Shady Goings On

A handy feature of Fedora 7 (and most Linux’s) is to be able to run a command as admin (root). In the past I’ve done this by using su but it’s not really a good idea for security reasons.
Using sudo will just run the one command as root, so it’s a lot safer, plus you give your own password - not roots. Here’s how I set it up.

Open a terminal session (look in the menu under Applications -> System Tools).
Then type:

[craig@localhost ~]$ su
Password:
[root@localhost craig]# /usr/sbin/visudo

You will now be in a vi-like editor.
Find the line like root ALL=(ALL) ALL and make a copy of that line just below it.
Substitute your user name for root.
Type [esc]:wq (that’s the escape key followed by colon then wq then enter)

You will now be back at roots command prompt, type exit to return to your own command prompt:
[root@localhost craig]# exit
[craig@localhost ~]$ whoami
craig
[craig@localhost ~]$
As you can see above, the whoami command prints the userid is use.
You can now use this to test out your newly configured sudo!

[craig@localhost ~]$ whoami
craig
[craig@localhost ~]$ sudo whoami
Password:
root
[craig@localhost ~]$

Note that the password entered is your own - not roots!

I was watching Used Car Roadshow on Sunday afternoon and they had a great demonstration by a professional car valet of just how to wash and polish your car. They have reproduced the guide here.
One of the steps in the guide describes using clay to remove surface debris from the paint. I haven’t seen this technique before so I looked it up. It’s called ‘claybaring’ and involves gently gliding a piece of special clay over the clean surface of the pain. Click here for a detailed guide: Cleaning Car Paint With Detailing Clay

While browsing eBay I came across this very unusual and rare kit car: a Raffo Belva.

Personally I’ve never seen one before, not even at kit car shows. This looks to me like a fine example of the marque though with a realistic reserve of £8000 (give or take). The current bid is £6700 with 20 bids placed. I’m sure this car will sell, but it’ll be interesting to see what the final bid is.