aaron's amazing blog

OpenVPN and PPTP Server Setup

2011-07-13T18:15:00.032-07:00

I wrote this awhile ago trying to figure out how to set up a vpn server to connect to while on unsecure networks (e.g., hotels, coffee shops, etc.). Essentially, using openvpn will connect you and route all traffic through an encrypted connection to the server.

Most of the server setup came from here and the config file and routing setup came from here.

This setup has been tested on Ubuntu 8.04, but should work for most debian-based linux distros. For redhat or other linux distros, substitute yum for apt-get. This tutorial uses the 10.44.77.0 network for openvpn and the 10.44.78.0 network for pptp. Any private network should work as long as the same subnet is not in use on the server or client's existing networks.

OPENVPN SERVER SETUP:

1. Install OpenVPN on the server:

$ apt-get install openvpn openssl

2. Set up OpenVPN:

$ cp /usr/share/doc/openvpn/examples/easy-rsa/2.0/* /etc/openvpn/
$ cd /etc/openvpn/
$ mkdir keys

3. Create keys:

$ nano vars (edit the last section)
$ source ./vars
$ ./clean-all
$ ./build-ca
$ ./build-key-server server
$ ./build-key client
$ ./build-dh

4. Repeat the $ ./build-key [client name] line to create additional client keys

5. Create Server Config File:

$ nano server.conf

Insert the following text in server.conf:

dev tun
proto tcp
port 1194
ca /etc/openvpn/keys/ca.crt # Path of ca.crt file you generated
cert /etc/openvpn/keys/server.crt # Path of certificate you generated
key /etc/openvpn/keys/server.key # Path of key file you generated
dh /etc/openvpn/keys/dh1024.pem # Path of dh file you generated
user nobody
group nogroup
server 10.44.77.0 255.255.255.0 # Any private subnet not currently in use
persist-key
persist-tun
#status openvpn-status.log
verb 3
client-to-client
push "dhcp-option DOMAIN ###.###.###.###" # Server public IP or domain name
push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.222.222" # Primary dns server (opendns shown)
push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.220.220" # Secondary dns server (opendns shown)
push "redirect-gateway" # Directs all traffic through your VPN
#log-append /var/log/openvpn
#comp-lzo

6. Make OpenVPN start automatically (debian-based instructions only):

$ nano /etc/default/openvpn

Uncomment or add the following line:

AUTOSTART="all"

7. Set the server to route all VPN traffic to eth0:

$ iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s 10.44.77.0/24 -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

8. Allow IP Forwarding:
Edit the file /etc/sysctl.conf

$ nano proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
Uncomment the following line:

net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1

9. Restart OpenVPN and Networking:

$ /etc/init.d/networking restart
$ /etc/init.d/openvpn restart

OPENVPN CLIENT SETUP:
1. Copy the ca.crt and the client key and cert files to the client computer.
2. Create a client config file with the extension '.conf':
3. Insert the following text: (Note: for windows clients, the paths will look like "C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\Config\ca.crt")

client
dev tun
proto tcp
remote ###.###.###.### 1194 # Server IP address or domain name
remote-cert-tls server
resolv-retry infinite
nobind
user nobody
group nogroup
persist-key
persist-tun
ca /etc/openvpn/keys/ca.crt # Path of ca.crt you generated
cert /etc/openvpn/keys/client.crt # Path of client certificate you generated
key /etc/openvpn/keys/client.key # Path of client key you generated
#comp-lzo
verb 3

4. Start OpenVPN using the client software of your choice:
If you're using an Ubuntu client:
Place your *.conf file and keys in "/etc/openvpn/" and run

$ /etc/init.d/openvpn start

If you're using a windows client.
Place your *.conf and keys in "C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\Config".
Start OpenVPN in windows services.

IPOD/IPHONE VPN SETUP (PPTPD)
1. Install pptpd:

$ apt-get install pptpd

2. Edit /etc/pptpd.conf and change the following lines as shown:

localip 10.44.78.1
remoteip 10.44.78.2-100

3. Edit /etc/ppp/chap-secrets and add new users as follows:

# Secrets for authentication using CHAP
# client server secret IP addresses
username1 pptpd password1 10.44.78.2
username2 pptpd password2 10.44.78.3

4. Set the server to route all VPN traffic to eth0:

$ iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s 10.44.78.0/24 -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

5. To allow dns routing, edit /etc/ppp/pptpd-options and uncomment/edit the following lines (the DNS addresses can be whatever you want - opendns shown):

ms-dns 208.67.222.222
ms-dns 208.67.220.220

CHECK NEW VPN SERVER
To check your VPN connection, open a web browser and navigate to http://whatismyip.com or http://getip.com. Your IP address should be the same as the VPN server.

