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Systems & self-hosting.
Servers, storage, Linux, and the work of keeping your own systems running.
73 stories
A backup is not a backup until you restore it
Backup success, archive integrity, and application recovery are three claims. The defaults in restic, pg_restore, Compose, and Gitea prove the weakest.
Self-Driving Cars Will Be a Game Changer
I don't think most people appreciate how big of a deal self-driving cars will be when it is commercially available. When I talk about self-driving I mean fully…
How To Mount Remote File Systems Over SSH
I have a remote storage server in a colocation with 100s of TB of space. Yes, I know I have data-hoarding issues, no I am not going to get psychiatric help for it. But…
How To Hide Your Bash Command History
It's probably not a good idea to completely turn off bash history, one of the reasons bash history exists as a reference to mistakes or useful past commands you can't…
The Social Media Echo Chamber Hell
Not all hell is made of fire, some are made of an abyss with no way of pulling yourself out of it. With Social media's it's like jumping from one abyss to another. There…
Converting Mp4 to WebM using FFmpeg
For the longest time (still is to a smaller extent), gif ruled the interweb of video-based memes. But the problem with gif is they slow to load files are usually much…
Hide MacOS Desktop icons using CLI
One of my biggest pet peeves is clutter. I could very well have OCD (though not formally diagnosed). I often find myself spending an insane amount of time organizing…
How to enable ALPN on NGINX
LPN (Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation) is a TLS extension that allows an efficient way to negotiate encrypted traffic between the browser and the server. In order…
Why I am not too enthusiastic about AMP
According to Google, the whole point of AMP is for mobile users to have fast access to websites without users having to worry about large data usage or load time. There…
How not to store user passwords
If you are running a Web App and you are storing user passwords, it is very easy to get things horribly wrong, it's better to use third-party sign-in services like…
5 Tips to Learn Any Programming Language
Recently I have been spending an unholy amount of time learning a new programming language and improve my existing knowledge with lots of practice. My eventual goal is…
How to auto redirect to HTTPS links
I have been recently on a binge mode in converting all my sites to https. Including this one. It was long overdue. Thanks to the guys at “Let’s Encrypt” and their…
Why wanting to learn programming can be so overwhelming
For you to be a decent web application developer, you need to have a good grasp of HTML, CSS (has frameworks), PHP, MySQL/MariaDB/Postgres/SQLite (or frameworks/language…
How to flush DNS cache on Mac OSX
In order to use the internet, we need a DNS server to resolve domain names to IP address, in the early days of the internet you DNS server address all most always used…
How to Automate SSH login
I have to remotely log in to a lot of servers quite often, which is why I have setup several ssh related aliases on `~/.bash_profile` (Mac) or `~/.profile` (Ubuntu) to…
Why I Think IT Certifications are Overrated
IT certifications will probably help you weed out the absolutely hopeless to the probably hopeful prospect – and that’s about it. When it comes out to actual job…
Online Privacy Doesn’t Exist
There was a time when I was naive enough to think that there are tools you can use – TOR, VPN, Opensource Operating Systems, encryption – that would protect us from…
It’s the 5-Year Anniversary
5 years in itself is not a long time, but on internet time scale 5 years is not too savvy. It's not that hard actually, I just have to keep paying the monthly VPS fees…
How to Recover Deleted Files in Linux
There is a difference between deleting files using a windows manager GUI and deleting files using CLI. When deleting files using windows manager you are simply moving…
Termdown: CLI Countdown timer and stopwatch
I like to do my work in small timed chunks. I follow the Pomodoro method, the idea is that you spend 25 minutes focused work on whatever that you want to work on and…
Using to-do lists alone won’t make you more productive
I am a productive junkie for as long as I can remember. I started with simple text files written in notepad and slowly my obsession with to-do lists morphed into wanting…
5 youtube-dl tips you might not know about
youtube-dl is a python based command line video downloader that just works. Despite its name would suggest, youtube-dl downloads more than just youtube videos, it…
Cloudflare: Making the internet a little bit faster – for a select group of people
When I wrote my previous article on Cloudflare, and how it craps all over my daily internet browsing and possibly millions of others, most of the responses I got was…
Starting an ISP is really hard – How we became profitable
This is a follow-up from my earlier post on how hard it is to run an ISP business. I would have preferred a single article but the first article was long enough, for my…
There is still time to save online advertisement
