Recent Posts

2626

General Software Discussion / Re: The Open Source debate

« Last post by 40hz on November 12, 2013, 06:55 PM »

"Security through obscurity" is not an effective strategy. Backdoors are only workable in closed systems.

You're probably facing a sysadmin that has invested an entire career in the systems and OS you're currently using. These types will fight tooth and claw to keep anything they don't already know out of the place they're working rather than upgrade their skill set or think outside their box.

Good luck with that crowd... 

2627

Living Room / Re: How long do hard drives actually live for?

« Last post by 40hz on November 12, 2013, 06:46 PM »

@ Mouser- IIRC Backblaze uses pretty much nothing but consumer grade hardware in their storage PODs and simply maintains a lot of redundancy and has excess capacity to offset the increased likelihood of hardware failures. More risk management at work.

2628

Living Room / Re: How long do hard drives actually live for?

« Last post by 40hz on November 12, 2013, 06:37 PM »

I think 4wd is pointing out there's likely to be a difference in reliability between "consumer" and "enterprise" grade drives intended for workstation and server use. Especially since it's now cheaper for a manufacturer to play the odds and replace failures under warranty than to extensively engineer or test consumer hard drives. That's what "risk management" gets us.

My experience puts useful life of office store type drives between three and five years average.

SATA drives by the same manufacturers intended for server deployment average about seven years before experiencing problems or throwing a warning. They usually have more robust motors and spin at the slower 5300 speeds to keep heat and vibration down.

But a good part if the extended service life might also be attributable to servers usually being kept in climate controlled areas with very clean and tightly regulated power lines. Not something you can assume is the norm for home computers.  


ADDENDUM: whoops! 4wd got in while I was typing!

2629

Living Room / Re: Arduino Leonardo Touchboard

« Last post by 40hz on November 12, 2013, 02:02 PM »

Most musicians adapt fairly rapidly to new instrument interfaces - as long as they're logical and consistent in operation.

I would amend that to say "Most younger/incredibly creative musicians..." as, believe it or not though I'm sure you're aware, musicians can be a downright stodgy bunch when something newfangled comes along that "all the kids are using" even when it's "logical and consistent" (yours truly guilty as charged).  

Darn kids, always changing the game before I'm done playing...  

-Edvard (November 11, 2013, 07:09 PM)

Neither incredibly talented or young I'd say.

In my experience, most musicians can learn and adapt to just about anything - even though I know many who choose not to.

In my case, I hate popping and slapping on bass. I strongly dislike the sound. So I generally refuse to play a bass that way - even though I did make it a point to be able to play the 'slap style' in order to prove I could if I wanted to.

I still have enough snark in me that I sometimes enjoy those occasions when a young bass 'slapper' takes issue with my opinion and sarcastically suggests I feel that way because I can't do it. That's when I'll rip through a 3-minute Flea/Wooten/Miller-inspired bit of bass wanking without breaking a sweat, and then just arch an eyebrow. Next I'll run through a classic Bach or jazz-type walking bass line and ask them if they can also play that way too... (Mustn't allow the little sods to generation gap us, right? Bwahahahahaha!)

I think most bona fide musicians I've known feel the same way. It's not so much we can't as we often choose not to - because we don't care for the "new" sound or style.

2630

Living Room / Re: YouTube finally forces creation of google+ A/C to comment

« Last post by 40hz on November 12, 2013, 12:03 PM »

I suppose it's easier to insist on a G+ account when you own the service requiring it.

Feedly, that popular alternative for the now defunct  GoogleReader service, tried to do the same recently - and got their collective butt handed back to them by their subscribers.

Feedly has since reversed course and admitted it was a mistake.

More on that GoogleReader[/i]]here and here.

2631

Living Room / Re: Looking for a seventies music title...

« Last post by 40hz on November 11, 2013, 02:28 PM »

I was thinking something more along the lines of Talitha Mackenzie's   Fair Shoulders - or Fionnaghuala if you speak Gaelic. (I don't!)

Even if it's not, Talitha is well worth a listen.

2632

Living Room / Re: Looking for a seventies music title...

« Last post by 40hz on November 11, 2013, 07:16 AM »

I'm guessing it might be somebody singing a Breton variant of puirt-a-beul vocalisms (rather than a made up language) - but the date and the fact it was a pop performer have me stumped.

