[ale] Old host you want to unload?

Scott Bragg walkingbear at gmail.com
Tue Jul 16 03:50:17 EDT 2013


First, to the OP, I have a couple of old Dell 650 full tower desktops (If
you can call something weighing in at 30+ lbs a desktop) sitting around.
Dual 32bit Xeon cpus, 4GB ram, 72GB (I think, would have to look) IDE hard
drives.    They were pulled and surplussed from an old employer.  They're
relatively quiet and should have more than enough oomph for what you
need.

Second, I'm dealing with some of this now with my 8 year old son.
Minecraft, steam games and youtube videos are his primary interests right
now.  He learned to launch a browser and get to youtube over 3 years ago.
I'm much more interested in internet-proofing my kid than kid-proofing the
internet.  His computer is in the main living room of the house and he's
learned to ask if something comes up that he doesn't understand or isn't
what he expected.

We've already had the talk about there being some things on the internet
for adults and if something makes him uncomfortable, just close the browser
and move on.    So far he hasn't run into anything really out there or
disturbing.  He will eventually and we plan to answer any questions or
explain things to him as appropriate for his age.

I guess the point is that your kids *will* find what they're looking for on
the internet.  They *will* get around any content blocks.  How much effort
you expend and force them to expend on a lost cause is up to you.   I do
like the idea of using it as a carrot to encourage them to dive deeper into
networking, etc... but there are, to my mind, better ways to do that than
methods that instill a sense of distrust at such a young age.

Scott




On Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 3:02 PM, Scott Castaline <skotchman at gmail.com>wrote:

