Brian's Blog

A Handful of Good Sound

Brian Schmidt Pedersen — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:04:58 +0000

Purchased a Logitech Mini Boombox just before the weekend, so I could have better sound when listening to music and audiobooks, rather than using a headset.

I was rather skeptic about the sound from a plastic device that isn’t bigger than you can hold it in the palm of your hand. I was positively surprised.

The sound is good and the bass is decent, for a device this small. Certainly a purchase I’m satisfied with.

gratisdns.sh – A GratisDNS.dk DDNSd module for Synology DSM

Brian Schmidt Pedersen — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 17:55:44 +0000

#!/bin/sh

# gratisdns.sh - A GratisDNS.dk DDNSd module for Synology DSM
#
# Author:
# Brian Schmidt Pedersen (http://briped.net)
#
# Version:
# 1.2.5
#
# Description:
# This is a custom DDNSd module, for use with my Synology DiskStation. It
# allows me to use the DSM interface for GratisDNS.dk DDNS service.
#
# To use this script, put it in the "/sbin" folder of the DiskStation,
# i.e. "/sbin/gratisdns.sh"
#
# Then edit the "/etc.defaults/ddnsd_provider.conf" file and add the
# following section at the end of that file:
#
# [GratisDNS.dk]
# modulepath=/sbin/gratisdns.sh
# queryurl=https://ssl.gratisdns.dk/ddns.phtml?u=__USERNAME__&p=__PASSWORD__&d=__DOMAIN__&h=__HOSTNAME__&i=__MYIP__
#
#
# Changelist:
# 1.2.5
# * Changed update_ca_bundle() a bit, since the age checking didn't
# seem to work before.
# 1.2.4
# * Fixed script to return "nochg" when IP isn't changed from IPcache
# 1.2.3
# * Fixed so the IP cache is also updated, even when DDNS provider
# responds with 'nochg', since obivously then the cached IP were
# wrong.
# 1.2.2
# * Fixed some return code checking.
# 1.2.1
# + Added more debug logging.
# 1.2.0
# + Moved the entire update ddns routine into its own function.
# + Moved the CA bundle checking and updating into its own function.
# 1.1.0
# + Changed the cURL update query to use CA bundle, for better
# security.
# 1.0.0
# + Release.
#
# Todo:
# Add support for multiple DDNS hosts, either through a conf file, or
# through a delimited string from DSM. Only with same admin user though.
# F.ex.: sub1.example.com|sub2.example.com
#
# Specify the target interface. This would probably be a hack that won't
# be visible through DSM, since it appears DSM only uses the LAN1/eth0
# interface for DDNS.
#
###############################################################################

# Set variables based on parameters.
__USERNAME__="$(echo ${@} | cut -d' ' -f1)"
__PASSWORD__="$(echo ${@} | cut -d' ' -f2)"
__HOSTNAME__="$(echo ${@} | cut -d' ' -f3)"
__DOMAIN__="$(echo ${__HOSTNAME__} | cut -d. -f2-3)"
__MYIP__="$(echo ${@} | cut -d' ' -f4)"

# Where to store the IP used for the last DNS update:
__IP_CACHE__="/tmp/gratisdns_ddnsd_ip.txt"
# Where to store the logfile:
__LOGFILE__="/var/log/gratisdns_ddnsd.log"
# Where to store the CA bundle:
__CA_BUNDLE__="/tmp/cacert.pem"

