SODEVE

A few days back, a trackback was caught and held as a prisoner by Akismet. Since this is the first time I saw a trackback caught by Akismet, I spent a few minutes visiting the blog that sent the trackback.

Apparently the blog is indeed a splog. Basically it just grabbed the first 100s words from the blog post and published it there. A link to the original article also added at the end of the post. Quickly I judged the comment as a trackback from splog which the punishment is damnation to nothingness a.k.a. deletion. But after I clicked the Delete button, I pondered whether I judged fairly or not.

When I looked that blog for the second time, that blog actually never steal any content. It grabbed some words from the post, the post writer name also mentioned there, as well as the originated blog. It looks more like a blog aggregator than a splog.

To think of it, if we stripped out the commenting and digging/burying from Digg and replaced the user submitted summary into machine generated one, I think Digg will not stand out that far from the splog that sent me a trackback.

So does this mean we can make a splog, add few widgets, maybe build a mini community, and finally ‘legally’ called it a blog aggregator?

Hardono Arifanto :: Jul.18.2007 :: Blogging, Internet :: No Comments »

One thing that always accompany me is my PDA. It’s an Ipaq RX3715 PDA. It has been accompanied me for 1 year plus. I bought the PDA from other person for $350 through HardwareZone.com. So far it has served me well. Hopefully it will continue to do so.

One of the recent activities that I take interest on is reading classic literatures. I found out that this habit is the best way to kill time when I commute using MRT from my home to my workplace in the morning. At least this way I can keep the reading habit alive and make the commuting time efficient. It also prevent me from wasting the time when I queueing for something. So yes, it is a life-saver :).

I used to read those e-books in Microsoft Reader Format (I’ve read those classics such as Captain Blood, The Call of the Wild, Treasure Island, A Study in Scarlet, Great Expectations, The Prince, The Secret Garden in this format). When I recently rediscover the Project Gutenberg, I was really excited with the number of e-book collections available for download.

The best way to read the e-books from project Gutenberg is to install Vade-Mecum, a plucker document reader for Pocket PC.

So far I have downloaded all Mark Twain’s books. And currently immersed with Tom Sawyer’s adventures.

In short:

1. Download Microsoft Reader for Pocket PC
2. Download Vade-Mecum, Plucker reader for Pocket PC
3. Download the Free E-Books in Microsoft Reader Format
4. Download the free E-Books in the Plucker Format

Have fun reading!

Hardono Arifanto :: Jul.10.2007 :: Internet, Software :: 2 Comments »

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. Why do we need VPN in our office? Most of the time, because people have their file server in the Office. And they want to retrieve their files to enable them to work from home.

Isn’t that dangerous?Well, with a sufficiently strong password, the VPN should be difficult enough (too expensive in terms of time and effort) to crack.

OK, what are the requirements? Basically if you have Windows XP, you are good to go. Please note that Windows XP SP has limited connection. Check this article on how to remove the limitation. It would be better if you use your Windows 2000 Server/Windows 2003 Server as the VPN server since they are optimised for concurrent network access.

Since most companies that has Windows Server (be it 2000 or 2003) is likely to employ someone with network knowledge to maintain the network, I’ll dedicate this guide to those small/medium company that using Windows XP/2000 Professional as their File server.

Assuming you are using Windows XP. Follow the following steps:

1. Go to New Connection Wizard (Start - Settings - Network Connections - New Connection Wizard), and then click Next.
   
2. Select ‘Setup an advanced connection’, and then click Next.
   
3. Select ‘Accept Incoming Connection’, and then click Next.
   
4. Un-select any selected connection, and then click Next.
   
5. Select ‘Allow virtual private connections’, and then click Next.
   
6. Select the user(s) that have access to VPN. PLEASE make sure they have a STRONG PASSWORD. What is strong password? The length should at least 8 characters. It has small caps character(s), capital character(s), numeric character(s) and non-alphanumeric character(s) such as #,$,@,&, etc.
   
