Nice to see that there are some today (27th November 2011)
I guess I can be prepared for the second onslaught!
I guess I can be prepared for the second onslaught!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
The Business Cyber Bully
There is a world of difference in the antics of the traditional Cyber-Bully and businesses that don't like what is being said about them on the Internet.
The use of the word "World" is quite fitting here!
Over the last few years I have been seeing the Internet degenerate into a free-for-all that is now largely abused by the masses. For a system that was developed for the interchange of scientific information it has now become a morass of uneducated and illinformed computer users.
My main concern is the use of this new technology to dilute the original useage and usefulness of the World Wide Web as a research tool into what is now largely an entertainment. I am also not concerned with the use of this technology by businesses for the furtherment of their marketing and other commercial activities. However, where this breaks down is the use of the Internet to provide customer service and allowing of consumers to post to freely to forums.
When I started my critique of the use of the Internet my observstions were related to the nonsense that I was seeing on most forums and the general low quality of the content seen on many websites. The ability and the use of the medium as a platform for shill tactics and spreading hate on RIP-Tribute websites.
A very minor incident involved a company that I happened to comment about on this website. The page, I thought was fairly non-confrontational at its outset. However due to the communication with one employee of that company, and many follow-ups from the owner, some of the information was escalated.
The dialog that then ensued degenerated into a bout of Cyber-bullying conducted by the owner of the company and was fueled by an unknown number of either former employees or others with "axes to grind" with respect to the company in question.
The extent to which this bullying developed has been detailed on other pages on this website. In comparison to the current nonsense that other cyber bullies have stooped to, the incident to which I was reacting pails into insignificance.
At no time have I made threats although I have been intimidated to remove content from this website. This is not only childish and unprofessional (in my opinion - theRCMParecoming) it is not the way to carry out business using the Internet.
The use of the word "World" is quite fitting here!
Over the last few years I have been seeing the Internet degenerate into a free-for-all that is now largely abused by the masses. For a system that was developed for the interchange of scientific information it has now become a morass of uneducated and illinformed computer users.
My main concern is the use of this new technology to dilute the original useage and usefulness of the World Wide Web as a research tool into what is now largely an entertainment. I am also not concerned with the use of this technology by businesses for the furtherment of their marketing and other commercial activities. However, where this breaks down is the use of the Internet to provide customer service and allowing of consumers to post to freely to forums.
When I started my critique of the use of the Internet my observstions were related to the nonsense that I was seeing on most forums and the general low quality of the content seen on many websites. The ability and the use of the medium as a platform for shill tactics and spreading hate on RIP-Tribute websites.
A very minor incident involved a company that I happened to comment about on this website. The page, I thought was fairly non-confrontational at its outset. However due to the communication with one employee of that company, and many follow-ups from the owner, some of the information was escalated.
The dialog that then ensued degenerated into a bout of Cyber-bullying conducted by the owner of the company and was fueled by an unknown number of either former employees or others with "axes to grind" with respect to the company in question.
The extent to which this bullying developed has been detailed on other pages on this website. In comparison to the current nonsense that other cyber bullies have stooped to, the incident to which I was reacting pails into insignificance.
At no time have I made threats although I have been intimidated to remove content from this website. This is not only childish and unprofessional (in my opinion - theRCMParecoming) it is not the way to carry out business using the Internet.
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| A screenshot from my website - tempusfugit.ca |
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The Occupy Movement
The problem that I have with all this is that the people, largely young people, that follow all this are the same as those who do not see anything wrong with file sharing and copyright violation.
The issues may not be fair and the laws governing them ineffectual but this does not mean that actions of the Occupy/Anti Globalization lobby are just.
I guess it is because I consider, I am, one of the 1%.
I bet they all have smart phones! I don't but I do have a fair investment in Apple. I remain to be skeptical about Facebook.
The issues may not be fair and the laws governing them ineffectual but this does not mean that actions of the Occupy/Anti Globalization lobby are just.
I guess it is because I consider, I am, one of the 1%.
I bet they all have smart phones! I don't but I do have a fair investment in Apple. I remain to be skeptical about Facebook.
