all-new cabling from the telco to my home, which will solve the intermittent connection problem. The tech wanted to check my Cisco 678 router and see if it trained. He checked it and said the output port is bad. This would explain a lot of problems I’m having inside the local network. The Cisco router connects and interacts perfectly with QWest and my ISP, however, it has a few problems with everything inside my local network.

QWest says they’ll replace my Cisco 678, I told them that since it was DOA they should expedite a replacement, I’ve been struggling with this unit for 2 weeks beyond the initial install target and they better get a replacement in my hands pronto.

The server and net connections seem stable now, so I’ll leave this running and see if it works. If you notice any unusual problems (slow page loads, unable to stream, the usual culprits) then let me know, it will help in debugging.

I replaced my ancient 10BaseT hub with a new 10/100 switch, the server appears to be working better. QWest checked my line and says the quality is poor, so I frequently lose contact with the net. They promise to repair the line by tomorrow at 2:30PM. Bear with me, I’ll get these problems worked out soon.

I’m still struggling with QWest DSL problems. My LAN is hosed, it takes between 60 and 180 seconds to load pages between machines inside my local network. It doesn’t seem to affect outside users, but I can’t even load self-served pages on my own CPU without the annoying delay. Something is deeply hosed. I’m going through NetInfo docs, but it appears I might have to rebuild a new OS from scratch. My ISP seems to think it’s a problem with the new Cisco 678 firmware v2.4.6, they recommend going back to v2.4.1 which is so ancient that it’s vulnerable to the Code Red worm. They believe the router has trouble recognizing machines within the local net, and that it’s due to a bug introduced in the post-v2.4.1 firmware. That doesn’t sound good. I may be forced to do something stupid like configure a proxy and a nameserver.

I’ve just switched over to QWest DSL, it appears the server is working correctly, if a bit slowly. Latency is poor but bandwidth is excellent. If anyone notices problems, such as slow page loading, video won’t stream, etc. then please leave me a comment. Some people who have not been able to see the streaming videos may now be successful, so give it a try! This DSL upgrade is designed solely to improve streaming video services, let me know if it works.

For no particular reason, here is an old photograph of an IBM PS/2 computer. I don’t remember what model this is, but it’s a 286 and fastest they made at the time. I used to work at this computer, in the middle of the busiest computer store in the world. Somewhere I have a photograph of me typing at this computer, taken from a tall scaffold, the workstation is in the middle of tall stacks of computers up to the ceiling.

Moveable Type weblog software has just been updated, and the upgrade I desired most has been implemented, MySQL. MT ran with the BerkeleyDB database package running under Perl, MySQL is much faster and more robust. This should also allow MT users to insert their own PHP/MySQL code into their MT templates that runs alongside the MT/MySQL content.

This server was down for most of the day while I tried out my new QWest DSL line. I ordered it on July 20, QWest promised they’d have me online in 9 business days. The hardware arrived almost immediately, but nobody ever called me to tell me when the phone line went active. So I called QWest and asked them when I could start configuring. The rep checked and said my DSL was active, so I should call my ISP and get connected. After working all day with the ISP, I learned that the line has not been activated. So I call QWest back, they say I’m not scheduled to be turned on for two more weeks. Oh great, I’ve already started paying for ISP charges that I won’t be able to connect to for two weeks, that’s $15 thrown in the garbage.

This situation is intolerable. This is absolutely typical of “DSL Hell” that people get into when trying to use an independent ISP instead of the heavily subsidized MSN. QWest is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, they made a deal with BillG to infuse some cash, and BillG slavers with anticipation of the next company he drives to bankruptcy so he can gobble up their old assets and customer base. I contacted the Iowa Attorney General’s office and filed a complaint. I have to do some paperwork, once it is refiled, QWest will have 14 days to respond to the Attorney General’s inquiry. Maybe I can bust up this anticompetitive local telecom market.

I am declaring victory in my war against spam. Monday morning is the battleground for spammers, they want to choke your mailbox with their ads when you get to work on Monday. But today, I fired up my mailbox and there was not one single spam, and nothing in my spam trap. I win.

My MacOS X Anti-spam document is a wild success, it’s the most popular thing I’ve ever written. I am pleased with the response, and hundreds of hits continue each day. But the document is obsolete since SpamBouncer was updated last week. The improvements are substantial, and the installation procedures are different. So I am in the process of revising the document right now. I am also producing a second document with some advanced strategies against spam. I use SpamBouncer to trap spam, then I analyze the kinds of spam I get and put in special filters to kill the most persistent spammers. It works great.

One of the few problems running Moveable Type on MacOS X is that the Imagemagick perl module does not run. This is a minor bug, MT runs fine without it, but you can’t use the neat automatic thumbnails feature. But it appears the problem is solved. A note appeared on the MacOS X Perl list about a fix to Imagemagick, it suggests using the Fink unstable-branch install of Imagemagick, and recompiling with a minor change to the makefile. I don’t have time to test this due to a crush of work over the next few days, so I’ll post this here as a reminder to myself to get busy and get this Perl module installed, and also so other people might get a look at this fix and try it out for themselves if I don’t get around to it. Special thanks to both Randal Schwartz and William Ross for nailing this one.