I went to the Linuxfest Northwest. Some quick notes about a great presentation!
client check list.
daily jobs
backup
junior sysadmin can fill out fields... if it doesn't come out right, use the check list!!
www.possepdx.org
www.martinconsulting.com
$? is cool
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
dc ups pc power supply
We need to have better PC power supplies.
There is no need for a UPS that converts AC to DC just to go to the powersupply via being turned into AC just to be turned back into DC
What we need are protected 12 and 5 volt rails, that can take a bit of wierdness when a battery is plugged in or removed.
I think it could look like this:
Wall-AC---Powersupply-mobo and stuff
|
12 and volt regulators?
|
Wall-AC---charger&Batteries, not always being charged, but always available.
I don't know how complicated this would be. It makes my head hurt just to think of how the voltage gets regulated.
I'm also thinking that there might be inefficiencies by having two possible sources of power, and either one of them can go out at any time...
I think there should be a plug in the power supply for an external powersupply....
I'm shure that datacenters have these.
There is no need for a UPS that converts AC to DC just to go to the powersupply via being turned into AC just to be turned back into DC
What we need are protected 12 and 5 volt rails, that can take a bit of wierdness when a battery is plugged in or removed.
I think it could look like this:
Wall-AC---Powersupply-mobo and stuff
|
12 and volt regulators?
|
Wall-AC---charger&Batteries, not always being charged, but always available.
I don't know how complicated this would be. It makes my head hurt just to think of how the voltage gets regulated.
I'm also thinking that there might be inefficiencies by having two possible sources of power, and either one of them can go out at any time...
I think there should be a plug in the power supply for an external powersupply....
I'm shure that datacenters have these.
browser / networked computer security panel
For us to have a safer computing experience, we must have a secure way to accept authentication and other things.
1. we need a PDA with USB networking capability for carrying arround data... USB keys are not safe. Our Mobile keys should be on the PDA, and if we are at an unknown computer, we should be able to plug our PDA into it, and do the signing on the device, with absolutely no way for the computer to hack into it.
2. We must start signing and checking up on the signatures of the email. There is no excuse for not using a signed email.
3. We must have our own web server , for our own data. Google, Yahoo and MSN could host a copy, or be mirroring services
4. There should be a portion of the screen, or a second monitor, that ONLY the root user can access. There is a hardware problem with accelerated video on many cards though, the video consumes the entire screen, and therefore allows for spoofing of the UI. I suppose there could be a measure where if a program consumes the entire screen, it cannot do anything with the cursor, and can always be exited with a certain key combination. There could be other sandboxing measures.
Basically, I envision the taskbar and system tray as being that service. Notifications of user logins and other security related items should be displayed down there. kdesu and kdesudo should display their messages entirely within that space. The taskbar should indicate the user that the process is running as.
4. Clear computers should allow people to see key logging devices.
5. All computers should have bios passwords, and some sort of tamper evident hardware seal. It would be nice if more user authentication occurred before the computer logged all the way into the OS. That way one single login could bring up the UI much quicker, and basic rights to boot the computer go with the user, so multiple users could be granted administrator, others could be allowed to boot from CD and other devices, and others from only a certain OS. This might be implementable in GRUB, and probably actually is..
1. we need a PDA with USB networking capability for carrying arround data... USB keys are not safe. Our Mobile keys should be on the PDA, and if we are at an unknown computer, we should be able to plug our PDA into it, and do the signing on the device, with absolutely no way for the computer to hack into it.
2. We must start signing and checking up on the signatures of the email. There is no excuse for not using a signed email.
3. We must have our own web server , for our own data. Google, Yahoo and MSN could host a copy, or be mirroring services
4. There should be a portion of the screen, or a second monitor, that ONLY the root user can access. There is a hardware problem with accelerated video on many cards though, the video consumes the entire screen, and therefore allows for spoofing of the UI. I suppose there could be a measure where if a program consumes the entire screen, it cannot do anything with the cursor, and can always be exited with a certain key combination. There could be other sandboxing measures.
Basically, I envision the taskbar and system tray as being that service. Notifications of user logins and other security related items should be displayed down there. kdesu and kdesudo should display their messages entirely within that space. The taskbar should indicate the user that the process is running as.