FYI

2009-10-02T16:42:00.002-07:00

If anyone is wondering how to remove the idler/tensioner on a Jeep 4.0-liter inline 6 (Mine is a 1999 Grand Cherokee), use a TORX!

YouTube Video Bloggers

2009-09-15T20:06:00.004-07:00

I wasn't planning on coming out of retirement, but this just had to be said. I usually don't care too much what celebrity or politician is offending or apologizing to what celebrity or politician. It's always the same. These people are adults playing in a child's sandbox with deadly toys. The things they have to deal with are of enormous import and consequence. However, the things they spend their time actually doing is name calling and becoming outraged at the name calling in order to pretend to have some sense of conscience and if at all possible suck up to King Obama (I'm speaking about the politicians here).

I am writing today, however, about the online reactions to these shenanigans, or anything else, from entertainment to business, weather, sports, you name it. The person doing the offending this time is Kanye West who news outlets report recently made a idiot of himself at some awards show. I was curious and thought I'd check out the video. I hopped on YouTube and tried to play it. I found a video with an appropriate title and a picture of Kanye West on stage holding a microphone. I started the clip and instead of Kanye West on stage I get this skinny little jackass (Obama said it) sitting in front of his computer in his bedroom showing the world how pathetic his life was by video blogging about Kanye West. I'd obviously picked the wrong video and quickly selected another. Again I was greeted by some little puke staring into a web cam giving his take on things. After trying a few more videos with the same result, I gave up.

So, to all the no-lifes video blogging about every stupid thing, I'm giving you some advice. When I go looking for a video, I just wanted to see a stupid video. I don't want to talk about it and I surely don't give a crap what you have to say about it. If I want to watch your video I'll pick one with a picture of you staring into your bedroom web cam. Don't upload your video with a title picture that isn't in the video!

Now I've wasted my time. At least you didn't have to look up my nose reading this.

website

2008-10-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

I started building a website years ago customizing a template that came with a wysiwyg editor that bought. I lost interest and haven't done anything with it for about 3 years. However, recently, I decided to do it right. Although some of the design is borrowed from the previous site, I have been picking up html, php and mySQL and have only used a text editor! I have hand coded a good portion of it and am pretty proud of myself. It's a work in progress, but it's coming along. Check it out and let me know what you think. http://buildhavasu.com/test

you can't pick your friend's nose

2008-08-31T19:55:00.002-07:00

Kiri bragged about Adalyn on her blog and I'm super proud of this one so here it goes. Last night I was with Adalyn at the table and somehow we got to talking about nose picking. She looked at me and said, "You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends nose!" I guess she does pay attention to all my snippets of wisdom I send her way. She just turned 2 this month. To nail such a useful phrase like that word for word she must be practicing on her own. Can you think of a better thing for a 2 year old to be doing?

the 'church grope'

2008-08-08T20:56:00.005-07:00

"The Wedding Singer" introduced the world to "church tongue" when describing the appropriate wedding kiss. I was recently traveling and stopped in for a church service. I sat in the back and saw the coolest thing. I call it the "church grope". It reminded me of the couples that walk around with their hands in each others' back pockets, except this is the church version (in the hymnal holder on the back of the pew). It's probably bad form to take pictures in church, but I had to. Enjoy.

in-dash 110v outlet project

2008-07-28T17:50:00.009-07:00

I bought an inverter a few months ago to be able to power 110-Volt AC stuff in my car. It's a cheap-o, 200-Watt Wal-Mart special. It plugs into any 12-Volt DC cigarette lighter/accessory outlet and provides a 110-Volt AC outlet, 5-Volt DC USB port and a 12-Volt accessory outlet. Plugging it in and having this thing sit out in the open, however, creates a tangled mess of wires. The new Toyota Tacoma's have a 110-Volt AC outlet in the bed of the truck. So I thought, "hey I've got this inverter, I'll mount an outlet somewhere in my jeep." I finally decided, since my jeep has a covered 12-Volt DC accessory outlet and a cigarette lighter in the dash, I would mount the outlet under the existing accessory cover and still have the cigarette lighter outlet for 12-Volt stuff. I should have taken before and after shots, but I didn't so my before picture kind of sucks. This is my dash before the install.

