Friday, April 24, 2015

in incertum sagittam dirigens sui pes

I've been doing great with a remote server, especially with fail2ban, but getting tired of keying in the password to log in, so decided to set up key login. 

As I was doing ssh-copy-id to transfer the key, a system alert message popped up and I screwed up the copy. Now I can neither telnetftp, nor ssh to the server. It just hangs.

Fortunately, the vncserver on the remote restarts on boot, so I can get into the remote to do work. But I want to fix telnet, ftp, and ssh. All three are blocked. They do not refuse the connection (no "Connection Refused" response) they just hang with no response at all. They don't even time out.

That was about 0830 this morning. It is now 1700.

Guess what: 


     fail2ban works. 

Apparently my little farkling around exceeded the three failure rule and I ended up blacklisting myself.

Problem solved and, in the meantime, I've learned a lot about ssh.

All good.


TGIF.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

mod_rewrite woes...

I'm having a problem with WordPress that is preventing my advance on another website. In short, I can't get "Permalinks" to work in any but the "Default" mode. Any other choice results in the same form:
http://localhost/nptbeyond/test/
which results in the dreaded 404 error.

Permalinks are features of WordPress that let you choose the format of the links in the pages that you post. You can choose among Day and Name, Month and Name, Numeric, or Post name. Each of these should provide a different format. But choosing any of these renders the same result: Post name in the form above.

Use of any but Default requires:


Installation and activation of Module rewrite (mod_rewrite) in the server.
Our server is /etc/apache2 version 2.4 and is up to date.
We have searched for the module and found it as /usr/lib64/apache2/mod_rewrite.so

It also exists in the Apache Server Module list with the Status of Enabled.
We have tested it with http://tinyurl.com/k99pzfe and its http://www.wallpaperama.com/forums/how-to-test-check-if-mod-rewrite-is-enabled-t40.html. The latter says it is not being used, despite being Enabled.
So how else to tell the server to use it other than enabling it?

Various other settings in /etc/apache2/httpd.conf, other subordinate .conf files, and the .htaccess files in the various server directories. In particular, we need:
+ A directory section in httpd.conf referring to the entire server path

Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
Require all
granted


+ In WordPress's home directory, the FollowSymLinks option enabled.
Done, in the section of httpd.conf as well as in the local .htaccess above the WordPress section.

Checking the logs:
/var/log/apache2/error_log
Explicitly set LogLevel alert rewrite:trace3 to enable logging rewrite events.

cat error_log|grep 'rewrite' returns no recent rewrite issues.

But there is an implication that FollowSymLinks and SymLinksIfOwnerMatch must both be on. We had the former already, add the latter and restarted the server: No change.

I found another string to follow, perhaps tomorrow:
http://www.askapache.com/htaccess/crazy-advanced-mod_rewrite-tutorial.html

It's nice to know I am not alone.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Reality versus fantasy

Rants are good. Political correctness is not.

Rather providential (and gripping, inspirational and comforting) for me after a
few little local tiffs that this piece of paper should drop through my mailbox today;
recommended:

        https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/

Frank Capra’s America and Ours
March 2015 | Volume 44, Number 3
John Marini
University of Nevada, Reno

This is what these conversations are all about. Not about self-licking ice cream cones, but about facing reality and solving problems so that everybody wins.

It should not be a competition.

In this case. try coming to America in steerage (remembering the smells) and taking the train from NYC to California at age six. You know hardship, you know reality, you now know freedom, and are hugely grateful for it. His parents literally kissed the ground when they finally arrived in California.

Or, in my case, try being put on a plane alone at age 13 to be flown 3000 miles on a piston-engined DC-4 to America, and not being allowed off the plane in the Cienfuegos ("100 fires", lovely) Cuba fuel stop because I had been born in Cuba and would be taken into custody as a deserter if I left the plane.

FWIW, I then at the tender age of thirteen learned about SOVEREIGN TERRITORY: Any ship (or boat, like mine) or aircraft under a particular flag (USA in our case) is Sovereign territory: any attack against it or its passengers is an attack against our nation.

A bit complicated for a 13-year old to comprehend, but the stewardess explained it and so I did.

Certainly better than steerage, but a some twelve-hour flight nonetheless.

So we all need to  know and address the difference between reality and fantasy.

