WordPress Permalinks Issue Solved

Almost after Twenty hours of nerve wrecking and hair splitting search, finally got the much irritating WordPress Permalinks Issue solved for my blog.

Yes, the one you are reading right now.

There are some standard procedures you might not want to skip.

First, check if mod_rewrite is enabled in your Apache config and to enable mod_rewrite in Apache if not already, type the following in your terminal

sudo a2enmod rewrite

It should enable or tell you “Module rewrite already enabled”

Now that mod_rewrite has been sorted, lets get to telling Apache that its alright if the .htaccess file overrides some server level settings.

Look for “AllowOverride none” in your 000-default.conf, httpd.conf, httpd-vhosts.conf and change it to “AllowOverride all” – It is important that you check in all these files as it took me several hours of searching to figure that out as primarily I was tinkering with my httpd-vhosts.conf and httpd.conf and didn’t pay attention to the 000-default.conf file.

Once you’ve made the change, restart Apache using the following command

service apache2 restart

Now, ensure there is a .htaccess file in your WordPress install directory.

If its not there, then create an empty one using the following command in your terminal

touch .htaccess && chmod 666 .htaccess

Don’t worry yet about adding anything in the .htaccess file. WordPress will handle it for you.

Now go to your WordPress Settings and set your Permalinks to whatever options given there pleases you and save the settings. This should generate the required content for the .htaccess file automatically.

You can visit your site and check if the fancy Permalinks are working and then change the permission for the .htaccess file to 644.

That should set you right with your WordPress Permalinks Issue.

ShellShock – CVE-2014-6271 and CVE-2014-7169 Bash Vulnerability

If you are running a *nix machine, personal or in a server capacity, in most probability your system is affected by this vulnerability thats been reported. I just ran a check on my boxlet running Ubuntu 12.4 LTS and yes, it was indeed vulnerable. This quick note covers identifying, fixing the ShellShock Bash Vulnerability.

At this point there seem to be incomplete fixes available and we’d have to wait to see more development on this. Keep a close watch on your favorite distro’s security updates and ensure your boxlet is patched.

How to check if your *nix boxlet is vulnerable to the ShellShock Bash Vulnerability?

Open a terminal and copy paste this command:

env x=‘() { :;}; echo vulnerable’ bash c ‘echo hello’

If your boxlet is not vulnerable, you should get the following message as response:

bash: warning: x: ignoring function definition attempt
bash: error importing function definition for `x’
hello

If your boxlet is indeed vulnerable, most likely, it would be, you should get the following message as response:

vulnerable
hello

How to fix the ShellShock Bash Vulnerability?

Now to the fix, its pretty much nothing but an update, to do so, type the following in the terminal:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install bash

Heres what happens “sudo apt-get update”  makes sure that you have the latest packages list and that should include the fixed version of bash and “sudo apt-get install bash” installs the latest, fixed version of bash.

With that, you should be patched for the ShellShock Bash Vulnerability.

However, there are no certainty but to keep a close watch on security sites to see more development and fixes as they evolve.

Keep safe and Keep Peace!

Sila Aasaigal

Nijamaaga Nee
Nizhalaaga naan
Nichchayamaai theengu
Nerungaadhu unai
Naan paarkka
Ninaithaen dhinamum

Neruppendru therindhum
Nerudippaarththaen
Niththilamae unn
Nachcharippu vaendum
Nidhamum enakku
Nigarilla devathayae

It’s a Cycle

You happened to be my March rain
that for sure was not an ordain

It was indeed amain
became hard for me to abstain

Indeed like providence again
felt good to be just plain

I’ve learnt to fain
even with all my humanly constrain

Only obvious you had to disdain
for it would cause some distain

I’m used to pain
whats happening is not in vain

Hate to be that blain
only fair you had to complain

Be sure to be ascertain
It definitely is not in lain

Iterate, Reiterate

I was recently quizzed by someone who happens consider me as their mentor.

He has recently been promoted and now handles a whole lot of people who aren’t entry level and been there in the organization for a while and he seemed to have gotten tired already of repeating instructions to folks and more with the frequency.

Here is what came to my mind:

Do you have an electric bore well and a over head tank in your house?

He was a little reluctant, considering the fact I sounded croaky as I just woke up from sleep.

I asked again, if he has an electric bore well and a over head tank in your house? He said yes, he does.

I was thankful, the analogy that came to mind could be well related.

We all hopefully would have experienced using a bore well and a over head tank to suck water deep from the earth and store in the over head / underground tanks for daily usage.

During the initial few days, we go through the change of using a new equipment and are bound to not know the consumption.

As we get used to the usage of the facility, we tend to understand the dynamics of how many minutes to use the borewell to fill the tank, how often to use to ensure constant availability of water.

Such is the case while mentoring / coaching someone, iteration & reiteration is essential.

Two questions were answered here…

1. Why should I repeat and remind someone of their responsiblity?

Would like to relate to the change management theory – Four rooms of Change by Ph.D. Claes Janssen.

