Monthly Archive for March, 2006

Page 2 of 3

Time wasters that made me feel stupid

Published on March 23, 2006 in Techie. 0 Comments

You know you have had them. Simple projects that turn out to be not so simple, and then you discover that it was your ignorance getting in the way. I had a few of them these last few days.

1. Default Gateway

While setting up alternative porst on security cameras I had three cameras that just would not behave. I tried over and over to get them to be visible from outside the LAN but unlike their dozens of siblings they jsut wouldn’t work. The problem (after a couple hours of tracking down phantom issues): I had not set the default gateway to the firewall’s IP so they would accept incoming from the WAN.

2. cURL

Building a basic php proxy for managing security videos through one server I decided cURL would be the best option. It just would not work nomatter what I tried. Then I discovered that cURL did not handle blank spaces well for the target address, but several target directories had them. The solution may be to just rename all directories so that none have spaces or trick it so that it sends out with a substitute character in place of the blank then have the script it is grabbing turn the replacement character back to a space.

3. Cookies don’t like ports.

One of my projects includes accepting incoming http calls via different ports. I was using $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] to set the cookie domain and could not figure out why the cookies would not set. HTTP_HOST includes the port. THat meant either setting the domain by hand (not preferred), scripting to cut the “:” and everything after that off (the port number), or using $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME']. I may regret this in the future, but I jsut used SERVER_NAME.

4. The Administrator password.

One of the laptops I work with was having booting troubles so I grabbed the Win XP Pro disc and went into the recovery console. It requested the administrator password so I entered the password of the regular user (with admin rights) and no go. I entered the password used for Administrator on the network, no go. I entered in the Administrator password as it was when the computer was commissioned (we do change the password), and still no go. 3 strikes and you are out, hit enter to restart. I figured I would need to be near the network to log on as admin, so since I was doing this at home I figured I would wait. Just on a whim I restarted it and hit enter without a password. I was in.

So, now I am just a little bit smarter, but not much further along.

How to get on the bad side of IT

Published on March 21, 2006 in Misc Othr Stuf and Techie. 0 Comments

If you happen to be one of those people who needs regular computer tech support from the IT department I recommend not getting this item and placing it on your desk before calling to say your mouse isn’t working..

Giving away free content won’t kill you

Published on March 20, 2006 in Misc Othr Stuf and Techie. 0 Comments

But it might make you stronger.
When people find out that we are providing our sermons and additional content online while still selling it hard copy from the church bookstore they sometimes ask, “But won’t that hurt sermon CD sales?”

Our message ministry is not a profit area in our congregation. Some churches and ministries may use theirs for the extra money, but that is not our purpose for it.

We give sermon CDs to shut-ins and even have a few people who borrow a bunch of cassettes and turn them back in for reuse. The ministry leader is even taking time to dig back through the old cassettes and transfer them to CD and wants for them to be in an online archive for people to enjoy.

The “Church of the customer Blog” (not a religious site, by the way), has a post about How MIT’s Open CourseWare is growing. Their goal was to expand the reach of their education provision and ours is to expand the reach of our ministry.

There is a desperate lack of free quality information on many subjects online. MIT has helped to fight that in our area, and solid churches can do it in theirs.

Reaching the Backward parts of our world

Published on March 20, 2006 in Religion. 0 Comments

Our missions theme for the past two weeks sported a globe on stage, but there was a slight issue that did bug a few people. The world spun backwards. I have a short, poorly lit video of it here: The Backwards World (200KB), but you can see the globe itself on the site of the company we rented it from: Mugwump Productions.

Something I did want to share is a video shown during the service concerning one of the Missions supported through Christ’s Church.

Ashram means “Refuge” in Hindi, and while there is a connection with Hinduism as the term “Sanctuary” has in Christianity, I see a productive connection with this ministry.

A few years ago our minister traveled out to India to meet with Mid India Christian Mission, a group that we have been supporting for a very long time, and a plan was set into motion to create a self sustaining community to help and reach the lowest people in the area. Hinduism has not been known for charity. The belief that people deserve their current state whether due to something they have done in this life or in a previous life keeps people from helping those who need it the most.

