Post by AskApache Jan 19, 20122 comments
SOPA: Anonymous Lists Their Demands
A rallying cry on the occassion of the Web's first mass blackout
As we watch the web go dark today in protest against the SOPA/PIPA censorship bills, let's take a moment and reflect on why this fight is so important. We may have learned that free speech is what makes America great, or instinctively resist attempts at silencing our voices. But these are abstract principles, divorced from the real world and our daily lives.
Free speech is the foundation of a free society. We can have the vote all we want. We can donate money wherever we want. But unless we're able to talk to each other and figure out collectively _what_ we want, those things don't matter.
We believe a healthy society doesn't allow its artists, musicians and other creators to starve. The copyright industry has been justly criticized for abusing the political process in a desperate attempt to maintain its role as a cultural gatekeeper, a business model made obsolete by a digital age of free copies. But the RIAA, MPAA & IFPI deserve our opprobrium for making enormous profits while often leaving the very artists it claims to represent *poorer* than they would be as independents.[1] While the public may have greater access to the few artists deemed sufficiently marketable to gain mass media promotion, fewer and fewer of us are making art and music in our own lives.
We call upon all freedom loving Internauts to join us. We further call upon our legislators, bureaucrats and the media & telecommunications industries to immediately begin implementing our demands. The future of free speech is bright, and clear - either stand with us or get out of the way.
PirateBay Press Release regarding SOPA...
So, the whole basis of this industry, that today is screaming about losing control over immaterial rights, is that they circumvented immaterial rights. They copied (or put in their terminology: "stole") other peoples creative works, without paying for it. They did it in order to make a huge profit. Today, they're all successful and most of the studios are on the Fortune 500 list of the richest companies in the world. Congratulations - it's all based on being able to re-use other peoples creative works. And today they hold the rights to what other people create. If you want to get something released, you have to abide to their rules. The ones they created after circumventing other peoples rules.
The reason they are always complainting about "pirates" today is simple. We've done what they did. We circumvented the rules they created and created our own. We crushed their monopoly by giving people something more efficient. We allow people to have direct communication between eachother, circumventing the profitable middle man, that in some cases take over 107% of the profits (yes, you pay to work for them). It's all based on the fact that we're competition. We've proven that their existance in their current form is no longer needed. We're just better than they are.
Category: Hacking
Tags: Anonymous, PirateBay, SOPA
Post by AskApache Oct 26, 20115 comments
Category:
Post by AskApache Aug 20, 20117 comments
FYI, using the Mod_Rewrite Variables Cheatsheet makes this example, and all advanced .htaccess code easier to understand. This demo lets you set a cookie with 1 of 3 values, then you just request the pdf file with a normal link click and get 1 of 3 different responses. This is accomplished with a nice bit of .htaccess code.
Category: Htaccess
Post by AskApache Jul 01, 2011comment

Here's an example of validation links from the AskApache footer.
RSS | XHTML 1.1 | CSS 2.1
document.getElementById("validat").innerHTML += ' | <a href="http://feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=http://www.askapache.com/feed/">RSS</a> | <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check/referer?ss=1;outline=1;sp=1;debug">XHTML 1.1</a> | <a href="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/check/referer?warning=0">CSS 2.1</a>'; Category: Javascript
Post by AskApache Apr 13, 2011comment
An image and technicacl achievement so profound, it will touch yoour heart.. So 3D... it'll hurt you eyes! LOL.. lol.. Man I am cracking up here. haha Ha definately the best intro ever, those really do look 3D for terminal though huh.. Sweet. Here is the little function I wrote to output that grey marble.

