I'm Spartacus !

I've come across the online spat between several bloggers and the the Burszynski clinic  about the  cancer treatments that they offer.
It started with a teenager, Rhys Morgan,  and has been picked up by the Guardian.
The clinic got a bit upaset about this and Rhys has posted the correspondence on line , in a post entitled 'threats from the  Burszynski clinic'.

a good summary of the whole treatment and why it has not been pursued more widely by the scientific community (from here)

Burzynski’s results have not been replicated by other researchers, and the cancer research community does not seem interested in his work. This is not because of any conspiracy – they just recognize crap when they see it

A few more internet references  :

Comprehensive list of internet references and other articles

Some history of antineoplastons and Dr Burszynski

A Summary of some technical details about antineoplastons from  quackwatch

I think the appropriate response would be to refer the Burszynski clinic to the case of Arkell vs Pressdram

Exim and multiple SMTP hosts

one of the charitable websites that  I do,  Woolsack  , has enrolled 380 people who want to receive the occasional  newsletter.  I set up a mailman mailing list courtesy of cpanel and the hosting, but after some problems, discovered that the hosting  limits emails to 150  in an hour. So of my 380 mailing list , under half were being delivered and the rest were being dumped, without warning. And there was no way to rate-limit the sending.
One suggestion from them was  to  have several lists , each of 150 , and to send them out an hour apart, but thats not practical.

So Ive written a  perl script that will send out emails , with a 30 second pause between them. But what about the  sending ? I think all ISP will  limit emails sent in some way. its difficult to find out what the  limit is.
In addition some spam filters will label as spam emails where the 'from' domain is different to the  server it is sent through.

For my hard-wired cable connection it is accepts emails on port 25 with no authentication, but the ISPs require authentication. Ive got exim as the software on my server .

Here's where I started. http://www.volker-wegert.de/en/node/35
 There is a difference between TLS and SSL , explained here

TLS is the easy one : 

Google  settings listed here  uses TLS/STARTTLS:
so my lookup file contains


$ less /etc/exim4/smtp_users
*@gmail.com: smarthost="smtp.gmail.com::587"  auth_name="xxxx@gmail.com"    auth_pass="xxxxxx"


and the router  in exim

smarthost_auto:
debug_print ="T. auto_route remote_smtp for $local_part@$domain from $sender_address "
condition = ${extract{smarthost}{${lookup{$sender_address}wildlsearch{/etc/exim4/smtp_users}{$value}fail}}}
   driver = manualroute
   domains = ! +local_domains
   route_list = "* ${extract{smarthost}{${lookup{$sender_address}wildlsearch{/etc/exim4/smtp_users}{$value}fai
l}}}"
   transport = remote_smtp

 and the transport

remote_smtp:
driver=smtp
hosts_require_tls = smtp.gmail.com::587
hosts_require_auth = smtp.gmail.com::587








Exim  versions <4.77 dont do SSL, and the suggestion  is to combine it with stunnel .I installed stunnel 

sudo apt-get install  stunnel

and configured stunnel

$ grep ^[A-Za-z] /etc/stunnel/stunnel.conf
sslVersion = SSLv3
chroot = /var/lib/stunnel4/
setuid = stunnel4
setgid = stunnel4
pid = /stunnel4.pid
socket = l:TCP_NODELAY=1
socket = r:TCP_NODELAY=1
debug = 3
output = /var/log/stunnel4/stunnel.log
client = yes
accept  = 26
connect = smtp.isp.com:465
:~$ 
 
 and started it
( etc/init.d/stunnel start)

and then tested the connection 

~$ telnet localhost 26
Trying ::1...
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.
220-mail.isp.com ESMTP Exim 4.69 #1 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:30:38 +0000
220-We do not authorize the use of this system to transport unsolicited,
220 and/or bulk e-mail.

and configure the smtp user 

 cat /etc/exim4/smtp_users | grep local
*@isp.com smarthost="localhost::26" auth_name="me@isp.com"  auth_pass="xxxxx"

but one last step,  when it still asked for authentication, that I found here
and the transport becomes 

debug_print = "T: remote_smtp for $local_part@$domain"driver = smtp
hosts_require_tls = smtp.gmail.com::587
hosts_require_auth = smtp.gmail.com::587
tls_certificate = CONFDIR/exim.crt
tls_privatekey = CONFDIR/exim.key



 

Ice/SliceChecksumDict.ice

the quick answer

apt-get --reinstall  install l ice33-slice mumble-server

I've got round to upgrading my ubuntu server from lucid to natty.
off it went  -asking the usual questions. 45minutes later and everything seemed to be OK..