- EFF - the Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Copy Protection and methods used to protect Copyright
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Open Season on Blogs
It would seem that it is seen to be a worthwhile activity to spam the authors of blogs with email offering things to blog about.
These offers, generally of a technical bent (this is supposedly the theme of this blog), sometimes are accompanied by free copies of software on the strength that you review it on your blog.
The originators of these emails have obviously not read any of the posts on this blog or they would have seen that I do not review anything by request. In fact if they persist in sending me the emails they will get a review naming them and their practices.
These offers, generally of a technical bent (this is supposedly the theme of this blog), sometimes are accompanied by free copies of software on the strength that you review it on your blog.
The originators of these emails have obviously not read any of the posts on this blog or they would have seen that I do not review anything by request. In fact if they persist in sending me the emails they will get a review naming them and their practices.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Comparing the AMD E-350 and E-450
See website for more details on the differences between the AMD E-350 and E-450 APUs
I have configured an Asus EeeBox PC EB1021 which uses the E-450 APU. Looking at the UEFI BIOS I could not see any options that would allow overclocking or adjustment of CPU or memory timings.
UEFI BIOS
The "pre-boot" environment.
Sometimes referred to as BIOS, the pre-boot environment (PBE) is the location of the code that is responsible for starting your computer when it is first switched on. Hardware is defined and configured for a specific operating system to load and perform in the way that is required by you the owner and the manufacturer of the hardware.
The PBE is where you can control what drives to use and their type, the memory allocation and timing, the cpu settings and much more. Some of the features of the hardware used in your computer may not be addressable from the PBE. This is usually by design as changing the settings would either compromise the operation of the computer or the wishes of the operating system vendor.
Links:
Sometimes referred to as BIOS, the pre-boot environment (PBE) is the location of the code that is responsible for starting your computer when it is first switched on. Hardware is defined and configured for a specific operating system to load and perform in the way that is required by you the owner and the manufacturer of the hardware.
The PBE is where you can control what drives to use and their type, the memory allocation and timing, the cpu settings and much more. Some of the features of the hardware used in your computer may not be addressable from the PBE. This is usually by design as changing the settings would either compromise the operation of the computer or the wishes of the operating system vendor.
Links:
- Tools to diss-assemble executables and dlls (bios_tools.html)
- enable Intel vt-x or AMD SVM on a computer with an Insyde H2O pre-boot
- Un-hiding menus on an Insyde BIOS - what can and cannot be unlocked. (insyde_unhide.html)
- Enabling and Native SATA modes on an Insyde BIOS - to enable the installation of an alternative operating system such as another version of Windows or the configuration of a Hackintosh
- Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) setting in BIOS
- The business of BIOS mods
- Why manufacturers use Insyde H2O BIOS
- Phoenix BIOS
- The Mac and BIOS
- AMI BIOS
- Award BIOS
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Activation
Pages on this blog relating to Windows Activation. How Activation works and what can be done to circumvent the steps taken to ensure that you have a legal copy.
The effects of Windows Updates on the performance and features of your computer
The effects of Windows Updates on the performance and features of your computer
- Removing WAT
- Understanding WAT
- Using Task Scheduler to monitor and disable WAT (KB791033)
- KB971033 breaks RemoveWAT?
- Windows Update and Daz Loader
- Previous posts on kb2533552
- Why it is not in Microsoft's interest to "fix" Windows 7 piracy
- KB971033 and MS blocking OEM Product Keys
- An update to Activation problems
- What Windows Updates do for you
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Aircrack-ng
Aircrack is the popular WiFi hacking program.
Here are the links to other posts on this blog and to re-posted pages from www.tempusfugit.ca.
Here are the links to other posts on this blog and to re-posted pages from www.tempusfugit.ca.
- Running Aircrack-ng in a virtual machine
- CoWPAtty for Windows
- Hacker Ethos
- Atheros ar5007eg drivers for Windows
- Linux Driver for Atheros W/L adapter - madwifi-0.9.3.3.tar.gz
- Download drivers from The Technology Muse
- Running Aircrack on an Android phone or tablet
- Aircrack for Symbian
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Blog Spam
The Spamming of Blogs and websites.