If anybody here would know who that is, it probably would be app103. She's the only person I know who is even more into fringe and obscure musicians, instruments, and idioms than I am.

How about it April? You're our resident whiz for this sort of thing.

2633

Living Room / Re: Making a new page of "DonationCoder's Favorite Web Sites" - suggestions?

« Last post by 40hz on November 09, 2013, 07:30 AM »

Phoronix

Rock solid hardware and software news and in-depth reviews - primarily with an eye towards use with Linux, BSD and Solaris - however, the hardware reviews are of equal of value to anyone in the Windows world. Whenever I'm building for (any platform) I always check to see if Phoronix has done a review on anything in my BOM.

AnandTech

Wanna talk hardware? These guys know hardware.

A Message from Anand

I started AnandTech as a hobby on April 26, 1997. Back then it was called Anand's Hardware Tech Page, and it was hosted on a now-defunct free hosting service called Geocities. I was 14 at the time and simply wanted to share what I knew, which admittedly wasn't much, with others on the web.

In those days PCs were very expensive and you could often save a good amount of money buying components and building your own. We have our roots in reviewing PC components and technologies.

Today the definition of what constitutes a PC is much broader than it has ever been. I look at smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, Macs, notebooks and of course desktops as PCs or more generally - computers. They all have a CPU, GPU, memory and some form of storage. These devices mostly vary in terms of how powerful they are and how you interact with them, but the components are all the same. The one thing we've done consistently since 1997 is evaluate all of these components and the devices that implement them.

In the beginning you could classify AnandTech as a motherboard review site. I reviewed over 200 motherboards on my own before we got our first motherboard editor. From motherboards we moved to CPUs then video cards (later: GPUs). We added storage, memory, cases and display reviews. Full systems came next: notebooks and desktops became part of our review repertoire. As Apple began using more of the same components we were already reviewing in its machines, we began reviewing Macs as well. As smartphones and tablets did the same, we added them to the list. We can't (and won't) review everything, but we will review those products and technologies that we can lend our methodologies and expertise to.

Today AnandTech serves the needs of readers looking for reviews on PC components, smartphones, tablets, pre-built desktops, notebooks, Macs and enterprise/cloud computing technologies. We are the largest independent technology website doing all of this with over 12 million unique readers per month.

We are a small business with big traffic and ambitions. We have accepted no external investments and thankfully answer to no one but our readers. We are motivated by one thing and one thing only: doing right by you.

2634

General Software Discussion / Re: Does anyone know how I may remove Trojan Dropper:MSIL/Livate.A ?

« Last post by 40hz on November 08, 2013, 12:20 PM »

Might be really cool to do a collaborative antimalware info resource for the community here. There's enough of us at DC that either regularly need to deal with this for clients, or are individuals with some serious real world experiences gained from fixing their own PCs. The DC hive mind should have a lot of good vetted info and tips to share in a more organized manner than just random forum postings.

Ideally it would be a small wiki since it would need to be editable and expandable without it becoming a three mile long thread with dozens of unlinked posts, many of which will become outdated fairly rapidly.

Thoughts anybody?

2635

General Software Discussion / Re: Does anyone know how I may remove Trojan Dropper:MSIL/Livate.A ?

« Last post by 40hz on November 07, 2013, 08:39 PM »

There's also ComboFix which can squash quite a few things ...

-4wd (November 07, 2013, 04:52 PM)

Including your OS if you don't know what you're doing, or get a little too careless when attempting to fix things CF reports but doesn't handle automatically.

That said, CF is a great tool - even if I'd consider it more a court of last resort when it comes to malware cure-alls.

--------------

@4wd & Stoic - great suggestions btw!

2636

General Software Discussion / Re: I hate the word "anathema"

« Last post by 40hz on November 07, 2013, 08:31 PM »

It's an ok word. But it's overused - and misapplied more often than not.

I personally want the word 'entitled' removed from the American-English language.

2637

Living Room / Re: Silk Road Seized - Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested

« Last post by 40hz on November 07, 2013, 01:51 PM »

^Caution does seem prudent about now.

-Stoic Joker (November 07, 2013, 11:49 AM)

Yup!

There's an old Russian proverb that roughly translates as saying: Whenever four men meet in secret to plot to overthrow the Czar, three are damn fools - and the fourth is Okhrana (i.e. Imperial Secret Police).
 

