There are tons of resources on the web on how to do similar things, including using third-party solutions, but most advises are around port-forwarding requests to a NAT’ed IP. So, since I was able to figure out the god-sent IPTABLE’s masquerade feature, I figured I’d capture it here, both for my future reference and for others who are trying to do same thing. As always, if this helps you in any way, a simple “Thank You” comment is always appreciated So here goes:

The first thing to do is do enable IP forwarding. This is done either by using:

#echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward

or

#sysctl net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

Then, we will add a rule telling IPTABLES’ PREROUTING chain to “forward” the traffic on port 80 to ip 2.2.2.2 on port 80:

#iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -p tcp --dport 80 -j DNAT --to-destination 2.2.2.2:80

and finally, we ask IPtables to masquerade:

iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -j MASQUERADE


As it turns out, all my problems were caused by the fact that the sshd_server user being created by the ssh-host-config script was not being given all the required privileges. I’m not sure why, but I found an online description of the rights required by sshd_server and used the
“editrights” utility to grant them. I then deleted my ~/.ssh directory (definitively to erase the known_hosts file), restarted sshd, and everything began to work perfectly.

Unfortunately, I neglected to record which privileges had been granted to the sshd_server user on my system before I started granting additional ones, but as far as I remember sshd_server only had 2 or so of the 8 privileges granted.

In case the information helps anyone else, here is a list of the privileges that the sshd_server user appears to need:

SeIncreaseQuotaPrivilege
SeTcbPrivilege
SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege
SeCreateTokenPrivilege
SeServiceLogonRight
SeDenyInteractiveLogonRight
SeDenyNetworkLogonRight
SeDenyRemoteInteractiveLogonRight

To determine which privileges sshd_server has on your system, use this
command:

editrights -u sshd_server -l

And here are the commands necessary to grant the above privileges to
sshd_server:

editrights -a SeTcbPrivilege -u sshd_server
editrights -a SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege -u sshd_server
editrights -a SeCreateTokenPrivilege -u sshd_server
editrights -a SeDenyInteractiveLogonRight -u sshd_server
editrights -a SeDenyNetworkLogonRight -u sshd_server
editrights -a SeDenyRemoteInteractiveLogonRight -u sshd_server
editrights -a SeIncreaseQuotaPrivilege -u sshd_server
editrights -a SeServiceLogonRight -u sshd_server

I will say that the Pre is one of the better phones I’ve had so far, and believe me, I’ve owned plenty.  I always thought that if Palm plays it’s cards right, it can give the iPhone the run for it’s money. This move, however, is far from good IMO.

Now, more on the issue: In addition to Joey’s findings, I can see the status of the data upload in the file /tmp/uploadd-upload-response

root@castle:/tmp# cat uploadd-upload-response
cat uploadd-upload-response
HTTP/1.1 100 Continue

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Apache-Coyote/1.1
Content-Type: text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:54:36 GMT
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
Connection: Keep-alive

A Servlet

File was uploaded successfully.
ID:RDX-32350843

Update:Engadget adds some more light to this event and states that the shipping of the personal data is somehow related to using Google and it’s unclear if Palm is simply piping the data to them, among other things. Either way, I’m pretty confident that I didn’t allow anyone — Google, Palm or anyone else — to be sucking data without my consent. I realize that the Palm profile lives elsewhere, but it only backs up data that *I* know about. I’m sure it doesn’t record my GPS coordinates.

##STICKYDIALER# (784259342537)
This enables/disables the Sticky Dialer feature. The sticky dialer feature, when enabled, allows the phone app to run in the background. It is enabled by default. When it is disabled, the phone application closes when it is not the “focused” card. This means that if you open the phone app, then go to browse the net, the phone app closes.

##TTY# (889)
Enables/disables TTY.

##GPS# (477)
This will give you location, altitude, speed, and accuracy information gathered via GPS.

##RTN# (786)
This the Phone Information page. It tells you how many minutes the unit has on it, how much data has transpired, the warranty date, ESN, phone number, software and hardware revisions, refurbished status, etc. Note: Please be careful with the options in the pull-down menu.
Code for Pre: 796174
Code for Touch Pro: 423175

##DEBUG# (33284)
CDMA phone info screen, which contains a bunch of technical data on your curent signal and tower connection. Signal strength is given as RSSI, which stands for Received Signal Strength Indicator. The closer to zero the RSSI value, the better the signal.

