Jan 23 2009

iptables head hurty

Category: geek — jkt @ 20:30

I’m using iptables for the first time in YEARS, and hating it.

What I want to do:
I want to block all servers on the 10.0.0.0/16 range, which sit behind the load balancer, from establishing new tcp connections. However should someone establishing a connection to the server from the internet, all data should flow (it’s mostly web servers, anyway).

It seems quite easy in theory, however the rules I’m coming up with, kill the webserver (no data is sent to the client.

These are the rules:
# is the source isn’t behind the LB, and the destination is, accept (this’ll allow incoming http requests)
iptables -A FORWARD -i eth0 -s ! 10.0.0.0/16 -d 10.0.0.0/16 -j ACCEPT

# if the source is behind the LB, and the dest isn’t the company subnet (ie, it’s a client), allow through if marked as ESTABLISHED or RELATED (because it’s been established from the above rule)
iptables -A FORWARD -o eth0 -s 10.0.1.0/24 -d ! 1.2.3.4/26 -m state –state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT

# else, if it’s a packet from behind the lb, going to a company subnet address with the NEW state, reject.
iptables -A FORWARD -o eth0 -s 10.0.1.0/24 -d ! 1.2.3.4/26 -m state –state NEW -j REJECT

Anyone know how to do what I’m trying to accomplish? this is really hurting my head.

Jan 23 2009

Tweet at me

Category: geek — jkt @ 10:04

Who’s on twitter? I’m thinking of using my account again – it’s been dormant for the last 10 months.

I’m, surprise surprise, jonathantullett on there.

Jan 17 2009

Travel to Austin, 6th edition.

Category: employment,travel — jkt @ 22:13

4am sucks ass. 5am is fine; I’m used to 5am; 5am has been my life for over two years. Luckily, I’ve been experiencing a period of late nights, and then had Zachary (aka, early wake up call) at the weekend, so getting myself into bed before 9am wasn’t an issue. It still hurt when waking up though.

The cab ride to Heathrow was uneventful. ‘Why Heathrow?’, I hear you ask. Continental airlines have stopped servicing Houston from Gatwick. ‘Continental? Didn’t you hate them after they lost your luggage last year?’, I hear you ask. Why, yes, I did, but then Delta lost it on my next trip, and at least Continental provide in seat power (rows 17-23 on their 767-200 planes, if you’re interested) meaning I can watch my own media on the long flight over. That trumps on flight entertainment.

The cab was unexpectedly expensive. I heard the woman on the phone say £50, turns out it’s actually £63. Luckily I had take more cash out than necessary, would have been an embarrassing moment.

So Heathrow Terminal 4. What a fucking dump. Small, crappy shops, nothing opens until 6am, and a lot of shops are closed due to some kind of redevelopment going on. Shit hole.

Treated myself to a big English breakfast at the Whetherspoons and the killed the remaining time browsing Borders and picked up a couple of interesting books – one on student card counters who broke Vegas, and another on ‘The Black Swan’.

The flight boarded promptly and within 30 minutes of take off (9.30) I was two double vodkas in. I don’t know what it is about flying, but vodka before 10am just feels right.

I watched Saw IV. Am unimpressed. The franchise was good for the first two films. The third was unnecessarily gruesome without any real content, and the fourth? Don’t bother. Again, it’s gruesome, the fx are great, but where’s the story?

I crashed out at midday (unrelated to the alcohol, honest) and woke to another two vodkas. I enjoy this life.

I now feel a marathon of The Big Bang Theory coming up. Thank you, Amaya, for the recommendation. 4 hours 30 minutes until destination.

Immigration was, as usual, a PITA. I’d confirmed on the plane, and with the staff working the line, that as I’d completed the online green immigration form, I didn’t need to fill one out to show to the man behind the counter. Cue me going to find a form, fill it out and rejoin the queue again (albeit at the front). Perhaps showing my indignation wasn’t a good move, and after a stern look, I stopped bitching.