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> That would have been Jerald Sheets that has expressed interest. If he
> has a change of heart you're more than welcome to have at it. It's
> just sitting here collecting dust. Word of warning though it is really
> loud. When I was running it, we were living in a two bedroom apartment
> and you could hear it even outside. We later moved to a 3 bedroom apt.
> w/attached 2 car garage and even there you could hear it in the
> garage. So if you have a spot that is isolated from living space
> (basement or a reasonably sound proofed closet/room), it should be ok.
> I say that because I tried to keep it running 24/7 and the boss,
> social director, significant other gave me an ultimatum, shut it off
> or live alone. It did stay on for a day or 2 longer until she started
> packing.
>
>
>
> On 07/15/2013 01:19 PM, Chuck Payne wrote:
> > Scott,
> >
> > If Ron doesn't take you up on that, I like to see I can get it. I
> > do a lot work with openSUSE, I been looking for a server that I can
> > run it on to show off.
> >
> >
> > Pup
> >
> > On Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 11:42 AM, Scott Castaline
> > <skotchman at gmail.com> wrote: I've got an old Dell Poweredge 1400
> > series server. It only has one of two possible CPU modules, and
> > 512MB. It also has 3 SCSI Wide HDDs. (It did have 4 but one died,
> > can't find track 0 on powerup, you can hear the constant recal
> > going on with that drive.) It hasn't been powered up in a while,
> > you're welcome to come over and check it out, if it interests you.
> > I live in the Lawrenceville area.
> >
> > Scott C
> >
> >
> > On 07/15/2013 10:14 AM, Jerald Sheets wrote:
> >>>> Ok, I'm at a desk and not on a phone.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Let's sort of set the stage, if you will, to clarify a few
> >>>> things.
> >>>>
> >>>> First, I've raised two boys into their 20's and done this
> >>>> all before. Second, I've got a metric crapload of snort
> >>>> processing scripts I've written that watch for all manner of
> >>>> icky URL matches on "requested sites" and also on Squid's
> >>>> logs to do the same.  I took the stance with the boys of
> >>>> "trust but verify" which is a very "apple-storeish" thing to
> >>>> do.  I had transgressions once by each boy that got addressed
> >>>> personally and quietly and have managed (aside from the
> >>>> occasional pop-up storm) to keep them "porn free" if you will
> >>>> as long as they've been under my roof. Anything they've
> >>>> managed outside of the house is beyond the scope of my
> >>>> purview, of course, but they pay for their own phones now… I
> >>>> can't "control" their intake forever.
> >>>>
> >>>> Now I'm on "kids 2.0" with my second wife, and they're all
> >>>> girls and at ages 3, 6, and 10.  The 10 year old has an
> >>>> internet-capable device,  so, I'm putting the same system
> >>>> back in place with the same scripts and logging and automated
> >>>> emails and such.  However, their mother wants the added
> >>>> protection of content filtering for a couple of years until
> >>>> "aunt flo" arrives and she can halve "talk 1.0" with her, but
> >>>> also wanting to know /what /was requested and by what
> >>>> mechanism.  Ipcop to the rescue again…you can say "no" via
> >>>> automated system, but it's considerably more important to
> >>>> know what is being asked for and how.  Was it typed in? Why
> >>>> is the child interested in that particular topic?  (etc.
> >>>> etc.)
> >>>>
> >>>> Also, having all these folks on the network at home while
> >>>> "mom & dad" work from home a lot requires packet-shaping of
> >>>> the Xbox and Rou down and web traffic/SSH up.  Also, when on
> >>>> the road, I need to be able to VPN into my private network
> >>>> from anywhere to do something even so small as printing a doc
> >>>> for my wife all the way to rooting around my internal net for
> >>>> various reasons.  (i.e., you can't hit the time machine from
> >>>> the outside)
> >>>>
> >>>> So, a smallish box with modest means to run a couple hundred
> >>>> meg distro for firewalling seemed to be the way to go for us…
> >>>> that's why I asked.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> TL;DR.  (I've done this before.. I just need hardware)
> >>>>
> >>>> Something else on the topic…. I re-read and it appeared I
> >>>> was *only* asking for "free" stuff… I'm not. If you've got
> >>>> something hogging space and you're under a "nag order" to get
> >>>> rid of it, please do think of me first.  And if it requires a
> >>>> few bucks, that's good too.  I just wanted to work with you
> >>>> guys who may need a few bucks first before giving that cash
> >>>> to $company making cheap crap in China.  I'd rather buy the
> >>>> cheap crap from you instead. XD
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --j
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> On Jul 15, 2013, at 8:52 AM, Tom Freeman
> >>>> <tfreeman at intel.digichem.net
> >>>> <mailto:tfreeman at intel.digichem.net>> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Please forgive the chime in - but...
> >>>>>
> >>>>> +1  with an observation of sorts
> >>>>>
> >>>>> A parent still needs to monitor sufficiently to catch a
> >>>>> usuable per centage (what ever that value is) to ensure
> >>>>> that the conversation takes place. (I caught a daughter
> >>>>> sneaking a viewing of "Flesh Gordon" from a copy her late
> >>>>> mother gave me. _That_ was an awkward conversation!)
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> On Mon, 15 Jul 2013, Jim Kinney wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> In short: don't rely on technology as a role model
> >>>>>> stand-in for children. I have exactly 0 filters on the
> >>>>>> feed at my house. none. waste of time. Kids will find
> >>>>>> what interests them. If it's porn, you're overdue for
> >>>>>> "the talk" and that one will go on for the next several
> >>>>>> years. If the adult is not capable of sitting down and
> >>>>>> watching what they are and rationally explaining what is
> >>>>>> problematic about it, the child will begin to disregard
> >>>>>> the adult as an authority figure and view them as just
> >>>>>> another knee-jerker wearing blinders. Most kids are
> >>>>>> wanting to find stuff that's not porn and other "bad
