Stitch's Master

Plusnet, multiple IP address block and Tomato

2011-08-17T21:16:00.002+01:00

I have been with Plusnet for many years, mostly because they provide services than many other providers don't. Most of those services aren't of interest to most people, however, if you're hosting multiple web servers etc then having IP address blocks and the ability to configure DNS via a web page is very useful. Please be aware, I don't think you can still get IP blocks for non-business accounts with Plusnet.

I requested an IP Block some time ago but never managed to get it working correctly. My hardware it turns out was fine; a netgear modem connected to a Linksys WRT54g router, the problem was the config on the router and despite much scouting about I couldn't get it working.

Well today, I managed to piece together about 3 or 4 different tutorials and forum posts and managed to get it all working. Follows the steps to make it happen!

If you're given a block of IP addresses, something like XXX.XXX.XXX.1 to XXX.XXX.XXX.4. The first address you cannot use, the second is for the router, the third is the free address and will be used to replace below and the final one is the broadcast address and used to replace below.

The is the internal LAN IP address used by the device you want to expose on the spare public IP

Go to - Administration > Scripts > Firewall and add the following:

#------------------------------------------------------------------

#Add additional WAN IP to Router

ifconfig vlan1:2 netmask 255.255.255.255 broadcast

#------------------------------------------------------------------

Next go to the Port Forwarding Page and add a new port forwarding rule

Proto = both (or whatever you want to make available)

Src Address =

Ext Ports = 25-5000 (or whatever you want to make available)

Int Ports = leave blank to pass to the same internal ports

Int Address =

Save and then test whether you can access your device on the external IP that you've just configured.

Restriction of service based on lifestyle choices

2011-06-06T10:15:00.001+01:00

No IVF on the NHS if your husband smokes - Telegraph

So it's started then. Removal of access to services on the NHS if you're a smoker.

I'm not going to touch on whether IVF should even be available on the NHS nor the nhs as a whole. But this is a worrying first step.

We've got too many laws

2011-05-18T18:19:00.001+01:00

I suspect I may have covered this before, but Ken Clarke getting himself all in tangle today over sexual assault versus rape kind of makes my point. If the ones making the laws don't know what they are, what hope have the rest of us got?

My suggestion, for what it's worth, get each MP to state, in full, every law they can remember. The laws that they can all remember, we take forward, everything else gets dropped. If there are any left at this point, it shouldn't take too long to review them and re-write them in terms that real people can understand. After that if you want a new law, then fine, but you kill an existing one off first. On this basis we shouldn't have situations where somebody is ignorant of the law, because by now it's sufficiently simple for 600 odd MPs to understand after all. Until that point, ignorance of the law should be a justifiable defence, I for one have no idea what most of the laws in this country are.

BMA rejects NHS reforms | Society | guardian.co.uk

2011-03-15T15:21:00.001Z

Doctors also accused Lansley of using "inaccurate and misleading information to denigrate the NHS", by comparing UK cancer and heart disease rates with those in Europe.

So because European figures make the NHS look bad, they shouldn't be used?

BMA rejects NHS reforms | Society | guardian.co.uk

On reporting statistics

2011-03-11T08:20:00.000Z

I've read a number of articles this morning that all take the form of "doing X increases / decreases your change of getting Y by Z%". Not one of them state what the baseline chance of getting or avoiding the condition actually is. If your 25% more likely to get liver disease by drinking more than 1 glass of wine a day, but the chances of getting it when drinking nothing are 0.001% then that increase is insignificant. If it's 10% then it makes quite a difference. My basic suspicion is that most of the baselines are closer to the former than the latter which is why they go unreported, they'd fail to have the "scare" impact if people looked at the figures and realised that 90% of fuck all is still fuck all.

A bit of self whoring

2010-10-05T09:30:00.003+01:00

Well the company I work for was purchased by a much larger outfit earlier in the year. We suspected there would be some "re-organisation", "consolidation" and "efficiency drives". Up until last week, my department had been left alone, however, the sword has now fallen and we are in consultation. So if any body is looking for an experienced Software Product / Project Manager let me know!

38 Degrees and the BBC Cuts

2010-08-27T16:27:00.001+01:00

38 Degrees seem to be all for maintaining huge outdated monoliths that swallow huge amounts of tax payer's cash. They recently ran a campaign about protecting the BBC from cuts and licence fee reform. You can see the campaign here and they even provide a handy template letter you can email off to your MP.