Customs was another exciting event, he looked at my card, put it into a a4 folder and asked me to go through the double doors to the side.

I wheeled my suitcases through the doors and waited for a BCP officer to be available. I’m asked to open my bags and he goes through all my items. I’m asked questions about my job, why I’m coming to the country, how long I’m going to be there etc. We get talking about London. Apparently he’s coming over in February and will be staying not far from my office. We’re going to meet for a beer.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, I arrived at the hotel, ate, and went to sleep. Zzzzzzz

Jan 08 2009

Laptop stands – any recommendations?

Category: geek — jkt @ 06:54

Dear Lazyweb,

I’m looking for a laptop stand to use when I’m at home and working with an external display unit, and I want them to be on similar levels.

Any recommendations? I’m using a 15″ MacBook Pro.

Cheers,

Jan 07 2009

Ramblings…

Category: children,day to day,geek — jkt @ 10:39

Further to my earlier post, my thought patterns are returning to normal. This means I’m starting to return to normal productivity levels (high) and enjoy social interactions more (because I can focus on them). Thank you for your suggestions on how to deal with it, I’ll be looking as those from now.

I need to buy a quieter chipset fan for my new media pc. The guys at Quiet PC have said this may do the trick. It’s cheap enough that I’ll just order it and try it out. Alternatively, I may purchase a device which lets me change the spin speed and quieten it that way.

After a few instances of programs I’d downloaded not being unrared and ready to watch, I knocked up a perl script which detects new torrents which are completely downloaded, then searches them for rar files which it then extracts. It also emails me to tell me the program is available to watch (which is useful, as torrents are found and downloaded automatically).

Have been watching an awful lot of tv shows recently (where ‘recently’ is defined as ‘in the last week’). Weeds, How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory are the current favourites.

Watched Pineapple Express with Jo and Reagan on Saturday. What a truly awful film, only made up for by the company I was in. Avoid at all costs.

Reagan came to stay Friday-today and Jo came Friday-Sunday. We ate (I was introduced to ‘student food’ on Saturday afternoon – yummy!), went clubbing in dodgy Bromley clubs, and had a great time. It’s the longest time there’s been more than just me (adult wise) in the house since May. I liked it.

My promotion kicked in on Jan 1st. New job title is ‘Trading Operations Tech Lead’ and I serve as the primary European hours troubleshooting lead for London ops team. It came with a salary review and results in me doing more of what I enjoy, and less of what I don’t enjoy. I feel valued. A win all round.

Spending Christmas and new year with Zachary was great. I haven’t spent that long with him (without working) in one stretch for a long time. During the period I realised I want to change how we spend out time together. He’s an awesome little boy, and we should do so much more together.

That’s the end of my brain dump.

Jan 05 2009

2008, a year in review.

Category: meme — jkt @ 09:30

What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Started dance lessons.

Did you keep your new year’s resolutions?

I didn’t do new year’s resolutions. I made some mid year which I mostly kept to, but not militantly.

What will your new year’s resolutions be for next year?

* Not eat sugary foods, with the exception of home baked goods.
* Avoid caffeine entirely.
* Get much fitter.
* Listen to new music.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

I know two people who gave birth in 2008: Claire and Taryn-Vee.

Did anyone close to you die?

No.

What countries did you visit?

Mexico, USA, Switzerland

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

Unwavering self confidence in my abilities.

What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

27th May: Emma and I decided we’d be happier apart.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Maintaining a healthy relationship with Emma post-split. Usually at the end of a relationship, I’ll sever contact.

What was your biggest failure?

Losing my temper with Zachary in Mexico. I allowed myself to get very angry and didn’t behave in a way I’m happy with.

Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing more than seemingly all year round colds.

What was the best thing you bought?

Holiday in Mexico.

Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Zachary. He spent most of the year being two, and behaving like a two year old and it was awesome. He’s wonderful.

Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

No one. If anyone’s behaviour makes me appalled and depressed, I cut them out of my life; no exceptions.

Where did most of your money go?

Mortgage and rent.

What events did you get really, really, really excited about?

Going to Mexico on my first foreign holiday in 2 years. Other events which I would otherwise have been really excited about were marred by feeling rundown or otherwise sickly (Switzerland being the notable one)

What song will always remind you of 2008?

I haven’t listened to much music beyond what’s in my playlist or what’s in the charts, and none of those stick out as the ‘song of 2008′.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Sadder. I miss my son.
ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner than my heaviest. My weight fluctuated a lot last year from 11 stone to 13.5. It’s now sitting at around 12.
iii. richer or poorer? Financially: less worried about money overall. Personally: undecided.

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Seen my friends.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Work :)

How did you spend Christmas?

Zachary, Emma and Emma’s brother came over for the day. We ate, drank, and opened lots of presents.

Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

Emma.

Did you fall in love in 2008?

No.

How many one-night stands?

Hardly a question I’d use to review my year.

What was your favourite TV programme?

I thoroughly enjoyed Dexter, season 3.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Hate isn’t an emotion I enjoy. I prefer to maintain an extreme dislike of some people rather than hate them ;)

What was the best book you read?

I don’t tend to remember much of the fiction I read though I did read some. However 2008 was a year of mostly non-fiction and I wouldn’t classify any financial books as ‘the best’ on any list.

What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?

None. Ask me next year.

What did you want and get?

Everything I want, which I can buy, I do :)

What did you want and not get?

My son living with me. But that’s not practical, so it’s more a wish. Does that count?

What were your favourite films of this year?

The Dark Knight is the one which stands out. I focussed more on TV shows than films.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I went out for dinner with Emma and Zachary. I was 29.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Seeing friends more.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

I follow my own ‘fashion’ and the only real criteria is that I don’t think I look too gimpy.

What kept you sane?

Knowing that Zachary needs sane parents :)

Which celebrity/public figure did you like the most/least?

I dislike Gordon Brown. He’s spent the last X years taking a lot of my income and I don’t feel like I’m getting value for the money.

I’m pleased Britney Spears is sorting her life out. Having your kids taken away is awful.

What political issue stirred you the most?

I found myself getting excited as I read about Obama’s progression in the election battles. Nothing local has provided much stirring.

Whom did you miss?

Stephanie.

Who was the best new person you met?

I didn’t meet anyone brand new I’d consider ‘the best’. I reacquainted with some people I’d somewhat lost contact with and that’s been awesome.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008

Never accept anything less than the best for yourself else you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Jan 04 2009

Thought and personality analysis.

Category: self improvement — jkt @ 12:32

I go through phases of analysing my thought processes and personality traits. It’s an interesting process.

Something I’ve been aware of, vaguely, for some time are my obsessive thought patterns. I would go through brief periods of extreme focus on subjects, almost to the exclusion of all other thoughts – it would affect my ability to conduction relationships, work (except when it’s work related), and even make sure I’m looking after myself (eating properly etc).

Since I’ve been living alone, the distractions which would previously have jolted me out of the mode (or more precisely, wouldn’t allow me to continue) aren’t there. Because of this I’ve been having more frequent and longer bouts of these compulsive thought patterns. I don’t like it.

The most unsettling aspect though, is that I can’t think of a way to stop it. I don’t know when they’re going to start, when they’ve started they need to run their course, and when they’ve finished I end up waiting for the cycle to start.

Having more distractions could be one way, but that feels like using chewing gum to stop smoking – what happens when there’s no gum? I want a more permanent solution.

I’ve toyed with the idea of getting a house mate, but I crave my own space and don’t know I would be a particularly great person to live with. I definitely wouldn’t want to get someone in, find I didn’t like it, and be stuck sharing for 6 months. Nightmare.

So what to do? Can any of you lot identify with this? If so, how do you keep it manageable?