> >>>>>> stuff". Most kids get embarrassed or grossed out when it
> >>>>>> accidentally crosses the screen on an errant mouse click.
> >>>>>> It's far more important to have them understanding that
> >>>>>> they will not be punished the occasional mistake but will
> >>>>>> be expected to learn from them. Teach them the "back"
> >>>>>> button in both mouse and keystrokes :-) Ron brought up a
> >>>>>> bigger issue that can't be filtered with current tools:
> >>>>>> what the kids actually say online to each other. Between
> >>>>>> 12-13 and about 19-20, girls are vile, horrid creatures
> >>>>>> to other girls and boys are brain-damaged monsters with
> >>>>>> illusions of invincibility. A useful tool would be a
> >>>>>> screen mirror with recording so the nasty things they
> >>>>>> say to each other can be replayed, discussed, and used as
> >>>>>> reasons why privilege A is being withheld. I'm thinking
> >>>>>> of a chat mirroring tool or email copy process. It will
> >>>>>> only get to be used once then they will change methods
> >>>>>> (if they are smart). But that level of guidance, no
> >>>>>> matter what _they_ think, would benefit them greatly
> >>>>>> learning how to relate with others. Besides, once the
> >>>>>> hormones kick in, they will find a way to find out about
> >>>>>> it. If the default view at home is "NO! BAD!", they will
> >>>>>> look elsewhere for answers unless they are totally
> >>>>>> dominated by helicopter parents. Most commercial porn is
> >>>>>> crap with subtle and not so subtle overtone of violence
> >>>>>> against women as themes. It's a challenge to find
> >>>>>> something that can serve as guidance for humans really
> >>>>>> relate in bed. And intelligent bed banging is far better
> >>>>>> than stupid gun banging in the street. On Sun, Jul 14,
> >>>>>> 2013 at 9:46 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE)
> >>>>>> <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com
> >>>>>> <mailto:atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com>> wrote: Hi
> >>>>>> all,
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Since I brought up OpenDNS, even though I'm a user and a
> >>>>>> fan, I should point out some limitations.  About 10%, as
> >>>>>> a rough guestimate, of the ugly stuff will sneak through
> >>>>>> the filter. The purveyers of junk bring up new sites too
> >>>>>> fast for everything to be in the database.  Do not assume
> >>>>>> your kids will be totally prevented from getting to any
> >>>>>> and all "insert bad category" stuff.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Also, if your kid knows how to do any of the following,
> >>>>>> he / she can bypass the filter: choose an alternate dns
> >>>>>> server on the pc, use a proxy / anonymizer (although you
> >>>>>> can filter that category), browse by ip alone without
> >>>>>> dns, start up a vpn, take their laptop / smartphone to a
> >>>>>> friend's house or hotspot or step parent's house.
> >>>>>> Anything that bypasses the use of the OpenDNS servers or
> >>>>>> changes their public ip bypasses the filter. I have
> >>>>>> wished in the past that I could tie the filter to a
> >>>>>> specific pc, but OpenDNS does not provide that as far as
> >>>>>> I know.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Internet Explorer provides some built in content
> >>>>>> filtering options, which can tie into things like
> >>>>>> NetNanny (I think), but I've never used it.  Firefox
> >>>>>> doesn't provide any of that natively that I'm aware of,
> >>>>>> but there may be plugins for it.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> I have links to a couple of Christian sites related
> >>>>>> these topics I could try to dig up if anyone wants.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Note that, even if they cannot easily access
> >>>>>> "uglyjunk.com <http://uglyjunk.com>" because of OpenDNS,
> >>>>>> they can see links to it in google and bing, and in the
> >>>>>> latter case, with live video coming though bing.  The
> >>>>>> child's pc need not ever visit "uglyjunk.com
> >>>>>> <http://uglyjunk.com>" to see some of its content, albeit
> >>>>>> with smaller pictures.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> You can make things harder to bypass by putting the
> >>>>>> OpenDNS servers in your router settings.  Then, any pc
> >>>>>> which just uses basic dhcp to get it's ip and dns will
> >>>>>> pick that up from the router.  But, that does not prevent
> >>>>>> the pc from querying another dns server directly if it
> >>>>>> wants to.  If the pc can get an ip for "uglyjunk.com
> >>>>>> <http://uglyjunk.com>", it can still visit the site.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> I have heard that you can get hosts files of
> >>>>>> preconfigured blacklist sites, then the computer is just
> >>>>>> directed to nowhere when they try to get those sites,
> >>>>>> before even querying the dns. I've never used that
> >>>>>> though.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> The service also depends on linking your public ip to
> >>>>>> your account.  That's why going to a hotspot bypasses the
> >>>>>> filter. They'll have a different public ip which is not
> >>>>>> linked to your account.  Even if the pc was set to use
> >>>>>> the OpenDNS servers, your personal filter settings would
> >>>>>> not be in affect.  You would still get phishing
> >>>>>> protection though.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Since your public ip is subject to change periodically
> >>>>>> when your cable / dsl modem resets, you need to run a
> >>>>>> small utility, which I run in Windows, to link your
> >>>>>> current public ip with your account and filter settings.
> >>>>>> You'll have to check on whether they have a linux
> >>>>>> utility, but they probably do.  When your ip changes, if
> >>>>>> the utility runs, the OpenDNS servers get set to respond
> >>>>>> to the new ip.  If your ip setting utility doesn't run
> >>>>>> for a few days, then your filters won't be in affect for
> >>>>>> a few days if your ip has changed.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> I do NOT recommend running the ip setting utility on the
> >>>>>> child's computer.  Here's why.  Let's say you did that.
> >>>>>> They go to starbucks.  They login, then the ip utility
