Finally secured this blog with free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt! First I had to upgrade my VPS to Ubuntu 16.04 from an unsupported version. Used this opportunity to switch this site back to Linode as they provide 1GB RAM for the 5$ instance(compared to 512MB on DigitalOcean).

The VPS is now located at Singapore which give around ~35ms latency compared to ~250ms latency when accessed from India. Linode doesn’t have data centers in India where the ping time would be ~10ms. DigitalOcean scores over this as they have data-center at Bangalore.

Coming back to enabling SSL, I just followed the simple guide: How to secure apache2 with Let’s Encrypt

The job was done in few minutes!

Recently tried the 6 node Openstack environment comprising of Controller,Network, Compute, Block Storage and Two Object Storage Node.

Started with the Ubuntu for all the nodes started with the corresponding install guide. Unfortunately, there was some packaging issue of Juno components for Ubuntu.Even others have reported issues in launching an instance. Probably it will be fixed in future Ubuntu update.

I had to use CentOS 7 to the same setup working.

Steps followed:

1) The Openstack Juno Install guide for CentOS/Redhat/Fedora is excellent one and can be followed step by step. I will just mention the environmnet that used for creating the six CentOS instances and network.

2) Used VMWare workstation on Windows 8. The PC has 16GB RAM. I would recommend 16GB minimum .

3) Create Three host only virtual network disabling DHCP. Vmnet1,Vmnet2,Vmnet3,Vmnet4 as in diagram below.

Vmnet8 with NAT & DHCP enabled for our own management so that the nodes have connectivity to internet. When creating new VMs associate their network interfaces as follows:

Vmnet1 – 10.0.0.0/24, Vmnet2 – 10.0.1.0/24, Vmnet3 – 10.0.2.0/24

Always add one interface in VM to VMnet8 for internet connectivity & management.

E.g for Controller Node, create two network interfaces – One associated to Vmnet8 & second one to Vmnet1 with IP 10.0.0.11/24

Network Node: Vmnet8, Vmnet1- 10.0.0.21/24, Vmnet2 – 10.0.1.21/24, Vmnet 4 – Unnumbered

Once the VMs are created , just following the install guide can get the Openstack setup up & running within the VMware environment.

Reason for Moving from Linode:

I have moved my 20$ Linode VPS to 5$ DigitalOcean VPS. The reason is simple: I was underutilizing the resources available on Linode and there were no cheaper options available. DigitalOcean was getting some good reviews and the pricing starts at just 5$.

Linode 20$ comes with 8 cores and 1GB RAM vs DigitalOcean 5$ 1 CPU core and 512MB RAM. I ran some Google Page-speed test against my blog on Linode vs DigitalOcean and both returned almost identical scores. So, even with additional cores and RAM I am not getting any added advantage with Linode.

Why no IPv6?

The only downside that I see is,  DigitalOcean does not support IPv6 yet. Also, they don’t seem to have timeline for the v6 support. Though, it does not have any practical implications at present, I see it as a step backwards.

BTW, I used this DigitalOcen guide for migrating from Linode and went very simple and smooth.

The requirement:

2) Should be encrypted/decrypted client side
* That limits the options to Spideroak/Waula
3) The number of files/directories shown be known to those who has access to the data
* The number of files & directories will be known by Waula , SpiderOak. And, we are not sure about how secure they are as they are closed source.
We can create encrypted zip and store . But that has disadvantage. See next point.
4) Add update individual files both from Ubuntu & Windows.

Truecrypt encrypted container solves all these. But the question is how to put it on the cloud and make is look like just another disk partition.

Solution: 

1) Use one of my Digital Ocean VPS that runs Ubuntu and create a iSCSI target.
2) This article has step-by-step instructions to create the iSCSI target of your required size. Also there is instruction to map as drive via the inbuilt iSCSI initiator via Windows 7.
3) Just go though the regular procedure of creating a encrypted partition via truecrypt client.
4) Access the files stored from other clients by configuring iSCSI initiator. For UBuntu : here is the instruction.

