Unfortunately, it is a bit confusing on the easiest way to set this up on a Linux machine. The confusion is elevated when the machine that can update OpenDNS is behind a NAT firewall and the software cannot run on that machine/box. The solution is to use a correctly configured version of ddclient. I have done this on both Ubuntu and Fedora with much success.

For Ubuntu, issue the following command to install ddclient:

sudo apt-get install ddclient

Dynamic DNS service provider: other

Dynamic DNS server: updates.opendns.com

Dynamic DNS update protocol: dyndns2

Username for dynamic DNS service: <username you use to log into OpenDNS>

Password for dynamic DNS service: <password you use to log into OpenDNS>

Network interface used for dynamic DNS service: <just press return as you will need to enter this later>

DynDNS fully qualified domain names: <Your OpenDNS Network name; substitute ‘+’ for ‘ ‘>

For Fedora, issue the following command to install ddclient:

sudo yum install ddclient

With each Operating System, adjustments are necessary before this will work. Edit the configuration file,

/etc/ddclient.conf

If you are using Fedora, you will not need the ssl=yes line as it appears early in the configuration file, although there should be no harm in leaving it there.

The most important line in the configuration is the use=web: it tells OpenDNS to use the publically available IP address for your machine that live behind the NAT router.

##
## OpenDNS.com account-configuration
##

ssl=yes # use ssl-support
use=web
server=updates.opendns.com 
protocol=dyndns2           
login=<strong>&lt;username you use to log into OpenDNS&gt;</strong>     
password=<strong>&lt;password you use to log into OpenDNS&gt;</strong> 
<strong>&lt;Your OpenDNS Network name; substitute '+' for ' '&gt;
</strong>

ddclient -daemon=0 -debug -noquiet

If it is configured correctly you will see output similar to the following:

DEBUG:    proxy  = 
DEBUG:    url    = http://checkip.dyndns.org/
DEBUG:    server = checkip.dyndns.org
DEBUG:    get_ip: using web, http://checkip.dyndns.org/ reports 1.2.3.4
DEBUG:    
DEBUG:     nic_dyndns2_update -------------------
DEBUG:    proxy  = 
DEBUG:    url    = http://updates.opendns.com/nic/update?system=dyndns&hostname=Home&myip=1.2.3.4
DEBUG:    server = updates.opendns.com

If you issue this command too often, you will get a warning to “Wait at least 5 minutes between update attempts.”. If you see this, don’t worry, just wait.

You can also attempt to enter the URL in your browser to check the status. If it comes back with nohost then something is wrong. If it comes back as good <IP Address> then the configuration is correct.

Finally, once the configuration is correct, enable ddclient to run as a daemon. This is done by editing /etc/default/ddclientand ensuring run_ipup = “false” and run_daemon = “true”.

You may need to manually start ddclient by issuing:

sudo /etc/init.d/ddclient start

Of course this applies to all other Social Connectors and new ones as they are developed.

Similarly, the Outlook Social Connector for Windows Live Messenger is also available for download. This presents Windows Live feeds into Outlook for the selected contact.

Note when installing any of the Outlook Connectors you’ll need to match the architecture of Outlook with the architecture of the plug-in. For example, if you have 64-bit Outlook installed, then you’ll need the 64-bit version of the connectors installed, otherwise they will not work. At the time of this posting, the connectors for LinkedIn and MySpace do not support the 64-bit platform of Outlook.

While adding these connectors to your Outlook is helpful for you, it also potentially exposes your information to others who have installed the connector. If you don’t want your Facebook wall appearing in the Outlook of others you email, you need to ensure that your privacy and email settings are secure. Even if you don’t use Outlook, there will be someone with whom you communicate with, directly or indirectly, that does use Outlook and thus it is imperative to monitor your Facebook privacy settings. I would safely assume other email readers will soon offer the same integration so I suggest that you follow these security practices below.

Choose Your Privacy Settings

In Facebook, under the Account menu, select Privacy Settings and click Friends Only under the Sharing on Facebook section. This will limit reading of your information to only those you have selected to be your friends. Click On Apply These Settings to make your changes permanent.

Info accessible through your friends

Now make sure that your friends are not sharing your information. On the same Privacy Settings page, under the section Applications and Websites, click on Edit your settings. Then, click on the Edit Settings button in the Info accessible through your friends section. This dialog will present a list of things you permit your friends to share about you. I would suggest ensuring nothing is selected. Click on Save Changes to enhance your security settings. I would also suggest disabling instant personalization on partner websites under the Instant Personalization section.