The project is pretty well laid out in this video. It has received blessing after blessing as our project even became a link between the University of Florida and the University of Bangalore.

As a note, the three albino children shown in the video had dyed their hair red. So, before you wondered how that happened I thought I would explain.

Video (Size: 15MB): Christ’s Church Ashram Project near Damoh, India

D-Link Security Camera Ports

Published on March 19, 2006 in Security and Techie. 0 Comments

It is a bit like poking holes in our armor, but I have been opening a few ports for access to our cameras so I can see them from outside the network without logging in via remote desktop.

Since these are webcams they are built to serve images online. You can allow people to look at the camera without a password (bad idea for this task), with limited access via password (what I prefer for viewing), or with the admin password (for changing settings).

They also allow you to set extra ports for access. This way I can view all the cameras through one address simply by changing the ports. Before doing this I took a bit of time to look over the IANA Registered Ports list (more info) to make sure I wasn’t parking them on ports where they don’t belong.

Continue reading ‘D-Link Security Camera Ports’

The Police get robbed

Published on March 19, 2006 in Security. 1 Comment

I heard about this on the radio and it caught my attention for a few reasons.

1. A police evidence storage building was robbed. Who robs the police? My guess is someone working for the police.

As we say at the church, we always recognize the face of the person caught stealing. The theives we catch returned regularly to the scene of the crime. They did it the next day they returned to work.

Based upon reported thefts in one area of the church I placed a hidden camera and within 45 minutes someone walked by and stole the bait (not worms, but close). The next morning when I looked at the video I instantly knew who it was.

2. “He said he plans to take steps to prevent any additional thefts, including installing video surveillance and alarm systems to protect the vaults.”

I would assume it was secured. At least an alarm somewhere. Especially after the previous thefts.

What church building (other than a little church in the woods) would not have an alarm? I have to admit that there was a time when every staff member, every former staff member, and many of the non-staff members knew the church alarm code and could walk in and out any time of the night. It had not changed in 6 years. For a staff of about 60 (not counting custodial) there are 7 people who know how to turn off the alarm. Even the preacher doesn’t know. Only 4 additional people know how to turn on the alarm (my security hosts who handle nightly lockup).

When the building is closed, everyone must leave. If there is something important that they absolutely must stay late for then they must ask permission from someone on the administrative staff (typically me) to stay later. That person is responsible for setting the alarm (thankfully that can be done remotely).

3. Did you notice the names?

I cannot get over the fact that the mayor is Mister Office and the Chief of Police is Officer Mister.

Actually, I am hoping that he is an officer (the chief, not the mayor), but I have not heard it referenced anywhere. While looking around I did get a kick out of the name of the county Sheriff. Every county needs some Justus

And “they” say Creationism is faith based . . .

Published on March 17, 2006 in News and Religion. 2 Comments

I don’t have enough blind faith in me to ever think that these people know what they are talking about.

Looking for IP Camera software

Published on March 16, 2006 in Security and Techie. 3 Comments

The recording software for the cameras we use is pretty lousy. It is what came with the D-Link cameras we use.

I am searching around for other software, but on the off chance that someone reading this has found something goo I would love to hear about it.

Apart from just googling, I have been digging through the following sites: http://www.video-home-surveillance.com/ & http://www.ipcamerareports.com

I have tried http://www.zoneminder.com/, but I would really like something Windows based and more intuitive. If I am out of town and something happens then I want to be able to explain how the system works easily over the phone. Linux and ZoneMinder are not the way to go on that.

As we try out more software I will report back here.

Fact: Idiots stare at cameras

Published on March 16, 2006 in Security. 0 Comments

I like having the lights on the cameras blinking because it seems to make people look directly into the camera when about to do something stupid.

It typically works.

Hired a web design company today

Published on March 15, 2006 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

It is a small world when you are involved with ministries.

While looking around for a company to hire for our church web site I was thinking about some Flash work for a project at church. My mind went back to bchalker from CWM and his BleedingTree site (he has let his other Flash development sites lapse). After a quick look I realized he lives in Jacksonville now andafter I contacted him I found out he works with a web design company down the road.

We hired the company to do our new site. I hope to have it ready to be unveiled soon.