Yottaflop

Ive updated my personal finance and budgeting site wehuhu.co.uk with a new default status screen as follows….

Tags:   screeny · wehuhuNo Comments.

I recently was reminded that the FTP protocol requires two ports…

FTPS by default fails … this is due to the FTP protocol requiring 2 ports: one for the commands  (which includes directory creation) and one for data e.g the result of a directory listing or a file transfer.

Passive Mode

Specifically, in Passive mode, during the handshaking  the FTP server tells the client which second port to connect back on for the data channel, this can be any port above 1023, these ports are (rightly) being blocked by the firewall.

Active Mode

in active mode once a client has connected on the command port the server actually initiates the data connection out to the client. The client will be listening on a random port above 1023, although this mode resolves the server firewall issue, it is unfeasible because we would be wholly dependent on any firewalls that the client is behind, and we have no control over them. In fact this is why passive mode exists.

SSL and FTP

The passive mode random port problem  is not usually a problem with normal  FTP (none ssl), because even if only the command port (21) is configured to allow FTP,  smart firewalls know which port is being requested in the protocol and open it so the client can initiate the data connection.

In FTP over SSL  the firewall can’t tell which port has been requested and so the firewall continues to block the data connection.

The Fix

1. Open all unreserved ports above 1023 in your firewall

2. If thats not possible then with most ftp servers (e.g. filezilla) you can specify a limited range of ports the server will reserve for the data channel, doing that and allowing this subset of ports through the firewall all passive more requests should work completely and the connections are still inbound only

Tags:   firewalls · ftp · sslNo Comments.

The snow flurry a few days back broke the routine of my daily hour long yomp down to Oxford, one morning the sun shone particularly brightly.

This is the best I could do to capture it on my Android G1…

Of course the snow inspired our graphic designers to new heights of creativity….

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Since writing my post on balance, I thought things were going well, I’ve been going to bed earlier not working on Wehuhu anywhere near as much (looking at X-platform mobile dev environments) getting up on time, spending more time on kids homework etc.

PB my  youngest…

…came to me a few days ago and said she’d written me a poem, ah bless…

Daniel the Spaniel

Big belly and bum

Hairs on is chin and more on his tum

Sometimes quite serious usually quite fun

prefers his computer

than talking to Mum!

What! not quite there yet then!

Tags:   pb · personal · poemNo Comments.

I’ve been reading a fair bit about startups (revisiting Paul Graham of course) , not that wehuhu is a real startup. This Christmas eve I was humbled and reminded me particularly of rule #10  of Evhead’s rules of startup.

I found a letter to me screwed up in the rubbish I was clearing up last night (Christmas eve), it was written by my wife (Ruth) to me on Christmas eve, it was a rant in true Ruth style, and was particularly colourful!

Shit!!!

Why…..

I’ve been polishing up the Wehuhu app that me and Ruth have been using for a while to manage our personal finances and project forward our budget. I recently mentioned it on twitter to get some feedback, I think others will findd it usefull.

I’ve been working on Wehuhu most weekend and evenings for a while, recently getting 3-4 hours sleep a night. It was Christmas eve and I was absolutely knackered and suggested I had a sleep in the evening before Ruth waking me up to do the stockings and final wrapping (the boys HDTV for the XBox - essential to get HDTV with consoles btw!)

Ruth was whacked too from working and sorting Christmas and didn’t like my suggestion. I was tired, the subsequent discussion didn’t go well, I ended up marching off upstairs to wrap Ruths presents, which allowed me to calm down. Ruth wrote this whilst I was upstairs, but then she decided to bin it, and not say much to me directly, probably a good call.

I know I get short when I get tired - I didn’t realise how  angry she felt with me, until I read this and man I am really glad I did.

It was a wake up call to me that my work \ project \ home life balance was fucked, Christmas morning began with the kids coming in at 7 and me feeling very apologetic. I was mainly forgiven and we were able to enjoy the kids stocking (sacks really) opening, Christmas turned out cool, and I’m pretty sure I will have learned my lesson. Ruth is ok for me to share this with others perhaps as a warning for all us geeks working too hard not to take our amazing family support for granted.

If you didnt follw the link rule #10  is ‘Be Balanced’

Tags: 2 Comments

I’ve been working on a new project for a while now - check it out….

http://www.wehuhu.co.uk

I was disappointed by existing services - all too US centric or requiring all my security questions, and really slow sites that includes Kublax and Wesabe.

MoneyDashboard looks hopefull - except its silverlight, and that still doesnt work to well on my Ubuntu and Android phone

Tag and categorise transactions - a firefox plugin to upload statements

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Its almost May and time to clean up the bike for spring. As far as I can tell from an initial clean the ACf-50 has done a superb job.

The truth is I’ve probably only ridden the Pan 20 or 30 times over winter so perhaps not quite the test I had hoped but, even so when compared to other untreated bikes I’ve owned and ridden over winter things look good.

After any salty winter wet rides, prehaps 10 or so, I let the bike cool and then splashed it off with a cold hose as normal (never use warm water - it disolves the salt granules more which seep into cracks more) . I’m happy to put the bike away wet and let it air dry in the garage or get it out wet for the next trip.

Next job - a proper clean and polish. (btw I’m using ACF on by bicycles from now on)

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After a few days pissing about, the pan is back together.

I The front mudguard mounting bolt which has been rounded off needs replacing so its not in very tight at the moment.

Tags: 3 Comments

The Pan ST1100 V is stripped down to coat everything in ACF-50 to see if it does what it says.

Stripped Bare

All plastic stripped off to get at the bodywork and other parts.

All visible surface rust wire brushed and treated with Krust (a modern day miracle) which turns light rust back into metal.

Frame joints and all fittings sprayed and dabbed with ACF-50.

Tags:   ACF-50 · Pan EuropeanNo Comments.

Some Notes on installing Oxford Hot Grips on a Pan ST1100.

Oxford Hot Grip

What:

1. The accessory voltage is rectified, not directly connected to the battery.

2. Attaching your hot grips directly to this doesn’t work.

Why:

3. When both grpis are attached the Voltage dips below 12 and the sensor turns off.

4. Attaching one grip and its all fine the voltage dip is less

Accessory Plug Location

So:

Wire up a relay direct to the battery switched from the accessory feed.

I’ve positioned the relay just below the main fuse box, on ABS/TCS models there will be another fuse box here though.

I’ll add a circuit diagram here soon.

After trying the engine running detection with the Hot Grips, I’m glad i wired the relay. As it only detects the running engine by voltage, so with a new fresh charged battery the grips stay on.

Tags:   Hot Grips · Pan European · ST1100No Comments.