log() {
# Severity Levels:
# 0 Emergency System is unusable.
# A "panic" condition usually affecting multiple apps/servers/sites.
# At this level it would usually notify all tech staff on call.
# 1 Alert Action must be taken immediately.
# Should be corrected immediately, therefore notify staff who can fix
# the problem.An example would be the loss of a backup ISP connection
# 2 Critical Critical conditions.
# Should be corrected immediately, but indicates failure in a primary
# system, an example is a loss of primary ISP connection.
# 3 Error Error conditions.
# Non-urgent failures, these should be relayed to developers or
# admins; each item must be resolved within a given time.
# 4 Warning Warning conditions.
# Warning messages, not an error, but indication that an error will
# occur if action is not taken, e.g. file system 85% full - each item
# must be resolved within a given time.
# 5 Notice Normal but significant condition.
# Events that are unusual but not error conditions - might be
# summarized in an email to developers or admins to spot potential
# problems - no immediate action required.
# 6 Informational Informational messages.
# Normal operational messages - may be harvested for reporting,
# measuring throughput, etc - no action required.
# 7 Debug Debug-level messages.
# Info useful to developers for debugging the application, not useful
# during operations.
__LOGTIME__=$(date +"%b %e %T")
if [ "${#}" -lt 1 ]; then
false
else
__LOGMSG__="${1}"
fi
if [ "${#}" -lt 2 ]; then
__LOGPRIO__=7
else
__LOGPRIO__=${2}
fi

logger -p ${__LOGPRIO__} -t "$(basename ${0})" "${__LOGMSG__}"
echo "${__LOGTIME__} $(basename ${0}) (${__LOGPRIO__}): ${__LOGMSG__}" >> ${__LOGFILE__}
}

update_ca_bundle() {
if [ ! -z "${1}" ]; then
__CA_BUNDLE__="${1}"
else
__CA_BUNDLE__="${__CA_BUNDLE__}"
fi
log "update_ca_bundle(): __CA_BUNDLE__=${__CA_BUNDLE__}" 7
if [ ! -z "${2}" ]; then
__MAXAGE__="${2}"
else
__MAXAGE__="7"
fi
log "update_ca_bundle(): __MAXAGE__=${__MAXAGE__}" 7
local download="0"
if [ ! -f "${__CA_BUNDLE__}" ]; then
log "update_ca_bundle(): Local CA bundle doesn't exist. Set to download." 7
download="1"
fi
if [ "$(find '${__CA_BUNDLE__}' -type f -mtime +${__MAXAGE__})" = "${__CA_BUNDLE__}" ]; then
log "update_ca_bundle(): Local CA bundle older than ${__MAXAGE__} days. Set to download." 7
download="1"
fi
if [ "${download}" = "1" ]; then
curl --silent --output "${__CA_BUNDLE__}" "http://curl.haxx.se/ca/cacert.pem"
if [ "${?}" -ne "0" ]; then
log "update_ca_bundle: cURL returned error code ${?} while trying to download CA bundle." 4
fi
fi
}

update_ddns() {
if [ -z "${1}" ]; then
log "update_ddns(): Missing Argument. URL string required." 3
false
else
__URL__="${1}"
fi

# Update DNS record:
if [ -f "${__CA_BUNDLE__}" ]; then
log "update_ddns(): Updating using --cacert \"${__CA_BUNDLE__}\"." 7
__RESPONSE__=$(curl --silent --cacert "${__CA_BUNDLE__}" "${__URL__}")
else
log "update_ddns(): Updating using --insecure." 7
__RESPONSE__=$(curl --silent --insecure "${__URL__}")
fi
if [ "${?}" -ne "0" ]; then
log "update_ddns(): cURL returned error code ${?} while trying to update DDNS." 3
false
fi
log "update_ddns(): __RESPONSE__=${__RESPONSE__}" 7

# Output:
# When you write your own module, you can use the following words to tell user what happen by print it.
# You can use your own message, but there is no multiple-language support.
#
# good - Update successfully.
# nochg - Update successfully but the IP address have not changed.
# nohost - The hostname specified does not exist in this user account.
# abuse - The hostname specified is blocked for update abuse.
# notfqdn - The hostname specified is not a fully-qualified domain name.
# badauth - Authenticate failed.
# 911 - There is a problem or scheduled maintenance on provider side
# badagent - The user agent sent bad request(like HTTP method/parameters is not permitted)
# badresolv - Failed to connect to because failed to resolve provider address.
# badconn - Failed to connect to provider because connection timeout.
case ${__RESPONSE__} in
'OK
')
echo ${__MYIP__} > ${__IP_CACHE__}
__STATUS__='good'
true
;;
'OK
Opdateret i forvejen')
echo ${__MYIP__} > ${__IP_CACHE__}
__STATUS__='nochg'
true
;;
'Forkerte værdier, opdatering kan ikke laves.

