Tips on Filling fuel in your vehicle.

FILL UP YOUR CAR OR BIKKIE IN THE EARLY MORNING WHEN THE GROUND IS STILL COLD.

FACT IS THAT ALL SERVICE STATIONS HAVE THEIR STORAGE TANKS BURRIED BELOW THE GROUND. THE COOLER THE GROUND, THE DENSER THE FUEL, WHEN IT GETS WARMER PETROL EXPANDS, SO BUYING IN THE AFTERNOON OR IN THE EVENING YOUR LITRE IS NOT EXACTLY A LITRE.


IN THE PETROLEUM BUSINESS, THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY AND THE TEMPERATURE OF THE PETROL, DIESEL AND JET FUEL, ETHANOL AND OTHER PETROLEUM PRODUCTS PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE. A 1 DEGREE RISE IN TEMPRETURE PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE. A 1 DEGREE RISE IN TEMPERATURE IS A BIG DEAL FOR THIS BUSINESS. BUT THE SERVICE STATION DO NOT HAVE TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION AT THE PUMPS.


WHEN YOU’RE FILLING UP, DO NOT SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER OF THE NOZZLE TO A FAST MODE.

IF YOU LOOK YOU WILL SEE THAT THE TRIGGER HAS THREE (3) STAGES: LOW, MIDDLE AND HIGH. IN SLOW MODE YOU SHOULD BE PUMPING ON LOW SPEED, THEREBY MINIMIZING THE VAPOURS THAT ARE CREATED, WHILE YOU ARE PUMPING ALL HOSES AT THE PUMP HAVE A VAPOUR RETURN. IF YOU ARE PUMPING ON THE FAST RATE, SOME OF THE LIQUID THAT GOES TO YOUR TANK BECOMES VAPOUR. THOSE VAPOURS ARE BEING SUCKED UP AND BACK INTO THE UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK SO YOU’RE GETTING LESS WORTH FOR YOUR MONEY.


ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TIPS IS TO FILL UP WHEN YOUR TANK IS HALF FULL.


REASON: THE MORE FUEL YOU HAVE IN YOUR TANK, THE LESS AIR OCCUPYING ITS EMPTY SPACE. PETROL EVAPORATES FASTER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. PETROLEUM STORAGE TANKS HAVE AN INTERNAL FLOATING ROOF. THIS, ROOF SERVES AS ZERO CLEARANCE BETWEEN THE PETROL AND THE ATMOSPHERE. SO IT MINIMIZES THE EVAPORATION.


IF THERE IS FUEL TRUCK PUMPING INTO THE STORAGE TANKS, DO NOT FILL UP YOUR VEHICLE. YOU MIGHT GET SOME DIRT IN YOUR TANK DUE TO STIRRING.

Tips to Harden Linux Server...

If you run your own Linux server here are some tips on server hardening,

1. On your firewall (you do have one don’t you?) check the incoming MySQL port and if 3306 is open, close it. If this port is left open it can pose both a security and server abuse threat since not only can hackers attempt to break into MySQL, any user can host their SQL database on your server and access it from another host and so (ab)use your server resources

2. Check /tmp permissions. /tmp should be chmod 1777

3. Check /tmp ownership /tmp should be owned by root:root

4. Check /etc/cron.daily/logrotate for /tmp noexec workaround. Due to a bug in logrotate if /tmp is mounted with the noexec option, you need to have logrotate use a different temporary directory. If you don’t do this syslog may not restart correctly and will write to the wrong (older) log files. See here for a way to do this

5. Check /var/tmp permissions. /var/tmp should be chmod 1777

6. Check /var/tmp ownership. /var/tmp should be owned by root:root

7. Check /var/tmp is mounted as a filesystem. /var/tmp should either be symlinked to /tmp or mounted as a filesystem

8. Check /var/tmp is mounted noexec,nosuid. /var/tmp isn’t mounted with the noexec,nosuid options (currently: none). You should consider adding a mountpoint into /etc/fstab for /var/tmp with those options

9. Check /usr/tmp permissions. /usr/tmp should be chmod 1777

10. Check /usr/tmp ownership. /usr/tmp should be owned by root:root

11. Check /usr/tmp is mounted as a filesystem or is a symlink to /tmp. /usr/tmp should either be symlinked to /tmp or mounted as a filesystem