Even though I have Ads on this blog, I have absolute disgust towards online ads in general, in its current form. I wish there was a middle ground where online content…
Starting an ISP is really hard, don’t do it
After reading Arstechnica’s excellent article on internet infrastructure and what goes on behind the scene to bring the internet to your home, I have a newfound respect…
Speed up your Ubuntu updates with apt-fast
As far as package manager goes apt-get is perhaps the most popular and well-liked package managers out there. One of the reasons Debian and Debian based distributions…
How to sleep in a digital world
It’s bad enough that I am a light sleeper. A small noise or a change in temperature can often wake me up and it can be very difficult for me to go back to sleep. I know…
CloudFlare is ruining the internet (for me)
Follow up: Cloudflare: Making the internet a little bit faster – for a select group of people CloudFlare is a very helpful service if you are a website owner and don’t…
How to enable TRIM support for Hackintosh
I recently did a Hackintosh build after fiddling with the idea for more than 3-4 years. I don’t know why but for some reason I always thought Hackintosh builds are a…
How To Prevent a Specific Ubuntu Package From Updating
Sometimes a newer version of popular packages may no longer support older config options. So either you have to painstakingly port all the old config options to the new…
Remote Desktop with SSH Tunneling
One of my client’s requirement is to have a Ubuntu server with a Desktop Environment. Once in a while, he will call me up to look at some problems he is having with one…
5 Reasons Why I Think Ubuntu Edge is a Brilliant Move
As of this writing, Ubuntu Edge funding have reached $5.6M out of their audacious $32M goal. If they reach their funding goal, it will be the single largest crowdfunded…
6 of My Favorite Geeky Sub-Reddits
I spend an unhealthy amount of time on Reddit and I keep telling myself that the time spent on Reddit is not wasted since I am learning something new almost every day.…
PRISM: We are fighting the wrong battle.
After a month’s worth of prism related revelations and discussions, something just clicked inside me and I realized that we are fighting the wrong battle by trying to…
How to use the internet in a post-prism world
How does a typical person use the internet? Either you live in the Googleverse, where you use the best search engine in the world to search for everything that is…
VPS Review: DigitalOcean
I usually don’t review VPS or hosting services, they stopped becoming a novelty a long time ago. But DigitalOcean is a bit different and I only started using them little…
Quick Tip: How to check if your wordpress site is under bruteforce attack
There has been a lot of talks recently about WordPress sites being under brute-force attacks on admin login form by dumb bots. It’s mostly because a default WordPress…
Why I don’t think Flickr’s 1TB storage offer is such a big deal
Like everyone else my first reaction to Flickr’s new storage plan was jaw-dropping happiness. Flickr was not only the first web service that I actually paid for, but I…
Host your own dropbox-like cloud backup service under 5 minutes
Over the years, we have all come to love and depend on dropbox for its seamless and no-nonsense sync and backup feature. Even now after all these years when there are so…
Quick Tip: How to change nginx server header using varnish
This is how my custom server header looks like (Server:R2D2) – curl -I www.slashgeek.net HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Type: text/html Last-Modified: Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00…
I am not even mad that Google canceled Reader
There seems to be a lot of misplaced anger towards Google for deciding to cancel Reader. I say misplaced because if you think about it there isn’t any reason to be angry…
Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy
Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal. – Steve Jobs Anyone who spent a reasonable amount of time with both OS X and Ubuntu with its recent iteration of design changes…
HowTo Setup a VPN in Under 5 Minutes
I don’t like the idea of relying on VPN specific services for your VPN needs. I think if you do care about your privacy you should self-host it; considering how cheap…
Google Glass is a Privacy Nightmare
Hear me out, before you nerd out and get all defensive about Google Glass. Are you ok with the government installing cameras everywhere in major cities of the world?…
Why I Never Had a Virus/Malware In My Windows Computer In 12 Years
I can safely say in the last 12 years or so I never had a computer virus (or malware) on my Windows computer. It’s not because I have some über anti-virus or setup that…
Everything You Need To Know About Low End Box
During my freelance sysadmin days, my biggest annoyance was clients renting really high-end dedicated servers for sites that were serving a measly few thousand users a…
Self-Host Everything
In today’s world, there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about your privacy and your data. We live in a time when the government is fighting to have unrestricted…
Why All Browsers Should Move to WebKit