As we know change is constant and during change there is always switching of one state to another involved.

Every individual during a coaching goes through change, and as a coach / mentor it’s one’s responsibility to remind and iterate the responsibility of the individual.

2. When and how to know how often to reiterate?

Its been observed and proved that higher the inspirational and renewal frequency, lower the chances of an individual going into denial or confused state.

Hence it is essential to understand the individual’s requirement and cater accordingly.

It was indeed great pondering over his question and helping the cause.

Energy

Do you feel me? When I’m around and when I’m not around.

It’s told that the unspoken words are precious, but I feel being felt when not around is far more precious and invaluable.

Now that brings these questions, what’s the feeling like? What kind of energy do you emit? How are you being felt?

Just as curious as I’m as always, I would like to know what’s my significance? What’s the measurement?

Or am I looking for something that I shouldnt be looking for, too silly?

As usual in search of lucidity in my deluded, distant, far fetched, never ending, piped dreams.

You are what you want to be

Who decides what you need to be?

Tracking back right from the beginning, parental impact, so called relatives, society, community, state, country, education system, friends and who & what not?

It is not about being a social hermit, it is about knowing what one needs and wishes to be and exhibiting efficacy in being so.

I was recently contemplating with someone inspiring, who thought I’m worth talking to about a situation and know what my thought is.

A situation which could be considered to be jealousy or greedy because one thinks they are worth more than what they are getting and which is a glaring fact and for a flash second, the thought of “why not me?” comes in the mind.

My only point is, you are what you want to be and it is absolutely right to dream.

If I have to look back, most of what I consider to be a milestones in the mortal journey be it materialistic or otherwise, have been my dreams, it is an equation that has never lost its state of equilibrium.

Atleast I know that fire thats burning inside is what is driving me, keeping me going, letting me dream, helping me achieve and dream higher.

It was fascinating to read an article, Manoj Night Shyamalan iterviewed by Times Of India during his India visit, a snippet to quote here is…

“If you take luck out of it, you’ll see that the difference between me and the next person is my belief system—it’s bizarrely high, right from when I was a little kid. I’d think if I focussed enough and devoted my life to something, without a shadow of a doubt, I could play in the NBA if I wanted,”

Manoj Night Shyamalan has been criticised as narcissistic, self-aggrandizing so on and so forth, end of the day, he knows that he is the highest paid writer and he knows what he wants and hence he is what he wants to be.

The idea is to let the fire help one achieve what one wants to and be and not let even a bit of it in any form be a playing partner in destroying one self.

Mindset and Self belief

Two articles that I read recently struck a chord, may be at the right time, way too random & columned under different genre, but I felt like picking what I needed from both of them and adding pinch of whatever I think makes sense to me at the beginning of the next day I’ve got to live.

When disbelief creeps in, the best thing to do is to believe, mostly in self, while not denying that other elements could be used as an additional aid to self belief.

Here is a snippet from a CNN interview with Roberto Cavalli – An italian fashion designer.

“CNN: Where do you think your self-belief comes from?

Roberto Cavalli: If you want to be successful, you have to believe in yourself. When you are not sure, you show weakness. To be strong you have to show your power, not your muscle power but the brainpower, the character of your heart. If you shoot people with the energy of your mind you become something special.”

And here are two snippets from Times of India article in the spiritual end by Dawn Fields – A Mission Speaker.

“Hey, it happens. We all fall down. But the good thing about it is we get up. Just because you fell down doesn’t mean you have to stay down. Get up! Why are you still sitting there? We all make mistakes.”

“Start by telling yourself, “My past has no bearing on who I am now. And, therefore, is not important. I am here to glorify God. I am God’s child and, therefore, worthy of greatness.” If you take this simple phrase and say it to yourself all day long, you will soon start to notice changes in your life.”

People who have believed have achieved, I have seen it, experienced it, felt it, right from all walks of life and from inside as well.

I thank the unknown source that lead me towards both these articles indeed at the right time, just to keep it all going, the way it has been always, with self belief.

Rationale

What is with living one’s life the way it is and living one’s life with a perspective around it?

All I see is commotion, chaos, ruckus whether everything in life is based on theories or everything is approached with a pragmatic perspective.

What is life without feelings?

Neither the theories nor the practicality seem to have any feelings around it.

Theories seem to bring in confusion in life by making one get entangled with too many thoughts that doesn’t help one to lead a peaceful life and when one is too practical, they tend to forget the reality and look at everything from a perspective of frames and lose the joy of enjoying the moment.

Is life all about looking far beyond to touch the horizon or just having a great time with the closest wave that touches your feet?

Where is the balance? How does one balance and not hit extremes?

Emotions, feelings, love & the romance of it.

What has made anyone a better person in history and today and what can make some one a better person, someone who can love themselves the way they are?

Trust & Love – Whether blind or crazy, end of it, it exists, it helps one to exist.

It has always given inspiration, has brought smile, has shown the path to walk and to lead.