Command Line EMail on Ubuntu Server Failed – Tweeting Instead

Now that my Ubuntu Server is up and running and configured for the network I want to be able to remotely access it via SSH. Now that’s easy, even for me. I have OpenSSH installed and my router configured and it works like a charm. The problem is that I don’t have a static IP address from my ISP so periodically I will be assigned with a new one – so how do i know what it is at any point in time? Answer, I don’t. So after browsing around I found a script that would resolve my external IP address and email it to me. Brilliant! Everything was working up to the point where it needed to send the email. Well I didn’t think it would be that difficult – I just wanted to be able to configure the system so that it could send me an email via the script. I found a few tutorials on the web and decided to follow one which boasted to be able to complete the setup in just 5 steps. There was even a comment from someone saying ‘Thanks, it worked where others didn’t’ – well it didn’t for me. Why is it so difficult?

Remotely Connecting to Ubuntu Server

In a previous post I managed to get my Ubuntu Server test system connected to my home network and the Internet (at least from the inside looking out). If you read the post then you will know that because my house is almost 100% wireless I needed to move the system into the hallway to be next to the router in order to physically connect. Now although I have a very nice hallway I don’t fancy sitting in it for hours with a keyboard on my lap. I also don’t really want to be running wires around the house and as I think that the system will end up in the garage I need to be able to connect remotely, from my Ubuntu or Windows systems.

Configuring Networking on Ubuntu Server After Installation

I recently bought an ‘old’ PC to use as a test system, running XP for my .NET development and Ubuntu Server (Jaunty 9.04) for my investigations into Linux. I have a few spare drives kicking around so having a totally separate installation of XP and Ubuntu would be a doddle. I fitted an additional 20GB drive and for now I’m content to open the side and swap the cables until I get around to sorting out a suitable boot loader.

The installation progressed without any problems until I reached the network configuration. As the router is in the hall and my usual connects via the wireless I didn’t have a network socket nearby – we only have one wired PC in the house. I opted for ‘Setup Networking Later’ option and the process completed without any further problems. Now, as a Windows ludite how do I configure the network without a GUI..?

ASP.NET Date Validation

A simple requirement at first sight not one with a simple solution. You have an ASP.NET page which allows the user to specify a date which is then used as an input parameter for an SQL Stored Procedure. What is stopping the user from entering ‘Hello World’ and submitting it? Answer, nothing unless you configure some sort of validation.

Reading an RSS Feed with C# and Python

When I started this site I had a project in mind that would download Podcasts as they were posted and maintain the content of my MP3 player so that I didn’t have to do it myself. Well since then I have lost my iTunes virginity and while it doesn’t do everything that I wanted (like telling me that a new episode has been downloaded) it does automatically download and delete them once I’ve watched/listened to them. But just because I don’t need to develop a complete application there is still an itch to scratch here – a few of them in fact.

• How do I download an RSS stream – it’s not just podcasts that uses them
• How do I parse the resulting XML
• How do I download a file and store it locally and
• How do I do this in C# and Python

Well this post will answer the first two questions using C# and LINQ and Python and it’s XML library.