As a web developer, I know the pains of trying to work around kinks to support all variations of all major browsers to have a unified look, feel, and performance. Even…
In 2013 “Year of Linux Desktop” Will Stop Being a Cliché
You have probably read it a thousand times how year X will the year of the Linux desktop, only to know deep down that this will be repeated next year by some tech…
How To Make Your Browser Use Less Memory
Modern browsers are ruthlessly fast, feature-rich, extendable, and memory hungry. There was a time when Firefox’s huge collection of browser extensions was its major…
10 Must Have Sublime Text Packages and Themes
Since its initial release Sublime Text has quickly become the text editor of choice for many coders. I only recently started using ST and I am already in love with it,…
How to get Google Apps For Free
Google recently discontinued the free basic Google Apps for Business offer. Existing customer can keep their accounts but new users are, at least officially, not allowed…
Using Crafty Chess Engine to Benchmark Your Hardware
There was a time when I was really involved with the computer chess community. I used to organize off-line and online computer chess tournaments. Try all the new free or…
8 Features Unique to Opera Browser
Opera can’t seem to get a break. They get to make all these browser innovations and come up with original ideas and still sits at the bottom of the barrel in browser…
What It’s Like To Be An Ubuntu User In The Linux world
I really wish tech blogs would stop promoting Ubuntu. How about Debian proper or any other distro that hasn’t bastardized and broken so much of Debian. If you ever write…
Explain to me like I am 10: What is Linux?
The word “Linux” can be used to explain two things, both meanings are widely used. Its original meaning was used to define Linux as the Brain of an operating system,…
12 Interesting Penetration Testing Linux Distros
Penetration Testing Linux distros are a group of special purpose Linux distros used for analyzing and evaluating security measures of a target. These kinds of…
Unplug From Google
If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold. – blue_beetle There are more than a 100 Google products out there. Most of them are…
My First Encounter with a Computer Virus
It was 1999. I just got my first computer from my parents. It was a Compaq Presario. It was a beautiful thing. I couldn’t wait to start doing something with it.…
10 Special Purpose Linux Distributions
The beauty of Linux Distribution is that it can be customized to do almost anything you want. As long as you have the time and the desire to do it. Many popular Linux…
Create Your Own Custom Ubuntu-based Linux Distro
Ubuntu Builder is a custom Linux Distribution builder that gives you a wide range of options and choices to build your own custom Ubuntu-based Linux distribution. It…
First Look into Firefox OS
Firefox OS is an open-source and free mobile OS concept by Mozilla based on the idea that the OS and apps can be built using open standards like HTML5 and javascript. It…
How to Emulate Android on Your Desktop Using Android SDK
The purpose of Android SDK is to allow android app developers to build and test their apps in a virtual environment. You can use the android emulator feature on SDK to…
Enlightenment Window Manager (E17) is Ready After 12 Years
After going through (not so) intense development for 12 long years Enlightenment 0.17 is finally here. There was a time (I still remember it fondly) when most Linux…
How to Unban Yourself from Denyhosts and fail2ban
One of the first things I do when configuring a Linux server is to install denyhosts or fail2ban to safeguard my server from an automated login attack by script kiddies…
Quick Tip: Package Manager for Cygwin
Cygwin is a great medium to take advantage of Linux tools without actually having to install Linux. If you are a newbie trying to get your feet wet with Linux system,…
How to be completely Anonymous online
This is what happens when you visit slashgeek.net. It informs three other websites of your presence. This is not something I consciously and intentionally did to track…
Reset Linux Root password in under 5 minutes
If you are horrified to find out how easy it is to reset a Windows password you are in for a treat. To reset Linux root password you don’t even need a live distro. Going…
Reset Windows password with Linux in under 5 minutes
This post is not about pointing out one OS’s security deficiency over other or trying to make some fanboy points with Linux users. The simple fact is once you have…
5 features Opera Browser did first
With all the recent rumors about Facebook buying Opera it might be hard for non-opera users to understand why Opera might be valuable enough product for Facebook to…
How to do a quick benchmark for your Linux server
The first thing I do when I buy a new server is to run a quick benchmark to see if they are selling what they are advertising. The script I use very simple and you can…
2 Terminal video downloader for Linux systems
Most people usually get browser plugins or online video downloader services to download videos from youtube or other video sharing sites, but more often than not I found…
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