The following are some examples, not exhaustive, and more will be added as I re-post from my website and as they come in.
Another popular tactic is for a spammer to make a comment on a blog posting. The comment often contains a link to the website or business that they are trying to promote. Depending on the sophistication of the spammer the comment may have a click-able link (A tag or Hyperlink) embedded in the comment. If I see comments like this and I determine that the comment was made just for that purpose I will either delete the comment or I will re-post it with the hyperlink removed.
I started a page previously, but this will be the main page.
The following are some examples, not exhaustive, and more will be added as I re-post from my website and as they come in.
- Example of Blog Spam: Camtica by Jiteco
- Another example Digeus Registry Cleaner
- FileMaker
- Twinlinks link exchange scheme
- Three-way Links - Same as above (2 in-bound links for every outbound)
- All link exchange schemes
- Blog spam and scams in general
- Social Media in general - an analysis
Another popular tactic is for a spammer to make a comment on a blog posting. The comment often contains a link to the website or business that they are trying to promote. Depending on the sophistication of the spammer the comment may have a click-able link (A tag or Hyperlink) embedded in the comment. If I see comments like this and I determine that the comment was made just for that purpose I will either delete the comment or I will re-post it with the hyperlink removed.
I started a page previously, but this will be the main page.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
CoWPAtty for Windows
What Joshua Wright says about coWPAtty:
"coWPAtty is designed to audit the pre-shared key (PSK) selection for WPA networks based on the TKIP protocol." - Joshua Wright.
Along with CoWPAtty, the author (of CoWPAtty) has claimed to have written a suite of "Offensive" tools for 802.11 security auditing (with one "Defensive" tool)
External Links:
"coWPAtty is designed to audit the pre-shared key (PSK) selection for WPA networks based on the TKIP protocol." - Joshua Wright.
Along with CoWPAtty, the author (of CoWPAtty) has claimed to have written a suite of "Offensive" tools for 802.11 security auditing (with one "Defensive" tool)
External Links:
- "Mobiles Unleashed Systems and Engineering" Technologies - MUSE Technologies website
- Download Version 4.5 - Will Hack for Sushi - the willhackforsushi website
iPlayer
This is the starting page for all the posts related to the BBC iPlayer that are featured on this blog. Please follow the links and search this blog for information on specifics.
Links:
Links:
- Systems Index
- Using BBC iPlayer outside the UK
- Using Vidalia Tor to access iPlayer
- iPlayer and torrenting compared
- Downloading BBC media - using get_iplayer.exe
- Downloading BBC programming from You Tube - YouTube Downloader by Ricardo Garcia Gonzalez
- PoRu's iPlayer downloader
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
VLC - VideoLan Media Player
The media player of choice.
VLC player is Open Source, hence free, it is the most versatile media player that I have found. I install this as a matter of course on my newly configured media machines.
You can download VLC from the VideoLan website. VideoLan also host the libraries for libdvdcss - for defeating CSS encryption on DVDs. As far as is known this decryption library is only for the Linux platform and possibly works compiled with the OSX operating system on Apple hardware.
VLC player is Open Source, hence free, it is the most versatile media player that I have found. I install this as a matter of course on my newly configured media machines.
You can download VLC from the VideoLan website. VideoLan also host the libraries for libdvdcss - for defeating CSS encryption on DVDs. As far as is known this decryption library is only for the Linux platform and possibly works compiled with the OSX operating system on Apple hardware.
- error 0x80030309 vlc - This error is most likely to be due to the fact that the file attempted to be played by VLC was encrypted.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Bill Gates on the BBC's "World at One"
I never thought that I would agree with Bill Gates in his assessment of the current economic situation (or anything for that matter!).
He remains optimistic in that there will be a solution and that this temporary "stagnation" (as opposed to a "down-turn") will eventually sort itself. He was hinting, but didn't come out and say directly, that a global economy that is based on perpetual growth is not sustainable. The extension of the debt crisis is fueled by the desire to return to a situation of growth.
