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| Monday, 10 August 2026 | Dereel | |
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Network performance issues?
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Topic: technology | Link here |
I had expected yesterday's upload of an installable world to take a while. But I was still surprised when I came in this morning to discover that the upload was still going—at 5 kB/s! The “time to finish” was another 18 hours off.
What went wrong there? Network issues? No, no obvious issue in my network monitoring. Throttling? Some rumours claim that too much traffic can cause the RSP to throttle the link. But that should only happen after a warning. And it wasn't that: I could upload elsewhere at normal speeds. So it seems that it's an issue with this one machine.
About the only thing that I did discover (why now?) was that the object tree was orders of magnitude larger than the source tree, nearly 8 GB. That's too much to make the approach worthwhile. The alternative is to install a new system and set up packages to run on it. What do I need?
And that will take a while. Mañana. Destroy sjc.lemis.com and think about it.
But while I was looking around later, I found that the upload was continuing:
=== grog@dereel (/dev/pts/3) /home/var/tmp 13 -> scp /home/var/tmp/15-obj.tgz sjc:/var/tmp/
15-obj.tgz 968% 2723MB 3.4KB/s 23:12:15
And yes, the values were changing. But where is the data going? sjc is dead and gone. A ktrace showed:
30338 scp RET writev -1 errno 4 Interrupted system call
30338 scp PSIG SIGALRM caught handler=0x16c70871b970 mask=0x0 code=SI_KERNEL
30338 scp CALL sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK,0x16c707633ccc,0)
30338 scp RET sigprocmask 0
30338 scp CALL setitimer(ITIMER_REAL,0x16c707633c30,0x16c707633c10)
30338 scp STRU itimerval { .interval = {0, 0}, .value = {1, 0} }
30338 scp STRU itimerval { .interval = {0, 0}, .value = {0, 0} }
30338 scp RET setitimer 0
30338 scp CALL sigreturn(0x16c707633d40)
30338 scp RET sigreturn JUSTRETURN
30338 scp CALL getpgrp
30338 scp RET getpgrp 30338/0x7682
30338 scp CALL ioctl(0x1,TIOCGPGRP,0x16c70763425c)
30338 scp RET ioctl 0
30338 scp CALL write(0x1,0x3b9537a72000,0x6e)
30338 scp GIO fd 1 wrote 110 bytes
"\r15-obj.tgz 968% 2723MB 3.4KB/s 23:14:11"
30338 scp RET write 110/0x6e
30338 scp CALL writev(0x4,0x16c707634350,0x1)
30338 scp GIO fd 4 wrote 4096 bytes
And tcpdump showed that data was going out to 45.156.87.147. What's that? No reverse lookup. But it wasn't sjc: that had the address 45.32.140.218. What's going on there? Where is 45.156.87.147?
=== root@hydra (/dev/pts/20) /src/FreeBSD/git/stable/15 103 -> traceroute 45.156.87.147
traceroute to 45.156.87.147 (45.156.87.147), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 radiation-tower.aussiebb.net (121.200.8.1) 34.484 ms 22.323 ms 35.706 ms
2 10.241.5.108 (10.241.5.108) 109.665 ms 138.321 ms
10.241.5.116 (10.241.5.116) 130.179 ms
...
10 193.109.190.124 (193.109.190.124) 272.320 ms 278.570 ms 280.740 ms
11 193.109.188.211 (193.109.188.211) 342.744 ms 302.116 ms 380.321 ms
12 ae18.1179.edge-vrf.cr1.egh.as49581.net (185.91.127.86) 279.044 ms 300.283 ms 277.925 ms
13 45.156.87.147 (45.156.87.147) 297.883 ms 305.009 ms 356.571 ms
Somehow traceroute is becoming less and less useful. But the time for the second step suggests “overseas” somewhere, and there are additional delays at step 10 and 11. Then there's the only real reverse lookup at step 12: as49581.net. whois tells me:
Domain Name: AS49581.NET
Registry Domain ID: 2682927775_DOMAIN_NET-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.antagus.de
Registrar URL: http://www.vautron.de
Registrar: Vautron Rechenzentrum AG
That's just the registrar, of course. But it's in Germany, nowhere close to sjc. I'm baffled.
