Recent Posts

501

Living Room / Re: Why do we always wait for apple's stuff before making a i[blank]-killer??

« Last post by Eóin on June 18, 2010, 06:19 PM »

And whats the best way to convince yourself you like something? Get other people to want it!

502

General Software Discussion / Re: SourceForge

« Last post by Eóin on June 18, 2010, 03:09 PM »

Out of curiosity I had a unix shell handy so I put a sourceforge download link into wget, here's the output:

[Select]

wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/clamwin/files/clamwin/0.96.1/clamwin-0.96.1-setup.exe/download?use_mirror=autoselect

--2010-06-18 16:05:53--  http://sourceforge.net/projects/clamwin/files/clamwin/0.96.1/clamwin-0.96.1-setup.exe/download?use_mirror=autoselect
Resolving sourceforge.net... 216.34.181.60
Connecting to sourceforge.net|216.34.181.60|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found
Location: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/clamwin/clamwin/0.96.1/clamwin-0.96.1-setup.exe?use_mirror=hivelocity [following]

--2010-06-18 16:05:53--  http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/clamwin/clamwin/0.96.1/clamwin-0.96.1-setup.exe?use_mirror=hivelocity
Resolving downloads.sourceforge.net... 216.34.181.59
Connecting to downloads.sourceforge.net|216.34.181.59|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found
Location: http://hivelocity.dl.sourceforge.net/project/clamwin/clamwin/0.96.1/clamwin-0.96.1-setup.exe [following]

--2010-06-18 16:05:54--  http://hivelocity.dl.sourceforge.net/project/clamwin/clamwin/0.96.1/clamwin-0.96.1-setup.exe
Resolving hivelocity.dl.sourceforge.net... 74.50.111.26
Connecting to hivelocity.dl.sourceforge.net|74.50.111.26|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 34697898 (33M) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: `clamwin-0.96.1-setup.exe'

These days I would have figured most download managers would be capable of handling redirects, maybe what going on behind the scenes is more complicated though.

As a workaround however, from reading the above it'd be easy to manually translate a SF.net link to the actual file URL on the mirror.

503

Living Room / Re: Microsoft lashes out at Googler for making Windows vulnerability public

« Last post by Eóin on June 16, 2010, 04:33 PM »

Yep it's that one.

I suppose I should add for clarity's sake; I'm not suggesting that patch was rushed, I've no idea if it was or not. But it's a good example of peoples reaction when a patch itself goes wrong.

504

Living Room / Re: Microsoft lashes out at Googler for making Windows vulnerability public

« Last post by Eóin on June 16, 2010, 01:50 PM »

Let's not forget what happened when MS put out a faulty patch recently which had people screaming for blood over the inconvenience it caused. Patching holes is not necessarily a simple matter, I imagine testing a patch is enormously complicated.

Rushing out a patch for an exploit not already in the wild would have been irresponsible on MS's part.

505

Living Room / Re: IP address on public network

« Last post by Eóin on June 15, 2010, 07:56 PM »

It's true that simply connecting to an unsecured wifi network is unlikely to be traced back to you, in some cases probably impossible, but still you are on someone else's network and at the mercy of their level of sophistication.

Also it's generally it's considered very bad netiquette to use TOR for things like file sharing.

506

Living Room / Re: IP address on public network

« Last post by Eóin on June 15, 2010, 07:23 PM »

It's not so much a question of the outside world tracking you as it's one of the hotel doing so. Whether they can link activity on their network with you the person/laptop depends on their setup.

But in general the answer would be yes; they can do so, they will do so, and they will keep records of having done so should they later need to blame you for illegal activity carried out on their systems.

507

Living Room / Re: Apple Attacks Adobe

« Last post by Eóin on June 15, 2010, 10:26 AM »

I heard about this, I really don't get it to be honest. I mean by allowing some to use non-native code they effectively discredited all there previous excuses for why it wasn't allowed before, but by limiting it's use to only those with written permission they've gone and made themselves more guilty of anti-competitive behavior than ever.