2638

General Software Discussion / Re: Does anyone know how I may remove Trojan Dropper:MSIL/Livate.A ?

« Last post by 40hz on November 07, 2013, 09:46 AM »

Let us know how you make out!

2639

General Software Discussion / Re: Does anyone know how I may remove Trojan Dropper:MSIL/Livate.A ?

« Last post by 40hz on November 07, 2013, 09:16 AM »

Thats a nasty one.

Google "Kapersky Rescue Disk". Download and burn it to a CD (or USB key)? Then boot and allow it to grab the most recent updates? Then disinfect from that.

Haven't run into anything this hasn't been able to squash.

AVG and Avira also have similar bootable scanners if it doesn't.

Luck!

2640

Living Room / Re: Silk Road Seized - Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested

« Last post by 40hz on November 07, 2013, 08:42 AM »

Hmm...honeypot?

Caveat fratribus as the old saying goes. At least for the time being.

2641

Living Room / Re: Arduino Leonardo Touchboard

« Last post by 40hz on November 06, 2013, 11:22 PM »

That would be cool... would you get the same level of control, however?  It seems that depending on a hand is a bit sketchier than depending on a hardware device.

-wraith808 (November 06, 2013, 09:34 PM)

Practice makes perfect. Like everything in music.

Most musicians adapt fairly rapidly to new instrument interfaces - as long as they're logical and consistent in operation.

2642

Living Room / Re: Making a new page of "DonationCoder's Favorite Web Sites" - suggestions?

« Last post by 40hz on November 06, 2013, 07:50 PM »

The official Raspberry Pi  website - http://www.raspberrypi.org/

Nuff said?

2643

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on November 06, 2013, 02:32 PM »

Well...I've pretty much said all I have to say about Bitcoin, it's underlying philosophy (such as it is), and what I think it's legal and social prospects are. So I'm gonna wrap it up for myself and leave it to others who may feel the urge to continue.

Bitcoin will either fly or it won't. We'll just have to wait and see.



Later!

2644

Living Room / Re: Arduino Leonardo Touchboard

« Last post by 40hz on November 06, 2013, 12:56 PM »

Touch switches are no big deal from an engineering viewpoint. But the ability to sense distance (or proximity) is the thing that got me. That is a very useful capability when it comes to analog controllers. Especially if a little adroit programming could expand that to detect and measure velocity without too much hassle. (Shouldn't be too difficult.) I'm already thinking about musical uses far beyond such obvious things as a Theremin-type controller (ala a Buchala-style 220e touch keyboard or a homebrew Leap Motion controller) with that feature. And I'm sure plenty of other people are too.

The Buchala 220e in case anybody's wondering

2645

Living Room / Re: Meet “badBIOS,” the mysterious Mac and PC malware that jumps airgaps

« Last post by 40hz on November 06, 2013, 12:40 PM »

^If it were me, right now the thing I'd be looking for is somebody in the lab with a USB key and an axe to grind - or a very cruel sense of humor.

So...if I had to place a bet on:

• multiple breakthroughs in malware engineering that are so radical they border on alien technology, or...
• somebody in my lab getting sloppy - or who got sloppy and decided it was better not to 'fess up after the boss went crazy thinking he found something BIG, or...
• somebody just dicking with me

I'd probably put the bulk of my money on #2 to win, plus a buck or two on #3 to place.



Just sayin'...

2646

Living Room / Re: Meet “badBIOS,” the mysterious Mac and PC malware that jumps airgaps

« Last post by 40hz on November 06, 2013, 06:11 AM »

Right now I think it's more an issue of a breach of professional etiquette.

The rule in this sort of game is go public with full information and engage the larger security community as soon as a genuine threat is positively identified. "Many eyes make for quick solutions" when it comes to combating malware. Ruiu's holding back so many details isn't the way it's done in this field.

There's also a hint of competition in the air. These security folks can sometimes behave like a couple of professional beauties attending a major public social gathering.

Either way, time will tell.

2647

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on November 06, 2013, 05:58 AM »

Apologies to any offended.

I only mentioned Microsoft's stock value appreciation to make the point that there are many mainstream investments that see incredible rates of return. It was intended to be in response to the arguments I'm seeing here (and in some other places I frequent that argue for the adoption of crypto currencies) that the only rational approach to making a profit is to go completely outside the established economic system.

