Reset mysql root password

$> sudo bash
$> /etc/init.d/mysql stop
$> mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables

// Another shell
$> mysql -u root mysql
mysql>update user Password='new password' where user='root';
mysql>flush privileges;
mysql>exit;

Done

Setup nxproxy

Two machine, local and remote.

local> xauth list :0
local/unix:0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 db5f3e3cb4132fe9d653ce40f290e248
local> nxproxy -S accept=127.0.0.1:8

local> ssh -R4008:localhost:4008 remote
remote> xauth add :8 . db5f3e3cb4132fe9d653ce40f290e248
remote> nxproxy -C link=isdn connect=127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1:8


Open a new terminal on local machine:

local> ssh remote
remote> export DISPLAY=:8
remote> xterm&


When Google DNS is not good for you

Today Google announced its public DNS service, 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. It is probably good for most of users, but there are some pitfalls. Here is why:
Content deliver networks (CDNs), such as Akamai, have many datacenters around the country. One domain name can be served by servers in different locations. For example, requests to static.ak.fbcdn.net can be served by 96.17.148.114 in west coast, or by a different IP address in the east coast. When my IPS DNS server looks up static.ak.fbcdn.net, the lookup request goes doen to Akamai's own DNS server. Akamai's DNS server uses the geo info of ISP's DNS server address and decide where the original request was from. The assumption is that a user is usually close to its DNS server.

Currently Google's DNS server seems living in the east coast. The assumption used by Akamai is broken. It'd assume I am in east coast because Google's DNS servers are in east coast. Although I get a faster DNS lookup, my actual request to Akamai is a slow one because it acrosses the country.

The way to fix it is Google needs to deploy DNS servers in California (still using 8.8.8.8 address). Many DNS providers have this setups. The technology used here is called Anycast.