The boxed part is kind of difficult to see, but you can see the cigarette lighter on the left, the ash tray in the middle and the cover of the accessory outlet closed on the right. I pulled the bottom panel of the dash out and started to tinker. It was a royal pain to find an outlet that looked right and also that fit into the space I had, allowing the existing outlet cover to close. I finally settled on one of those female connectors that are sold to be put on the ends of extension chords. I needed to put a lip on it to mount it in the hole where accessory outlet had been. So, I took the plug to a band saw and trimmed it down until it fit. I also had a small LED rocker switch laying around and decided it would be cool to be able to switch the outlet on and off. I drilled a hole above the outlet cover and mounted the switch. After burning out 3 fuses trying to figure out how to wire the switch and after applying some mad JB Weld skills, this is what the back of the panel looks like:

This is what the front looks like with the cover closed:

This is what it looks like with the cover open and the switch on:

When I got the whole thing wired up I realized that the inverter had to be switched on using a switch on top of the inverter every time power was lost. I didn't want the inverter on the whole time, but I also didn't want to have to push the button on the inverter every time I flipped my cool LED switch on. So, I pulled the inverter apart and removed the circuit board that made the inverter turn itself off every time power was lost. Now the inverter only turns on with the toggle switch and is tucked up under my dashboard out of sight as shown below:

Kiri and certain others think I'm a total dork for doing this, but I'm pretty proud of myself. The final product is shown below:

People may ask why anyone would want a 110-Volt AC outlet in their dash. I say "who wouldn't?" There's no tangle mess of wires for me.

transwest pick-a-part rules!

2008-07-28T17:38:00.003-07:00

I've known for some time now that one of the sonata's motor mounts was bad; however, that particular motor mount runs upwards of $250! There is this place in Ogden called Transwest Pick-A-Part. It's a salvage yard where they have the cars arranged in rows based on manufacturer. You take your tools in and pull the parts you want yourself and then take them to the front desk to pay for them. I went on Saturday looking for the motor mount and a small plastic button to control the tilt of the sun roof that must have fallen off before we bought the car. I not only found both parts, but I got them for $10! I came home and swapped the parts out. The sun roof now tilts and the motor mount smoothed out the rough idle that we've had since we bought the car.

i gradumacated

2008-07-28T17:33:00.002-07:00

Kiri called me at work the other day to let me know my diploma came in the mail. Since I didn't walk at graduation, it was nice to have physical confirmation that I actually graduated. "Just a shade under a decade!" Anyways, since it's give a recent college graduate $600 month, I'll just wait for all of your checks to show up in my mailbox.

a few more good shots

2008-06-22T21:13:00.005-07:00

These are some good ones.

On my way home on Friday I stopped at Estes Park (very cool if you ever get a chance). Anyways, on my way to Denver from Estes Park, I passed this sign. I never knew such a place existed (Just ask Kiri).

Yesterday Kiri and I were driving around in Ogden looking at houses and we passed this truck. Can anyone honestly think rooster stickers are cool? There's a proud wife out there somewhere. At any rate, if this guy ever gets arrested on suspicion of cockfighting, I think he's sunk.

pictures on the road

2008-06-19T16:43:00.007-07:00

I'm out of town on work again. This time I brought my camera. These are some of the pictures I took today.

I passed this sign today and had to turn around to get a picture. Maybe they don't fix roads here. They just put up signs when they get bad.

I'd never seen a spider like this before. This thing was huge.

A storm was rolling in on my way home.

The sun was shining through the clouds on this row of trees.

There are wind farms all over the place out here.

I thought the light on this road contrasted well with the dark sky.

sonata vehicle speed sensor

2008-06-08T18:57:00.017-07:00

I was driving Kiri's car (an '02 Sonata) not too long ago and, suddenly, the speedometer dropped to zero. A few seconds later the check engine light came on. The car also started idling at very low rpm, but I'm not sure if that was related. I had taken the car to the dealer with the airbag issue and immediately suspected them of accidentally screwing it up or giving themselves a little job security. Either way, I didn't want to take it back. I began searching online and found that there are actually three speed sensors on a Hyundai Sonata.

