November 2023

I just got SPF to work on p97.ca.

Now I can send e-mails to Gmail.

It also means that people can no longer use my address when sending e-mail to servers that implement SPF.

My personal e-mail server (p@p97.ca) still does not support SPF (and I do not intend to).

Why use a time-machine to try to change the past in order to change the present.

Just change the present, no time-travel required.

If you :
- are sitting on a swing set
- your feet are not touching the ground
- you are perfectly immobile.

It is impossible to start the swing.

No matter what you do with your arms and legs you cannot start the swinging.

You need an initial swing that you can then amplify with your legs.

You need an external force to initiate the swing (usually by touching the ground with your feet or by being pushed by someone).

After doing some tests I discovered something about our ISP (Vidéotron).

On residential access, I already know inbound port 25 is blocked. No e-mails can be received.

But now, I've discovered that outbound port 25 is also blocked. No e-mails can be sent.

E-mails have to go through a relay SMTP server accessible on another port. That server will then send the e-mail on port 25 to its destination.

We have a business account for our internet access. Port 25 is not blocked either inbound or outbound.

I tried to send an e-mail on port 25 from my mom's office (on residential access) and the connection would not even open.

I assume it is so zombie/hacked computers cannot send e-mails directly to their destination.

I just published the source code for my SMTP server and Webmail client :

http://code.philippe97.ca/courriel/

I hope it will be useful to someone.

I reboot my server once a week.

It goes like this :
- I download updates
- I make a backup
- I reboot

Today, the screen stayed black.

So I force poweroff and try again. (I also disconnected the power).

I got to when grub asks which version of Linux you want to load.

I load the previous version and it boots fine :)

It did take me a few reboots before it would boot.

I did not feel like rebuilding this server again.

http://www.mythbusters2003.net/mp4/Season%202007/Episode%203%20-%20Underwater%20Car.mp4.video

30:00

To determine whether a car window can be opened underwater, they put weights on the window.

They press the button and since the window does not open, they conclude that the window cannot be opened.

I disagree.

The weights they put on the window are touching the door. They are doing something that the water does not do.

I would really like to move the weights a few inches away from the door (the bottom of the window) and try again.

A few weeks ago, I started a project where I wanted to compile C into Brainfuck.

After working on it for a few days, I became stuck while trying to implement operator precedence.

I then stopped working on the project for a few weeks.

Then, on November 5, I decided to go in another direction.

Instead of compiling C, I created my own programming language and made a compiler for it.

I made it so it would be very easy to parse and compile into Brainfuck.

http://code.philippe97.ca/phil2bf/

I hope you enjoy.

I liked it.

http://movies.philippe97.ca/Barbie%20%282023%29.mp4.video

I just got my new server.

I do not know how old my current server is, but it has a Windows Vista sticker on it (2006-2009).

This refurbished one's hardware dates 2017.

I still need to buy some 90° SATA cables.

Once I have everything I need, I will do a fresh install of Ubuntu Server 22.04 on a new 8 TB hard drive.

When that is done, I will rsync my backup on it.

I just watched Barbie for the third time.

http://movies.philippe97.ca/Barbie%20%282023%29.mp4.video

We just noticed a tree in our backyard that has a huge crack in it.

We're going to have it cut down before it falls.

I was supposed to get my 90° SATA cables yesterday.

The amazon website tells us that the delivery is late and that we should get the cables today or tomorrow.

VGA does not work.

Only DVI does (on a PCI Express card).

My guess is that the internal graphics card is defective.

I guess this is why they taped over the two internal DisplayPorts.

I didn't watch the movie when it came out.

I watched it on November 13 after I saw that jwz liked it :

https://www.jwz.org/blog/2023/11/recent-movies-and-tv-24/

I am not on "social media" (I hate that term), so I did not get any spoilers.

By looking into the BIOS, it seems that the CPU did not support the internal graphics card in the first place.

This probably means that the VGA plug was simply not supported instead of defective.

The CD-ROM drive works. I could boot the Ubuntu Server install CD (after adding the DVD drive before the hard drive in the BIOS boot sequence).

For the display, we're simply going to buy a DisplayPort to VGA adapter for 10$.

We still did not get the 90° SATA cables we ordered. They were supposed to be delivered last Thursday.

The last time I rebooted my old server was 17 days ago :

http://log.philippe97.ca/2023-11.html#1699119553

I had a lot of trouble getting it to boot.

I had to boot it with an older version of Linux (fortunately, it is possible to boot the previous version of the Linux kernel when it is upgraded).

Today, I just did upgrades and a full disk backup and now it says "reboot required".

I don't want to risk rebooting it. I'm going to wait for the cables we ordered on Amazon.

We ordered some 90° SATA cables and a DisplayPort to VGA adapter.

The adapter should arrive Friday, but the SATA cables were supposed to arrive last Thursday and were delayed multiple times.

(We can get a refund, but I don't want a refund, I want the cables.)

I could start rebuilding the server right now on the new machine I have, but I would rather wait for the weekend.

I hope we don't loose power.

If my old server stops working, I have everything I need to rebuild it on the new machine.

I can use the DVI plug for the display (instead of VGA) and I can use a "straight" SATA cable for connecting the backup drive (although I will not be able to close the side panel).


When I build the new server, I will make some videos and a webpage documenting it.

Amazon just refunded us for the SATA cables we ordered (we didn't ask for the refund).

We ordered some more and they should be delivered Friday (with the DisplayPort to VGA adapter).

I just got my DisplayPort to VGA adapter.

It was supposed to arrive Friday :)

How can a blind person tell if the toilet is clogged ?

Upgrading the Linux kernel always leaves the previous version installed.

What I just learned today is that the version the computer is currently running is left installed too.

18 days ago, I had versions 87 and 88 installed and booted with version 87.

Today, I upgraded to version 89, but version 87 was left installed.

Now my server says "reboot required" but I am too scared to do that. I will wait until I have time to build the new server.

I just torrented the HDCAM version and uploaded it to my Disney website.

http://www.disneymovies.net/

I just fixed a bug.

multipart/related was not handled properly when the first part was multipart/alternative instead of text/html.

(My code assumed that the first part would always be text/html.)

The e-mail I received looked like this :

multipart/related
    multipart/alternative
        text/plain
        text/html
    image/png

You can now download version 14 :

http://code.philippe97.ca/courriel/

I just got the SATA cables we ordered.

I just uploaded all of my old YouTube videos.

http://youtube.philippe97.ca/

I downloaded them in 2015 but I only just now put them on my website.

I spent yesterday rebuilding my server on a new machine.

I took some videos. I will put them on my website later.

I just uploaded the episode with french subtitles.

http://www.doctorwho2005.net/

I have not watched it yet.

The episode is available in french on Disney+.

My mom is currently watching it.

I just finished watching the english version.

I put online the videos I recorded while building my new server.

http://www.philippe97.ca/server2/

We lost power from 5am to 11am.

This is why my website was offline (I host it at home).

I was not properly unfolding headers.

You can now download version 15 :

http://code.philippe97.ca/courriel/

You will have to delete the summary files :

sudo rm idx/*

Here is the technique I use for adding www to my websites :

<VirtualHost *:80>
        ServerName example.com
        Redirect / http://www.example.com/
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:80>
        ServerName www.example.com
        DocumentRoot /var/www/example
</VirtualHost>