And now defend that liberty with your life.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

This is long but powerful. We all need to think

I wish I had received this before Easter Sunday.

  *How The Apostles Died/ The Death of Jesus*

I'VE NEVER, EVER SEEN THIS ALL IN ONE PLACE BEFORE

*1. Matthew*
Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.

*2.  Mark*
Died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.

*3.  Luke*
Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

*4.  John*
Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome; however, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Island of Patmos.  He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos. The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

*5.  Peter*
He was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross.  According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

*6.  James*
The leader of the church in Jerusalem , was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.  When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.

** This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.*

*7.  James the Great*
Son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem.  The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

*8.  Bartholomew*
Also known as Nathaniel, he was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey.  Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

*9.  Andrew*
He was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece.  After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led
toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: 'I have long desired and expected this happy hour.
The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.' He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.

*10.  Thomas*
Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the Sub-continent.

*11.  Jude*
Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

*12.  Matthias*
The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.

*13.  Paul*
Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundation doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament. Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles And disciples during their times For the sake of the Faith. And ye shall be hated Of all men for my name's sake: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew

*Faith is not believing that God can.  It is knowing that God WILL!*

*Jesus' Death*
*The Death of Jesus*
For the next 60 seconds, set aside whatever you're doing and take this
opportunity! Let's see if Satan can stop this.

*THE (SCIENTIFIC) DEATH OF JESUS*

At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to death.  At the time Crucifixion was the  "worst" death. Only the worst.  Criminals were condemned to be crucified. Yet it was even more dreadful for Jesus, unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion Jesus was to be nailed to the Cross by His hands and feet.

Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long. The nails were driven into His wrist. Not into His palms as is commonly portrayed. There's a tendon in the wrist that extends to the shoulder. The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the Wrist that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support himself so that He could breath. Both of His feet were nailed together. Thus, He was forced to support Himself on the single nail that impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus could not support himself with His legs because of the pain so He was forced to alternate between arching His back then using his legs just to continue to breath. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering, the courage.

Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours. Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of  suffering? A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water From his wounds. From common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the spear wound to His side... But do we realize His wounds were actually made in his body. A hammer driving large nails through the wrist, the feet overlapped and an even large nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear. But before the nails and the spear Jesus was whipped and beaten.

The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating so horrific that His face was torn and his beard ripped from His face. The Crown of thorns cut deeply into His scalp. Most men would not have survived this torture. " He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds. The human adult body contains about 3.5 liters(just less than a gallon) of blood. Jesus poured all 3.5 liters of his blood; He had three nails hammered into His members; a crown of thorns on His head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His chest...All these without mentioning the humiliation He suffered after carrying His own cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd spat in his face and threw
stones (the cross was almost 30 kg of weight, only for its higher part, where His hands were nailed).

Jesus had to endure this experience, to open the Gates of Heaven, So that you can have free access to God. So that your sins could be "washed" away.

All of them, with no exception! Don't ignore this situation.

*JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOU!*

Friday, April 10, 2015

Where we are

I've been out of work for two years, nevertheless diligently seeking work. I don't understand that  but it is what it is.

I've been encouraged, and have subsequently endeavored, to seek an online presence that will draw visitors and subsequently advertising income.

The operative word is income.

But it still isn't happening.

I've given up time from local chat groups to address a wider audience through Facebook.

Part of the problem may be being too honest, as discussed here:

http://healthmindpower.com/confessions-former-people-pleaser-stop-one/?hc_location=ufi

Consequentially, it occurs to me that we need to consider the various *types* of human relationships.

http://www.amazon.com/General-Theory-Love.../dp/0375709223

is a well respected treatise that make a distinction between visceral ("feeling") and neo-cortex (intellectually "thinking") recognition of attraction to another person. You may viscerally love them (be hot for them, "feel" that they mean well, whatever) but know that they are a total idiot (neo-cortex).

We need to put both on the table and sort it out.

Or, conversely, you may totally admire them for their intellect, intelligence, commitment, and perseverance (Winston Churchill and Benjamin Franklin come to mind) but abhor them as fat drunken slobs, which both were (visceral)...

What the HR people say in the end is this: I don't care about the color of your eyes, the color of your skin, or your blood type. All I care about is your BEHAVIOUR. Fix that and we'll all get along just fine.

Starting with MYOB and keep your hands off my stuff.