root

Route local emails to another email address using Postfix on Linux

When I set up new servers, I like to make sure any system messages like cron failures, server issues, or emails that are routed to [email protected] (where 'example.com' is the hostname of the server—meaning emails to that domain will get routed through the server itself and not hit an external MX server unless postfix/sendmail is configured correctly) are sent to my own email address.

It's relatively straightforward to route emails to internal users (like webmaster, root, etc.) to an external email address; you simply need to edit the /etc/aliases file, adding a rule like the one below, then run the command sudo newaliases:

webmaster: root

# Person who should get root's mail
root: [email protected]

By default, most internal users are routed to root as well (including webmaster), so setting an external email address (or a list of addresses, separated by comma) for the root account will allow you to more easily see what's happening on your server. Don't forget to run sudo newaliases to pick up the changes!

Rooting Android - General Observations and OG Droid + LG Ally

After a couple years having had no experience with an Android phone of any variety, a generous Twitter follower I had met donated two older Android phones, an original Motorola Droid (running Froyo 2.2.2) and an LG Ally (also running 2.2.2), so I could learn the Android UI and work on porting a couple of my iOS apps.

One unfortunate reality of the Android ecosystem is that phones are often abandoned by their manufacturers after only a year (or less time), and even if not, they are not kept up to date past one or two minor Android OS releases. For instance, both the Ally and Droid are more than capable of running Android 2.3 Gingerbread (and I'm now running 2.3.7 on the Droid, faster than 2.2.x ever ran), but Motorola has ended support for the device.