Conveniently, Sonatas do not have repair manuals. Instead, Hyundai provides a cryptic website for diagnostic and repair info. Anyways, the input and output sensors are located on the transmission and help your vehicle know when to shift. Much information regarding these two sensors can be found in online forums and even on the crappy Hyundai service website. Little to no information, however, can be found for the third sensor: the vehicle speed sensor. Fortunately for me, I had a vehicle speed sensor problem. I'm writing this post to maybe save somebody the headache of trying to figure it out on their own. Most of the information I received from conversations with dealer service department people and one particularly helpful dealer mechanic who walked out to my car with me and showed me where the sensor was and described how to fix it. I have a 2002 Sonata and I imagine this applies to all automatic Sonatas with the same body style.

The vehicle speed sensor is located on top of the transmission as shown in the picture below:

Click on the image for a larger view. The sensor is circled in yellow. I began by disconnecting the air filter hose and removing the top of the air filter housing. This gave me better access to the sensor. A close view of the sensor can be seen below:

To remove the speed sensor, I disconnected the electrical plug from the sensor using a flat head screw driver, taking care to not damage the plug. The plug came off easily. If the terminals on the plug look corroded, it's a good idea to clean them and reseat the plug, as a bad connection may have been the only problem. If that doesn't work, keep reading.

Because the sensor plugs into the top of the transmission, it is a good idea to clean the area around the sensor to prevent dirt from entering the transmission when the sensor is removed. Next, I removed the bolt which holds the sensor in place.

The speed sensor assembly is comprised of the speed sensor and a plastic gear. The plastic gear is turned by the transmission. The sensor measures the speed of the shaft on the plastic gear which is held in place by a retaining ring. I purchased both the sensor and the gear for good measure. The new speed sensor assembly is shown below:

The white helical gear can be seen on the right and, just to the left of it, the retaining ring which holds the small gear shaft on the sensor.

After removing the bolt from the transmission, I removed the sensor assembly by gently prying it upward with a flat head screw driver. When I removed the retaining ring and gear from the sensor, small pieces of broken plastic fell out of the sensor. I guess that was my problem (it's good to know the dealer probably wasn't pulling a fast one). The disassembled speed sensor assembly removed from the car is shown below:

The old speed sensor was covered in transmission fluid. So, for good measure, I applied fresh transmission fluid to the o-ring on the new sensor, gear shaft and helical gear. I then inserted the shaft in the speed sensor, installed the keeper ring and installed the assembly by reversing the removal procedure. When the car was put back together, I started the engine, the check engine light turned off and the speedometer worked perfectly!

For those unfortunate enough to own a Sonata, I hope this tutorial helps.

i bought a jeep

2008-06-04T19:55:00.006-07:00

I know I said I would write more often. I'm out of town on business and decided I should catch up a bit. It's been kind boring here, raining like crazy and I miss my wife. I'm gone until next Monday. I thought traveling would be so fun, but it's not so great.

In other news, I bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee the other day and am pleased to announce my return to the four-wheel-drive world.

I got to romp around a bit in it on Saturday. I'd forgotten how fun that is.

Friday evening, Kiri, Adalyn and I drove to Heber where my sister lives. I was out and about that night and topped off my gas tank for good measure. The next morning we were driving to the lake to go fishing and my brother-in-law noticed my gas gage. Apparently someone had stolen my gas during the night. I estimate they got away with about 10 gallons. I can hardly imagine the kind of loser that would steal gas from a car parked in a driveway on a corner lot under a street light. Anyways, with today's gas prices, I'd recommend a locking gas cap to anyone who hasn't got one. I hate it when people steal!

That about wraps it up for this post. I've got a ton of things I want to blog, but I just haven't found the motivation yet. I'll get to it eventually.

i'm alive

2008-05-18T13:44:00.006-07:00

For those who don't know, I took a job in Utah and we moved last week. It is so amazing to not have school hanging over my head all the time, but I still feel just as stressed. We rented a small, smelly duplex in Layton (I'm sure Kiri will vent on her blog about all the nasty details). I started work last Monday and just got the internet set up yesterday. I have been crazy busy for the past few weeks and haven't had time to post. I have been making a list of things to write about and, now that school is out of the way and we are kind of settled in, I'll be writing regularly.

