topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Tuesday November 11, 2025, 6:21 am
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Recent Posts

Pages: prev1 ... 19 20 21 22 23 [24] 25 26 27 28 29 ... 50next
576
Living Room / Re: World's First Flying Car Prepairs for Take-off
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 11, 2009, 07:41 PM »
That's not bad when compared to a standard light aircraft, though I would have expected there to be licensing issues for such a vehicle.

Ehtyar.
577
Best Virtual Machine Tool / Re: no VirtualBox ???
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 11, 2009, 05:08 PM »
Shame on you Mouse Man!!
If I have a spare lunch this week I'll poke around for a few comparisons or reviews.

Ehtyar.
578
General Software Discussion / Re: windows 7 beta available for free Jan 9 (!)
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 11, 2009, 01:26 PM »
Yes, but I'll need to download the 32-bit version to run it in most of the VM solutions available and, AFAICT, in any of the free/cheap options.

Not necessarily so, VirtualBox now supports 64bit guests if you have VT-x or AMD-V.
As does VMWare (VirtualBox ftw). VirtualPC sucks ;)

Ehtyar.
579
Official Announcements / Re: DC-IRLDD Champaign, IL - New Years
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 11, 2009, 04:41 AM »
ROFL!!
I thought it looked like a witch with a tail.

Ehtyar.
580
Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 02-09
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 11, 2009, 01:21 AM »
Ty guys :)
Er...at what point do the participance icons wrap to a second line? :P

Ehtyar.
581
Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 02-09
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 11, 2009, 12:11 AM »
Most welcome Deo :)

Ehtyar.
582
Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 01-09
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 11, 2009, 12:10 AM »
LOL, I'm gonna have Scan Man sick the tweaked frogs on you tomorrow :P

Ehtyar.
583
Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 01-09
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 10, 2009, 11:59 PM »
Ugh, shoot me now. Can anyone say weeetaaaawdeeeeed?

Ehtyar.
584
Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 01-09
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 10, 2009, 11:50 PM »
Was only posted 10 hours ago Deo, lol. But, my pleasure :)

Ehtyar.
585
General Software Discussion / Re: windows 7 beta available for free Jan 9 (!)
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 10, 2009, 09:00 PM »
I liked the XP blue, i HATED the Vista blue (if indeed it was blue), and I'm loving the Windows 7 blue.
'Course I still have bliss on my desktop (not that i see it very often ;)).

Ehtyar.
586
Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 02-09
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 10, 2009, 06:40 PM »
Thanks guys :)

Pretty pathetic that VeriSign can get away with a claim like that when it clearly won't fix any attack that potentially took place before the fix came into effect.

Ehtyar.

P.S. tomos, it's Ehtyar not Ethyar ;)
587
Living Room / Tech News Weekly: Edition 02-09
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 10, 2009, 03:41 PM »
The Weekly Tech News
TNWeekly01.gifHi all.
To add a little humour the what is usually just a list of bad events taking place in the IT realm, the final article for each week will now be my favorite video or article from The Onion News Network for the week. I hope you like it :)
As usual, you can find last week's news here.


1. Password Guessing Attack Exposed in Twitter Pwn
Spoiler
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/07/twitter_hack_explained/
The account of a Twitter admin was compromised recently via a dictionary attack, and was used to deface the accounts of several prominent tweeters.

Miscreants broke into Twitter's admin system on Sunday night using a simple password guessing hack, it has emerged.

A teenage hacker, known in the digital underground as GMZ, claims he obtained access to the micro-blogging site’s admin controls using a brute force dictionary attack. After guessing the login identity of an administrator, in part based on the large number of people she followed, GMZ ran an automated password guessing program overnight to reveal that 'Crystal' used the eminently guessable password of "happiness". The 18-year-old student then used these details to offer up access to Twitter accounts on request through Digital Gangster, an underground hacker forum, Wired reports.

The move enabled griefers to break into the Twitter feeds of the likes of Britney Spears, Fox News and US President-Elect Barack Obama on Monday to push out bogus messages. GMZ sat on the sidelines during this attack because he had failed to use a proxy during his password cracking attack, making him more at risk of identification.