A record findes ikke.'|'Domæne kan IKKE administreres af bruger')
__STATUS__='nohost'
false
;;
'Forkerte værdier, opdatering kan ikke laves.

A record findes ikke.Hostnavn er ulovligt.')
__STATUS__='notfqdn'
false
;;
'Bruger login: 1Fejl i kodeord, prøv igen. Husk serveren ser forskel på STORE Og små BOGstAvER.'|'Bruger login: Bruger eksistere ikke, husk serveren ser forskel på STORE Og smÅ BOGstAvER.')
__STATUS__='badauth'
false
;;
'Bruger login: MD5 invalid')
# The error from the provider doesn't really match up with the
# status I forward to DDNSd. But it seems that a malformed URL,
# such as if the URL isn't enclosed in quotes or contains spaces
# etc. will give this error.
__STATUS__='badagent'
false
;;
*)
__STATUS__="${__RESPONSE__}"
false
;;
esac
log "DDNSd Status: ${__STATUS__}" 6
}

# Get the current IP
#__INTERFACE_IP__="$(ifconfig ${__INTERFACE__} | sed '/inet\ /!d;s/.*r://g;s/\ .*//g')"
#__MYIP__=$(curl --silent --interface ${__INTERFACE__} "http://automation.whatismyip.com/n09230945.asp")

# Get the last known DDNS IP
if [ ! -f ${__IP_CACHE__} ]; then
# If the file wasn't found, create it to avoid errors.
echo "127.0.0.1" > ${__IP_CACHE__}
fi
__OLDIP__=$(cat ${__IP_CACHE__})

if [ "${__OLDIP__}" == "${__MYIP__}" ]; then
log "IP not changed. ${__MYIP__}. Not updating." 6
__STATUS__="nochg"
else
update_ca_bundle "${__CA_BUNDLE__}" 7

__URL__="https://ssl.gratisdns.dk/ddns.phtml?u=${__USERNAME__}&p=${__PASSWORD__}&d=${__DOMAIN__}&h=${__HOSTNAME__}&i=${__MYIP__}"

# Set the response and status variables, so they're available globally.
# That way I can read them outside the update_ddns() function.
__RESPONSE__="No response returned from DDNS provider."
__STATUS__="No status returned from update_ddns()."

log "IP changed. ${__OLDIP__} > ${__MYIP__}. Attempting to update DNS." 6
update_ddns "${__URL__}"
if [ "${?}" -ne "0" ]; then
log "update_dns(): ${__RESPONSE__}" 3
else
log "update_dns(): ${__RESPONSE__}" 6
fi
fi
printf "%s" "${__STATUS__}"

Infected Mushroom Goes Dubstep

Brian Schmidt Pedersen — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:32:23 +0000

An awesome track from Infected Mushroom. Quite a leap from the usual Psychedelic Trance.

Password Strength

Brian Schmidt Pedersen — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:23:11 +0000

I was recently talking password security/strength, where the argument was, that if you were creating a sufficiently complex password, it would also be very hard to remember. Since last year, when XKCD posted the following comic strip, I’ve always just shown the persons complaining, that picture, and suddenly they weren’t that worried anymore about creating a secure password, that they could remember.

But the really interesting part I learned in the argument, was the existence of GRC’s Password Checking Tool. Basically the checker gives an estimate on how long it would take to brute force your password. Please read the disclaimer at the bottom of the GRC page though

Dansk mirakel-/supercomputer?