craigslist losers

2008-04-09T11:00:00.006-07:00

Let me start this post by saying I love craigslist. I do have a problem, however, with the people that browse the "free" section and have no shame. I'll explain. Right after we bought our car, I was doing the brakes and needed brake cleaner. So, I hopped on my bike and headed to Checker. On the way home, brake cleaner in hand, I got plowed by a car, bending my rims so badly that I had to carry the bike home. The bike was a piece of junk to begin with. It was my ASU bike. Well, that was November, and the bike has been sitting on our patio ever since. Last night (or rather this morning at 1:05 am... don't judge me) I got sick of seeing it and decided to post it on craigslist.
Being the nice guy that I am, I posted it in the free section. Around 1:20 am, my phone rang. It was some idiot calling at 1:20 am to ask about the bike. I was furious. "Its 1 in the morning. What's wrong with you?" I asked. His reply was "Well you just posted it 10 minutes ago." Although I definitely should not have been awake at such an hour, this in nowise justified calling a complete stranger at 1:00 am. I told him to call back in the morning. A little after 4:00 am, somebody else called and left me a message. When I listened to the message, it was a guy asking for the bike. At that point I'd had it. I realized I was not going to get any sleep unless I turned my phone off. I use my phone as an alarm clock and didn't want to have my life run by these early morning freeloaders. So I hopped on craigslist, deleted my post and hauled my bike to the alley. Problem solved. I got rid of the bike and slept... at least for a bit. I received another call at 6:00 am and another after 7. I'm not Captain Tact, but my advice to those late night browsers is, if you can't wait until morning, just email the guy. My beef is not with people who want free stuff. My problem is with the people who are willing to throw any ounce of respect they may have had for other people out the window to be the first to get the freebie. Well, I'm taking a stand on this one. No bike for you!

the sonata lives on!

2008-04-08T01:06:00.013-07:00

I'd been wanting to find out how the airbags in my wife's corolla worked for some time. So, on a sunny, November day in Queen Creek, I slammed it into the back of a Chevy 2500 pickup. The airbags worked great. Kiri and I were thrilled. Our car, which was insured with liability only, was totaled.

My beautiful spray paint and duct tape-clad civic had been out for the count for a few weeks so I thought I'd take the civic to the shop and ride out our car problems in style. Diagnosis: 3 dead cylinders (more damage than the car was worth). Long story short, we needed a car pronto. We borrowed a car and frantically began the hunt. We found an '02 Sonata and, foolishly believing that Hyundai had mended their crapish ways, plopped down a chunk of money that we didn't have on a fixer-upper. The brakes and CV joints were bad, but otherwise the car appeared to be mechanically sound. After making the necessary repairs (with some serious help from the brother-in-law), I found a dent in the engine compartment indicating the car might have been wrecked. A few small things didn't quite work right on the car so I decided to change some fuses. You can imagine my delight when I crawled up under my steering wheel to find that the airbag idiot light fuse was missing. I pulled another, less important fuse to fill the vacancy and watched the airbag idiot light come on. At this point, I didn't even know if the car had airbags. Quick note: if you ever want to pull a fast one on someone, just pull the "my car is broken" indicator light fuse and watch your car go from piecer to steal. I called a dealer and was told that 9 times out of 10, an airbag error light is caused by a bad connection under one of the front seats (the seats have pressure sensors). I bought a can of electrical connection cleaner from Checker, unbolted my seats and cleaned and reseated every connection under the front seats. Much to my dismay, the stupid airbag light still stayed on. Clutching my empty wallet, I took the car to the dealer. $95 later, I was driving home without the stupid airbag light. Turns out that the car had some 18 history codes. All they needed to do was clear the codes and the airbag system was as good as new. Not only did the dealer's mechanic fix my annoying light (convincing me the car was safe enough to trust my wife and child in), he also did one of those six million point inspections and didn't recommend any service besides changing the air filter. If a dealer can't find another way to juice my wallet, I think I'm sitting pretty good. I stopped by Walmart and picked up an air filter and now have a completely different attitude toward my Hyundai junk heap. It's still completely gutless, gas guzzling piece, but in a safer, I didn't get ripped off so bad sort of way.

the man skirt

2008-04-06T20:18:00.005-07:00

Kiri and I were driving the other day and saw this guy walking down Hardy wearing a kilt. I had to snap a picture quickly, but I was driving, so the best I could do was this picture I took with my phone.

I wonder if the mini-kilt caught on in Scotland when mini-skirts were big in the US?

another of life's mysteries solved!