12. Check /etc/resolv.conf for localhost entry. You should not specify 127.0.0.1 or localhost as a nameserver in /etc/resolv.conf - use the servers main IP address instead

13. Check /etc/named.conf for recursion restrictions. If you have a local DNS server running but do not have any recursion restrictions set in /etc/named.conf this is a security and performance risk and you should look at restricting recursive lookups to the local IP addresses only. Unrestricted recursive lookups are as good as a DDoS attack against your system. They will eat up all your system resources

14. Check server runlevel. For a secure server environment you should only run the server at runlevel 3. You can fix this by editing /etc/inittab and changing the initdefault line to:
id:3:initdefault: and then rebooting the server

15. Check nobody cron. You have a nobody cron log file - you should check that this has not been created by an exploit

16. Check Operating System support. Make certain that your OS version is still supported by the manufacturer and that upgrades continue to be available

17. Check SSHv1 is disabled. You should disable SSHv1 by editing /etc/ssh/sshd_config and setting: Protocol 2 (remove the hash # from in front of the line and edit out the 1.1)

18. Check SSH on non-standard port. Moving SSH to a non-standard port avoids basic SSH port scans. Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and setting: Port nnnn Where nnnn is a port of your choosing. Don’t forget to open the port in the firewall first!

19. Check SSH PasswordAuthentication. For ultimate SSH security, you might want to consider disabling PasswordAuthentication and only allow access using PubkeyAuthentication. For more information read this article and this article

20. Check telnet port 23 is not in use. Close this port in your firewall. Telnet is an insecure protocol and you should disable the telnet daemon if it is running

21. Check shell resource limits. You should enable shell resource limits to prevent shell users from consuming server resources - DOS exploits typically do this. If you are using cPanel/WHM set Shell Fork Bomb Protection.
Disable all instances of IRC - BitchX, bnc, eggdrop, generic-sniffers, guardservices, ircd, psyBNC, ptlink. If you are using WHM you can do this in the Background Process Killer.

22. Check apache for mod_security if not installed install it from source

23. Check apache for mod_evasive. You should install the mod_evasive apache module from source to help prevent DOS attacks against apache. Note that this module breaks FrontPage functionality

24. Check apache for RLimitCPU. You should set a value RLimitCPU to prevent runaway scripts from consuming server resources - DOS exploits can typically do this.

25. Check apache for RLimitMEM. You should set a value RLimitMEM to prevent runaway scripts from consuming server resources - DOS exploits can typically do this

26. Check php for enable_dl. You should modify /usr/local/lib/php.ini and set:
enable_dl = off This prevents users from loading php modules that affect everyone on the server. Note that if use dynamic libraries, such as ioncube, you will have to load them directly in php.ini1

27. Check php for disable_functions. You should modify /usr/local/lib/php.ini and disable commonly abused php functions, e.g.:
disable_functions = show_source, system, shell_exec, passthru, exec, phpinfo, popen, proc_open Some client web scripts may break with some of these functions disabled, so you may have to remove them from this list

28. Check phpsuexec. To reduce the risk of hackers accessing all sites on the server from a compromised PHP web script, you should enable phpsuexec when you build apache/php. Note that there are side effects when enabling phpsuexec on a server and you should be aware of these before enabling it

Metabolism Boosting Tips ...

Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. The faster you burn calories the more weight you can lose even if you eat the same amount, so it makes sense to do everything you can to boost your metabolic rate if you're trying to lose a few pounds.

Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. The faster you burn calories the more weight you can lose even if you eat the same amount, so it makes sense to do everything you can to boost your metabolic rate if you're trying to lose a few pounds.

You use about 60 of the calories you need each day just by being alive. That's your basal (or resting) metabolism. About 30 of the calories are accounted for by how much you move (your activity metabolism). The remaining 10 are used up by the process of digesting food (your thermic metabolism).

By making some simple changes you can fire up all three types of metabolism and become leaner faster.

1. Eat little and often
Small and regular meals throughout the day will keep your metabolism high. If you eat the same amount of food in just one or two large meals as you do in five or six mini-meals and snacks you will burn fewer calories. This is because your metabolism slows down between meals. Never skip meals to save calories. Having a low-calorie snack will work much better and will also stop you falling ravenously on the nearest chocolate bar later in the day.

