Backing up and restoring GPG keys
If you use GPG to occasionally encrypt and/or sign your email, or to encrypt your files before placing them on the cloud, you will understand how important it is to have a backup of your GPG keys. Similarly important will be to know how to restore them as well.
To back your private, and public keys, as well as your trust database, you will do1:
gpg --armor --export-secret-keys > ~/Des ... ⌘ [Read more](https://collantes.us/2015/10/13/backing-up-and-restoring-gpg-keys/)It’s decided
It’s decided, my next machine will be an Apple computer. Most likely I will end up buying a Mac Mini, although an iMac is also being considered. Now, who wants a (still under warranty) DELL XPS 630i? It is a Q6600 (quad), with 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, and NVIDIA 9800GT. Comes with Windows 7 Ultimate. Nice machine!
Note: Someone contacted me, but the email went to spam, and got deleted. Try … ⌘ Read more
Special, just like you
At first I thought I was special, when I received my first offering of marriage, or the bank transfer to help the widow of some foreign fallen dignitary. Then they kept going, and I knew I was “special”, just like everyone else.
Read one of today’s emails and smile:
I am 26 years old, just started work with Central bank of Nigeria, as a scientist and why i was diong system maintance . I came across your file which was marked X and your released disk painted RED, I took t … ⌘ Read more
gOS is coming our way
Yes, it is coming!
We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear – computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to wo … ⌘ Read more
Email liturgy
I miss the days when emails were written with thought, and care. They were clear, and to the point. There was no HTML in them; replies were perfectly quoted, references were neatly annotated. Emoticons were kept to a minimum, if any.
No one does that anymore… well, not many of us do. I haven’t give up, I insist. For me, sending and replying emails is a liturgy. ⌘ Read more
From today’s Barack’s email
News broke this morning that Senator Clinton made three separate loans to her campaign in the past 30 days —including one as recently as Monday.
These loans total more than $6.4 million, which combined with her previous personal loans, add up to at least $11.4 million she’s loaned her campaign since February.
A spokesman said she may continue to “loan the campaign additional money out of her jointly-held assets” —which include more than $100 million in … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft DRM server going offline
Rob Bennett, head of MSN Entertainment and Video Services, wrote to customers in an email:
As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers. You will need to obtain a license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008. If you attempt to transfer your songs to additi … ⌘ Read more
Within ten days!
Thank you for submitting your registration to Microsoft Heroes Happen Here: 2008 Launch Events.
You can print this page for your records using the “Print” button at right. Please expect to receive a confirmation email from [long email] within ten business days.
The key words here are “within ten business days”. Ten “business” days. A confirmation email! Do you find that as crazy as I do? What in the world!? If there are using Exchange, and Microsoft web technologies to … ⌘ Read more
Yahoo! and the future of the Internet
Official Google Blog: Yahoo! and the future of the Internet
Could the acquisition of Yahoo! allow Microsoft – despite its legacy of serious legal and regulatory offenses – to extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the Internet? In addition, Microsoft plus Yahoo! equals an overwhelming share of instant messaging and web email accounts. And between the … ⌘ Read more
Stop spamming, GoDaddy!
I have several domains registered at Godaddy. For the ones I care about, I have auto renew enabled. For those I am letting go, I don’t. Godaddy gentlemanly reminds me when those about to expire domains are about to do so… four months in advance! The email “reminders” do not cease from there on. And then regular mail (snail mail, that is) starts coming to my mailbox as well.
Don’t you get it, Godaddy? I do not want to renew those domains. If I wanted, I would have set auto … ⌘ Read more
Too busy, too much money or…
Our College is trying to re-design. Our web manager has been assigned to some other project of more importance (Dean’s order), so he can’t tackle the conversion of the existing website to a full blown CMS driven one. Other than the locals we have seeing and sit through presentations and proposals, I sent emails –very brief ones, but to the point– to Dan Cederholm, [Dan Bejamin](http://www.hivelogic.com/ “Da … ⌘ Read more
Gmail for Domains
Yesterday I received my invitation to move my Collantes.US domain over Google, to handle all mail by using the Gmail interface. That is Google new beta testing of hosted email for corporations or midsize companies. I don’t have a midsize company, but have a big family, so I qualified. Collantes.US, of course, is way too valuable for beta testing, but I have several more domains I can use, so I decided to resubmit my request. This morning a new message inviting the new domain was on my Gmail inbo … ⌘ Read more
Your Privacy at stake
Something very infortunated has happened and I want to encourage you, and the people you know, to help amend this by signing the petition and emailing your elected officials as soon as possible.