2. Boffin Brings 'Write Once, Run Anywhere' to Cisco Hijacks
Spoiler
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/05/cisco_router_hijacking/
http://www.darkreading.com/security/perimeter/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212700896
Felix Lindner of Recurity Labs has finally answered the age-old question of how to target multiple IOS versions with a single exploit. Admins, start your engines... I hope word man was sitting on a plastic-covered chair for this one ;)

A researcher has discovered a way to reliably exploit a known security vulnerability in a wide class of Cisco System routers, a finding that for the first time allows attackers to hijack millions of devices with a single piece of code.

The discovery by Felix "FX" Lindner of Recurity Labs in Berlin brings the write-once-run-anywhere approach of software development to the dark art of compromising routers that form the core of the internet. Previously, reliable exploit code had to be specifically fashioned to one of more than 15,000 different supported builds of IOS, or Internet Operating System, which run various Cisco devices.


3. Researchers Poke Holes in Intel's Anti-tampering Tech
Spoiler
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/07/intel_vpro_hack/
Details regarding bypass of Intel's Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) are due to be unveiled at the next Black Hat Conference.

A practical attack on Intel's trusted execution technology (TXT) is due to be demonstrated at a hacking conference next month.

Security researchers from Invisible Things Lab have created a technique for compromising the integrity of software loaded via TXT, a key component in Intel's Safer Computing Initiative and part of the chip giant's vPro brand. Intel's TXT technology - which aims to protect systems against tampering - hooks into CPUs and chipsets as well as featuring use of Trusted Platform Module 1.2 (TPM) technology.

For example, the technology ensures programs running on a virtual machine are free to go about their business without interference from other (potentially malicious) packages loaded onto the same system. It also has applications in Digital Rights Management.


4. VeriSign Remedies Massive SSL Blunder (kinda, Sorta)
Spoiler
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/09/verisign_ssl_remedy/
In response to a story published last week Verisgn claim to have fixed the vulnerability discovered in SSL certificates.

After being publicly outed issuing web credentials that were vulnerable to attacks that could allow criminals to spoof the encryption certificates of any website on the internet, VeriSign has issued assurances it has neutralized any real-world threat.

Tim Callan, vice president of VeriSign's product marketing, has said that within hours of last week's news that researchers had uncovered a devastating weakness in secure sockets layer certificates issued by VeriSign subsidiary RapidSSL, the company made changes to ensure all its SSL products were immune to the attacks.

As usual, the truth is a little more complicated.


5. 'Curse of Silence' Smartphone Flaw Disclosed
Spoiler
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10130499-83.html
Certain older versions of Nokia's Symbian OS for mobile phones has been found to be susceptible to a buffer overflow vulnerability triggered by a speciall crafted SMS that in certain cases prevents the user from receiving further SMS messages.

A denial-of-service attack that limits the number of SMS messages that can be received by Nokia smartphones has been disclosed and demonstrated.

Dubbed the "curse of silence" by German security researcher Tobias Engel, the attack occurs when Nokia Series 60 phones are sent a malformed e-mail message via SMS (Short Message Service). Engel demonstrated the attack on Tuesday at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin, according to a blog post by security vendor F-Secure.


6. Interface Controlled by Hand Gestures
Spoiler
http://www.wired.com/video/latest-videos/latest/1815816633/conceptual-interface-is-controlled-by-hand-gestures/6750621001
Toshiba has shown off concept hardware at CES capable of reading hand gestures for input.

At CES 2009, Toshiba showed off a conceptual computer interface that uses hand gestures for control. With simple motion sensing technology and a software interface, Toshiba hopes to open up applications for video games and other interactive media.


7. Microsoft Begins Windows 7 Push
Spoiler
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7817190.stm
Windows 7 Thread: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=15107
Windows BETA Thread: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=16482
Microsoft were set to make Windows 7 BETA available to the public on Jan 9, but it appears you'll have to torrent this one too as they were unable to meet demand.

Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer used his keynote speech at CES to announce that software developers would get at the trial version on 7 January.

On 9 January members of the public will get the chance to download the successor to Windows for themselves.

