Installing Modules in Cygwin Perl

The following will install "File::Tail"

Run cygwin
Type

• cpan
• install File::Tail

Change "File::Tail" with the module name you want to install

NB:
If that fails you can try delete ~/.cpan/build directory or just the directory of the module you are trying to install and try again.

If that still fails try going to the downloaded directory of the module and do this

• perl Makefile.PL
• make
• make test
• make install

Simple Cross-Domain Service Call via JSONP using JQuery

Objective:

Retrieve data from a different domain and dynamically display them in your web page.

Introduction:

What if you want to make your web page display data dynamically? You can use AJAX to achieve this. All you have to do is fire up your AJAX, request data from the service which you created, and do some javascript stuff to update your DOM. As simple as that.
Now, what if you were in a situation where your supposedly dynamic web page resides in a different domain from where your data is coming from. Initially you will think AJAX to the rescue, again. That would be nice but it doesn’t work that way.
There is a thing called Same-Origin policy which prevents AJAX from calling a service from a different domain. Sucks doesn’t it? I know I’ve been there. And this is why I want to share a solution and explain it as simple as I can. Please read on.

Google Bookmark on Safari

I like Google bookmark since everywhere I go I get to access my bookmarks. That way I can go to my previously bookmarked page and read it at my convenience. In Safari accessing my bookmarks is not hard. Basically I just go to http://bookmarks.google.com, log in and i'll be presented with my list. However, adding an item into my bookmark is another story. The long way is to go to Google's bookmark page and clicking the Add bookmark link. But this is to tedious since you have to provide the title and the URL of the page you want to bookmark.

Fortunately, there is a way. I had this in my Safari for a long time now (frankly, I can't remember where I got it in the first place) and only came to realize how valuable it is when I needed to add this function on a different Mac. I have searched and I have googled but I can't find a way to add Google Toolbar on Safari to ease the task of adding a bookmark nor adding just only the bookmark function. Thus I am sharing this for those who might need it.

Let's start.

Setting Up An Internet Radio Station

Objective

This guide aims to provide the steps in creating an Internet radio station.

Overview

In this guide we will run a SHOUTcast Distributed Network Audio Server (DNAS) that will broadcast audio stream coming from a transcoder. Initially we will use the SHOUTcast Transcoder to send audio streams to SHOUTcast DNAS for it to broadcast. Both SHOUTcast DNAS and SHOUTcast Transcoder will reside in one host computer running Linux OS.

After the initial setup is done, we will replace SHOUTcast Transcoder with Winamp+DSP running on Windows. This will give easier control on what audio file to stream or switch to live input from a microphone.

Next we will want other people to know of our Server and give them a way to connect to our service. To do that we will need to register our SHOUTcast DNAS to SHOUTcast directory to be included in SHOUTcast’s list of available servers.

We will then finish this guide with steps on how to configure SHOUTcast DNAS accept multiple input and broadcast these in different streams.

OpenWRT + BATMAN + CoovaChilli

Objective

Build a captive portal on a wireless mesh network

Wireless clients can roam around the mesh network

Requirements

OpenWRT compatible router

OpenWRT

B.A.T.M.A.N.

CoovaChilli

FreeRadius

Topology

OpenWRT

Installation

• Download appropriate OpenWRT image from http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ 
• Connect your computer to the router
• Turn on the router
• Follow the router’s manual on upgrading its firmware but instead of using the manufacturer’s upgraded firmware, use the downloaded OpenWRT image

Configuration

For the configuration, we just need to set a password for the root user account

• Using Telnet, login to the router. A router with a newly installed OpenWRT has a default IP address of 192.168.1.1. Your telnet command should be
  

telnet 192.168.1.1

• Once logged in type passwd then Enter and provide a password for the root user account
• Logout by typing exit then press Enter

Testing

First we test if OpenWRT can access the Internet

• Connect the WAN port of the router to the Internet
• Login to the router using ssh (use root and the password you just set during configuration respectively)
• Now do a ping test to see if the router is indeed connected to the Internet

Now We’ll test the wireless interface of the router

• Still logged in to the router, edit /etc/config/wireless
• Delete the line that says “option disabled 1”
• Optionally set the SSID (This is the line that says option ssid ‘OpenWRT’. Change OpenWRT to your chosen SSID)
• Save and close the file
• Type wifi and press Enter to reload wifi configuration
• Connect to the router through its wireless interface. You should be able to access the Internet

B.A.T.M.A.N.

