So there is a bug in Synergy where if you’ve got a Windows box as a synergy client, and you attempt to rdp/rdesktop to another windows box from that windows-synergy-client box, the Right Shift key doesn’t work.
The following command will map the right shift to the left shift in X and work around this bug:
xmodmap -e “keycode 62 = Shift_L NoSymbol Shift_L NoSymbol Shift_L”
You may want to run xev and make sure your right-shift is keycode 62.
Useful Reference: http://www.columbia.edu/~djv/docs/keyremap.html
So, I’ve finally finished revamping my command center since I decided to stay at my current employer and will continue to work from home. I no longer even have a cube at the office anymore, I camp out in a conference room when I need to be in the office. As such, I’ve virtualized both my laptop (XP) and workstation (Ubuntu) onto ESXi and run them from the office. Now, only screen re-draws need to transit down my U-Verse connection, and the shared apps I run on the corporate network are much faster.
Looking at my displays, if you start at the 12 o’clock position you have an rdesktop session to my work laptop. At the 2 o’clock is the VI Client session to my Work Ubuntu console. Both of these displays are driven by my work issued Dell c630 Laptop which is docked in the upper right corner. The laptop had the smallest power draw of any of the systems I had available (plus it can drive dual external displays)
At the 4 and 6 o’clock positions are the dual screens of my primary Linux Workstation. The 6
o’clock display has my ssh sessions to the various servers I administer, and the 4 o’clock has my web-browser and IRC client, both of which are bound to all my KDE virtual desktops. In IRC I track work colleagues, former ELNK colleagues, and my twitter feed.
On the left is my MacBook Pro, and its second display. I have all my personal email, personal web-browsing and all my IM sessions set-up there. I also have Fusion setup on there and will full-screen my Windows instance on the second display.
All three systems use synergy so that one keyboard and mouse controls all six displays. The Mac and Dell connect into the Shuttle which is where the mouse and keyboard are connected.
Resolution wise, my displays are a hodgepoge. Going clockwise the displays are: Dell 19WFP (1440×900), Dell (1280×1024), Dell 2009FWP (1680×1050), Dell 2007FP (1600×1200), MacBook Pro (1440×900) and Dell 2001FP (1600×1200).
The Dell 2009FWP also doubles as my HDTV for the U-Verse set-top on the upper right. The keyboard on the shuttle is for the laptop which I need to get it to connect to synergy on boot up.
Well, _I_ find it interesting.
* Built a Cisco VPN JEOS so that I can have multiple home PCs connected to the corporate network. I’ve got a fascinating TCP problem I’ve not worked out with iptables masquerading and vpnc. Need to research that one a bit more.
* Installed VMWare Fusion and built my Windows box on the Mac. My XP CD was a SP1, so I’ve had two service packs, and numerous updates to get it up to snuff.
* Made Samba authenticate to Active Directory at work.
* Nearly finished with my Command Center v2.0. Just need one more monitor mount and pics will be forthcoming.
* I’ve P2Ved so many of my home servers onto one VMWare ESXi box that I’ve got surplus hardware I need to CraigsList.
* Snow Leopard is much, much better than Tiger.
* Setup Google Apps for the RLC-Georgia. Google Docs kicks ass.
Next on tap, setting up monitoring for PrimeHarbor/Room17
So here is a knowledge-base article for Google to pickup.
I recently converted by Residential Gateway to DMZPlus. I have a Linux box I use for my DHCP, DNS and Firewall. I placed all my Set-tops directly attached to the residential gateway (RG), and all my PCs behind my linux box.
RG —- Linux Firewall —- PC & Laptops
|—— Set-top(s)
U-Verse has a “feature” where-by if a device on the network has too many connections it will tell the other computers on the network (assuming that PC in question is infected with a virus). Well, my Linux Box has a lot of PCs behind it. So it generates a lot of connections. In fact, its the only PC on my network that anyone can see messages.
So my Linux Firewall triggers the thresholds. All my other devices on the DMZ get HTTP redirects. HTTP is the transport the set-tops use to load their firmware. I don’t get any notice of this.
Moral of the story – if you’re using DMZPlus, and your set-tops die at the “Hello
Welcome to U-Verse
Loading…..”
