Category: Internet Stuff

Internet updates, reviews and technology

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Bitcoin spending and transaction can be traceable

It seems that Bitcoin is only designed to eliminate the need for centralized issuer and central authority, but not anonymity, which is a common misconception among internet users as according to one of its developers (Jeff Garzik), transaction is recorded in public log and although the identity of the parties involved can’t be directly identified, the transaction can be easily traced and linked to other accounts through data mining and statistical analysis.

So it is harder to stay anonymous in transactions that involve large currency value.

bitcoinBitcoin is not anonymous

  • The Battle Is On – Silk Road vs Government, and Bitcoin Anonymity
    • Posted on

    How to optimize MySQL tables automatically using cron

    Busy websites which has a lot of insert/delete transactions may introduce fragmentation in MySQL tables. Fortunately, users and optimize mysql tables with ‘OPTIMIZE TABLE’ command, but how to execute it automatically?

    Here’s how:
    The mysql-client package in Ubuntu installation comes with a tool called mysqlcheck which is handy for optimizing table in mysql. This command can be executed from bash and can be executed using cron.

    to do that, just run this command.

    [bash]
    cron -e

    #in the crontab file– add this line
    59 23 * * * /usr/bin/mysqlcheck -o -v -u <mysql username> -h localhost <database_name> -p <password>
    [/bash]

    This will tell cron to execute mysqlcheck and optimize mysql table of the specified database exactly on 11:59pm, every day. You can change the setting to suit your need.

    Posted on

    Rant: About Starting up an E-commerce Site….

    A bit of advice when starting up an e-commerce (especially storefront) site, please use proper e-commerce software for the job. Do not ‘force’ a general-purpose (CMS) to be an e-commerce site via plugins (or *cough* *cough* ‘component’), it’s gonna be a pain-in-the-ass to secure ’em.

    So do yourself (and the sysadmin guys) a favor, use a proper e-commerce software platform or just turn to blogger.com for selling your stuffs…

    Posted on

    How to Hide Apache2 and PHP version without using mod_security in Ubuntu Linux

    Although security by obscurity is not the best policy to protect your IS assets, but it is still useful to thwarts simple network scanner or newbie crackers.

    Note: This tip is written for Ubuntu Linux, the steps is similar to other GNU/Linux distro, albeit with a slight variant.

    Hiding Apache2 version
    Edit /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

    Add these lines at the end of the file:
    ServerSignature Off
    ServerTokens Prod

    Restart Apache2
    [bash]
    sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
    [/bash]

    Hiding PHP version
    Edit /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini file

    Find these lines, and switch it off:
    expose_php = Off
    display_errors = Off

    Additionally you may disable certain ‘risky’ functions in php by editing the disable_functions line:
    disable_functions = phpinfo, system,show_source,

    Finally, you may restart Apache2 web server.
    [bash]
    sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
    [/bash]

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    Does anyone here still uses Java Applets?

    When I was studying in the university (more than 10 years ago), I learn how to build and embed Java Applets on web pages using Java 1.0 (after that Java 1.2), the functionality is quite limited since there’s no default 3D support in Java yet. Compared to Flash (then Flash 3.0 during that time), Java Applet is more suitable for math and scientific application, generating graphs and kaleidoscope base on mathematical formula, and everything.

    duke java logo

    Heck, Netscape Navigator still rules the day during that time. But what about now? With the technology explosion, does anyone here still use Java Applets?