I made use of their template, with a few "adjustments" and the other day I got a response from MP (below). While not offering quite the savage hacking of the BBC I was hoping for, it does at least look like there are plans to make some changes to the lumbering beast at least!

Dear xxxx,

Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the future of the BBC.

I can fully appreciate the points you have raised about the current licence fee to the BBC, particularly if you do not use the services they provide.

I believe that the BBC can and should be doing more to ensure value for money for all licence fee payers who, of course, may not all choose to listen or view. To this end, the Government will give the National Audit Office full access to the BBC's accounts to ensure transparency. I believe that this will make the BBC work harder to achieve value for money. I would also like to see the BBC be subject to the Freedom of Information act to ensure their spending is transparent.

As Jeremy Hunt has also made clear, the Government will be discussing the future of BBC funding with the Corporation in detail during the licence fee settlement and BBC Charter Renewal. One of the issues that the Government has made clear needs to be addressed is the lack of transparency surrounding pay for top executives and highly paid stars.

The substantial charges in the TV, radio and online platforms do present significant issues for the BBC and in the long run, I doubt the Licence Fee is sustainable given the increased competition and plurality of supply, but the Government has no plans to change it at the current time.

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me again.

Regards
Nigel Mills MP

Stressed out Police

2010-08-27T08:35:00.001+01:00

WTF? Compulsory "Emotional survival training"?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1306477/Stressed-police-relaxation-training.html

I suspect the "stress" endured by the Police could be alleviated far more effectively by:

Reducing the amount of paperwork they have to do
Getting them out on the streets more
Locking scrotes up so the Police are not arresting the same people on a weekly basis

Not all the cameras were switched off

2010-08-17T09:29:00.000+01:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10995861

So Oxford City left a couple of speed cameras on and the number of detections went up after the big switch off. So what, did the number of accidents or casualties go up? If not, that suggests the posted speed limit is too low anyway.

Incandescent light bulbs

2010-07-06T08:47:00.000+01:00

It would seem that B&Q are clearing out their remaining stocks of incandescent light bulbs. They were selling off their 60w polar bear killer for 10p a pack. I bought their entire stock!

The greatness of the NHS

2010-05-13T12:52:00.002+01:00

I recently had a eye test which resulted in me needing to be referred to a specialist. It seems recent changes mean that the pressure in my eyes is too high despite it not having changed from the last time.

A couple of weeks later I had a letter from my GP telling me how to book an appointment. I went through the process and was offered 4 local hospitals to choose from. I selected my preferred hospital and was offered 1 timed appointment slot and that was it. I couldn't make that so tried the next, and no appointments were available at all in the next 3 months. The story was the same for the next. Finally at the last hospital there were a few slots but nothing closer than 5 weeks away. So all in all there is the illusion of choice when in reality there is none.

Go on, I'll have a punt as well

2010-04-30T15:36:00.000+01:00

Seeing as the world and his dog seems to have passed comment, I may as well join the affray.

It seems the buttered potato won it, dramatically according to yougov, no surprise if you read Craig Murray's blog. It was a more animated debate that's for sure but Nigel Farage seemed to do better in a two minute interview than any of them.

I've got issues with all of the "big 3" here's hoping the smaller parties and independents make a sizeable dent come next week!

Blog rating

2010-04-30T15:24:00.004+01:00

According to http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/blog_rating this blog is PG-13 rated due to the inclusion of the word "dick" x2 and "murder" x1. Seems "cunt" isn't an issue!

Jamie Oliver really is a cunt

2010-04-23T22:38:00.002+01:00

This cock sucker has been spamming twitter with his bansturbating shit and then comes on tv with high fat food saying how great it is ... cunt

They still don't get it

2010-04-20T13:19:00.001+01:00

I just heard McDoom on the radio at lunch time. He was being asked "what were you thinking when you claimed your cleaning costs on expenses?"

He started to waffle on about how he had 2 residences (3 if you include Chequers) and that he needed a cleaner and how it was only fair to pay her a decent wage.

I have no issue with any of that but the point you so blatantly missed that the young lady was trying to make is "yes, but what on earth made you think it was OK to claim it on expenses and get the tax payer to fork out for it?"

You lot are towards the top end of the salary scale, you get all sorts of things paid for on expenses that us in the real world don't and yet you still think paying for a cleaner this was is somehow acceptable!