Eventually it times out to say “Client Initialization Error…”
You should attempt to get a device connected directly to the U-Verse RG, and attempt to pull up google. You’ll get a notice and then you can white list the DMZ plus computer/router.
VMware Self-Service- Setting up mirrored folders for your Mac and virtual machine.
This looks kick-ass. I wonder how the performance is.
HOWTO: Active Directory Authentication
I need to blog more about my nefarious methods by which I make Windows and Unix play nice, but this link today was invaluable in getting an Ubuntu server talking to our AD install at work.
A few points of note:
- Step 3.1 should be preceeded by mv /etc/samba/smb.conf etc/samba/smb.conf-dist
- PAM settings work, but if you’re only doing one domain remove the %D from “template homedir”
AppleInsider | Microsoft’s Sidekick/Pink problems blamed on dogfooding and sabotage.
The article posits two questions: Was MSFT trying to pull a hotmail and convert the service to its own products (like it did in the 90s when it converted the stable Unix Hotmail infrastructure to NT4) or was it sabotage by a disgruntled employee.
I think it would be pretty damn hard to corrupt the systems, corrupt the data, and corrupt all the backups to the point that recovery isn’t possible. On the other hand MSFT acquired this company and the company had technologies vastly different than MSFT’s core competencies. Its quite possible the original engineers could recover the service and data, while the MSFT people cannot.
As this older article on the subject points out:
Microsoft’s accountability in supporting its acquired Sidekick support obligations with T-Mobile was also shirked. The source stated that “apparently Microsoft has been lying to them [T-Mobile] this whole time about the amount of resources that they’ve been putting behind Sidekick development and support [at Danger] (in reality, it was cut down to a handful of people in Palo Alto managing some contractors in Romania, Ukraine, etc.). The reason for the deceit wasn’t purely to cover up the development of Pink but also because Microsoft could get more money from T-Mobile for their support contract if T-Mobile thought that there were still hundreds of engineers working on the Sidekick platform. As we saw from their recent embarrassment with Sidekick data outages, that has clearly not been the case for some time.”
It seems pretty clear that no matter what happened, the fault rests with Microsoft Management.
So it seems like the anti-cloud fanatics are all popping open beers in celebration of MSFT’s failure to restore user data for T-Mobile’s sidekick.
I’m not sure I’d blame clouds, cause I’m not sure I’d consider that T-Mobile service a cloud to begin with. Unless you consider your IMAP box at your ISP a cloud, or your corporate exchange server a cloud, or wiki a cloud. Sidekick is a service. Services go down. Sometimes service providers cut corners and don’t hire enough staff so that the admins can test a restore of the backups created.
The anti-cloud people are telling to to keep all your data locally. On your single consumer grade hard drive. That is subject to residential power spikes and dips. That is never backed up because (unless your an OSX user with Time Machine) it is a pain-in-the-ass to do backups. That even if it is backed up, it is put on a shelf in the same building as your original copy.
Yes, this was a clusterf–k of massive proportions. And so it made news. But how many people lose all the family pictures because their house was flooded and the hard drive and backup CDR/DVD-Rs washed away too? How many people lose all their data because they drop their laptop and the harddrive crashes? or lose their data because burgers stole their PC?
Even in the corporate world, one has to consider that cloud-like service providers are better. In a small company, or company with a small IT shop, how often do you check your backup tapes to make sure they are readable? How much do you pay to Iron Mountain to store the data offsite. How good is your monitoring of your Raid-Array to know when a drive fails? (I discovered this one first hand at StayOnline).
As in everything Caveat Emptor. Know who your cloud/service provider is. Do they compete on price or service? Recall that you get what you pay for and if they are a bargain basement provider, they probably hire bargain basement staff who may or may not know the number 1 rule of backups is to test your restore process. If you’re a small or large company, demand to see their DR plans prior to moving your critical business processes into their cloud. And, as the previous administration learned, have an exit strategy, because at the end of the day _you_ are responsible for your decisions and if you fuck up and go with the wrong vendor, you will be held accountable by the executives, who will be held accountable by the shareholders and customers.