The NTIA, which is the telecommunications and Internet arm of the Department of Commerce, has disallowed private … ⌘ Read more
More on VoIP
Last year I wrote about Lingo and recommended their VoIP service. While I was not that off on that “review”, I have changed my mind long ago and decided not to keep the service. I got a lot of emails from people wanting to try and/or get the service and they used my email for referral. As a result, I got a lot of free Lingo service, but I called them at the end of December to cancel for good (something they told me they did, but I still have the service, … ⌘ Read more
Flipping the switch
Next Monday (August 2nd) we are flipping the switch from the old reliable Linux based email system (Sendmail, Washington University IMAP/POP3) to a relatively newly deployed Microsoft Exchange 2003. Needless is to say that we – TRC staff– all have been busy wrapping things up to minimize the impact. But things –bad things, unexpected things– are bound to happen. It is just a matter of t … ⌘ Read more
Screw SPEWS
Recently I found out that my existing server IP—the server I am moving away from—is banned on SPEWS (I am not linking them, Google it and you shall know), because it is assigned to UUnet, which is blamed of harbouring spammers. Following the recommendation of the bounced email I posted on Usenet, asking to be removed, without knowing at that time that it was something out of my h … ⌘ Read more
Short and sweet
Just a quick post, short and sweet, while my wife and kid still sleep and I patiently wait for the ServerBeach people to fix the mess on my server (the other server). Can you believe that I lost connection last night, went to sleep and this morning I found that my IP goes to a Windows 2003 server? Boy, talk about some big time screw up!
I have 15 (fifteen, that is) invitations for Gmail that I am giving out for free. If anyone wants one, go ahead and [email … ⌘ Read more
Philosophical confussion
I do not like unsolicited pop-up windows. I like even less unsolicited browser resizing. Missuse of web cookies blows and should be illegal. Junk and spam emails are a disease (well, not for me, since I use TMDA on my John Companies server and I get zero spam) that is getting out of hand. Porno and the sex industry for sure are a profitable business; most of the spam today adver … ⌘ Read more
I will never be happy in this lifetime
Recently I received an email from a friend that has been on Iraq since the beginning of the war. He keeps us up-to-date of his experiences on the front and every email from him brings amazing details and interesting perspectives of the daily life on the liberated Iraq.
This last email was specially interesting because, as he mentions, it brings a part of Iraq that our news sources seems to have forgotten about, they haven’t picked up or they, simply … ⌘ Read more
That simple life
Reading an email from my oldest brother today, I went back to the days of my infancy, when life was so simple. You see, these days no one will dare to drop by your house without previously calling; you will ride you car even if it is to go just around the corner for a bottle of milk, or a six pack—for those who drink. Everything has it’s price: “Would you do such-and-such for me?”, “Sure, it will be $25.” or “How much are you going to pay me?” And the money part will be normal and ex … ⌘ Read more
Things are changing… once again
Things are changing around here once again. I am going to try, once again, to please my mind on this little spot. There has been a gap, since the last time I posted, but I had had my reasons. Uncle Eddie died and now, almost a month after, I feel the same emptiness I felt the first day.
I am working on a Webmail for family use. For those who already have a username and password, go ahead and give it a try. I am try … ⌘ Read more
From Bill Gates, with love
I received an email today. While it is true that I receive 60 to 70 emails daily, this one was not trivial. It wasn’t the expected porno offer, nor a letter from Nigeria or Lagos promising riches. Is wasn’t “reputable” diplomas or innocent spam passed along by a lack-of-knowledge friend neither. If was an email from Bill Gates itself. Yes, that’s right, an email from the billionaire Gates.
I have to admit that my first thought was, “It is another spam”. This is … ⌘ Read more
Bad things come at once
Today wasn’t a good day. If it weren’t enough that the weekend wasn’t good, there comes Monday with, yet another, bit of spice. To start, this morning my car started rattling and shacking like it was possessed by a voodoo spirit. Took it to the mechanic and, to make the long story short, I will be $500 short by tomorrow noon. Then I get to work and, on top of having a few little things to finish, I get an email from one of my sisters telling me about problems with m … ⌘ Read more