Remote Desktop Feedback Loop
by Jon on Mar.04, 2009, under General
Why? Good question. Because I was bored? Because I could?
Sometimes there’s just no reason!
Safari 4 Beta and GrowlMail: A fix
by Jon on Feb.26, 2009, under Apple/OS X, Computers
Thanks to my good friend Benji for letting me know … but there is a fixed version of the GrowlMail plug-in available here:
http://www.elusive.cx/2009/02/26/safari-4-and-growl-a-fix/
Thanks BK!
Installing Safari 4 Beta breaks Mail if you have the GrowlMail plug-in installed
by Jon on Feb.26, 2009, under Apple/OS X, Computers
As above …
To fix, simply remove the plug-in. Depending on how you installed it, the plug-in will either be in /Library/Mail/GrowlMail.mailbundle or in ~/Library/Mail/GrowlMail.mailbundle.
Open terminal and delete the folder above (depending on your installation) and all will be fixed. Re-install the plug-in when Apple have fixed the conflict, and remind yourself that it’s not called “beta” software for no reason!
Better spam protection with the Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
by Jon on Jan.17, 2009, under Computers, Linux
Recently, the volume of spam I was receiving has massively increased. In the past almost all of my spam was detected correctly by SpamAssassin and filtered out. However, this recent increase of spam has had the added issue of being sent to me with a spoofed ‘from’ address being the same as the ‘to’ address. Since SpamAssassin assumes I’m not going to spam myself, it doesn’t detect these mails quite so effectively.
I also wasn’t alone. A number of other people with mail hosted on my server complained of the same issue. So, I set about finding a solution.
After a few googles, I stumbled upon the Sender Policy Framework, or SPF.
It’s very simple in the way it works, is quick to set up, and best of all it costs nothing!
First you need to add a new DNS entry to the domain you want to protect. The following TXT entry tells the world that the only host authorised to send email from the domain jonpascoe.co.uk is the A record that it resolves to. All other sending hosts should be ignored.
jonpascoe.co.uk. 86400 IN TXT "v=spf1 a mx -all"
Once you’ve added your DNS TXT entry, it’s just a simple matter of configuring your MTA to look for the Received-Spf email header and filter your mail accordingly.
In the last couple of days, I haven’t sent myself a single spam email!
As an added bonus, if spam is sent “from me” to somebody else on the internet, and their MTA is configured to use SPF, they should block the mail too. 
Two more fish
by Jon on Nov.24, 2008, under Fish, Photography
The rate of introductions into the cabinet has slowed somewhat, and in the last few weeks only two new members have been added.
First of all there’s John Major, the grey man who blends into the background:
(He’s a two-spot goby)
And then there’s Boris … who is somewhat odd:
(And he’s a pink-spotted flymo, or rockskipper. Yes, he has orange spots … I did say he was odd!)