Hacking really could be murder

2010-04-16T12:07:00.001+01:00

Password Tattoos To Keep Pacemakers Safer From Hackers - Uv password tattoos - Gizmodo

Getting rid of it still doesn't mean kids should be eating off the pavement

2010-04-16T11:45:00.001+01:00

BBC - Derbyshire dog mess campaign is not foul play - while I abhor dog owners who don't clean up after their pet, there's plenty of other nasty stuff on the ground that kids shouldn't be eating either. Parents, teach your kids not to pick stuff up and eat it!

New health care initiative for the elderly

2010-04-07T13:30:00.001+01:00

Worth a gander!

HT | Dick Puddlecote

Milestone 'car mode'

2010-04-06T16:06:00.004+01:00

Well it's taken some faffing about but I've finally sorted out the car dock mode on my Motorola Milestone. There's a couple of issues to take on board for anybody trying the same thing:

1. The UK (maybe the Milestone as a whole) version doesn't actually have the car app, only the multimedia app. A copy of the app can be located here, but I can't confirm whether it is legitimate or not, just that it works!

2. You have to know where to place the magnet, and you do need only one. A number of places seem to work, however, the most consistent location I discovered was midway between the black Motorola logo on the batter cover and the indentation on the battery cover to allow you to get a grip of the cover to remove it (See below).

3. Depending on whether it's the North or South facing the back of your phone depends on which app (car or media centre) gets activated. My magnet doesn't say which is which, but try it one way, then flip the magnet over and try again if you don't get the desired result.

Media Centre App

Car Dock App

Joining the BNP doesn't make you a racist bigot

2010-03-12T13:41:00.000Z

I just heard about this on the radio while I was out at lunch time. Inevitably we had the whining righteous on bleating about how they would take their kids out of school if one of the teachers joined the BNP or how they, as a student, may be discriminated against because a teacher was in the BNP.

I've news for you folks, joining the BNP doesn't make you a racist bigot, you need to be one of those already before you join. At the moment there will be racists teaching in schools, certainly the left wing economics is a good match, membership, or not, to the BNP isn't going to make a jot of difference.

Personally I applaud the outcome of the report, and also think Police and Prison Officers should also be allowed to join, not because I support the BNP, as you may have gathered, I don't, but because I support freedom of choice. Something this current government seems keen to eradicate and Cameron seems to have no answer to.

There is an alternative to consider however:

A letter to the BBC

2010-03-12T12:39:00.001Z

A bunch called 38 Degrees or something, have created a site to allow you to submit a letter to the BBC with regard to the proposed cuts. The suggest some text for you to use and allow you to edit if you see fit. I didn't think the text was too far off the mark so only modified it slightly, see below. If you want to submit you own, you can do so here.

HT: RantinRab

Dear BBC Trust,

I am writing to respond to the consultation about the Strategic Review recently published by the Trust. I urge you to escalate and expand your plans to make cuts to the BBC. The current proposals don't go far enough and many pointless services will still be left.

Please go ahead with the current plans to make these cuts and find additional ways to make sure the BBC is further pruned down to size.

Yours,

Bar Code Scanner

2010-03-12T10:54:00.002Z

As I mentioned here, another vital app for your kit bag is a barcode scanner. This isn't just for ready bar codes on products, although it'll do that just fine, it's also a QR Code scanner. You can download an excellent, and free one from App Brain or if you have an alternative scanner, from the QR Code below or finally by searching for "Barcode Scanner" on the Android Market.

This excellent scanner from ZXing is also a pre-requisite for a number of other apps out there such as "Wine By the Bar"

Rated:

The first Android App Review - AppBrain

2010-03-11T22:10:00.002Z

Well I've been using Android 2.0 on a Motorola Milestone for about a month now so I thought I'd review a few of the "apps" I've encountered along the way.

The first app to get is App Brain Market Synch. This allows you to search the Android Market from a desktop browser and choose to synch those apps to your phone. The QR code for the Android app is below. If you don't have a bar code scanner yet, don't worry, I'll be covering that off shortly, or just search on your phone for "AppBrain Market" and you should find it.

While the browser on Android, particularly with the screen resolution of the Milestone, is very useful, it's still hard to beat a 19" monitor, sometime size does count!

Rated:

Mothers who use buses' wheelchair areas for buggies labelled an 'anti-social menace' by Government

2010-03-11T16:55:00.002Z

Mothers who use buses' wheelchair areas for buggies labelled an 'anti-social menace' by Government

Please, let them on the buses, it keeps them from standing 3 abreast on the pavements nattering about fuck knows what and preventing anybody else getting by.