Yet to find a way to access it from my Android as Truecrypt does not support it.

Already Facebook & Most of the Google services are available over IPv6( in dual stack mode with IPv4)

Though IPv6 enabled Internet is a long way to go, some should take the initiative. I am also taking part in this launch by enabling this site with IPv6.  This blog is already hosted using IPv6 capable hosting provider Linode. So it’s just a matter of editing the siteinfo in Apache config:

[xml]

<VirtualHost 173.255.213.212:80>
ServerAdmin krish@krishnamoorthy.in
ServerName krishnamoorthy.in
ServerAlias www.krishnamoorthy.in
DocumentRoot /srv/www/krishnamoorthy.in/public_html/
ErrorLog /srv/www/krishnamoorthy.in/logs/error.log
CustomLog /srv/www/krishnamoorthy.in/logs/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost [2600:3c01::f03c:91ff:fe93:350b]:80>
ServerAdmin krish@krishnamoorthy.in
ServerName krishnamoorthy.in
ServerAlias www.krishnamoorthy.in
DocumentRoot /srv/www/krishnamoorthy.in/public_html/
ErrorLog /srv/www/krishnamoorthy.in/logs/error.log
CustomLog /srv/www/krishnamoorthy.in/logs/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

[/xml]

Also, added AAAA record in DNS manager to point this domain to the IPv6 address of the host (2600:3c01::f03c:91ff:fe93:350b)

So, even an IPv6 only client should be able to access this blog ( of course some the embedded external content still hosted on IPv4 only may not load) For most part this is will be accessible.

Also read:

My Home Network setup for IPv6 access.

With this I am participating from content publisher & subscriber perspective

The steps to follow:

1) Signup for IPv6 Tunnel broker and create a tunnel. In this example HE Tunnel broker is used.

2) Configure the Client with the steps provided.

If you are using Windows 7 machine the Tunnel can be created directly from that machine. But I want have my router to act as Tunnel client and auto configure the local client with IPv6 address( from the routed prefix that was assigned). I have already configured router Asus RT-N16 with IPv6 capable Shibby mod. Now the official RT-N16 firmware also supports IPv6!

2a) In the IPv6 section update the Tunnel configuration from the info available in the Tunnel broker site( First step)

Tunnel MTU should be configured to lower value if there is problem. For me 1472 worked. The config should be updated in Tunnel roker advanced config tab:

2b) Configure the Firewall settings to respond to ping

2b) In case static IP(v4) is allocated by the ISP DDNS config must be set and update the HE.net Tunnelbroker.

Here is the config in my router. Since I use no-ip already for DDNS. The second slot is used for HE IPv6:

The user name above is not the signup user email. If is available in “Main Page”

After these settings reboot the router.

3) How to check if IPv6 works:

3a) Win7: Check the IP addresses useing “ipconfig” command. IPv6 addresses should be allocated in the router prefix range.

3b) Browse to sites like  http://ipv6.google.com or test-ipv6.com to validate the IPv6 onnectivity

4) Check if the sites you visit has IPv6 enabled.

Install the Chrome extension IPvfoo

Well, now I am ready for the World IPv6 Launch tomorrow!

Recently, I wanted to try out IPv6 and this firmware didn’t have support. On doing some some search, finally decided to go with ShibbyMod. Used the    latest All-In-One firmware : 1.28.0000 MIPSR2-092 K26 USB AIO(8MB) as RT-N16 has 32MB flash.

Upgrade is straightforward from TomatoUSB firmwar. In console -> Goto Admin -> Upgrade. Select the Shibby mod firmware and check the “After flashing, erase all data in NVRAM memory” option.

In  matter of minutes RT-N16 was upgraded! Will be writing a separate post on how to configure IPv6 tunnel.