4. Clear computers should allow people to see key logging devices.
5. All computers should have bios passwords, and some sort of tamper evident hardware seal. It would be nice if more user authentication occurred before the computer logged all the way into the OS. That way one single login could bring up the UI much quicker, and basic rights to boot the computer go with the user, so multiple users could be granted administrator, others could be allowed to boot from CD and other devices, and others from only a certain OS. This might be implementable in GRUB, and probably actually is..
Thursday, April 26, 2007
recessed usb and power ports
we need to have laptops with recessed usb and power ports.
Power:
Apple has one of the best power adapters out there. If I had one, I'd add a snap on a piece of cloth to keep it on just a little bit longer/stronger... but I think apple has it OK now.
My toshiba has a very cruddy power port, it is very easy to break it off. All I have to do is forget that it's plugged in, and my laptop will be broken.
USB:
I need a USB "nub" or recess
------=_____|----
= is the actual plug in point
This represents the side of a laptop.
------=++++_|----
+++ is the usb key / device.
I need a way to attach the USB device, sort of like how phones have a protected rj9 jack, with a cord protection spot.
The USB devices shouldn't dangle out of radius of the laptop. I would much rather have a larger laptop, with no likelyhood of breaking my USB devices
Power:
Apple has one of the best power adapters out there. If I had one, I'd add a snap on a piece of cloth to keep it on just a little bit longer/stronger... but I think apple has it OK now.
My toshiba has a very cruddy power port, it is very easy to break it off. All I have to do is forget that it's plugged in, and my laptop will be broken.
USB:
I need a USB "nub" or recess
------=_____|----
= is the actual plug in point
This represents the side of a laptop.
------=++++_|----
+++ is the usb key / device.
I need a way to attach the USB device, sort of like how phones have a protected rj9 jack, with a cord protection spot.
The USB devices shouldn't dangle out of radius of the laptop. I would much rather have a larger laptop, with no likelyhood of breaking my USB devices
robotic competition
robot wars, or whatever was with billy nye, and that other one were kind of cool. The only problem is that they were remote controlled.
The darpa competitions are quite neat.
We need to have an arena style fight, with autonomous robots, where the differences are primarily programming and ingenuity
I propose an arena with ammunition depots, and spare parts, with data ports to connect to supercomputers with pre optimized image and other sensor recognition libraries available.
There should be
amunition depot amunition depot
Team1 Team2
super computer super computer
table saw table saw
high caliber rifle high caliber rifle
plywood ...
metal parts with predefined drill points and quick connects (ala erector set)
110volt wall outlets
length of copper wire with easy connect plugs.
There should be objectives, such as 3 targets that if one is destroyed, that team looses
There could be "flags" as well, so that if a team retrieves so many flags, it wins.
All robots should have a safety mechanism whereby if it doesn't recieve the keep alive signal, it shuts down. This should be a seporate circuit, and the rules dictate that this frequency cannot be jammed.
Each team should be allowed to bring in a certain mass of extra items, and it should be limited by initial volume.
living biological agents, and most nuclear devices should be prohited, but high explosives and strong acids, napalm should be allowed.
after a period of time, It should "rain" to short circuit damaged robots.
The course should have a mud bog, a water zone, concrete block, and plywood towers.
There should be a network of cameras built into the environment that can be leached off of for survaylance.
All teams should pay a standard fee, and materials should be available from the company to build their robots. Some items might be rented, such as expensive armor.
Standard cameras and other sensors should be provided as part of the fee.
The fee should be no more than $2,000 per tournament.
network access to a $20,000 ish super computer or cluster should be provided by the organization, and provide image recognition and other services.
Environment destruction is allowed.
The environment shall have a solid concrete floor, and an elevated house like floor as the main playing field. If the robots can cut through it, they can "burrow" and travel underground.
The size of the battle room should be 12ft x 12ft x12ft, Most environmental structures should be made out of paper, some out of plywood, and some out of steel.
2 .22 caliber handguns with clip/robot easy to load clip) should be provided on each side of the playing field. 1 higher caliber weapon should be purched on a tower on each side.
The team mass should not exceed 50kg
Basic strategies, There would exist multiple targets to cause designers to avoid super large robots.
Each team would be given an 802.11n channel, or other less interference proned device, that it would be illegal to jam.