7. Click Next. By default the TCP/IP address will be using DHCP. It means any computer connected through VPN will receive IP address automatically just like any other computers in your network. Please make sure your network router has DHCP server running.
8. Click Finish

Wait, don’t celebrate first (^_^). The VPN is now up and running, but how will user from home discover it? I will assume you’re not using static IP. To check whether you’re using static IP or not, please go to your router (192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1) and look for ‘Status’ or ‘Network Status’.

So what to do if we have non-static IP? I suggest you to register and download those Dynamic DNS forwarding service. You can search google for ‘Dynamic IP’. Basically these services will give you a domain name, and program to be run inside your network. I recommend it to be installed in the VPN server. The program will periodically update the IP address in the ‘Dynamic IP’ server. Thus, whenever users request for the domain you’ve registered, they will be transferred to your IP address (i.e. your office).

Next is to open your firewall port. Login to your router, look for ‘Port Forwarding’ or ‘Application and Game’ menu (usually they are located in the advanced settings). Forward TCP port 1723 to your VPN server.

Basically that’s all the steps to set up VPN in your Office. Questions?

How To Access VPN from Home

Now that your office has VPN service up and running, it’s your turn to set your computer to connect to your office network. Please follow the following steps:

1. Go to New Connection Wizard (Start - Settings - Network Connections - New Connection Wizard), and then click Next.
   
2. Select ‘Connect to network at my workplace’, and then click Next.
   
3. Select ‘Virtual Private Network connection’, and then click Next.
   
4. Type something for the connection name, and then click Next.
   
5. Select ‘do not dial the initial connection’, and then click Next.
   
6. Type the address that you’ve registered for your company, and then click Next.
   
7. Click Finish

So now how to connect to the office? Go to Start-Settings-Network Connections - My Office. It should open the following window:

Type the username and password, the username should have been given access to the VPN service
There you go. You should be able to connect to your office and access the fileserver using the usual ‘\\fileserver’

Troubleshooting

1. I manage to get connected, but I am unable to access the network. Answer:Check your VPN Server’s Network TCP/IP settings. Make sure the Gateway, DNS and WINS points to your router IP address.
2. You have trouble setting your VPN? Post comment and I’ll try my best to answer it.

Hardono Arifanto :: May.08.2007 :: Internet, Tricks :: 4 Comments »

Starting June 2007, sending unsolicited electronic message in Singapore will be charged as civil offence. The online document can be viewed here.

Summary of the Bill (please READ the online document for clarification, I might summarized it incorrectly):

1. It applies to commercial email, commercial SMS/MMS
2. It doesn’t apply to telemarketers
3. unsubscribe request is effective maximum 10 business days after the submission of the unsubscribe request
4. It applies if the SPAM committed in Singapore (sender/organization is physically reside in Singapore)
5. sending email to addresses obtained by harvesting email address in the internet is ILLEGAL
6. Buying email address list obtained by harvesting email address in the internet is also ILLEGAL
7. The damage is not to exceed SGD$25 per message, and not to exceed SGD$1 Million in total, unless the plaintiff able to show that the SPAM has caused damage more than SGD$1 Million

So in order not violating the SPAM law, the email/SMS/MMS should:

1. for email, the subject must started with “<ADV>”
2. Must have unsubscribe facility

Hopefully this article helps, If you are going to send any commercial (please refer to the document, the description is quite long) message, please make sure you are not violating the law.

PS: Hmm… although it sounds like I’m advocating the spammers, I’m not. I hate spammers.

Hardono Arifanto :: May.01.2007 :: Business & Management, News, Internet :: 1 Comment »

I was going to write about the upcoming Spam Control Bill which will be enforced effective on June 2007. But when I went to http://parliament.gov.sg, it’s a dead end (>.<).

So my request is, please modify the .htaccess file to redirect http://parliament.gov.sg to http://www.parliament.gov.sg

Or, since according to netcraft it runs on Apache, please use mod_rewrite module.

Hardono Arifanto :: May.01.2007 :: Life, Internet :: 2 Comments »