Intro to IPTables

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VI Editor Primer

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SMTP Resources

RPG - Mandrake Postfix
Postfix SMTP Configuration

It's Dead, Jim

The DSL line went down today. Long live the cable modem!

SMTP - Should I?

OK, so I have this server running Samba, NTP, IMAP, and SSH. Now, I'm thinking about SMTP (Not backups, as I should be).

The current setup has each mail client pointing to the InsightBB SMTP server, and the mail goes out just fine. However, I'd like to learn more about email, so maybe I should setup one here. That way, we could begin the process of sending mail even if the connection is down (Wait! Isn't it an 'always on' connection?).

Also, when I send a message to my wife or kids (only a few feet away). It can take up to 20 minutes to appear in their inbox. We have this convoluted system of forwarding and fetchmail to get things to the IMAP server.

So, how does this thing work? I should probably first do a little research to see how to setup SMTP here. Then, do I tell my SMTP to contact the outside SMTP to get a message out? How about the internal messages? They will be addressed to an outside server, so I'll have to somehow fool it to keep those messages local.

Oh boy! A new project!

Killing DSL - Part 2

(See part 1 here)

I heard from ResNet today - two days after I sent the email. They said that I have to call Verizon to get the thing cancelled!

This time, they gave me a local number. I called it, and my old buddy Deb W. answered the phone. (At my previous job, I used to work with Deb for phone system support. I didn't mind talking to her, but I don't miss supporting a phone system. What a pain!) Anyway, I said my name, and she said 'How are you?' - as if we had just talked the day before. I explained what I wanted to do, she confirmed that I didn't want to cancel the voice service, and she said it would take four working days.

Here it is the end of the 1st working day, and the modem still has a carrier. I'll check each evening to see if it is off by Thursday.

The DSL Line That Would Not Die

I tried to cancel my DSL line today. Apparently, I have a setup (Verizon hooks it up, but Purdue is the ISP) that Verizon can't handle well, so it was quite frustrating.

I first called Verizon residential customer support. I gave them my phone number and they told me that I don't have a DSL connection with them. I explained that Purdue is the ISP, and after a quick wait on hold, was told that a different department would handle it. I was transferred.

The 2nd guy (who was very polite - they all were) asked for my number, and then told me that I didn't have DSL service. Once again, I explained the ISP/carrier relationship, and he said he would transfer me to the right place. Unfortunately, the transfer wouldn't work, so he gave me the number.

I called the number and got right in to a technician. This guy didn't sound like a customer service guy (they always sound like they're 23 with a phone headset in a cubicle farm). He was a little crustier sounding, and I could hear the sound of actual work in the background. He asked me my number. (At this point, I felt like the guy in the auto insurance commercial that has taped his responses to the questions he has apparently been asked over and over, and plays the tape into the phone while he eats his lunch.) I gave him the number, and he surprisingly told me that he could see my connection. He issued the disconnect order and gave me a Termination Order Number. Hooray! But wait...this action would disconnect the line, but the charge will continue until Purdue issues a stop order. Time to call Purdue next.

I looked at the ResNet web page, but couldn't find a number to call or email address to target. So, I called the ITaP support line. After I told the kid what I wanted to do, it took him a couple of minutes with me on hold to find that I need to send an email.

I sent the email to ResNet asking for the service to be cancelled as of today. I still have heard no response.

More as it develops....