Email Security

It appears that the Outlook Connector for Facebook searches all the email addresses you have for the selected contact to determine the Facebook account (or other Social Connector accounts). If you want to associate Facebook posts with your contacts, you will need to ensure one of the email addresses you have for that contact is associated to your Facebook friend. If not, even though your contact and you are connected on Facebook, you will not see that person’s wall feed in Outlook. If you do add a new email address for a Contact to associate it with the Facebook friend, you will need to restart Outlook for the Connector to be aware of the new email address and display wall postings.

To secure your own information, I suggest using an email account for Facebook that is not the same as the one you typically use to correspond. And please do not use a work email address on Facebook; that will make it much too easy for your personal and professional lives to collide.

If you only have one email address, get another one from Gmail and set that to be the primary (and only) email account on Facebook. Then forward the email you received on the newly created Gmail account to your regular account so you won’t miss out on any Facebook updates.

Finally, if you don’t want any of your friends to get your feeds, hide the Facebook email address. People can still send a direct message to you in Facebook without knowing your email address. To hide your email from everyone, go to the Privacy Settings page, selected from the Account menu. Click on the tiny Customize settings link near the bottom of the main section. At the bottom of the Customize settings page, under Contact information, click on the drop down next to your email address and select Customize. In the drop down under Make this visible to These people select Only Me. This will hide your email address from all Facebook users and make it difficult for others to configure their Outlook Facebook Connector to integrate your posts with their email.

The simple resolution is that a beta version of iTunes 9.2 that I installed did expire (so much for reading the fine print) and a re-installation of iTunes is required. iTunes can be downloaded on the apple site as a dmg file. When opened and the volume is mounted, run the iTunes.mpkg installer to restore the computer to a happy equilibrium. Fortunately, the beta version of iTunes does not need to be removed prior to installation.

The resolution for this issue cannot be found in Google – no hits are found for the exact error message. It occurred to me that since the Exchange server was responsible for the domain, it was determining the email address was invalid, and this is indeed the case. The solution is simple: change the Type for the Accepted Domain in the Hub Transport from Authoritative to Internal Relay.

To recap:

1. Start Exchange Management Console
2. In the console tree under the Exchange Server select Hub Transport under Organization Configuration
3. Select the Accepted Domains tab
4. Right-click on the accepted domain and select Properties
5. Change the Type to Internal Relay Domain
6. Click Apply

This will enable the Outlook client to accept an email address using that accepted domain that does not have a mailbox tied to the address.

To export the RSS Feeds, click on the File tab in the Ribbon and click on Open on the left pane. Select “Import” to start the Import and Export Wizard. From there, select Export RSS Feeds to an OPML file and continue as directed. Use the same process to Import the RSS Feeds from an OPML file.

If you are in the same boat as I, try restoring a previous version of the RSS Feeds file. On my Windows 7 box, it exists in:

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

My file ends with .sharing.xml.obi and it was about 3k.

First, close all running instances of Outlook.

Navigating to that directory, right click on the file and select Restore previous versions. Select the most recent version prior to the date of the installation.

Next, make sure to copy that file as it will be rewritten by Outlook when it is run again.

I am unable to determine how to get Outlook to recognize this file so the .obi file needs to be converted to an OPML file that can be imported into Outlook. This is simply achieved through an XSL transformation. By applying the following XSL on the .sharing.xml.obi file, an OPML file is created that can be used to import the RSS feeds into Outlook.

Prior to importing the RSS feeds, delete the folders, otherwise duplicate folders will appear under RSS Feeds.

[xslt]

Wed, 12 May 2010 16:00:00 -0400
Wed, 12 May 2010 16:00:00 -0400





rss







[/xslt]

I really didn’t want to call Keurig customer support again, so I decided to take a closer look. It turns out there is a safety mechanism employed such that if the lid is opened too far or with too much force, there are plastic tabs on both sides of the k-cup holder that connect to the lid, and the become disengaged. The fix is simple, just push the tabs back into their slots and problem solved.

Woopra provides a level of detail Google cannot, giving me live information about what is occurring on my site at any moment; it even offers the ability to chat with someone currently browsing my site! Besides from the standard analytical information, Woopra offers lots of information that can help me determine how to improve the content I offer. And it is all in real time!

I cannot give it the justice it deserves; I suggest heading to www.woopra.com and downloading it for yourself. There are a number of plug-ins to make it easy to connect your site with Woopra. I added the javascript to my pages; it took just a few minutes.

I suggest you try Woopra; you won’t be disappointed (at least in the choice of analytical tool). And, I forgot to mention, it’s free!