how to provide public access to a local webserver behind a router.

• you need access to another, a remote machine
• set GatewayPorts yes in both, the local and the remote machine’s sshd_config file
• open a reverse ssh tunnel from port 80 of the local machine to the desired port (e.g. 81) of the remote one: root@local ~ # ssh -R 81:localhost:80 root@remote
• allow access to the chosen port on the remote machine: root@remote ~ # ufw allow 81/tcp

et voilà: remote:81<

today, i noticed for the first time that a t.co url was redirecting to a bit.ly one which finally took me to the actual url of the content i expected to get.

does it need a lot of imagination that one day we will have several of such redirects pointing from one url shortener to another until we arrive at the final destination?

especially, when you think of those little helpers that shorten any url you feed them, without making you even think about it. and as there are more than a few of them, of course one shortener will again shorten those already shortened by another. and so on.

which would cause an interesting scenario: while the big webcos try to squeeze out every millisecond of browser performance by rewriting javascript engines, compressing data, hacking html and so on, the very one fundamental part of the web aka the hyperlink is basically getting paralyzed by the (from the outset!) totally useless and flawed idea of shortening urls for one little messaging service with a bird in the logo.

neat, isn’t?

TIL the word gerrymandering.

Funky music from the 8Ts and Pakistan – and the stepmother of Natasha “Bat For Lashes” Khan! (Via @popbitch and #THE_Girl.)

your body belongs to the state.

how nate hill became the most famous new york artist you’ve never heard of.

in other words: alo is back.

intertubes archeologists rediscover origin of the name of a vintage server-side javascript application framework when unearthing grand-mother of all hipstamatic-style image sites.

blogging is stupid.

from germany to australia by kajak: oskar speck and sandy robson.

i was surprised.

so last year but brand new: whatever happened to second life?