 

2648

Living Room / Re: Meet “badBIOS,” the mysterious Mac and PC malware that jumps airgaps

« Last post by 40hz on November 05, 2013, 09:41 PM »

This from ArsTechnica (link here):

Researcher skepticism grows over badBIOS malware claims
Peers have yet to reproduce the odd behavior infecting Dragos Ruiu's computers.
by Dan Goodin - Nov 5 2013, 9:30pm EST

Five days after Ars chronicled a security researcher's three-year odyssey investigating a mysterious piece of malware he dubbed badBIOS, some of his peers say they are still unable to reproduce his findings.

"I am getting increasingly skeptical due to the lack of evidence," fellow researcher Arrigo Triulzi told Ars after examining forensic data that Ruiu has turned over. "So either I am not as good as people say or there is really nothing."

As Ars reported last week, Ruiu said the malware first took hold of a MacBook Air of his three years ago and has since infected his laboratory computers running Windows, Linux, and BSD. Even more intriguing are his claims the malware targets his computers' low-level Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), or Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) firmware and allows infected machines to communicate even when they're not connected over a network.

Since the article was published, researchers have attempted to reproduce the behavior Ruiu described. So far there have been no reports of success, and some of the more skeptical researchers are beginning to say Ruiu has misinterpreted or misrepresented the data. Ruiu, meanwhile, continues to stand by his conclusions. <more>

Starting to look a little iffy...

2649

Found Deals and Discounts / FarStone DriveClone - free on Tueday Nov 5, 2013

« Last post by 40hz on November 05, 2013, 07:44 AM »

Courtesy of MostiWant comes news of a 1-day offer for a ('not bad' IMO) drive cloning utility for those not comfortable using something like the always free Clonezilla. Former users of tools such as TrueImage and similar software should feel right at home with the interface DriveClone uses.

FarStone DriveClone 10 Key Features:

    

• Professional Hard Drive and Solid State Drive Cloning & Migration
•    Smart Drive Cloning
•    Dissimilar Drive Cloning
•    Open File Cloning, Hard Links Cloning
•    Cloning without Interrupting Current Work
•    Create Mirror Drive
•    Create Backup Drive
•    Perfect Defrag Cloning
•    Volume Cloning
•    UEFI, GPT, 2TB, 2.5TB and 3TB Drive Cloning
•    Hardware RAID and Software RAID Cloning

FarStone DriveClone 10 Free Download Serial Number

FarStone DriveClone 10 Workstation is normally priced at $69.95 per serial number / activation key. Glarysoft are having a giveaway of FarStone DriveClone 10 Workstation edition, where everyone can download a full version copy for free. The giveaway will be valid for today only (24 hours on  November 5, 2013). Act fast to grab your free copy. Go to the giveaway page here to download the giveaway package.

Unzip the package you’ve downloaded, and carefully read the instructions which you can find in the readme.txt file. Follow the instructions carefully to install and activate the software. You have to install and activate it before the Giveaway offer for the software is over.

FYI,  FarStone DriveClone 10 is released with a free version for non-commercial users.  Here is the download page for FarStone DriveClone 10 Free Version: Download Page.

Download page here.

Grab your copy now. This deal ends today: 5-NOV-2013!

2650

Living Room / Arduino Leonardo Touchboard

« Last post by 40hz on November 05, 2013, 06:54 AM »

There's an interesting project recently posted on Kickstarter that looks promising for DIYers. I can see this becoming the reference platform for a variety of clever projects - especially homebrew musical instruments. (Note: it's already fully funded.) Great video on the project page. Find it here.

What is the Touch Board?

The Touch Board is a tool to make your projects interactive, responsive, smart or just fun. Use the Touch Board to change the world around you by turning almost any material or surface into a sensor. Connect anything conductive to one of its 12 electrodes and trigger a sound via its onboard MP3 player, play a MIDI note or do anything else that you might do with an Arduino or Arduino-compatible device.
The Touch Board!The Touch Board!

The Touch Board is designed as an easy-to-use platform for a huge range of projects, whether it's painting a lightswitch on your wall, making a paper piano or something nobody's thought of yet. Make sure to take a look at our video above and check out the information below. If you've got a question, get in touch and we'll get it up in the FAQs. We hope you'll support the Touch Board. We can't wait to see what you will build on top of this powerful platform!