Category: General

Disabling and Editing OS X’s Built in Firewall

David Rostenne

Without using ipfw. I wanted to have Personal Web Sharing on, but block access to it on the firewall. When I tried to change it in the Firewall tab in System Preferences I got a sheet saying, “You cannot change the firewall settings for this service.” So I went off and found that the settings are stored in
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sharing.firewall.plist

Once I opened it I discovered I could change the ‘editable’ value:

<key>Personal Web Sharing</key>
<dict>
<key>editable</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>enable</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>port</key>
<array>
<string>80</string>

I set it to 1, saved it, and re-opened System Preferences Firewall Tab. I could now disable access to port 80 through the firewall, while leaving me free to continue fiddling with my internal website.

Hammocks Galore!

David Rostenne

I was looking at hammocks online today… seeing as it has been a regular topic during camping discussions.

Since our Brazilian Hammock disappeared during one of our many moves I figured I’d go see if I could find one online. hammocks.com page with Brazilian models. The one we had was a Large one with a fringe. No spreader bars, thanks! I prefer being able to hide out in the hammock. ” Made from 100% soft, stretchy cotton fabric, this traditional Brazilian hammock is cozy enough for one and spacious enough for the family.” Rated to 450 lbs as well.

Of course finding that just got me jonesing for a *real* hammock, something useable for camping. My friend Adam has a Hennessey Hammock and loves it, so I went there first. Huh. They have a new model, the Hennessey Supershelter. It’s a 4 season hammock system! Sold out and back ordered already.. and I haven’t even gotten past the intro.

For links to many hammocks and experiences with them head over to Sgt. Rock’s Hiking HQ.

I also like the IMPS-NETâ„¢ COMBAT & SURVIVAL NET. The Individual Multi-Purpose Net can be rigged up as a fishing net, personal camouflage, stretcher, storage bag and more… looks like a good addition to my pack, and for only $12.99 too! Needs a better acronym though, something with ‘nap’ in it..

Why don’t they hit reply?

David Rostenne

I was looking through my sent mail yesterday, wondering if I had really sent an email to someone.. as I had yet to see a response. It turns out I had sent it several weeks ago. So, what happened at their end? Did my email get ignored? Vanish? Filtered out as spam?

Now I am left wondering how I would go about tracking my own emails to see if the person at the other end is even getting them.

Comments? Suggestions?

Testing Macjournal

David Rostenne

A couple of quick things today;
– found a nice post on taoofmac.com on using jhead and Applescript to prep images for the web
– my keyboard is still mad at me and is randomly misspelling things for me
– looks like the patch for WordPress’s xmlrpc.php file, from RedPill works… now to figure out how to get iPhoto to talk to it!
– need to dig out real urls for this post!