2008-04-04T14:04:00.005-07:00

Aaron the super sleuth, it has nice ring to it. I have solved the mystery of belly button lint. Kiri often teases me about my belly button lint (She should be jealous because I get it and she doesn't). Why is belly button lint so sexist? Why do men get it and women don't? The way I discovered the answer may be disturbing to some, so stop reading now if you want. I simply shaved my belly button hair and presto! No lint. No lint teasing. I should warn, however, that a shorn belly can provide ample fuel for a volley of snide remarks.

I'm sure the hair doesn't attract the lint, because armpit lint is unheard of and nobody that I know actually has hair between their toes (another lint trap). The logical conclusion is that the hair simply keeps the lint from escaping. I bet lint parents always teach their young to stay away from hairy belly buttons. "Button with hair, linties beware" must be plastered all over their elementary schools. Inevitably, those curious young lints go in to check things out and get snared. Ah the follies of youth. Having concluded that the lint is only trapped in hairy buttons, I wonder if those with hairless belly buttons have a constant flux of lint through their navels (i.e., lint is always entering, but just falls back out)? A guy I met in college pointed out another great mystery: lint is almost always blue. If anyone knows the answer to that one, let me know. Until next time, this is Aaron Levie, super sleuth, signing off.

removing image links

2008-03-11T00:04:00.003-07:00

Okay this bugged the heck out of me when I started posting on blogger so I thought I'd share how to fix it. The problem is that blogger automatically includes a link to a larger version of any image posted. If you don't want high-res copies of your pictures available online (for whatever reason), this post is for you.

The picture below is a typical picture uploaded to blogger through the post editor:

If you mouse over the image, a little selector hand will appear which will allow you to open the full size version of the image. Annoying! To remove this option, follow the instructions below:

There are two tabs at the top of the post editor: "Edit Html" and "Compose". The "Edit Html" option allows you to edit the code of you're post. Select the "Edit Html" tab and locate that portion of the code applies to your picture. The applicable portion of the code for the image above, is as follows:

<a onblur=“try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=“http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6IF2BtrMoDs/R9YQkD-74aI/
AAAAAAAAAF4/Jt084qPh1Y8/s1600-h/IMG_2510.JPG”><img style=“margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=“http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6IF2BtrMoDs/R9YQkD-74aI/
AAAAAAAAAF4/Jt084qPh1Y8/s400/IMG_2510.JPG” alt=““ id=“BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176343033439576482” border=“0” /></a>

You're image name and folders will be different than those in the code shown above, so everything will not look exactly the same. The link-removal method, however, is the same for all posts. Simply edit the code as follows:

1. Remove all of the picture code before "<img"
2. Remove "cursor: pointer;" from the body of the code
3. Remove "</a>" from the end of the picture code

The portions which should be removed are shown in green below:

<a onblur=“try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=“http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6IF2BtrMoDs/R9YQkD-74aI/
AAAAAAAAAF4/Jt084qPh1Y8/s1600-h/IMG_2510.JPG”><img style=“margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=“http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6IF2BtrMoDs/R9YQkD-74aI/
AAAAAAAAAF4/Jt084qPh1Y8/s400/IMG_2510.JPG” alt=““ id=“BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176343033439576482” border=“0” /></a>

the remaining code should look something like this:

<img style=“margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;” src=“http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6IF2BtrMoDs/R9YQkD-74aI/
AAAAAAAAAF4/Jt084qPh1Y8/s400/IMG_2510.JPG” alt=““ id=“BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176343033439576482” border=“0” />

The results of these modifications can be seen on the image below:

Even after this work-around, a particularly snoopy visitor can still find the full sized image by opening another post with a linked picture, copying the link from the address bar and changing the filename to that of the desired picture. For example, if you click on the picture in my photostitch post, the full sized image will be opened in the current window and the following text will be displayed in the address bar.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6IF2BtrMoDs/R8uoJOy2rfI/AAAAAAAAAFI/
nMxjewxpZbo/s1600-h/mini-stitched2c-1.JPG

That text reveals the location of the full sized images. By simply changing the filename at the end of the text (mini-stitched2c-1.JPG) to that of the desired photo (obtained by right clicking on the small image and selecting "properties"), which in the case used in this tutorial is IMG_2510.JPG, the result is the following text:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6IF2BtrMoDs/R8uoJOy2rfI/AAAAAAAAAFI/
nMxjewxpZbo/s1600-h/IMG_2510.JPG