Brian Schmidt Pedersen — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:03:51 +0000

Da jeg sad og læste nyheder i dag, faldt jeg over denne artikel fra Computerworld.dk, som handler om hvordan en dansker bygger sine egne “Super Work Stations”, som filmindustrien finder virkelig interessant, da det åbenbart sparer dem uger (og millioner af kroner), fordi denne “Super Work Station” er så meget hurtigere, og kan klare det på 90 sekunder.

Alene med sin processorkraft imponerede computeren den erfarne instruktor, da den renderer – eller bygger – en hel spillefilm på halvandet minut med live-rendering, hvilket ellers normalt tager over en uge.

Min første tanke da jeg læste det, var at enten brugte filmindustrien nogen helt sindsygt langsomme computere, eller også var der tale om en helt sindsyg cluster baseret computer fra Marius. Det var indtil jeg flyttede mit blik til spalten til højre for artiklen, som listede specifikationerne for computeren.

Baseret på første del af artiklen (der til dels indikerer at computeren er baseret på en Mac Pro), og billedet i toppen af specifikations-listen, kan jeg udlede at det er rimelig usandsynligt at der er tale om 12 CPUer, men nærmere 12 kerner. Der er ganske enkelt ikke plads til 12 CPUer inkl. (lydløs) køling i et standard tower kabinet, som det vist på billedet i artiklen. Det er endda også standard i Apples Mac Pro, at man kan få den leveret med 2 CPUer med hver 6 kerner. I modsætning til Apples standard Mac Pro, er det dog hurtigere CPUer som Marius har smidt i hans computere, og hurtigere RAM.

Så hvad har Marius gjort?

Han har sandsynligvis købt en standard Mac Pro. I den har han udskiftet standard CPU med en anden, som han så kan overclocke til en højere hastighed. Og så har han formået at sælge den til nogen populære mennesker.

Det er der altså ikke noget mirakuløst i. Det er der ikke noget imponerende i. Det er hvad millioner af computerentusiaster verden over gør hver dag, måske i lidt billigere regi (de fleste har ikke lige pengene til at lege med sådan en computer til deres private gøremål). Det tager ikke mange timer for en computerentusiast at research sig frem til hvilke CPUer der overclocker godt, eller hvilke RAM kan overclockes sammen med, hvilke GPUer/grafikkort som er gode og lydsvage m.v.

Er det nyhedsværdigt?

Jamen det er det da. Det er da nyhedsværdigt at en ganske almindelig dansker, som er autodidakt computerentusiast, har fået nogen kendte navne fra filmindustrien som kunder. Det er den tekniske gennemgang som får nakkehårene til at rejse sig. At det med stor sandsynlighed er måden journalisten har valgt at fordumme det hele, gør det kun marginalt bedre. Simple ting som at beskrive computeren som havende 12 CPUer, hvor der altså bare er tale om 2 CPUer med hver 6 kerner, gør det tekniske aspekt direkte misvisende.

Det kunne være man skulle tilbyde sine services, for et par hundrede tusinde kroner per computer, til filmindustrien? Og ja, det er jo også lidt misundelsen der taler. At Marius har fået noget som er en hobby for mange (sikkert også for ham selv) til at blive et indbringende arbejde. Det ændrer dog ikke på at artiklen er præsenteret som en gang sensationel pladder, som det (i mine øjne) ikke er.

Recommended XBMC Add-ons

Brian Schmidt Pedersen — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:57:11 +0000

Most everyone who have ever tried out XBMC will agree that it’s probably the greatest, most flexible HTPC software available, and this without even extending its functionality with skins and add-ons. I’ve noticed that a lot of new users of XBMC are barely even scratching the surface of XBMC, so I thought I’d give a few tips and add-on recommendations.

Before starting, I want to note that I haven’t tested the add-ons much on XBMC codename Dharma, since I’m currently using the XBMC Beta codename Eden. With Eden the developers have put a lot of focus on the add-on framework of XBMC, giving add-on developers better flexibility and more options.