2. Eat breakfast
Your metabolism slows down overnight. When you have been through a period of more than eight hours without eating you need food to get your metabolism going again. So have breakfast as soon as you can after you wake up. If you're not a breakfast person take something healthy with you when you leave the house and have it is soon as you can face it. It's not great for your weight loss plans to have to boost your metabolism with a mid morning cookie or cake.

3. Eat enough
If you eat too few calories, your metabolic rate will automatically drop. This is a self preservation mechanism, which kicks in when your body thinks you are starving. The safest bet is to eat about 250 calories less than you need at the sedentary level and to take 250 - 500 calories of exercise each day to give a steady weight loss of between one and two pounds a week.

4. Eat Lean Protein
It takes more energy for the body to digest protein than carbohydrate or fat. Studies have shown that people who eat a high-protein diet burn more than twice as many calories in the hours following their meal as those eating a high carbohydrate diet. While the safety of high-protein diets can be disputed, it does make sense to include some lean protein as part of each meal.

5. Eat Fibre
Food with lots of fibre also gives your thermic metabolism a boost. High-fibre foods like beans, fruit, vegetables and whole grains simply take longer to digest and therefore help burn more calories.

6. Spice up your food
Spicy foods (especially chilli) raise the metabolism by as much as twenty-five per cent for a few hours after eating. So eat hot and spicy food a bit more regularly and see if this helps you. Just go easy on the refried beans and guacamole if you decide to go Mexican!

7. Drink Coffee
Caffeine speeds up your heart rate and the faster your heart rate the more calories you burn. Not great if you have heart problems or difficulty getting to sleep however!

8. Drink Green Tea
The phytochemicals in green tea are supposed to raise metabolism slightly by causing your brain and nervous system to run more quickly. Although not many sizable and conclusive studies have been done on this to date, drinking green tea rather than milky coffee or other calorie-laden beverages will definitely help you lose weight!

9. Get active
Aerobic exercise for more than thirty minutes not only burns calories but also keeps your metabolism high for several hours afterwards. The best time for exercise is in the morning as it will help kick start your metabolism for the day. If you can do 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise almost every day your metabolism will soar. Interval training would help even more.

10. Walk it off
If you prefer to take light exercise, try going for a walk after lunch or dinner. This boosts the rise in metabolism you get after eating. No strenuous exercising on a full stomach though.

11. Build those muscles
Muscles burn calories even when you're resting. For every pound of muscle you add, you burn about 50 extra calories a day without taking any more exercise. So it's a great idea to include some resistance or weight training in your exercise regime. Twenty minutes three times a week is enough to make a big difference in your metabolic rate as well as the shape of your body.

12. Go hot or cold
Any extremes of temperature you experience will help raise your metabolism by up to 20 percent as the body attempts to cool you down or raise your temperature. Make sure it's safe for you to go in the sauna or on the arctic expedition though before you try this one. You could have a go at keeping your home a few degrees cooler than is comfortable for sitting around in winter and restrict the air conditioning to the very hottest days in summer. In the winter it will help you get up and get moving and in summer encourage you to go to the pool to cool off!

13. Drink Iced Water
Another trick is to drink a glass of iced water a few times a day. You'll raise your metabolism just by having to bring the water up to body temperature. Drinking water is required anyway, of course, to keep your bodily functions working smoothly (including your metabolism).

14. Watch the alcohol
On top of the empty calories that alcohol contains, it also has a dehydrating effect, which slows down your thermic metabolism. Alcohol tends to inhibit the process of metabolizing fat too, which can lower your basal metabolism. And there's not much chance of you wanting to exercise after all that booze so it'll have an effect on your activity metabolism too. Bad news all round!

15. Take up yoga
The chemical processes which comprise your metabolism are regulated by the endocrine system, especially the thyroid. Yoga has many postures which have a powerful twisting and compressing effect on the endocrine organs, strengthening and stimulating them and this can help to regulate and boost your metabolism.

If you boost your metabolism with these tips, you'll be improving your general health as well as your capacity to burn calories. You'll not only find that you lose weight more quickly but also that you will have more energy, greater strength and you'll be able to get through everything you have to do in a day more easily.