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Spam from your site
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Topic: technology | Link here |
Message in the mail today:
From: Ensite <antispam@ensite.com.br>
This is an abuse report for an email message sent by mail server lax.lemis.com [45.32.70.18] on Sun, 09 Aug 2026 07:15:36 -0300
For more information about this abuse format below, see https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5965
Feedback-Type: virus
User-Agent: SPFBL/3.2
Version: 1
Original-Mail-From: [test@lemis.com]
Original-Rcpt-To: [alexia@nwnet.com.br]
Arrival-Date: Sun, 09 Aug 2026 07:15:36 -0300
Reporting-MTA: dns; cp7.americanet.com.br
Source-IP: 45.32.70.18
Authentication-Results: cp7.americanet.com.br; smtp.mail=test@lemis.com; spf=pass
Removal-Recipient: alexia@nwnet.com.br
Huh? Somebody spoofing my domain name? The important thing there is the source IP, 45.32.70.18. That's lax.lemis.com! OK, they gave me a time, so off to take a look in /var/log/maillog:
Aug 9 10:15:25 lax postfix/qmgr[865]: 59152287FF: from=<>, size=15287, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Aug 9 10:15:26 lax postfix/smtp[45196]: 59152287FF: to=<test@lemis.com>, relay=mx0.lemis.com[192.109.197.137]:25, delay=0.8, delays=0.03/0.04/0.55/0.19, dsn=5.1.1, status=bounced (host mx0.lemis.com[192.109.197.137] said: 550 5.1.1 <test@lemis.com>: Recipient address rejected: User unknown in local recipient table (in reply to RCPT TO command))
Aug 9 10:15:26 lax postfix/qmgr[865]: 59152287FF: removed
Aug 9 10:15:38 lax postfix/smtp[45159]: 5B78528774: to=<alexia@nwnet.com.br>, relay=mail.nwnet.com.br[187.17.160.109]:25, delay=47, delays=0.77/1.2/22/24, dsn=5.0.0, status=bounced (host mail.nwnet.com.br[187.17.160.109] said: 550-5.7.1 SPFBL this message was detected as possible malware. See 550 http://spfbl.net/en/feedback (in reply to end of DATA command))
Yup, guilty as charged. But that wasn't all:
Aug 9 10:15:38 lax postfix/cleanup[45142]: 86BFF287FB: message-id=<20260809101538.86BFF287FB@lax.lemis.com>
Aug 9 10:15:38 lax postfix/bounce[45155]: 5B78528774: sender non-delivery notification: 86BFF287FB
Aug 9 10:15:38 lax postfix/qmgr[865]: 86BFF287FB: from=<>, size=13748, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Aug 9 10:15:39 lax postfix/smtp[45196]: 86BFF287FB: to=<test@lemis.com>, relay=mx0.lemis.com[192.109.197.137]:25, delay=0.79, delays=0.02/0/0.57/0.2, dsn=5.1.1, status=bounced (host mx0.lemis.com[192.109.197.137] said: 550 5.1.1 <test@lemis.com>: Recipient address rejected: User unknown in local recipient table (in reply to RCPT TO command))
Aug 9 10:15:39 lax postfix/qmgr[865]: 86BFF287FB: removed
Aug 9 10:16:37 lax postfix/qmgr[865]: 144572815B: from=<>, size=2950, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Aug 9 10:16:37 lax postfix/qmgr[865]: 1C3C3286CD: from=<test@lemis.com>, size=2914, nrcpt=50 (queue active)
Aug 9 10:16:37 lax postfix/qmgr[865]: 069FA286A9: from=<test@lemis.com>, size=2914, nrcpt=50 (queue active)
What is that? Where did it come from? Further investigation took me to
Aug 9 20:11:42 dereel postfix/smtpd[32034]: connect from mame.habit.net[210.196.200.19]
Aug 9 20:11:51 dereel postfix/smtpd[32036]: B036148242E: client=mame.habit.net[210.196.200.19]
Aug 9 20:14:50 dereel postfix/cleanup[32040]: B036148242E: message-id=<>
Aug 9 20:14:50 dereel postfix/qmgr[1045]: B036148242E: from=<test@lemis.com>, size=2568, nrcpt=50 (queue active)
Aug 9 20:14:50 dereel postfix/smtp[32777]: using backwards-compatible default setting smtp_tls_security_level=(empty)
Aug 9 20:14:50 dereel postfix/smtp[32778]: using backwards-compatible default setting smtp_tls_security_level=(empty)
Aug 9 20:14:50 dereel postfix/smtp[32778]: B036148242E: to=<alexgv@aari.ru>, relay=mx0.lemis.com[192.109.197.137]:25, delay=181, delays=181/0.01/0.01/0.06, tls=none, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 2.0.0 Ok: queued as 45B4E26359A)
Aug 9 20:14:50 dereel postfix/smtp[32778]: B036148242E: to=<alexgrey@alexgrey.com>, relay=mx0.lemis.com[192.109.197.137]:25, delay=181, delays=181/0.01/0.01/0.06, tls=none, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 2.0.0 Ok: queued as 45B4E26359A)
...
