We have three relatively new servers at work. From the start I've wanted to set them up exactly how I wanted, learning from the last 8 or so years I've been working with Linux.

Because it's mostly Adam and I that work on this machines I created a "webdev" group and added the two of us to it. I then changed our entries in /etc/passwd to reflect this was our default group. I then changed our umask so that files we create have the same group permissions as user permissions. No more "sudo su fitzy" for me - I can edit his files as though they were mine.

To top this off, I changed our home directories to be username:webdev and make them group writable.

Then my auto-authentication broke. Badly. None of the servers believed I was who I said I was and they made me enter my password. My work terminal scripts became just shy of useless and I began to weep.

My brain was asking "Why would SSH stop this? Because something became insecure." I began backing out the changes I'd made, including uploading new public keys, changing the permissions on .ssh and the files within it... c'mon you bitch, work.

In what alcoholics refer to as a "moment of clarity" I thought "but if your home directory's group writable, maybe ssh thinks that someone in your group is nasty and might overwrite your keys."

chmod g-w /home/mlambie

Booyah. I'm back baby. Auto logins for me.

On the otherhand, I now have to re-insert the changes I made when backing out my mods earlier. And I think I might install Breezy this weekend too.

As believable as the rest.

I was seeing this all over the 'net and Radford emailed Chatter this morning with it. Then I saw it in a web forum. Seriously funny. I mean, seriously alternative.

• Mark Shuttleworth
• Eben Moglen

There's not many albums that you can put on, fall in love with all over again, and then hit play as soon as they finish.

For me, America was one of the first bands that I first really listened to. Dad always had music on in the house, and I enjoyed a lot of the The Beach Boys, The Eagles, The Bee Gees, The Alan Parsons Project, to name but a few. I remember getting a CD player when I was about 13 years old. The only problem was I had no discs, so I listened to some of Dad's, but on my own, if that makes sense.

I'd sit at my desk or lie on my bed and just listen to the music. It's strange, because nowadays I wouldn't dream of "wasting time" like that, and would try to multitask as much as possible. Am I getting to the age that "the old days; when I was a kid" seem so unattainable?

After 35 years they're still touring, though mostly in the US only. Maybe I'll get a chance to see them when I'm in the States later this year with Maggie, though tickets are US$170 each! They have a DVD from Sydney coming out/out which won't be quite that much :)

A Horse With No Name has nothing to do with heroin too.

Update: 08/09/2005 05:59AM
In contrast, this is the cheesiest tune I've ever hacked to.

If you want to have a beer, come along. I'll try and be there for an hour or so. Call me for more details.