How to disable "who" and "users" and "last" command

On a VPS where you have multiple users you might not want that everybody can lurk and see who else is online.

Simple Solution: chmod 0700 /usr/bin/who and /usr/bin/w and /usr/bin/users and /usr/bin/last

How to: create old Arch packages

In case you need an old kernel package or e.g. an older skype version and don't have it anymore in /var/cache/pacman/pkg here is the way to get it again:

1. get to your package site e.g. https://www.archlinux.org/packages/core/x86_64/linux/
2. In the upper right Package Section of the page, click on View Changes.  Select the one you need e.g. 3.14.4-1
3. click on tree
4. download all the files in PLAIN (rightclick save as, careful remove .txt)
5. makepkg -g >> PKGBUILD
6. makepkg -s
7. sudo pacman -U yourpackage

...or you just use the arch time machine archive :D

How to fix CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE: Failed to create VirtualBox COM

if you encounter



the solution is simple: download and install exactly the same Vbox Version you had installed before, do NOT update! if you updated then just deinstall everything.

You can get any old version from here: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Download_Old_Builds

How to compile a grsecurity patched kernel under Debian 7

with GCC 4.7

packages you need

# aptitude install patch bin86 kernel-package build-essential lzop bc libncurses5-dev gcc-4.7-plugin-dev

# cd /usr/src

# wget https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.x/linux-3.14.5.tar.xz

# wget http://grsecurity.net/test/grsecurity-3.0-3.14.5-201406051310.patch

this is an example, use most recent kernel and patch (attention version number!)

# tar -xf linux-3.14.5.tar.xz

# cd linux-3.14.5.tar.xz

# patch -p1 < ../grsecurity-3.0-3.14.5-201406051310.patch

# make menuconfig

config your kernel, see Debian Handbook how to build a kernel and http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Grsecurity/Appendix/Grsecurity_and_PaX_Configuration_Options for GRSec Options

# fakeroot make deb-pkg -j5

use j flag in correspondence to your core/threads +1

kernel will be compiled and .debs created

# cd ..

# dpkg -i *.deb

# shutdown -r now

:)

RTFM = How I learned everything

Most software comes with a manual which no one reads. Instead, humans have a tendency to skip the manual, play with the software, and then proceed to go onto online forums or their friends and ask how they can do anything.
Manuals are generally written by software companies to teach users how to use their software. Manuals written by the software companies are generally very well written because it is in their best interests to have customers who understand their software well.
People often asked me how I know the software which I use so well. Because I read the fucking manual (RTFM). When I was little, my mom told me that in order for me to use my dad’s brand new PC, I have to first read the MSDOS 3.3 manual, so I read it cover to cover. After I finished with the User Guide and proceeded to use the PC, my mom reminded me that the manual comes in two volumes. So I read the Reference cover to cover also. I still remember some command parameters (aka flags) til this day.
Similarly, when I started using Photoshop 3.0, I read Adobe’s manual cover to cover. The same applies for Illustrator, Ableton Live, After Effects, Premiere Pro. For software which does not comes with manuals, I read O’Reilly references and cookbooks cover to cover: Java, JavaScript, Python, … I read all the manuals for Canon EOS 10D, 7D, 580EX, … I read all the manuals for everything which comes with the manual.
RTFM. This is the only way to learn everything technical.

this is a copy of the post by http://blog.seeminglee.com/2013/08/rtfm-how-i-learned-everything.html

Wuala Portable Windows Edition

Here is a simple trick how to get a portable tiny Wuala Edition:

go to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Wuala and copy the wuala.exe to an usb-stick.

That's it! :D

Questions

"The unexamined life is not worth living. -- Socrates"

Many people view questions as irksome—they associate questions with being ignorant, being lost, or, even worse, being tested. But in fact, the very act of creating questions, for yourself, is a profound step toward understanding—even if the questions are neither asked nor answered.

Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies

strong recommendation to check this out and print it :)

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/

A thought on work

I am re-reading "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran and came across these lines which say something about work.

"Work is visibile love. But if you do your job without love, more reluctantly, then it is better to stop work and sit down at the entrance of the temple taking the handouts of those who love their work. Because if you bake bread with indifference, then it will be a bitter bread which will not satisfy hunger completely.And when you are treading grapes thunderously, then there will be rancour in the wine."

Have you ever sailed across an ocean?

Have you ever sailed across an ocean?
On a sailboat surrounded by sea with no land in sight?
Without even the possibility of sighting land for days to come
The stand of your helm of your destiny
I want that
I want to be in Piazza del campo in Siena
I want another meal in Prague
I want another bottle of wine
and then another
I want the warmth of a woman in a cool set of sheets
One more night of love
I want to stand on summits and smoke cubans and feel the sun on my face for as long as I can
Walking the wall again , climb the tower, ride the river, stare at the stars
I want to sit in the garden and read one more good book
Most of all I want to sleep
I want to sleep like I slept when I was a boy
Give me that
Just one time

Bertrand Russell - The Value of Philosophy

Having now come to the end of our brief and very incomplete review of the problems of philosophy, it will be well to consider, in conclusion, what is the value of philosophy and why it ought to be studied. It is the more necessary to consider this question, in view of the fact that many men, under the influence of science or of practical affairs, are inclined to doubt whether philosophy is anything better than innocent but useless trifling, hair-splitting distinctions, and controversies on matters concerning which knowledge is impossible...

continue here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5827/5827-h/5827-h.htm#link2HCH0015 

Lighttpd - SSL Hardening

$SERVER["socket"] == "127.0.0.1:443" {
  ssl.engine = "enable"
  ssl.pemfile = "/etc/lighttpd/certs/ssl.pem"
  ssl.ca-file = "/etc/lighttpd/certs/ca-certs.crt"
  ssl.use-sslv2 = "disable"
ssl.use-sslv3 = "disable"
  ssl.use-compression = "disable"
  ssl.honor-cipher-order = "enable"
  ssl.cipher-list = "ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA128:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA128:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA128:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA128:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA128:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:EDH-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA384:AES128-GCM-SHA128:AES128-SHA128:AES128-SHA128:AES128-SHA:AES128-SHA:DES-CBC3-SHA:HIGH:!aNULL:!eNULL:!EXPORT:!DES:!MD5:!PSK:!RC4"
}
server.modules += ( "mod_setenv" )
$HTTP["scheme"] == "https" {
    setenv.add-response-header = (
    "Strict-Transport-Security" => "max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains",
    "X-Frame-Options" => "DENY",
    "X-Content-Type-Options" => "nosniff"
)
}

The Dangers of Correlation - Online/Offline Deanonymization

The Dangers of Correlation - Online/Offline Deanonymization

another pdf I wrote

Basic Anti-Censorship Methods

Some stuff I wrote on Basic Anti-Censorship Methods for endangered people

which are often not in tutorials.