Aug 9 20:14:50 dereel postfix/smtp[32778]: B036148242E: to=<alexia@nwnet.com.br>, relay=mx0.lemis.com[192.109.197.137]:25, delay=181, delays=181/0.01/0.01/0.06, tls=none, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 2.0.0 Ok: queued as 45B4E26359A)
dereel is set up by default as an open relay! And it sent hundreds of messages, sorted alphabetically. A good thing that it was caught so early. Yet Another firewall rule. I've been running my own mail for well over a third of a century, but I can't recall this happening to me before.
| Tuesday, 11 August 2026 | Dereel | Images for 11 August 2026 |
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Indian Cabbage
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Topic: food and drink | Link here |
What do I do with the cabbage I still have left over? Ask Google Gemini, which came up with a number of recipes. In the end I adapted the last one, Alu-patta-gobhi-ki-sabzi.php:
The usual: these silly US American measures, and in this case also missing salt in the ingredients, and also a requirement for “garish masala”, which proved to be a typo for garam masala. And how many portions? I adapted it for the quantities I had, which made roughly 2 portions:
| quantity | ingredient | step | ||
| 238 g | potato | 1 | ||
| 10 g | ghee | 2 | ||
| 3.4 g | cumminseed | 2 | ||
| 0.3 g | asafœtida | 2 | ||
| 10 g | ginger | 3 | ||
| 1–2 | green chillies, slit lengthways | 3 | ||
| 3 g | turmeric | 4 | ||
| 2 g | red chilli powder | 4 | ||
| 3 g | coriander powder | 4 | ||
| 20 g | ghee | 5 | ||
| 360 g | cabbage | 5 | ||
| 50 g | peas | 6 | ||
| 3.5 g | garam masala | 7 | ||
| 2 g | amchur (dry mango powder) or a splash of lemon juice | 7 | ||
To my surprise, I didn't have any chili powder! I used 9.4 g chili oil instead, which proved to be too much. And there weren't enough other spices. I should probably double or triple them.
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Census
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Topic: rant, general, language, technology, opinion | Link here |
Today was census day, which for some time now we have been doing online. Once again fun with logging in: they provide an identification and password clearly delimited with spaces, but it seems that you must not enter those spaces when logging in. And while the questions were reasonable enough, somehow the bureaucrats have difficulty with normal English.
First, of course, I needed to set up a temporary password. Followed all their rules, but the came up with another one:
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I still can't understand why people make this restriction. But there are more important issues: where did I spend the night of 11 August? When was the night of 11 August? All I got was:
We will ask who will stay at this address and who will be away on Tuesday 11 August 2026, to make sure that we count everyone.Who will spend the night of Tuesday 11 August 2026 at 29 Stones Road?
From midnight to 7:00 (7 hours) or 19:00 to 24:00 (5 hours)? I presume that they meant the latter, but they didn't say anywhere. And what if I hadn't returned home until after midnight? Then it would have been 12 August.
Once I guessed at their intention, I had the next problem:
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It took me some time to understand that they wanted me to click on “+ List person 1” to continue.
And then there were questions about comprehension or grammar. What is my gender? This question refers to how Greg currently identifies or expresses their gender...
OK, gender is a property. Describe with an adjective. I'm male. But they weren't prepared for that. I apparently belong to a Man gender:
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That's a syntax error: “man” is a noun, and they should be looking for an adjective. But there's not just syntax: they're also semantics. OK, let's assume that English is my second language. I speak it well, but some things are confusing, and there are plenty of people who don't speak English that well, but who are required to fill out the census How does Greg describe their sexual orientation. “Their” is an adjective referring to a group of people. Who is this group? How do they relate to me? Am I straight or bent? Gay or morose? What does that have to do with sexuality? Yes, the terms are colloquially used to imply heterosexual and homosexual, but how can the ABS assume that everybody they ask understands their ambiguous usage? Why not spell it out? Like most people, I'm heterosexual. Why not give me the choice to say so?
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On the positive side, I was able to enter Yvonne's country of birth correctly: “German Reich”. Five years ago I tried (and failed) to enter “Thüringen”. That was her nationality at birth, but she was born in the (last gasps of) the German Reich. That looks like my failure.
Ah, a good rant makes me feel better. But the criticisms are justified: there are people who don't understand the questions. The ABS should make it easier for them by using standard English.
And of course I gave them negative feedback for ease of completion:
It took me 7 attempts to log in and create a password. Why no spaces?
Why do you use terms that are not in standard English, like "straight" for sexual orientation? The correct word is "heterosexual". People who don't speak English well won't understand that, and other things like plural pronouns to refer to individuals.
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iChoose: Worse than expected
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Topic: technology, general, opinion | Link here |
Yvonne back from shopping today. The $500 iChoose card didn't work at all. Contacting them took me a long time to discover that the card had been cancelled, and that they would issue a new one. What a pain these people are!
| This page contains (roughly) yesterday's and today's entries. I have a horror of reverse chronological documents, so all my diary entries are chronological. This page normally contains the last two days, but if I fall behind it may contain more. You can find older entries in the archive. Note that I often update a diary entry a day or two after I write it. | Do you have a comment about something I have written? This is a diary, not a “blog”, and there is deliberately no provision for directly adding comments. It's also not a vehicle for third-party content. But I welcome feedback and try to reply to all messages I receive. See the diary overview for more details. If you do send me a message relating to something I have written, please indicate whether you'd prefer me not to mention your name. Otherwise I'll assume that it's OK to do so. |
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