I've just added support to my blog for Akismet through the use of this php class. I'm currently waiting on my API key before I enable it.

Looks like some spam is finally getting past my spam filter. I'm going to look into adding support for this

I've been getting my fair share of trackback spam in the last month or so. I've decided to disable trackbacks for the time being. Unfortunately I cannot use my spamblock code on them (which works great for normal comments).

Well the MacBook is finally out. I'm contemplating getting one.

Also I've noticed that my last post broke IE and really anyone running sub 1600x1050. Sorry about that, go buy a bigger screen ;)

On another note, I got an email from one of my friends at usyd:

Sydney Uni is selling original iMacs for $50!!! I don't know if you have any
use for super cheap old computers, but I thought I'd tell you anyway. The
School of Languages is trying to get rid of them. Maybe for spare parts,
extra storage space (although the one I saw I had a hard drive of a whopping
4 GB - not much storage space there!)???? Anyway, I thought you might like
to know.

So if anyone wants cheap macs. I think I've got enough. On last count we now have 6 macs in the house :)

I purchased my parents a new router/modem/wireless device the other day. It is a Netgear DG834G, great value for money.



Anyway the Netgear supports VPN termination, so I decided to setup a VPN between their house and mine. This allows me to run voip over the VPN without the need to worry about port forwarding (which is a real pain with SIP).



So the technical background:



My place:

1) Static IP address (59.167.253.89)

2) Juniper Netscreen 5GT running ScreenOS 5.3.0r2

3) 10.0.0.0/22 (10.0.0.0 - 10.0.3.255)

4) Router on address 10.0.0.254



Parents place:

1) Dynamic IP address

2) Netgear DG834G running firmware V3.01.25 (Has also been tested to work with a DG834 with firmware V2.10.22)

3) 10.0.4.0/24 (10.0.4.0 - 10.0.4.254)

4) Router on address 10.0.4.254



Now the netgear has some limitations with the VPN. The main issue is that it only supports "Main Mode" authentication. Main Mode is designed for site to site VPNs both with static IP addresses. My parents don't have a static IP address.



To get around this the netscreen allows you to point the remote end point (in this case the netgear) to a hostname. So for the netgear site you need to setup a dyndns.org account. For an example we will call this example.dyndns.org.



See below:





So lets setup the netscreen site first.



1) Setup IP Address Objects that point to each site. Under Objects > Addresses > List. In my case

10.0.0.0/22 TRUST (local)

10.0.4.0/25 UNTRUST (remote)









2) Now to setup the VPN Gateway on the netscreen. Under VPNs > AutoKey Advanced > Gateway.

Add a new connection like below:



Select your preshared key here too.



Now select Advanced (note you could use 3DES, but in this case I just use DES):







3) Now you need to setup Phase 2. Under VPNs > AutoKey IKE







Then select advanced:





4) Now we need to create a policy that allows traffic to flow in both directions. This is called a bidirectional VPN policy.



In Policies under Trust to Untrust create this policy.







5) Now time to setup the netgear. Create an auto VPN account







Note the preshared key must be the same for each device.







That should be all you need to do. You can monitor the connection on both sides through the log files. The netscreen outputs a more detailed log so it is best to read this.



If the connection doesn't work it is best to troubleshoot the VPN from a console connection to the netscreen.



To start the debugging process type:





To finish the debugging type:

For my maths subject at uni we use a program called Mathematica (3d equation modeling etc).

To give access to this program at home the uni uses Citrix MetaFrame (Citrix also developed the system behind Windows Terminal Services).

This program is like Terminal Services but at the application level. It works on both PC and Mac.

PHPBB (a popular forum software) has been stuck at version 2.x for a long time now. It has been plagued with many security issues, a long with poor W3C standards.

Version 3 (formally 2.2) which has been running years late is now almost ready for beta testing.

I wonder if this new version will bring phpbb up to standards.

Autumn 2006 Timetable

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8am
9am
10am
11am				Requirements Engineering (31475) Lec1, 01 CB02.04.13
12pm
1pm
2pm	Mobile Programming (31090) Lec1, 01 CB10.02.460
3pm	Mobile Programming (31090) Cmp1, 01 CB10.03.410			Requirements Engineering (31475) CB10.02.410 (Tut1, 04)/CB10.03.470 (Cmp1, 04)
4pm
5pm			Data Structures and Procedural Programming (31473) Cmp1, 06 CB10.03.480
6pm		Introductory Mathematical Methods (33401) Lec1, 01 CB01.25.19	Data Structures and Procedural Programming (31473) Lec1, 01 CM05B.01.11
7pm
8pm
9pm

Computers of the future?

We got VoIP running internally this morning. We've been unable to get the cisco 7940/60s working (they won't flash) but we've got the 7912 working. Our hold music rules ;)

Once we have a SIP provider we can have external access!

woo.