##EVDO# (3836)
Launches EVDO Settings. It gives you the options to force your pre into the following options: 1xRTT only, EVDO Rev 0 only, Hybrid Rev 0, EVDO only, or Hybrid Rev A (meaning pick the best available). Hybrid Rev A is likely to get you the best speed, but if you don’t have good reception in your area, you may want to choose something else to conserve battery life.

##DATA# (3282)
This stores all of your Sprint Data login information, including default gateway, etc. I don’t recommend changing these settings unless your data services are not working.

##VPON# (8766)
Voice privacy enabled.

##VPOFF# (87633)
Voice privacy disabled.

##(MSL)# (Whatever your phone’s MSL is)
This allows you to see/change your number. Do NOT change this to a number without notifying Sprint, or your phone will no longer work.

Please exercise EXTREME caution when using the following codes…if you do something incorrectly, your phone will NO LONGER WORK, and you will have to contact Sprint technical support.:

##AKEY# (2539)
Allows you to re-enter the 26-digit AKey on CDMA devices. Note: An incorrect AKey will deactivate the phone and you will need to contact technical support for the AKey.

##PREV# (7738)
Opens Mobile Protocol Revision menu.

Check it out. Source code provided here under the GPL License. Comments and feedback are welcome.

Pre-requisites are bash (though ksh should work, too) and curl. Here’s how you would use the program:

$tweet
Usage: ./tweet


Be sure to change the twitter username (either directly in the script where it says “ankur_shah” or by setting your “TW_UID” environment variable)

$tweet hola mundo

[9782 2009-06-24 12:45:38] Message length: 10
Please enter your twitter password:
[9782 2009-06-24 12:45:44] Posting message
[9782 2009-06-24 12:45:56] Got result [XML response from twitter]


Anywho, for us disgruntled Cisco VPN users, there’s some good news after all: We have the OSS community to save us. If you don’t want to take the dive into installing another OS (I recommend giving it a try, at least), download cygwin and install vpnc on it. It works rather nicely with the expensive and now-seemingly-defunct Cisco hardware.

1. Right-Click on your project and go to “Properties”.

2. Go to “Java Compiler -> Errors/Warnings”.

3. Check “Enable project specific settings” and then go under “Deprecated and restricted API”.

4. Change “Forbidden reference (access rules)” to “Warning” from “Error”.

5. Leave a small “thank you” comment if this saves your day.

1. Rule number one: Never lose money. Rule number two: Never forget rule number one.
2. Motivation comes in short bursts. Act while it’s hot.
3. Do not demean anyone, no matter the situation. It might be sooner than you know when the roles might reverse.
4. It takes years to build a reputation and seconds to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.
5. Follow your own advice.
6. It’s all about delivering. If you think you have a “vision”, but can’t deliver fast enough (remember, timing is everything!), surround yourself with people who can.
7. No matter the consequences, those who are honest with themselves get farther in life.
8. While it may not be so easy at times, always try to have a positive attitude towards everything.
9. It’s not what happens to you, it’s what you do about it.
10. People you care most about in life are taken from you too soon.
11. Bad things do happen to good people.
12. You should not compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do.
13. It’s not what you have in life, but who you have in life that counts.
14. No matter how much you care, some people just don’t care back. And it’s not the end of the world.
15. Love has nothing to do with looks but everything to do with time, trust, and interest.
16. I’ve learned that greed will bury even the lucky eventually.
17. Chance is a gift, so act on chance when given the opportunity.
18. People deserve a second chance, but not a third.
19. Your actions now create memories you will reminisce and talk about in your elder years.
20. Taking ownership of failure builds the foundation for success.
21. If you never act, you will never know for sure.
22. Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.
23. If you don’t know jewelry, know the jeweller.
24. You cannot make someone like you. All you can do is be someone who can be liked. The rest is up to them.
25. There are people who love you dearly, but just don’t know how to show it.
26. It takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
27. Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
28. Just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean that they don’t love each other.
29. Two people can look at the exact same thing and see it totally different.
30. Talking can ease emotional pains.

I mean, really. I want to hear someone spinning the current oil/gas price situation as an artifact of supply and demand, which, as far as I know, fundamentally are the backbone of a market or a country’s economy? Either that, or Dr. Moliver and Dr. Aslanbeigui did an aweful job in teaching me the concepts of micro and macro economics back when I was in college, respectively.

On the contrary, I don’t believe it’s speculation, or market correction. But instead, it’s sheer price fixing by the Exxon’s and Shell’s (OPEC?) of the world. They have their balance sheets to show for it, too.