My understanding though is probably limited, perhaps even backwards, but as it's stands I just don't follow how developers think this is a good thing.

508

General Software Discussion / Re: How safe is it to run portable apps on public computers?

« Last post by Eóin on June 14, 2010, 03:46 PM »

Is the usb drive big enough to hold two copies of what you need? If so keep a fully archived passworded copy and each time you sit down to a new PC extract the contents of that archive. That way you can be sure the programs themselves remain uninfected.

You could automate the whole process with the 7zip commandline version and a simple batch file.

Doesn't address the snooping issues of course.

509

Living Room / Re: Microsoft lashes out at Googler for making Windows vulnerability public

« Last post by Eóin on June 14, 2010, 09:21 AM »

Honestly I think all this talk of politics and 'image in the public's eye' is frankly irrelevant. The employ here acted extremely irresponsibly, that much is a fact and therefore 'siding' with Google is a nonsense stance to take.

As for MS not putting the right PR spin on it all, well I see MS calling out the guy for the carelessness of his actions, remember this is all that was actually said

This issue was reported to us on June 5th, 2010 by a Google security researcher and then made public less than four days later, on June 9th, 2010.  Public disclosure of the details of this vulnerability and how to exploit it, without giving us time to resolve the issue for our potentially affected customers, makes broad attacks more likely and puts customers at risk

-http://blogs.technet.com/b/msrc/archive/2010/06/10/windows-help-vulnerability-disclosure.aspx

and damn right I say, that quote sets the records straight. Frankly I can't even follow the politics slant that's being dragged into this discussion.

510

Living Room / Re: Microsoft lashes out at Googler for making Windows vulnerability public

« Last post by Eóin on June 12, 2010, 01:42 PM »

Microsoft had a good opportunity of fixing their image

-Paul Keith (June 12, 2010, 12:36 PM)

Actually the point repeated here over and over is that MS wasn't given an opportunity, 4 days is not enough. Or are you proposing an alternative approach to MS improving their security image other than by regularly and responsibly patching holes?

511

Living Room / Re: Microsoft lashes out at Googler for making Windows vulnerability public

« Last post by Eóin on June 12, 2010, 09:34 AM »

This is a case where I'm for Google hurting the competition because even if it's unprofessional, it's a stress test for Microsoft. You've pleased the techies now let's see how you buy back people's trust. How you react to cases like this.

-Paul Keith (June 12, 2010, 08:32 AM)

If this were just Google kicking MS I probably wouldn't care too much myself. But it's not, it's Google putting everyone in danger. And I really mean everyone! Holes like this are how worms spread, how bot-nets grow, and how mal-intentioned individuals can bring whole internet services to their knees, regards of what OS the victims are using. There are no excuses for Google in this one!

As for buying back non-techies trust, well buy is the word, isn't it? Non-techies only believe what they see in ads, Apple has proved that. No amount of actual good deeds or responsible actions really matter these days.

512

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: The Pen is more important than the Paper [Incomplete]

« Last post by Eóin on June 11, 2010, 07:52 PM »

And by shear coincidence, I'm just been linked to the making of.

P.S. Sorry Paul for the 'off topic'.

513

Living Room / WeTab - Linux based iPad competitor

« Last post by Eóin on June 11, 2010, 11:19 AM »

This is an interesting product, used to be called the WePad. Seems pretty neat, physically bigger than the iPad, but then bigger screen too. Not sure I'd go for it, not really in need of a tablet PC, but impressed by it's specs nonetheless.

I know I'm going straight for a bit of Apple bashing here, but I find this bit of the technical details quite funny:

Go back 2+ years and the idea that a product of this sophistication would feel the need to point out it supports such well established technology would make you laugh. Oh how times are a changing...

514

General Software Discussion / Re: Help me to understand .mp3 naming issue on a DVD player reading from a USB stick

« Last post by Eóin on June 11, 2010, 09:35 AM »

I suspect skwire is correct, I've seen this type of thing happen where removing the files and recopying them in the desired order was the only solution. Very frustrating.