But apache didn't start -  no error message when started from the commandline . but this was in the log file

~# tail /var/log/apache2/error.log
    #include 
<Ice/SliceChecksumDict.ice>1 error in preprocessor.
PHP Fatal error:  Unable to start ice module in Unknown on line 0
/usr/share/slice/Murmur.ice:9: error: Can't open include file "Ice/SliceChecksumDict.ice"
    #include 
1 error in preprocessor.
PHP Fatal error:  Unable to start ice module in Unknown on line 0

Google took me here  - I'm not alone .
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/zeroc-ice/+bug/551871

The  symlinks were already in   place so that wasnt the answer, so I then went here.  Thankfully  my O-level french was up to it .

http://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/viewtopic.php?id=520101
and the answer

apt-get --reinstall  install l ice33-slice mumble-server

Beremeal - so close and yet

 

We visited the Barony Mill when in Orkney  in June, and came away with some Beremeal and the recipe book, which Ive been using (slowly) since. Orkney Bere Bannocks have been OK, as has shortbread , made with a proportion (3oz meal + 5 oz plain flour) of the beremeal, but getting it to work with in bread,made with the breadmaker has been much more troublesome.

The standard loaf in the breadmaker uses 500g flour, so I've been trying replacing some of that with beremeal.
This is all empirical. more than 100 grams of beremeal prevents the loaf from rising , with the standard amount (1 tbsp) of yeast. Increasing this to 1 1/2 tbsp doesn't help.
So the maximum beremeal  I use is 75 grams /loaf and the rest (425g ) plain flour. The loaf rises but not as much as a 100% plain flour loaf.  The loaf is also very very moist, and it doesn't have the nutty flavour they described at the Mill, which is there in the shortbread.

Im  not  sure what to try next - Ive got about 1kg of beremeal left. 


 

Insulation part 1

We want to get the house insulated and energy-sorted.  Im discovering its not easy and straightforward to retrofit an 1860s victorian  terrace.

There are a number of different projects that need tackling.
This is one - sorting out an area at the back of the house - its a cold corner, I  think for several reasons - the solid wall is an external one - the neighbours' room stops short of our probably edwardian extension, there isn't a radiator really adjacent, and there is a very nice Velux window, which lets in a lot of light during daylight hours and is double glazed, but i bet there is some heat loss through it.

There has been damp coming through  - I think from a bush that was growing ito the brickwork, but the wall has been stripped for a while and  seems to be dry now.

Part of the wall has a cupboard along it , so its a relatively small area that is exposed. Ceiling to floor is approx 290 cm and the length of wall is approx 190cm. We thought studs and sheeps wool and then plasterboard is overkill. So its a board of some sort. And I've read that  damp can be a problem, as any moisture  condenses on the cold surface of the wall . So the  joins in the board etc are taped. But what about at the top and the bottom ? Does it mean that it will only really work well if its fully insulated and sealed at the top and the bottom to prevent ingress of water vapour laden air  -   Ive therefore got to remove the skirting board, and the original moulding ( it may eventually all be going - but that doesn't solve *this* problem.). The room isn't used a lot at the moment - so it shouldn't be a problem ( should it ? )

Ive  gone to google ( as you do ) . Heres a forum discussion that includes stuff  about  calculating the dew point of a wall. if I can calculate the dew point, I could show that it may not be a problem and another forum that highlights the problem of excessive condensation and it having nowhere to go

Ive not yet found the 2007  iso standard but there is this powerpoint about condensation (surface and interstitial) . its got 2 pictures -  this of internal insulation (which hasn't got vapour barrier)

and this of a timber-framed wall ( it looks like a stud with insulation between, and plasterboard on top ) - but this has got a vapour barrier .

I think what I need is the Glaser method of calculating the dewpoint.

Some of the insulation boards that you can buy come with  an integral vapour barrier. But will end up not letting  moisture out ?

or are we back to thinking  about studs and lambswool as the insulation , because that will breathe , or what i have seen listed as 10mm flexible liner  - it looks like its 'polystyrene wallpaper'

Javascript Associative Arrays

I've spent some time  looking into Javascript associative arrays.  But javascript doesn't have associative arrays. it has objects that can have values that can be accessed in a similar way to associative arrays in perl and PHP. Im no expert but heres how I created a multidimensional javascript array  from a PHP array .
The PHP  array has 4 levels  , that are read from a database .