Also read:

Setting up IPv6 Tunneling  using Shibby Mod

With Quad core A5X processor and 1 GB of RAM this device’s performance should be good! Again the price starts at $500 and the iPad 2 price has been brought down by 100$. But I don’t see any reason for new buyer to go for iPad2 just for saving $100.

Again a great product from Apple. I don’t see an Android tablet meeting the iPad quality. With Apple keeping the price as low as $400( iPad 2 16Gb Wifi only), it’s going to be very difficult for the competition to do the catch up game as they could do for the Smartphone( remember Samsung Galaxy SII)

Not just 2011, even 2012 is going to be the year of iPad!

Lytro lets you take pictures like never before. Unlike a conventional camera that captures a single plane of light, the Lytro camera captures the entire light field, which is all the light traveling in every direction in every point in space.

Based on the reviews, it may not have the best picture clarity as of now. For the focus effect the foreground subject and background should be at a good distance. This is not for anyone. This is an impressive first step. It opens up several possibilities when they add the 3D support as well.

Others might just ask, why not shoot the picture at a lower higher F-number(narrow aperture) and get entire scene in focus. This would be interesting for the photographers who enjoys shooting images with e “Depth of Filed” effect, where only the subject is in focus and other parts are blurred. This camera  helps in getting the focus in the the clicked location.

Can you spot the Red Ladybug below?

Robert Scoble has shared interesting gallery

What lies in future?

1) Better clarity photos even in low light
2) Able get nice “Depth of Filed” effect even subjects which are closer to each other
3) 3D capabilities

They are targeting the prime slot of 8:00pm to 10pm. This is where the TRP topping Sun TV serials are aired: Thirumathi Selvam, Thangam, Thendral & Chellamey. The last 10-15 years of Cable Television in Tamilnadu, Sun TV has rooted out the competition in each stage and still accounts for >70% of viewership. We just can’t say, it was due to their political power: they have survived AIADMK rule for >10 years.We should credit them for their business acumen ‘deep’ understanding of Tamil TV audience. Remember how they crushed the grand launch of “Star Vijay” when the Star group took over with KTV . With low viewership on the soaps, Vijay took different path with programs like Jodi No1, Kalakkapovathu Yaaru, Super Singer, Neeya Naana and has gathered decent viewership in the A-segment. But they still has not penetrated the viewers towns & villages. Interestingly Sun TV bought the complete team of “Kalakkapovathu Yaaru” to answer Vijay TV and renamed the program as “Asathapovathu Yaru” and aired it in Sun TV.

Read more details about Sun TV dominance

What will be the answer to Orukodi from Sun TV?

Orukodi has well proven success formula and it has always remained the No1 program in TRP when it was aired in Star TV/Sony TV. With Surya presenting the Orukodi,we may think it can top the charts or at least get some decent viewership that can be compared to lower ranking Sun TV programs. But, Sun TV has already started giving teaser ads for their version of Orukodi. They will see the initial responses for Vijay’s Orukodi and then plan on how to ‘kill‘ it. They will use all possible ammunition to keep viewers stay away from other Tamil Televisions which they have succeeded every time. Only very few non Sun TV programs found a plan in top 100 Indian TV programs( that too at the tail end of it, but, Sun TV has consistently  has 20 to 30 in top 100). On the other hand, Vijay has other advantes at this time:

• Sun TV has no new Tamil films rights as most of them are with Kalaignar TV/Jeya and even Vijay TV. We can see they are already struggling during weekends. Now the serials are more important than ever.
• Many places in TN where Arasu cable has taken over does not show KTV, Sun News, Sun Music. It will be little difficult to use KTV for hosting their version of Orukodi.
• They will use the prime slot 8 to 10 pm only as the ;last resort to air their Orukodi at the soaps telecasted now are their chart toppers. That will be a big gamble.

In spite of all these, I am sure SUN TV will find a way to work out an strategy to keep viewers hooked to Sun Network channels. or, is there a hope that significant Tamil TV viewers will keep away from their favorite soul-sucking Mega soaps?

We will know the answer in few days.