Of course, ripping down a cast iron pan obsticdal and placing it ontop of a scout would stop the signal ;)
The darpa competitions are quite neat.
We need to have an arena style fight, with autonomous robots, where the differences are primarily programming and ingenuity
I propose an arena with ammunition depots, and spare parts, with data ports to connect to supercomputers with pre optimized image and other sensor recognition libraries available.
There should be
amunition depot amunition depot
Team1 Team2
super computer super computer
table saw table saw
high caliber rifle high caliber rifle
plywood ...
metal parts with predefined drill points and quick connects (ala erector set)
110volt wall outlets
length of copper wire with easy connect plugs.
There should be objectives, such as 3 targets that if one is destroyed, that team looses
There could be "flags" as well, so that if a team retrieves so many flags, it wins.
All robots should have a safety mechanism whereby if it doesn't recieve the keep alive signal, it shuts down. This should be a seporate circuit, and the rules dictate that this frequency cannot be jammed.
Each team should be allowed to bring in a certain mass of extra items, and it should be limited by initial volume.
living biological agents, and most nuclear devices should be prohited, but high explosives and strong acids, napalm should be allowed.
after a period of time, It should "rain" to short circuit damaged robots.
The course should have a mud bog, a water zone, concrete block, and plywood towers.
There should be a network of cameras built into the environment that can be leached off of for survaylance.
All teams should pay a standard fee, and materials should be available from the company to build their robots. Some items might be rented, such as expensive armor.
Standard cameras and other sensors should be provided as part of the fee.
The fee should be no more than $2,000 per tournament.
network access to a $20,000 ish super computer or cluster should be provided by the organization, and provide image recognition and other services.
Environment destruction is allowed.
The environment shall have a solid concrete floor, and an elevated house like floor as the main playing field. If the robots can cut through it, they can "burrow" and travel underground.
The size of the battle room should be 12ft x 12ft x12ft, Most environmental structures should be made out of paper, some out of plywood, and some out of steel.
2 .22 caliber handguns with clip/robot easy to load clip) should be provided on each side of the playing field. 1 higher caliber weapon should be purched on a tower on each side.
The team mass should not exceed 50kg
Basic strategies, There would exist multiple targets to cause designers to avoid super large robots.
Each team would be given an 802.11n channel, or other less interference proned device, that it would be illegal to jam.
Of course, ripping down a cast iron pan obsticdal and placing it ontop of a scout would stop the signal ;)
free foss hardware stickers
We need to provide stickers, such as "Full FOSS Compatible" and "Partial FOSS Compatible" and a"Linux Support Included" and "Linux Support available"
and provide incentive for manufacturers to put them on their products.
Full FOSS Compatible, means that the entire driver is released/available under a GPL compatible license, and all features are included in the driver.
Partial FOSS Compatible, means that there is a binary component to the device driver, that is released, and most features are supported. The company must agree to release the rest of the driver under a LGPL or GPL compatible license 3 years after production stops, or warranty end of the device. In addition, it is allowed to reverse engineer the binary component of the driver upon regular warranty end. (actions to void warranty are not included )
Linux Compatible, means either of the top two, and the driver has been tested with
Code escrow company.
FOSS escrow company, shall exchange source code holding, in exchange for the ability to release it upon certain conditions, and these stickers. This organization shall be funded by donation kiosks at retailers, and by volunteer contribution.
These kiosks could also help customers and salesmen choose hardware for customers, and serve as advertising for only FOSS compatible producers.
and provide incentive for manufacturers to put them on their products.
Full FOSS Compatible, means that the entire driver is released/available under a GPL compatible license, and all features are included in the driver.
Partial FOSS Compatible, means that there is a binary component to the device driver, that is released, and most features are supported. The company must agree to release the rest of the driver under a LGPL or GPL compatible license 3 years after production stops, or warranty end of the device. In addition, it is allowed to reverse engineer the binary component of the driver upon regular warranty end. (actions to void warranty are not included )
Linux Compatible, means either of the top two, and the driver has been tested with
Code escrow company.
FOSS escrow company, shall exchange source code holding, in exchange for the ability to release it upon certain conditions, and these stickers. This organization shall be funded by donation kiosks at retailers, and by volunteer contribution.
These kiosks could also help customers and salesmen choose hardware for customers, and serve as advertising for only FOSS compatible producers.
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