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Debugging your webapp, the funny way

That's what I found trying to debug some things in the webapp i've been working on lately. ;D

For those of you who didn't know about such a tipical spanish expression, just take a look here and here too

(This post is dedicated to my great friend Clayton ;D)

SMTP connection using telnet

Did you ever need to test a SMTP server quickly?

If the answer is yes, probably you had hear something about using telnet to send emails directly.

I've used this trick a thousand times myself, but I always forget the correct commands and the order I have to provide them to the SMTP server.

Transcription follows:

[Fenris] ~> telnet mail.e-shell.org 25
Trying 212.89.9.184...
Connected to mail.e-shell.org.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 [ ESMTP Codigo23 mail server ] - [ Will Hack Unix for food ]
ehlo localhost
250-Frey.e-shell.org Hello cm82227.red.mundo-r.com [213.60.82.227], pleased to meet you
250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES
250-PIPELINING
250-8BITMIME
250-SIZE 5242880
250-DSN
250-STARTTLS
250-DELIVERBY
250 HELP
mail from: you@yahoo.com
250 2.1.0 you@yahoo.com... Sender ok
rcpt to: jarjarthisisnotmymail@e-shell.org
250 2.1.5 jarjarthisisnotmymail@e-shell.org... Recipient ok
data
354 Enter mail, end with "." on a line by itself
This is a sample mail sent to you via telnet!
.
250 2.0.0 m6AB3LDP071599 Message accepted for delivery

Explanation:

1- Connect to the server using telnet:

telnet mail.e-shell.org 25

2- Say hello to the server:

ehlo localhost

3- Tell the server who is sending the email:

mail from: you@yahoo.com

4- Then tell it the destination address:

rcpt to: jarjarthisisnotmymail@e-shell.org

5- Finally tell the server you are about to write the message contents:

data

NOTE: If you want to add a subject to your mail, just add a line like:

Subject: this is my subject

at the beginning of the body. You will need to press enter twice for it to work properly.

6- Once you are done, push enter, then add a single dot (.) and push enter again.

7- Mail sent!

(Anyone who can teach us how to do that using netcat??)

Noticias en prensa escrita

Es que no tengo palabras... :D

De volta de Ousli

Xa estou na casa, de feito cheguei onte ás tres da mañá, despois de clausurar (nunha cena xenial) as II Xornadas de programación web con software libre organizadas por Ousli en Ourense:

As xornadas estiveron moi moi ben (a lo menos os dous días que eu estiven por alí), Un 10 para a organización, outro 10 para charlas e contidos e, por poñer algún pero, un 5 á asistencia, xa que sempre me quedo coa sensación de que acude pouca xente a este tipo de eventos (aínda que logo nos queixamos de que non se fan). Eso sí, a xente que asistiu estaba interesada e participaba, en maior ou menor medida, nas diferentes charlas.

Ai vai un pequeno resumo de Xoves en Venres.

whatever

I can barely see your face today
Behind your hands
You say there's no time to waste
Hoping that miracles are up to date
Before you reach the end
You say:
How could a Lucky Jinx like you
Believe in a happy end
You must have known you will lose again
Still hoping tomorrow is a better day
Your tears run down your face

Whatever makes you strong again
Whatever makes you proud
Whatever makes you whole again
Please keep it on your mind
That I'll always run to you
Give you everything I have
I'll do anything, anything, anything

I can barely hear your voice today
Your words are gone
I will try to bring them back to you
Hoping
They bring you miracles that you prayed for
Before you reach the end

Whatever makes you strong again
Whatever makes you proud
Whatever makes you whole again
Please keep it on your mind
That I'll always run to you
Give you everything I have
I'll do anything, anything, anything for you
I will cheer you up somehow
I will nail your lips to a smile
I'll be your clown
Let you scream into my face
For all the sinners, all the shame
And for you

Whatever makes you strong again
Whatever makes you proud
Whatever makes you whole again
Please keep it on your mind
That I'll always run to you
Give you everything I have

Whatever makes you strong again
Whatever makes you proud
Whatever makes you whole again
Please keep it on your mind
That I'll always run to you
Give you everything I have
I'll do anything, anything, anything

Die Happy - Whatever

Spondylolysis

Spondylolysis, that's it. It is the reason behind the pain I keep feeling at my back since July, 2007.

There is some more information in the Internet about it, and it seems like I'll have to loose some weight and do more exercise.

Of course the broken pars interarticularis is there, and it won't be back to it's initial state, but hey, it could be worst! :D

From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea

every time we do this
i fall for her
wave after wave after wave
it's all for her
i know this can't be wrong i say
(and i'll lie to keep her happy)
as long as i know that you know
that today i belong
right here with you
right here with you...

and so we watch the sun come up
from the edge of the deep green sea
and she listens like her head's on fire
like she wants to believe in me
so i try
put your hands in the sky
surrender
remember
we'll be here forever
and we'll never say goodbye...

i've never been so
colourfully-see-through-head before
i've never been so
wonderfully-me-you-want-some-more
and all i want is to keep it like this
you and me alone
a secret kiss
and don't go home
don't go away
don't let this end
please stay
not just for today

never never never never never let me go she says
hole me like this for a hundred thousand million days
but suddenly she slows
and looks down at my breaking face
why do you cry? what did i say?
but it's just rain i smile
brushing my tears away...

i wish i could just stop
i know another moment will break my heart
too many tears
too many times
too many years i've cried over you

how much more can we use it up?
drink it dry?
take this drug?
looking for something forever gone
but something
we will always want?

why why why are you letting me go? she says
i feel you pulling back
i feel you changing shape...
and just as i'm breaking free
she hangs herself in front of me
slips her dress like a flag to the floor
and hands in the sky
surrenders it all...

i whish i could just stop
i know another moment will break my heart
too many tears
too many times
too many years i've cried for you
it's always the same
wake up in the rain
head in pain
hung in shame
a different name
same old game
love in vain
and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
away from home again...

The Cure - From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea

Malware and cryptography

Some time ago, I was a usual reader of security sites, mailing lists and public advisories. Sadly for me, I didn't have the time lately to keep reading about security.

Anyway, today I've found an interesting post in one of the blogs I usually read, the one from Ivan Krstić. In this post Ivan covers the use of cryptography in malware and viruses, pointing to a variant of Gpcode, called Gpcode.ak which, once a system is infected, encrypts every user file/document, leaving a note asking for some money if the user wants to get the files back. Impressive.

From Ivan's post:

it creates a unique 128-bit RC4 (Arcfour) key on each machine and uses a random initialization vector for each file it targets. The IV is written to the beginning of the file, encrypted by the per-machine key, run through MD5, and the output constitutes the per-file key, used to encrypt each file with RC4. At the end, the main per-machine RC4 key is encrypted with a 1024-bit RSA public key which the malware carries within its payload.

Seems this has been around for a while now, but it's the first time it catches my eye.

Of course, I agree with the idea that the problem behind this is not the fact that the malware/virus uses advanced cryptography, but the fact that people use insecure software and insecure operating systems (or broken ones, if you prefer).

Luckily for me, I'm not one of those.

Classic photographies (lego style)

Some days ago, I found Balakov's page in Flickr. There, this guy have published the LEGO version of some well-known historical pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/balakov/sets/72157602602191858

From Tiananmen Square to the american flag rise in Iwo Jima or Armstrong on the moon. Another way to see those photos.