Installation

• Login to the router
• Connect the router to the Internet
• Execute the following

opkg update

opkg install kmod-batman-adv

Configuration

• Create a file /tmp/batman_config.sh and set the content with the following

#!/bin/sh

### Node-specific settings

export HOSTNAME="ROUTERNAME" 

export IP="192.168.1.1" 

export LAN_IFNAME="eth0 bat0"

### Network-specific settings should be consistent across all nodes with in the mesh network

export PUBLIC_ESSID="OMNISPOT" 

export NETMASK="255.255.255.0" 

export DNS="" 

export GATEWAY="" 

export MESH0_BSSID="CA:CA:CA:CA:CA:00" 

export MESH0_ESSID="mesh0" 

export MESH0_CHANNEL="3" 

wifi detect >>/etc/config/wireless

( for i in `seq 0 9` ; do echo "delete wireless.@wifi-iface[]" ; done ) | uci batch -q

uci import -m batman-adv </dev/null

echo " 

set system.@system[0].hostname=$HOSTNAME

set batman-adv.bat0=mesh

set batman-adv.bat0.interfaces='mesh0'

set batman-adv.bat0.gw_mode='off'

set network.lan.ipaddr=$IP

set network.lan.netmask=$NETMASK

set network.lan.dns='$DNS'

set network.lan.gateway=$GATEWAY

set network.lan.ifname='$LAN_IFNAME'

set network.bat0=interface

set network.bat0.ifname=bat0

set network.bat0.proto=none

set network.bat0.mtu=1500

set network.mesh0=interface

set network.mesh0.proto=none

set network.mesh0.mtu=1528

set wireless.radio0=wifi-device

set wireless.radio0.channel=$MESH0_CHANNEL

set wireless.radio0.disabled=0

set wireless.radio0.phy=phy0

set wireless.radio0.macaddr=

add wireless wifi-iface

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].device=radio0

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].encryption=none

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].network=lan

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].mode=ap

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].ssid='$PUBLIC_ESSID'

add wireless wifi-iface

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].device=radio0 

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].encryption=none

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].network=mesh0

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].mode=adhoc 

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].bssid=$MESH0_BSSID

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].ssid='$MESH0_ESSID'

set wireless.@wifi-iface[-1].mcast_rate=11000 

set dhcp.lan.ignore=1

commit" \

| uci batch

• Set the values of the node-specific settings for each router

Name	Description
HOSTNAME	Would-be hostname of the router
IP	Would-be IP address of the router
LAN_IFNAME	LAN interface name of the router and bat0 (B.A.T.M.A.N. interface)

• Set the network specific-settings. These should be the same for all nodes in the mesh network

Name	Description
PUBLIC_ESSID	The SSID of the wireless network where clients will connect to
NETMASK	Network mask of the mesh network
DNS	The DNS setting
GATEWAY	Internet gateway address
MESH0_BSSID	A common MAC address to enable the nodes of the mesh network to identify each other and communicate
MESH0_ESSID	The SSID for the mesh network
MESH0_CHANNEL	The channel to use for wireless communication

• Save and close the file /tmp/batman_config.sh
• Run the batman configuration script

sh /tmp/batman_config.sh

• Restart the router

Do this for all the routers involve 

Testing

• Turn on all the routers
• Log in to one of the routers
• You should be able to ping the other router

CoovaChilli

Installation

• Login to the router
• Connect the router to the Internet
• Execute the following

opkg update

opkg install coova-chilli

Configuration

• Execute the following on your computer

wget http://ap.coova.org/chilli/coova-chilli-1.3.0.tar.gz .

tar -xzvf coova-chilli-1.3.0.tar.gz

cd coova-chilli-1.3.0/miniportal

ls *.in | sed 's/\(.*\)\.in/\1/' | xargs -I {} mv {}.in {}

• Substitute the markers @SBINDIR@ and @ETCCHILLI@ with “/usr/sbin” and “/etc/chilli” respectively
• Copy the content of miniportal folder to the router

scp * root@192.168.1.1:/etc/chilli/www/

• Logon to the router
• Open /etc/chilli/defaults and edit the following settings

Key	Recommended Value	Remarks
HS_WANIF	eth1 or eth0.2	The WAN interface Uncomment this and set the value to the name of the WAN of the router Use ifconfig to give you a hint
HS_LANIF	bat0	The LAN interface bat0 is the name of the mesh network interface

• Choose either of the two for authentication

RADIUS Authentication

• For radius authentication, provide the IP address of the RADIUS server as value for key HS_RADIUS in /etc/chilli/defaults

Local File Authentication

• For local file authentication, uncomment the line HS_LOCALUSERS in /etc/chilli/defaults
• Create the file /etc/chilli/localusers and add the username and password in the following format

username:password:

Replace the marker username and password for the actual username and password. Use one line for each entry

• Restart the router

Testing

• Use a tablet or a PC to connect to the mesh network
• Open a browser and type in a URL

Conclusion

After you have installed and configured everything, you should have a captive portal working on a wireless mesh network. All DHCP request are handled by the gateway running CoovaChilli. And Internet access is controlled by CoovaChilli.

Running NetBeans using a Mac Network User Account

I have known this for a long time now. And today, I just happen to need NetBeans again. I am using Mac OSX 10.6 logged in as a network user. You'd think it would be easy to run NetBeans in this environment. Well, think again. I, again, forgot how to start NetBeans.

So I am writing this to share to other, and serve also as a reminder to myself.

Steps to running NetBeans:

1. Open a Terminal

2. Type the following on the Terminal

open <Path to NetBeans.app> --args -J-Dosgi.locking=none

That's it!

CoovaChilli - MAC Address Authentication

Since it's hard to get a straight answer from CoovaChilli's site, I just decided to post my findings in here.

Today, after so much searching and testing, I discovered how to bypass CoovaChilli's usual login page. In this post you will learn how to allow a device to gain access to the Internet via CoovaChilli based on the devices' MAC address.