J_K9 @ Linux

HOW TO: Setup A CS:Source Dedicated Server

The purpose of this tutorial is to teach you how to set up a dedicated server (using Steam) for a game or mod based on the Source engine, like Half-Life 2 (HL2) or Counter-Strike:Source (CS:S). I personally prefer Counter-Strike:Source, as it is a realistic and enjoyable First Person Shooter (FPS), so I will focus on setting it up.

Continue reading HOW TO: Setup A CS:Source Dedicated Server…

Fedora Core 5 Is Out!

Fedora Core 5 was released last night! There are five CD ISOs to download, and there is no DVD one as of yet. I will be downloading it and reviewing it over the next few days (my holidays start on Wednesday), so I am looking forward to that.

Above is a screenshot of it (courtesy of OSDir) - GNOME still seems to be the default desktop environment, but KDE is also included for the hardcore KDE fans. Thank God for that

Google AdSense - Statistical Errors?

I have been thinking about this for a while now, and I am not sure whether this issue has been raised before. Neither am I aware of whether this would work or not, but if it works then there is a serious blunder in Google’s advertising system.

Let’s call our attacker X. If X spoofed his IP address, then any replies to packets sent from his computer would never reach him again - unless of course the spoofed IP address was of a compromised computer. So, X decides to write a script which will spoof his IP address to something else every five seconds, and writes another script which opens URLs in a browser and then closes the window - also in five seconds. X then goes onto my website and gets the link to one of the ads in my AdSense bar (which is, coincidentally, paid by the advertiser per click and not for a certain click limit). He hard codes it into his script, and then runs both scripts simultaneously.

Now, Google would see this as a click from a unique IP address every five seconds, and so would count it accordingly. Therefore, not only will the person running the AdSense bar (me, in this case) get far more money, but the person who is paying for the advertisement via AdWords will have to pay Google for every click. It’s making me rich, and robbing the advertiser of his money.

Obviously, the scripts would have to be more complicated than as I have described them, but the same concept applies. Would this work? And if so, isn’t this a critical error in Google’s advertising system? I hope I am proven wrong..

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Announced

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 promises to be the best release we have seen yet. It includes stunning graphical improvements (using the Novell-created XGL), improved functionality (OpenOffice.org 2.0.2 can even use VBA macros), integrated desktop searches (using Beagle), and looks like it could well be the ultimate all-in-one Linux desktop which could hopefully bring Linux into the Windows world.

Some screenshots can be found on Novell’s website, but here is one of my favourites:

I really like the way they have designed the interface - it is easy on the eyes, but it also as powerful as you want it to be. You can read the Computer World article to find out more information about this revolutionary desktop. Who knows - maybe this could be the downfall of Windows Vista?

Converting HTML To BBCode

I am currently learning PHP, so I set out to write an application which would convert my HTML-coded tutorials into BBCode suitable for forums. That goes without saying that my code failed miserably.. I was not too far off though; I got the general gist of it. So, I decided to ask the wonderful guys and gals on the ‘General user’ PHP mailing list (which, by the way, means what it says about being of very high volume!), and they came up with a solution.

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My Inactivity

Sorry that I haven’t been around lately (or posted much), but I am extremely busy with work, exams, PHP learning, forum moderation, and other stuff. It has been almost a month since I spoke of the update to Wordpress 2.0 and the theme, and it’ll come around soon - slowly but surely. I am cooking up a nice tutorial which I will either release tomorrow, Thursday, or over the weekend depending on how much time I have to spend during the upcoming days. I would tell you what that tutorial is - but I wouldn’t want to spoil a surprise, would I?

I have a line-up of other tutorials which will be on their way in the next few weeks, and I’m still not sure whether to make them all one tutorial or to make them all separate and then bring them together in the final one. Either way, I’m hoping you will enjoy them..

So, while you’re waiting for these ‘masterpieces’, you might like to check out about Solaris’ anti-Linux campaign, or if you’re really behind the news, a survey on whether ‘Linux is easier to manage than Windows’.

Server OS - Battle Of The Titans

For the first time in the past decade (and possibly more), there have been more Microsoft servers sold in one year than UNIX(-based). This may seem very surprising, as UNIX and *nix-based servers have been proven in several articles to be faster and usually more cost-effective, but there is no fooling the results.

Continue reading Server OS - Battle Of The Titans…