Category: Linux
Post by AskApache Apr 07, 2011comment
As an example, here is the boot line that I am using at the moment on an older Dell Desktop, just to illustrate module parameters and environment vars.
title Arch Linux X-256
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro rootwait pause_on_oops=5 panic=60 i915.modeset=1 no_console_suspend ipv6.disable=1 TERM=xterm-256color quiet 5
initrd /kernel26.img
Category: Linux
Post by AskApache Jan 04, 201123 comments
There are a total of 57 HTTP Status Codes recognized by the Apache Web Server. Wouldn't you like to see what all those headers and their output, ErrorDocuments look like?
Category: Htaccess
Post by AskApache Oct 22, 2010comment
So, here's what I hacked together last night, that is being used today. It's essentially 2 files.
- A php file that scrapes uses curl to scrape all the urls for the page (favicon, css, images, pdfs, etc..)
- A simple bash shell script acting as a cgi that creates a zip file of all the urls, and a self-extracting exe file for those without a winzip tool
Category: PHP
Post by AskApache Jun 24, 20102 comments
If you have a php.cgi or php.ini file in your /cgi-bin/ directory or other pub directory, try requesting them from your web browser. If your php.ini shows up or worse you are able to execute your php cgi, you'll need to secure it ASAP. This shows several ways to secure these files, and other interpreters like perl, fastCGI, bash, csh, etc.
Category: Htaccess
Post by AskApache Jun 24, 20102 comments
What they say about kung-fu is true..
It can be attained by anyone through hard work over time. You can become as good as the amount of work you put in. Here's a short look at a basic technique that I use. Simply reverse engineering the source code and taking notes along the way...
static void php_session_send_cookie(TSRMLS_D)
if (SG(headers_sent)) {
if (output_start_filename) {
php_error_docref(NULL TSRMLS_CC, E_WARNING, "Cannot send session cookie - headers already sent by (output started at %s:%d)",
output_start_filename, output_start_lineno);
} else {
php_error_docref(NULL TSRMLS_CC, E_WARNING, "Cannot send session cookie - headers already sent");
}
return;
}
/* URL encode session_name and id because they might be user supplied */
e_session_name = php_url_encode(PS(session_name), strlen(PS(session_name)), NULL); Category: PHP
Post by AskApache Apr 17, 20106 comments
#### No https except to wp-admin -
# If the request is empty ( implies fopen or normal file access by a php script )
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^$ [OR]
# OR if the request if for wp-admin or wp-login.php
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/(wp-admin|wp-login\.php).*$ [NC,OR]
# OR if the Referer is https
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^https://www.askapache.com/.*$ [NC]
# THEN skip the following rule, basically all this does is force https or badhost to be redirected
# BUT because of the above 3 rewritecond's, this won't break poorly written admin scripts
RewriteRule .* - [S=1]
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =on [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.askapache\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule .* http://www.askapache.com%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /(wp-admin/.*|wp-login\.php.*)\ HTTP/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
RewriteRule .* https://%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L] Category: Htaccess
Post by AskApache Mar 18, 20107 comments
NOT a typo.. 30x is measurable, well-documented, and easily tested. This is what open-source is about. I haven’t had time to post much the past year, I'm always working! So I wanted to make up for that by publishing an article on a topic that would blow your mind and be something that you could actually start using and really get some benefit out of it. This is one of those articles that the majority of web hosting companies would love to see in paperback, so they could burn it.
Category: Optimization
Tags: tmpfs
Post by AskApache Mar 13, 2010comment
Category:
Post by AskApache Feb 23, 20108 comments
Ok I just came back up to write the intro.. I'm trying to keep it short to avoid getting bogged down by the coolness of each step. Here is what goes on. When I logon to my XP machine at work, I bring my usb key and plug it in first. On logging a window pops up first and it's a password prompt to mount my encrypted drive leonardo. It also checks a keyfile that is located on my usb key, but all I do now is type in my password. That causes my encrypted folder to be accessible to me like a normal drive, and it autoruns a startup batch file.
The batch file causes Portable versions of Firefox (all my bookmarks, my settings) to load, and launches Portable Mozilla Thunderbird (IMAP makes this work well), which is my favorite program (great GPG features and open-source!). Also Some Adobe CS4 software is loaded from the hard drive, like DreamWeaver. In the background, a service we created executes a PortaPuttY plink command to create forwarded tunnels from various remote servers and accounts, all using key-based encryption. These tunnels are automatically reconnected if they are disconnected, meaning you can use a socks 5 if you want or even better!
Part 1 of 5
Category: Hacking
Post by AskApache Sep 16, 20091 comment
If you have files on your site that you don't want indexed by malicious search engines, grabbed and leeched by malicious spammers, or stolen and made available elsewhere, you can use mod_rewrite to drastically reduce or totally reduce that activity.
Category: Htaccess
Post by AskApache Jul 29, 20091 comment
So my blog as been rather quiet for almost a year now, and very few updates if any have been released for my Password Protection PLugin, my Google 404 Plugin, and definately not for my AskApache CrazyCache plugin, which I will be releasing last... So for all of you who've helped me out by sending me suggestions and notifying me of errors and sticking with it... Just wanted to say sorry about that, and thanks for all the great ideas.. Well, I've been sticking with it as well believe it our not. I manage to get free days once in a while, and then its time to jam.
Category: WordPress
Post by AskApache Jul 20, 20094 comments
The proponents of this scheme have given it names such as "trusted computing" and "palladium". We call it "treacherous computing", because the effect is to make your computer obey companies instead of you. This was implemented in 2007 as part of Windows Vista; we expect Apple to do something similar. In this scheme, it is the manufacturer that keeps the secret code, but the FBI would have little trouble getting it.
Category: Hacking
Post by AskApache Mar 29, 20091 comment
htaccess vs. httpd.conf
Category: Google
Post by AskApache Mar 09, 20091 comment

3-Part article covering practical implementation of 3 advanced .htaccess features. Discover an easy way to boost your SEO the AskApache way (focus on visitors), a tip you might keep and use for life. Get some cool security tricks to use against spammers, crackers, and other nefarious sorts. Take your site's error handling to the next level, enhanced ErrorDocuments that go beyond 404's.
Category: Htaccess
Post by AskApache Mar 01, 20094 comments
Enumerating Permissions can be Annoying
Don’t ask me how because I won’t tell you, but on one of the hosts I was testing on that did not allow direct access I was able to get the Apache server running as dhapache to erroneously write a file into my users blog directory. This is a big security no-no and I now have my .htaccess file written into the blog directory where it should go, but instead of my php script’s user having write access to the file so I can modify it, its owned by dhapache! Because the file is owned by dhapache I shouldn’t even be allowed to know it exists, but there it is. So the next step was to try and take ownership of the .htaccess file so that I could modify it. I tried and tried but was unsuccessful, I couldn’t modify it so that was another dead end. Actually it took me awhile to figure out how to remove the file from my directory. Being that it was owned by dhapache I couldn’t delete or modify it using my php process or even through ftp/ssh! Sysadmins regularly run find commands that search the servers for any files owned by dhapache that should not be there as this is a big red flag that someone has found a way to manipulate dhapache which could potentially lead to modifying dhapache-owned server config files, which sometimes is all it takes to hack your website and server.. Luckily I was able to delete it by basically running the hack again to overwrite the file.
Category: WordPress