Al Jahom

Ambush Predator

The new dog laws

2010-03-09T22:34:00.003Z

So the government want to introduce new laws (something they do well, even if it's something we wish they were less proficiant at) due to the number of dog attacks.

I have a dog, a big fluffy Rough Collie that tends to have kids going "ahhh" and wanting to hug him. Would he bite a child? I have to say that unless the child physically hurts him or produces a grooming brush (don't ask) then it's more likely they'll need a fresh change of clothes due to being covered in slobber! Even so, you can never be certain so we do warn them to be careful.

When it comes to insurance and tagging, he has both and and ear tattoo and a small scrap yard's worth of id tags round his neck. So am i personally affected by the proposed new legislation? No, because we already meet the requirements, but then our dog hardly meets the definition of dangerous either.

So why am I blogging about it you may ask? Well firstly I object to creating new laws when existing laws are fit for purpose but are not being upheld. Second, Mr. Knuckle-dragger with an untrained and therefore potentially dangerous dog won't comply. Thirdly lots of old folks with dogs that never leave the house won't be able to afford to comply, so being law abiding people they are will drop their companion off at the local animal centre, more than likely resulting in a healthy animal being put down when no home is found for it.

Clarkson has also covered this

The mobile age is upon us!

2010-03-04T21:43:00.002Z

It somewhat surprises me how little mobile support Google seem to have for their own apps. On the plus side the android developer community seem to be breaching the gap!

Climate Change

2010-01-05T08:23:00.001Z

I tend to sit somewhat on the fence with all the climate change stuff. Yes the climate is changing, but then it always has. Are the recent changes catestrophic and a one way path, I have no idea, and so it would seem it is with the experts.

In September 2008, following getting the summer prediction of it being a BBQ summer spectacularly wrong, we have the winter prediction from the Met Office:

The Met Office forecast for the coming winter suggests it is, once again, likely to be milder than average. It is also likely that the coming winter will be drier than last year.

And yet, on the 5th of Jan 2010, now we are actually in winter we have headlines of:

Britain facing one of the coldest winters in 100 years, experts predict

So, which "experts" do you believe (it's easy to be an expert in hindsight) and what confidence do we have that anybody has any idea what the climate is going to do in the next 12 months never mind the next 10 years.

Wheel Clampers

2009-12-23T13:47:00.003Z

While the actions of the clampers may seem a little harsh considering the conditions, one of the comments did amuse me somewhat:

Simon Mann wrote:

It should be made illegal to immobilize a vehicle (Clamp), unless it is causing an obstruction to emergency services. Sustancial fines should paid by the companies doing this. Better still close them down NOW.

So what he wants to do is, take a vehcile that's causing an obstruction and clamp it so that when the owner does get back, they can't move it, causing an extended obstruction over what doing nothing would have done. If it's an obstruction, you tow it you damn fool!

XBox Part 1

2009-12-22T20:25:00.005Z

A couple of years ago I was searching around for a way to watch video files that I had made and downloaded. There are a number of proprietary bits of hardware out there that will let you stream from a PC to a TV, but they all seemed to be lacking functionality and be expensive for what they were.

During my research I came across this article on Life Hacker about using a classic XBox as a media centre. It all seemed pretty straight forward so I bought a classic XBox off eBay for about £15 which had the DVD IR receiver. I got my hands on the various bits required to soft mod the XBox using Mech Assault and up until a couple of weeks ago had been happily using the XBox as a media centre.

2 Weeks ago, I got the dreaded Red LED of Death and my XBox was little more than a house brick. A colleague from work, very kindly gave me a spare XBox to use. It already had XBMC installed so I configured it for my network and connected with an FTP client to install the latest XBMC files. Unfortunately something went wrong and now it won't boot fully.

After some significant digging around and downloading a whole raft of files, I think I have a way you recover it. It's going to involve doing what's known as a "hot swap" and I'll document my progress on this blog.

Equality through discrimination

2009-12-09T11:04:00.003Z

How exactly are you serious about equal rights when you exclude 50% of the population.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/8401520.stm

There's nothing positive about positive discrimination!

Teacher's to be licensed for 5 years

2009-06-30T16:19:00.001+01:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8127085.stm

FFS why? Schools have a disciplinary and appraisal system aleady, if a teacher isn't up to scratch I'd hope they'd be out on their ear well before 5 years!