Perhaps the "stagnation" is the new normal.
This was probably something that Bill was saying as part of his Foundations work on Sustainability.
He remains optimistic in that there will be a solution and that this temporary "stagnation" (as opposed to a "down-turn") will eventually sort itself. He was hinting, but didn't come out and say directly, that a global economy that is based on perpetual growth is not sustainable. The extension of the debt crisis is fueled by the desire to return to a situation of growth.
Perhaps the "stagnation" is the new normal.
This was probably something that Bill was saying as part of his Foundations work on Sustainability.
- Q&A: Bill Gates on the World’s Energy Crisis By Chris Anderson, Wired, June 20, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
The mistake of using a dash in a domain name
While the domain name may be easy to read and look like the name of
the entity with the spaces replaced by dashes it is both
difficult to spell out to whoever you give it to and is a paint to
type, especially on a mobile device. You are far better off
using your imagination and come up with a name without the dashes. You
cannot use the underscore character but that would yield
the same problem.
I know this as in the past I registered a domain with the hope of establishing a business in "Vanity" domain registration and email provision and administration. This venture was not successful for a number of reasons one of the least of which was the domain name.
I know this as in the past I registered a domain with the hope of establishing a business in "Vanity" domain registration and email provision and administration. This venture was not successful for a number of reasons one of the least of which was the domain name.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Windows Validation
Page to start the discussion on the validation of Microsoft Windows either legally or otherwise.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Why Anonymity Matters
Anonymity is the corner stone of Free Speech.
If cannot make anonymous comment then you are beholden to those that do not want you to say things about them that they don't like or if your views are of a differing standpoint to theirs.
Governments have an upper hand on this as they can control Internet access and pass legislation that companies and citizens within their jurisdictions abide. When it comes to those citizens themselves and when the disputes are cross-jurisdictional things are not so clear. Issues with national security take presidence and to a lesser degree issues with copyright enforcement.
It is likely that this post is going to be found by those that are looking for ways to avoid being detected when they are downloading copyright protected media. This is not my main concern. Although that this is big business and there are many that would like to offer you a solution, I am more interested in this from an academic perspective. I have in the past detailed and reviewed such services, however, due to the type of response that I was getting from some of the posts I have changed my emphasis in this regard. You will still find some of these reviews on this blog but I am not really interested in helping others break laws and circumvent legislation. I am interested in what the industry and governments are doing to combat this problem.
The more general issue of anonymity as it relates to the ability for citizens to make comments on things that may not be in line with the views of their governments and other citizens is the real issue here. The evolution of technology is potentially allowing a far greater level of vulnerability and "Big Brother" will have tools that make the current abilities look like those from the Stone Age.
If cannot make anonymous comment then you are beholden to those that do not want you to say things about them that they don't like or if your views are of a differing standpoint to theirs.
Governments have an upper hand on this as they can control Internet access and pass legislation that companies and citizens within their jurisdictions abide. When it comes to those citizens themselves and when the disputes are cross-jurisdictional things are not so clear. Issues with national security take presidence and to a lesser degree issues with copyright enforcement.
It is likely that this post is going to be found by those that are looking for ways to avoid being detected when they are downloading copyright protected media. This is not my main concern. Although that this is big business and there are many that would like to offer you a solution, I am more interested in this from an academic perspective. I have in the past detailed and reviewed such services, however, due to the type of response that I was getting from some of the posts I have changed my emphasis in this regard. You will still find some of these reviews on this blog but I am not really interested in helping others break laws and circumvent legislation. I am interested in what the industry and governments are doing to combat this problem.
The more general issue of anonymity as it relates to the ability for citizens to make comments on things that may not be in line with the views of their governments and other citizens is the real issue here. The evolution of technology is potentially allowing a far greater level of vulnerability and "Big Brother" will have tools that make the current abilities look like those from the Stone Age.
- Lawful Interception - how Governments spy on you
- Cybersecurity - An example of this spying
- Cyber Spies - the program on the BBC
- Privacy Rights
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