The way to install add-ons will be through XBMC’s official add-on repository, which is accessed simply by opening Settings within XBMC and selecting Add-ons. There you should be able to Get Add-ons. Some add-ons aren’t in the official add-on repository, and as such would require either adding an unofficial add-on repository that offers the add-on, or by downloading the add-on and installing it from zip file.

XBMC Subtitles

This should (in my opinion) be the first add-on installed. It’s an official add-on from XBMC.org and can be downloaded through the default (official) XBMC.org Add-ons repository. It’s found within the, rather obvious, Subtitles category.

After XBMC Subtitles add-on have been installed, you should configure it to fit your needs. The obvious things would be setting your primary, secondary and perhaps tertiary (third) languages. Even though my native tongue is Danish I still prefer having English as the primary language, and Danish as the secondary. That choice is purely personal. I just prefer not having to read badly translated subtitles (the pony named “Bill” in Lord of the Rings were translated to “Jens”, just to give a good example).

Then you should configure what Subtitle Services you would like to use for finding the subtitles. As I recall both OpenSubtitles.org and Podnapisi.net are selected by default, and is actually enough for almost all TV episodes and movies I’ve seen. However as you’ll notice, there’s several more localized services availabe, f.ex. Swesub.nu and Undertexter.se if you want a better selection of Swedish subtitles.

Under Advanced Options I recommend selecting both the “Manually Enter Search String” option as well as “Display file name in results page”. Sometimes you won’t be able to see which subtitle is the best match, but by being able to see the original filename (if you haven’t renamed it, that is), you can give a good guesstimate on which of the available subtitles are the better match. As for manually entering the search string, is only so you have the option, if the subtitles found isn’t even for the movie or episode you’re watching, then you can try to manually enter the search string.

The last thing you need to do, before you can actually use the add-on, is to enable it in your XBMC Skin. Go to the XBMC Settings page and select Skin. Now where you go from here depends on your active skin. For the default Confluence skin, you go to Add-on Shortcuts and there you select the Subtitle Add-on to be XBMC Subtitles.

When you’re watching a movie or TV episode you can press the OSD Controls button (M-key on a default keyboard) and you can press the Subtitle button, which is a small rectangular icon with a line at the bottom (a monitor with a subtitle at the bottom of the screen).

The Trailers

This is a rewrite the the old Apple Trailers add-on. This is found under the Video Add-ons category. There’s not much to tell about this add-on, only that sometimes it’s nice to watch a few great trailers

There’s not much configuration needed for this add-on either. Bear in mind when setting the resolution, that the higher the resolution, the more you’ll probably end up waiting for the add-on to buffer the trailer, before it starts playing. However you can select whether or not it should stream or download, again just bear in mind that downloads can be slow, and that the trailer won’t start playing until fully downloaded, if that option is set.

AudioPodcatcher

This is a simple add-on for listening to podcasts, not much to write about this add-on (simple and useful add-ons are good like that). It is found under the Music Add-ons category.

It keeps track of played and unplayed podcasts, as opposed to some of the others I’ve tried, which is why I really like this one. I actually use this, along with TuneIn add-on, instead of having a huge music library.

You configure it by pointing it to an OPML file, which you’ll have to create on your own (or you can use my techno/trance/dubstep podcasts OPML).

TuneIn Radio

TuneIn Radio is basically just a directory of net-radio stations and podcasts. What makes this service great, is that it’s just a webpage that you can access from any browser, and then save your favorite radio stations. They also have apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone.

The TuneIn Radio Add-on for XBMC is a recent addition to my list of favorite add-ons, mostly because it’s not part of the official XBMC.org Add-on repository. To get this add-on you currently have to download it manually as a ZIP file, and then using the XBMC Add-ons “install from zip file” option.

Great Mixes by MegaMixers.com

Brian Schmidt Pedersen — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:02:25 +0000

For those that remember the awesome mixes by DJ Deep called Deep Dance, you’re gonna love the mixes done by MegaMixers.com. I especially like their first MixCast of 2012.