So I've  read data from the database and  created a multidimensional PHP associative array

$ic[$sy][$si][$pr][$co]=$value;

so the php writes some javascript

backing up - or not.

ive got a good system running for backing up windows machines .
I thought Id sort out the backing up of my  linux machine as well.
So i thought id do the same thing

• create a shared folder on the remote system
• make it accessible to the computer I want to back up . 
• run rsnapshot and Im done 

But Im not done  .Both systems run linux , so it would be a nfs share.

on the server
root@server:/home/backup/mars/hourly.0/mars# ls -la /home/backup/ | grep ma
drwxrwxrwx  4 mars    users     4096 2011-09-01 14:27 mar
root@server:/home/backup/mars/hourly.0/mars#
 
 on the client
 mar@mar-desktop:/mnt$ mount | grep nfs
 192.168.2.20:/home/backup/mar on /mnt/marbackup type nfs 
 (rw,vers=4,addr=192.168.2.20,clientaddr=192.168.2.3)

 and i get this
 
 mars@mars-desktop:/mnt$ sudo rsnapshot  -c /etc/rsnapshot.conf  hourly
 require Lchown
 Lchown module loaded successfully
 Setting locale to POSIX "C"
 echo 6806 > /var/run/rsnapshot.pid
 mkdir -m 0755 -p /mnt/marsbackup/hourly.0/
 /usr/bin/rsync -avx --delete --numeric-ids --relative --delete-excluded \
     --temp-dir=/tmp --exclude=*iso --exclude=Dropbox/* --exclude=Ubuntu* \
     --exclude=.* --exclude=Downloads/* /home/mars \
     /mnt/marsbackup/hourly.0/mars/
 sending incremental file list
 created directory /mnt/marbackup/hourly.0/mars
 /home/
 rsync: chown "/mnt/marbackup/hourly.0/mar/home" failed: Remote I/O 
 error (121)
 /home/mars/
 rsync: chown "/mnt/marbackup/hourly.0/mar/home/mars" failed: Remote 
 I/O error (121)
 /home/mars/A4L Flyer (2up, 2x A5).ott
 /home/mars/Agenda_Committee Net Meeting_17_July_2011.pdf
 /home/mars/CTX.DAT
 
 etc
 on the server its this
 root@server:/home/backup/mar/hourly.0/mars/home/mar# ls -la
 total 1956
 drwx------ 21 nobody nogroup   4096 2011-09-01 14:38 .
 drwx------  3 nobody nogroup   4096 2011-06-04 15:27 ..
 -rw-------  1 nobody nogroup 113146 2011-08-26 13:40 a4flyer.jpg
 -rw-------  1 nobody nogroup   9955 2011-08-26 12:16 A4L Flyer (2up, 2x  A5).ott
 -rw-------  1 nobody nogroup  71243 2011-07-17 20:10 Agenda_Committee 
 Net Meeting_17_July_2011.pdf
 
 I can access the backed up stuff from the server , as root .
 
 but when i come to run the backup again
 it fails
 
 mars@mars-desktop:/mnt$ sudo rsnapshot  -c /etc/rsnapshot.conf  hourly
 require Lchown
 Lchown module loaded successfully
 Setting locale to POSIX "C"
 echo 6918 > /var/run/rsnapshot.pid
 native_cp_al("/mnt/marbackup/hourly.0", "/mnt/marbackup/hourly.1")
 mkdir("/mnt/marbackup/hourly.1", 0755)
 safe_chown(4294967294, 4294967294, "/mnt/marbackup/hourly.1")
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 rsnapshot encountered an error! The program was invoked with these options:
 /usr/bin/rsnapshot -c /etc/rsnapshot.conf hourly
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ERROR: Warning! Could not safe_chown(4294967294, 4294967294, 
 "/mnt/marbackup/hourly.1");
 ERROR: Error! cp_al("/mnt/marbackup/hourly.0/", 
 "/mnt/marbackup/hourly.1/")
 /usr/bin/logger -i -p user.err -t rsnapshot /usr/bin/rsnapshot -c \
     /etc/rsnapshot.conf hourly: ERROR: Error! \
     cp_al("/mnt/marbackup/hourly.0/", "/mnt/marbackup/hourly.1/")
 rm -f /var/run/rsnapshot.pid
 mars@mars-desktop:/mnt$

the problem is the root_squash option in nfs . The defautl is root_squash - ie  stuff transferred across is owned by nobody, rather thatn user that can do stuff. 

So i changed the mount options to 

rw,no_root_squash, and added the same user (mar) to the server . 

But still not fixed.I think the UIDs have to be the same as well 

And the ssh option in rsnapshot looks like its a pull backup option rather than push. 

Hmmm . I'l have to have think about this