County Council Elections

2009-06-05T16:10:00.002+01:00

Well it seems that NL are taking the thrashing that was largely expected. In Derbyshire a Labour run council (Lab 37 : 14 Con) is now a Tory council 33 to 21 Lab. Will Gordon resign or call a GE? I doubt it. Expect similar outcomes in the Euro Elections and expect them to have to prise the keys to number 10 out of Gordon's hands some time in July next year!

Burning yet more cash!

2009-05-13T08:00:00.004+01:00

So as the uproar grew about MP's expenses, Sir Christopher Kelly is commissioned to look in to MP's expenses and report back. However, before, Sir Christopher can even get a notepad out of the central stationery store, the one eyed snot goblin is on You Tube making all sorts of bold statements about how expenses are to be reformed, before the (no doubt expensive) inquiry reports back. Now, the retarded haggis muncher wants to bring in independent auditors to go through every receipt and force MPs to pay back any claims that are considered inappropriate.

Considered inappropriate by whom? We're repeatedly told that no rules were broken with these claims, due to the MPs writing the rules themselves to ensure they had carte blanche to claim for just about any damn thing. So it would seem Gordo is about to piss 10's of thousands more of our pounds away in an effort to bolster his flagging ratings but with little chance of there being any useful outcome from the cash spent!

So who do you vote for now?

2009-05-12T09:14:00.000+01:00

So now it would seem, unsurprisingly, that the Tory snouts are as deeply embeded in the trough as their Labour counterparts. No doubt later this week we will see similar treatment for the Lib Dems. So now you know you really can't trust any of them, what can you do? Well have a look at The Libertarian Party UK who are all about getting ther interfering state out of your face and letting you get on and lead your life as you see fit as long as doing so doesn't adversely affect anybody else. Brian Micklethwait is also maintining a list of Libertarian Bloggers many of whom are well worth a visit and some of whom are on my reading list to the side!

This is priceless!

2009-04-29T16:08:00.001+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS37nnFYzZ0&feature=player_embedded

H/T The Ranting Penguin and Crown Blogspot

Petition

2009-04-28T13:40:00.000+01:00

If you haven't already signed it, please do.

H/T Obnoxio, OH and Guido

Has your local closed?

2009-04-23T16:27:00.000+01:00

If the smoking ban wasn't the death knell for your local pub, the further increases in tax may well be. The budget hasn't yet been voted through parliament and there is a slim chance Darling could be forced to re-think. Drop your MP a line here and ask them to oppose the tax increase.

Fake Charities

2009-04-23T14:40:00.000+01:00

Fake charities are becoming quite a buzz on the web at the moment. Charities that on the surface would seem to be promoting good causes, on closer inspection are largely government funded lobbyists. I think Dick sums it up better than I can, but the sooner the government stops funding charities that they can then consult in hidden public consultations to get the answers they want, the better I shall like it!

Budget 2009

2009-04-22T15:42:00.000+01:00

So ends another reaming of the British Public by this useless totalitarian government. Follow Old Holborn's suggestion and send the wankers the shirt off your back!

MP's Expenses

2009-04-22T10:40:00.000+01:00

There's a lot about this on t'internet with some saying the daily allowance is a good thing through to others stating it's bonkers.

My inclination is that they should have a list of the things that they can claim for, which should be paid out on the presentation of a reciept, pretty much as it works for the private sector;
1. Travel expenses (but not to their "normal place of work")
2. Overnight accomodation (capped to avoid stays at the Hilton)
3. Meal allowance (if they stayed away from home the previous night)

Beyond that, I'm struggling to see what else they could reasonably claim for.

The Budget Cometh

2009-04-22T08:56:00.000+01:00

My betting is on a load of stealth taxes and yet more pissing out money up the wall, balanced by claims of efficiancy drives that are little more than poking things with a dirty stick. I'm going to be working till the day I die at this rate!

Expect a draconian response

2009-04-20T16:43:00.000+01:00

I'm pretty sure this road was reduced from the NSL to 50 a number of months ago. I expect it to be dropped to 40 very soon :(

Jacqui is a cunt

2009-04-20T15:45:00.000+01:00

H/T - The Lone Voice and Old Holborn.

2009-04-17T13:53:00.000+01:00

From the BBC video:

I take full responsibility for what happened. That's why the person who was responsible went immediately

Now, I know this has been done by others, but this really does boggle the mind. Our idiot PM has had a week to get his speech writers on to putting together an apology and he comes out with this? If you're responsible and the person responsible has to go, please, just please go!