When this modified address is pasted in the address box of any web browser, the full sized image will be retrieved. A nice workaround for this problem is to simply resize your images before uploading them to your blog. A great free image resizer/converter is Mihov Image Resizer. To resize in Image Resizer, install and open the program. Next select the file type tab at the top of the page (probably JPG). Then enter the desired picture size in the Pixels box to the right (the large setting in blogger is 400 pixels) and select your picture quality (I always select "Better Quality"). Next, in the box on the upper left, browse to the folder containing the images to be resized and select the image file or files to be resized. Then press the resize button and Image Resizer will place a resized copy of your picture in the same folder as the original. The new file name will begin with the prefix "mini-". A screenshot of IR is included below. Note the mini version of the picture in the images list on the left, indicating that the picture awesome.JPG has been resized.

Simply upload the mini picture instead of the full-sized picture (before modifying the code to disable the link). The result is a small picture for everyone, including those super snoopy types.

foxy lady

2008-03-10T20:55:00.011-07:00

This is the coolest picture of me smooching a foxy lady at Luke Air Force Base.

the chaser's war on everything

2008-03-10T18:43:00.004-07:00

The Chaser's War on Everything is a segment on ABC in Austrailia. These guys are hilarious. Enjoy the videos below.

"Terrorist Security Response"

"The Secret"

"Evangelicals"

photostitch

2008-03-03T00:13:00.012-07:00

I've had a Canon Powershot SD550 digital camera for over two years now. It takes 7.1 megapixel photos and so far has been a decent "point and shoot". The feature I dislike most, however, is the flash, which is super intense and washes out just about anything it's pointed at. Without the flash, indoor pictures almost always turn out blurry.

This camera's got a bunch of bells and whistles that I never use. One of these is PhotoStitch. It's a software package designed to combine several overlapping photographs into one large photograph. On Saturday, Kiri , Adalyn and I drove to the top of South Mountain Park. The view was incredible so I thought I'd try out the PhotoStitch feature. The picture quality isn't great and some of the "stitched" areas are pretty obvious, but the overall effect is pretty cool. Check it out below:

what the...?

2008-02-18T20:45:00.016-07:00

I was driving around for work and I saw this car and I had to risk life and limb to snap a picture of it. It's what appears to be a Dodge Dynasty complete with spoiler, decals, american flags flying on either side of the car, mud flaps and, yes, that's a rat tail hanging out of the trunk. That is one sweet ride!

The saddest part is that this car wouldn't be so perfectly decked out unless the owner honestly though it was cool. This next picture I took tonight right before class.

I was doing my business and I noticed these rails on either side of the urinal. I assume they're for ADA compliance, but I think they're taking it too far. I can imagine someone using rails for support in a private restroom or even a stall, but who would wheel up to the urinal and grab these things? On the flip side, they do look kind of cool. I'll have to fake an injury so I can have cool space-age industrial tubing coming out of the wall on either side of the john.

pictures

2008-02-17T23:44:00.012-07:00

These are a few pictures I have taken. I thought they were pretty cool so I thought I'd share them.

This is an Arizona landscape. I have no idea where I was. We were rappelling and I took the picture from the top of the cliff.

This is actually a hotel lobby in California. I just thought it looked cool.

I took this at the phoenix convention center. The way I see it, the soft shadows create a sort of relaxed calm feeling which contrasts nicely with the busy world outside. If I sound hokey it's because I'm a recovering architecture major.

I took this picture right outside our old apartment. I think it's an oleander plant. All those tiny things are insects! I couldn't believe it. I don't know what they are, but they gave me a great opportunity to play with the macro feature on my camera.

This is a zoomed-in portion of the previous picture.

This picture is hilarious. I took it from my back patio. It looks like a pretty normal picture, but if you look closely, there's a guy doing some serious dumpster-diving. If you still don't see him, here's a blown-up view:

One man's garbage is another man's treasure...

ephalent

2008-02-14T01:09:00.008-07:00

This is my daughter Adalyn, arguably the cutest girl in the world and creator of the word ephalent as well as other great words like oppalope (envelope) and tac (cat). We've got a regular Shakespeare on our hands! I've been threatening to start a blog for a while, but never got around to it. My wife started a blog recently and I'm totally jealous. It is crazy late and I'm going to bed.