> >>>>>> links STARBUCKS public ip to YOUR filter account.  Your
> >>>>>> child would then be subject to your filters, but so would
> >>>>>> EVERYONE ELSE in starbucks.  That might cause some
> >>>>>> problems.  This would remain in effect until your child
> >>>>>> logged into another network and got another public ip.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Because ip's change, the system occasionally gets
> >>>>>> confused as to which account owns which ip.  This is
> >>>>>> rare, but, for example, let's say there is a disruption
> >>>>>> at the isp and all the cable modems get reset.  You may
> >>>>>> end up with what was someone else's public ip and they
> >>>>>> may end up with yours.  It may take a little while for
> >>>>>> the ip setting utilities to set everything straight. So,
> >>>>>> the possibility does exist that they could see stuff in
> >>>>>> their account logs on OpenDNS that came from you and you
> >>>>>> could see theirs.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> One other slight disadvantage of the OpenDNS system is
> >>>>>> that all pc's in the house with the same public ip will
> >>>>>> have the same filters.  You could always active a vpn or
> >>>>>> proxy on your own pc though and bypass your own filter.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Despite these limitations, I found the service extremely
> >>>>>> useful and wouldn't want to be without it with a child in
> >>>>>> the house. You could gang other technologies on top of
> >>>>>> this, if you wish. I still have it active, even though my
> >>>>>> child has moved out, to filter out rubbish that I might
> >>>>>> hit accidentally.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> This is slightly off topic to the original question, but
> >>>>>> I'd consider a certain amount of monitoring of my kid's
> >>>>>> communications online.  Chat, email, facebook, whatever.
> >>>>>> How much is up to you.  I'd also set rules on who it was
> >>>>>> appropriate to communicate with.  Again, up to personal
> >>>>>> discretion.  You can get books about how to deal with
> >>>>>> these issues.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Sincerely,
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Ron
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> On 7/14/2013 8:09 PM, Doug Hall wrote: 27" iMac is sweet.
> >>>>>> But I agree with Ron. There's no reason to buy ANYTHING
> >>>>>> if you use OpenDNS to filter content. I'm very satisfied
> >>>>>> with the free service. Okay, maybe paranoia is a reason.
> >>>>>> I wouldn't be surprised to know that OpenDNS is releasing
> >>>>>> records to the NSA. But then again, so could your current
> >>>>>> ISP. On Sun, Jul 14, 2013 at 5:03 PM, Jerald Sheets
> >>>>>> <questy at gmail.com <mailto:questy at gmail.com>> wrote: I do.
> >>>>>> It's a slamming 27" iMac.  :)
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Jerald Sheets Sent from my iPhone5 On Jul 13, 2013, at
> >>>>>> 10:20 PM, Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com
> >>>>>> <mailto:jim.kinney at gmail.com>> wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Jerald, you're missing the entire point: Upgrade _your_
> >>>>>> machine and give the old one to the young-uns. Put
> >>>>>> squid-guard on it and provide a pile of bookmarks they
> >>>>>> are interested in. :-) House Rule: Dad ALWAYS has the
> >>>>>> best hardware unless someone else is paying for it. On
> >>>>>> Sat, Jul 13, 2013 at 10:00 PM, Neal Rhodes
> >>>>>> <neal at mnopltd.com <mailto:neal at mnopltd.com>> wrote: I
> >>>>>> would think you could look for off-lease "no-os" refurb
> >>>>>> units on TigerDirect for maybe $100.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> On Sat, 2013-07-13 at 21:22 -0400, Jerald Sheets wrote:
> >>>>>> Hi all. I've come to the point where my next generation o
> >>>>>> little ones will be going online, and I'm going to build
> >>>>>> me a content filtering firewall. (Ipcop) Thing is, I
> >>>>>> don't have any old hardware and need to get something,
> >>>>>> but anyth ing I would buy in a store would be overkill.
> >>>>>> I'm looking for something P3 or later, mid tower with one
> >>>>>> drive bay is fine and 4-8G of memory. Anyone have
> >>>>>> anything like that you'd like to unload? Jerald Sheets
> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone5
> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ Ale
> >>>>>> mailing list Ale at ale.org <mailto:Ale at ale.org>
> >>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale See JOBS,
> >>>>>> ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> >>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ Ale
> >>>>>> mailing list Ale at ale.org
> >>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale See JOBS,
> >>>>>> ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> >>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo -- -- James P.
> >>>>>> Kinney III Every time you stop a school, you will have to
> >>>>>> build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the
> >>>>>> other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won't
> >>>>>> fatten the dog. - Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain
> >>>>>> http://electjimkinney.org
> >>>>>> http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
> >>>>> _______________________________________________ Ale mailing
> >>>>> list Ale at ale.org <mailto:Ale at ale.org>
> >>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale See JOBS, ANNOUNCE
> >>>>> and SCHOOLS lists at http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________ Ale mailing
> >>>> list Ale at ale.org http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale See
> >>>> JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> >>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
> >>>>
> >
> >
> >> _______________________________________________ Ale mailing list
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> >> ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> >> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
> >
> >
> >
>
> - --
> Sent from my home PC running Fedora18 to you and NSA, FBI, CIA, HSA
> and God only knows who else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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