515

Living Room / Re: Microsoft lashes out at Googler for making Windows vulnerability public

« Last post by Eóin on June 11, 2010, 09:31 AM »

Gotta side with MS on this one. The point of going public in the past was to force companies to acknowledge the holes in their products and patch them. These days it seems MS at least are very actively trying to plug any holes spotted, so going public doesn't help matters.

If anything it's like going to the malicious folks out there and saying "Hey MS is about to fix this hole, quick hurry and exploit it before it's too late!"

516

General Software Discussion / Re: Pop Up Chrome Extensions: A Potential Security Concern?

« Last post by Eóin on June 09, 2010, 07:40 AM »

But if you can inject code into the webpages then you can reroute login details to another destination, so the extension isn't necessary.

517

General Software Discussion / Re: Pop Up Chrome Extensions: A Potential Security Concern?

« Last post by Eóin on June 08, 2010, 08:21 PM »

I suppose the key here is in someone installing a PayPal extension that's not legit, seems to me that's user error rather than a security exploit.

Besides if hackers can compromise otherwise legit sites then your details are well and truly up for stealing as is, extension or no.

518

Living Room / Re: Reasons to be Afraid of Driving in China

« Last post by Eóin on June 08, 2010, 07:44 PM »

You really get the impression that it doesn't occur to the folks in the video that someone else might be using the roads too.

519

Living Room / Re: Death and the net: How to log off gracefully for the very last time

« Last post by Eóin on June 08, 2010, 03:10 PM »

This briefly came up before in a thread related to Pubbox.net. It's a pity we didn't have those links then, thanks for sharing.

520

Living Room / Re: More anti-apple fodder

« Last post by Eóin on June 08, 2010, 12:58 PM »

The comments being posted at the source are worth a read for the laugh.

521

Living Room / Re: The Ever-Evolving Question of Privacy

« Last post by Eóin on June 06, 2010, 07:57 PM »

5% is 1 in 20

Anyway I don't really disagree, I don't trust governments to be honest and decent in the slightest, I've little doubt that those in power wish only to maintain and extend that power.

But I trust corporations less, and in this particular incident I think Google way over stepped the line. Perhaps it's a line that's been overstepped many a time before but nonetheless I want to see Google get their come-uppance.

522

Living Room / Re: Honestly, who here actually owns an iPad? be honest!

« Last post by Eóin on June 06, 2010, 04:52 PM »

My sister owns and iPod, mother an iPhone. Wouldn't go for either myself, Creative Zens and my HTC Touch HD2 are just too much more convenient for me.

523

Living Room / Re: New cheap cell phone: Subsidized Googlephone whispers targeted ads

« Last post by Eóin on June 06, 2010, 03:51 PM »

I'd kill the owner of such a phone if it ever rang me. Excellent vid as always from The Onion

524

Living Room / Re: The Ever-Evolving Question of Privacy

« Last post by Eóin on June 06, 2010, 03:21 PM »

Sorry 40hz, I wasn't directing that at you personally, nor anyone here for that matter at all.

But I fully admit that the last bit of my post does read as if it was directed at you previous post, I meant it to refer to the tone of the linked to 'Power corrupts' thread.

525

Living Room / Re: The Ever-Evolving Question of Privacy

« Last post by Eóin on June 06, 2010, 02:53 PM »

Other side of the coin of course, there was a criminal act here and the people required to prosecute Google over this are governments, and to do so they need to have the recorded data as evidence.

Last weekend, on the instructions of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, Google destroyed all WiFi data relating to collection in Ireland. This action has the effect of removing any chance of further legal action of investigation. The Irish Commissioner was wrong to have issued such an instruction. The action could be seen as collusion to destroy evidence.

-http://www.p2pnet.net/story/39730

So don't be so quick to cry conspiracy theory when in fact these are very difficult legal waters to navigate. Ireland here seems to have already made a big mistake.