You can also listen to that MixCast right here…

Great Dubstep Remix

Brian Schmidt Pedersen — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:55:02 +0000

This is an awesome Dubstep remix by Celldweller.

Drobo FS: Automatic UNprotection for your data?

Brian Schmidt Pedersen — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:12:24 +0000

So right in the middle of doing absolutely nothing, my Drobo FS suddenly decides that my data is unprotected!?

No data was being written to or read from the Drobo at the time, why the hell would it, out of the blue, suddenly crap out and have all the data unprotected? No disks are faulty, so what reason could it possible have? And 12+ hours to re-sync the discs (I assume that is what it’s doing)?

What point is there to an “intelligent” data storage device that automatically protects my data, when it does crap like that?

So far, if I ever have to buy another NAS, it’ll be QNAP or Synology, not DROBO.

Drobo FS: Not so “Plug and Play” as advertised

Brian Schmidt Pedersen — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 18:01:24 +0000

Yesterday I received my brand spanking new Drobo FS , exciting stuff. It was delivered in a boring brown cardboard box. Opening the box I’m greeted by another box with the words “Welcome to the world of…” and below that was the Drobo in a nice cloth bag with the title “Drobo” on top.

So after I unpack and plug everything in and install the Drobo Dashboard I sit looking at an annoying Drobo Dashboard that just states something like “No Device Detected”. I check the DHCP leases and find the IP of the Drobo, so that looks OK. Pinging the Drobo also turns out as one would expect, replies all around. Even opening the Public share in Windows Explorer works great. Everything except the administration tool seems to actually work. Checking the Drobo Knowledge Base they point to Firewalls being the main cause of these kind of problems. Well, everything is on a closed of LAN, no Firewalls there. Several restarts of the Drobo later I figure I’ll attempt doing a restart of Windows; lo and behold, that seems to have worked.

So time to play around a bit. Installing a few Drobo Apps and see how that works. Well, it kinda doesn’t, at least not as one would expect from a “Plug and Play” device. Downloaded the App, unzipped and copied the TGZ file to the Dobo Apps folder. Oh yea, and then you have to RESTART the Drobo for it to actually install the App? Why the hell that? The Drobo operating system is based on Linux. Why not just call a small script from the Drobo Dashboard, or even with a Cronjob, that does all that unpacking and installing except first doing it during reboot?

Anyway I install DropBear, a small SSH server and client. I reboot the Drobo to get it installed, then I try to SSH into it. Guess it didn’t work; connection refused. Well, I take a look at the log and it seems that generating the host keys didn’t work. Oh well, another reboot of the Drobo solved that. That was 2 reboots just to install one App? Plain stupid.

So finally, after a couple of hours, I have 2 Western Digital 2TB disks installed and are copying data at a whooping 22-27MB/s over a Gigabit network. Oh well, it’s acceptable speed just for data storage. So after a while I add third 2TB drive, the Drobo starts doing its thing. While the Drobo does its thing I copy some more data to it, or so I thought. Suddenly the Drobo apparently drops all connections and Drobo Dashboard can’t find it. I ping it and it responds just fine *sigh*.

So I turn of the Drobo again, and it apparently takes some time, but rather that than loose the data I already copied there, because the third drive I added was the drive that previously contained the data I already copied. After about 5 minutes I see the Drobo finally is turned off and I start it up again. The drobo starts working on protecting the data telling me not to remove any drives because the data currently isn’t protected, or some such. After another 15-30 minutes I notice that the Drobo is reporting the third drive faulty. Worked fine with no S.M.A.R.T. errors on my Windows 7 computer.

After those initial annoyances I might actually come to like the Drobo, even with the shortcomings it have. The fact that I don’t have to expand and rebuild arrays is nice and the Dashboard is only really needed for first-time setup, or so I think. More updates, maybe, when I have played around with it some more.