Having an SSH server can be incredibly useful; you can access a “headless” server without a monitor, get shell access to your system from anywhere in the world, transfer files without using FTP, securely tunnel VNC or web browsing, safely restart a locked-up system, and a lot more. However, improperly setting up a SSH server can leave your system vulnerable. Here’s how to install a secure SSH server (specifically OpenSSH) on Ubuntu or other Debian-based distributions.

If you've been thinking of building yourself a dedicated storage server, this is a good time to do it...The ultimate in flexibility and reliability combines Linux software RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) and LVM (Linux Volume Manager).

Do you get annoyed when you have a SSH session open, visit your browser for a while, and then return only to find you were disconnected? Most home NAT routers are the cause of this. If your router doesn’t offer an option to not shut off idle connections, you are probably better off by setting a keep-alive setting.

Charlie writes: "Ok, this is the sh*t. Not only that, word has it, this is going to be open source. Of course, this is what some guy who reads some forum has emailed me, and I'm being completely sensational by posting it on an open source blog, but the youtubes are so cool that I can't help myself."

"In the past few months in the Debian-EeePC team, a number of interesting things have been happening. [...] Thanks to the efforts of numerous users and developers who are being added to our ranks daily, we expect by the time Lenny releases we will be well on our way to providing a pure Debian solution for the Eee. Whether or not everything needed for the Eee is in Lenny at that time remains to be seen. We need to allow for how long it takes to get new drivers into the kernel. But if we miss the release, we will certainly provide backports and look forward to full support in the following release."

Every geek needs a large power-hungry supercomputer, right? Wrong.

French company Linutop offers a tiny machine - the Linutop - no bigger than a mid-sized paperback novel. Weighing a mere 250 grams, this machine will make cleaning your desk a breeze. The Linutop is powered by the AMD Geode LX700, and consumes just 5 watts of power - a sure benefit to any taxed power grid. The Linutop has no moving parts and boasts 4 USB 2.0 ports, ethernet, audio in & out, and 250MB of RAM.

A post from the Compiz Fusion Blog informed us about some interesting things that are under development. Imagine a very cheap 3D interface with head tracking, using the WII Remote... Isn't it a great idea?

Window Snyder has the somewhat offbeat title of "chief security something-or-other" at Mozilla, where she is responsible for overseeing efforts to boost the security of the company's open-source offerings, including the Firefox browser.