This probably already exists, but I felt like doing it myself. If this is useful to you, let me know :-)

#!/bin/bash
# Simeon Miteff <simeon@localloop.co.za>
 
clogin=/usr/lib/rancid/bin/clogin
 
if [ $# -le 1 ]; then 
        echo "Usage: $0 [cloginrc file] [command]" 1>&2;
        exit 1;
fi
 
awk '{print $3}' < $1 | sort -u | while read host; do
        $clogin -autoenable -f $1 -c "$2" $host;
done

Now if you’re interested in South African BGP, here is a sample cloginrc file:

add user tpr-route-server.saix.net {saix}
add password tpr-route-server.saix.net {saix}
add user lg1.za.mtnbusiness.net {lg}
add password lg1.za.mtnbusiness.net {l0ok1ng-G145s}
add user lg2.za.mtnbusiness.net {lg}
add password lg2.za.mtnbusiness.net {l0ok1ng-G145s}
add user local-route-server.is.co.za {rviews}
add password local-route-server.is.co.za {rviews}
add password route-server.tenet.ac.za {rviews}
add password route-views.jinx.routeviews.org {}


If you click the only button on this dialog, you’re then prompted with a Javascript browser dialog telling you if you leave the page, your changes will be discarded (this is true), but if you remain on the page you can save your changes (this is a lie – because doing this leads you back to the first dialog).

Most peculiar is that as you click the button on the second dialog to leave the page (and thus discard your changes), there is a little HTML notification on the bottom-right corner of the page that briefly indicates “saving changes”, just before the UI reloads and reveals you how Evernote happily threw away the changes to your note…

Hmmm…

For some months now, when I hit ‘h’ instead of ‘g’ when typing ‘get’, it auto-completes ‘het’ as ‘heterosexual’. Then, just a few minutes ago I was typing ‘it’, and got ‘ostensibly’ (no idea how).

These can’t be particularly common n-grams in my writing. In fact, I’m fairly certain I’ve never typed those words into this device. Why does it pick them?…

The mind boggles.

• MTN collapsed AS2905 into AS16637, so lg1.za.mtnbusiness.net now lives in the latter AS
• lg1.za.mtnbusiness.net now has more liberal command authorization
• lg1.za.mtnbusiness.net has a new password: l0ok1ng-G145s (1337 5p34k much?)
• I added the AS37105 (Neology) web looking glass.
• I added the Routeviews route server at JINX.

Are there any ISP route servers not on the list?

If you know of any, please drop me an email!

Click on the image to download the PDF version.

What is this?

This graph shows who provides transit to whom, within South Africa, to the rest of the Internet.

I think it needs a lot more work (including ASNs in the labels, etc), but rather than never publishing a perfect map, I’ve chosen to publish an imperfect map, now, while it’s relevant to you, dear reader. Enjoy!

South African Internet Map v2 (August 2012)

#!/bin/bash
# Simeon Miteff, Tue Aug 21 09:46:59 SAST 2012
# simeon@localloop.co.za
 
function getptrv4 {
        for i in {1..255}; do
                PTR=`dnsname $1.$i`;
                [ -n "$PTR" ] && echo "$PTR,$1.$i";
        done
}
 
function getptrv6 {
        for i in {1..255}; do
                i=$(printf "%x" $i)
                PTR=`dnsname $1::$i`;
                [ -n "$PTR" ] && echo "$PTR,$1::$i";
        done
}
 
echo "#== JINX IPv4 =="
getptrv4 "196.223.14"
echo "#== CINX IPv4 =="
getptrv4 "196.223.22"
echo "#== JINX IPv6 =="
getptrv6 "2001:43f8:01f0:0"
echo "#== CINX IPv6 =="
getptrv6 "2001:43f8:01f1:0"

You’ll need bash, and the dnsname utility from dbndns (the debianized and patched version djbdns – I doubt the original has IPv6 support).

Now you can do stuff like this:

simeon@pedro:~$ bash ispa_ix.sh | grep google
google.cinx.net.za,196.223.22.41
google.jinx.net.za,2001:43f8:01f0:0::41
google.cinx.net.za,2001:43f8:01f1:0::41


Enjoy!

The as-names are still missing and I won’t have time to write new kids on the block-style commentary, but I hope this is nevertheless interesting for the hardcore internetworkers out there:

P.S. This list of new ASNs generated from a database, so when the numbers are updated, so will this table (in other words, this post will not remain a snapshot in that respect).

Unable to retrieve http://www.vodacombusiness.co.za/contactus.php after 10 attempts.


This morning the Virgin SIM stopped working, so now my friends and co-workers cannot reach me. Having been stranded between Cell C and Virgin Mobile’s incompetence, I’m now using a pre-paid 8ta SIM, on the phone you sold me with the contract… that is how lame you are.

I wouldn’t have bitched about this on this blog, but I don’t know how else to get the message to you:

• Your normal support call center number does not work from either my (Telkom) office line, or from my Virgin mobile SIM (before it stopped working completely). If I call the Cell C general reception, they are able to put me through to support, who then put me through to your porting center, who consistently shift the blame to Virgin Mobile, and tell me to wait another day for the port to be completed.
• The “contact us” form on your web site is broken, but also sadistic in two ways: The CAPCHA images themselves are unusually difficult to decode (as a human), and after about the 10th attempt that you’re fairly convinced you decoded correctly, you realize that it always rejects your inputs, correct or not.

Since Virgin Mobile is an MVNO customer of yours, I won’t buy the excuse that you can’t quickly coordinate with them to make the number porting succeed.

I’m beginning to regret signing up with you. Perhaps I should have taken the MTN deal.

If you want to turn me into a happy customer, fix the problem, today, or if you can’t (eg, you can only fix it tomorrow or later), also refund the connection fee as a show of good faith.

Yours sincerely,
Simeon.

1. Get XFree86 to work on your S3 graphics card under Linux, dabble with FVWM and Windowmaker.
2. Discover KDE in their 1.x days – become a fan of the heavyweight desktop environment.
3. Keep using KDE, notice how each release gets faster than the previous one, think you’ve found desktop nirvana with KDE 3.5.
4. KDE 4.0 is released, postpone package updates so that you can stay with 3.5.
5. Eventually give up and make a painless switch to Gnome2.
6. When Ubuntu makes Unity the default desktop, keep using Gnome2.
7. Gnome3 is released, postpone package updates so that you can stay with 2.
8. Eventually give up and try KDE ~4.5, watch it crash. Upgrade your Ubuntu to 11.08 to get KDE 4.7.
9. Use KDE 4.7 for three weeks, notice that it is still much worse than KDE 3.5 or Gnome2 was.
10. Realize that upgrading your Ubuntu nuked Gnome2.
11. Try Gnome3 for 2 minutes, notice it’s gone 10 years backwards in terms of features.
12. Try the Cinnamon interface for Gnome3, wonder how you move the workspace switcher to another panel. After discovering on a forum that it requires editing stuff in Dconfig – give up.
13. In a last act of desperation install MATE (the Gnome2 fork). Log in, watch it crash.
14. Install XFCE, customize it to behave like Gnome 2. Carry on with your life.

Of course, if XFCE becomes popular enough, hipster coders will remove all the features and make it look like the latest desktop environment from Apple. Then you’re off to install LXDE.

What is the sustainable solution?

Buy a Mac and get the hipster interface, but with more features and less bugs?