When using yum-cron, you might want to receive email notifications when updates are applied. Here is how you enable these notifications for CentOS. This article assumes a properly configured mail service.

Installing yum-cron

Install yum-cron using the yum package manager:

yum install yum-cron

Configure yum-cron

Modify the /etc/sysconfig/yum-cron file and add your email address to the MAILTO line.

MAILTO=email@address.com

Be sure to read up on the other settings in this file. You can disable automatic updates and only have the system send the notification.

Managing a blog can be a hassle. Operating system updates, blog software updates, and server security take up tons of time. Don’t forget about scaling your blog if you get popular. Inspired by the Rackspace DevOps post on their new blog format, I’ve setup my own version using Pelican instead of Octopress .

Resources

This tutorial will assume you have two systems to manage your blog.

• Local Workstation
• Remote Server

The local workstation will be used to manage your blog posts, as well as uploading the content. This system will need git and Pelican installed.

The Battle for Wesnoth is a turn based strategy game that has unique and fun campaigns and great multiplayer maps. Playing on the official server is fun, but sometimes you’ll want a private server on which you and your close friends can play.

Installing the Server Software

Most popular Linux distributions have the wesnoth-server package available in their repositories. For this example, I’ll be installing this service on a machine running Fedora 17. To install the Wesnoth multiplayer service, run the following command as root on your machine.

Strong passwords are important, today more than ever. Clever passwords like “Password123”, “hunter2” , and just the letter “a” just won’t cut it anymore. How can someone create strong passwords, use a different one for every account they have, and still remember them all? KeePassX is the answer.

KeePassX

KeePassX is a password database. It allows you to create an encrypted database file to hold all of your passwords. You unlock this database with a single master password. Since you choose where to save this database file, this tool has an edge over cloud based password tools like LastPass . It also has tools that allow you to generate really secure and random passwords.

Everyone has a collection of documents and pictures that are important to them. Don’t make the mistake of not backing up these files.

I keep all of my music, pictures, and important files in Dropbox. You receive 2 GB of storage free (plus a small bump of free space if you use my referral link .) Once you install Dropbox and choose your folder location, make sure you put all of your important files in the Dropbox Folder.