Mr Ballmer said Windows 7 would be the pivot of a broader Microsoft push to improve the way its separate software and service families work together.


8. Another DNS Flaw
Spoiler
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3795311/Another+DNS+flaw.htm
Another DNS flaw has been discovered in the implemntaton of DNSSEC in BIND. The flaw has already been patched, and there don't appear to be any exploits in the wild.

Security researcher Dan Kaminsky made headlines last year when he discovered a critical DNS flaw. If left unpatched it could have crippled vast parts of the Internet.

As 2009 starts up, a new DNS flaw has emerged, but the severity of the threat is less pronounced.

ISC (Internet Systems Consortium) the group leading development of the open source BIND DNS server that dominates the Internet, quietly issued a patch to multiple versions of BIND this week.


9. DOCSIS 3.0 Laggard Charter Files Patent Suit Against Verizon
Spoiler
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090108-docsis-3-0-laggard-charter-files-patent-suit-against-verizon.html
Charter has filed suit against Verizon for patent infringement after Verizon offered video on demand services that blew Charter's offering out of the water.

If you're an incumbent cable operator who has had the TV market to yourself for several years only to be challenged by an upstart that offers a better service, you've got two options: ratchet up your own offerings or sue the upstart. Faced with an incursion by Verizon's FiOS TV and Internet service into some of its territories, Charter is apparently going with door number two, filing a patent infringement lawsuit against Verizon on the last day of 2008.

At issue are four patents owned by Charter covering video-on-demand services, dynamic pricing for subscription-on-demand services, and a pair of patents covering data transmission. The most interesting appear to be the three patents which relate to video transmission. One patent, 6826197, seems rather generic, describing a data packet with a header, routing information field, data field, data payload, and error correction field. It does have the capability of "efficiently propagating a payload through a multi-user, digital video distribution system," however.


10. Kiwis Rally Opposition to NZ Copyright Bill
Spoiler
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090106-kiwis-rally-opposition-to-nz-copyright-bill.html
It appears New Zealand is following Australia's lead in tyranny of the internet, proposing a new law that would see "suspected copyright infringers" cut off from the internet.

Borrowing the "Not in My Name" slogan popularized by anti-war and pro-Palestinian activists, New Zealand's newborn Creative Freedom Foundation is leading a petition drive to block implementation of copyright legislation slated to take effect at the end of February. Critics charge that Section 92 of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act, enacted this past April, requires ISPs to act on a principle of "guilt upon accusation," cutting off the Internet connections of users merely alleged to be violating copyright.

Section 92 has also drawn the ire of New Zealand's ISPs, under the umbrella of the Telecommunications Carriers' Forum, which has blasted the reform as "a deeply flawed law that undermines fundamental rights and simply will not work.” Jamie Baddeley, who heads the country's ISP trade association, argues that the legislation, which makes providers legally liable for failing to delete infringing material and disconnect infringers, "has the potential to put some of our smaller innovative members out of business."


11. Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard
Spoiler
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/92328
Discussion thread by CodeByter: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=16449.0
Apple has unveiled a revolutionary new laptop that has completely replaced the keyboard with something very...Apple.

wheel.png




Ehtyar.
588
General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox not safe at all
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 10, 2009, 04:41 AM »
Nothing to worry about here, no one will criticize your English :)

Ehtyar.
589
General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox not safe at all
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 10, 2009, 04:06 AM »
All products are vulnerale. the USER is the main exploit entry.

No matter how safe your browsers are, if you constantly visit porn sites, chances are you will infect an virus.
Presuming you meant to say "chances are you will be infected by a virus", you are quite right. Well said.

Ehtyar.
590
Manufacturers should not be permitted to advertise MAC address filtering as a security feature. Put your wireless NIC on ad-hoc mode and you'll see the MAC addresses of all nearby wireless interfaces. It is then a trivial operation to fake (or spoof) the MAC address of one of the interfaces permitted to access the network.

Resetting the router (via a reset switch or button) should clear the password.
Experience with routers varies significantly. You'll find it difficult to pinpoint a brand that has good reviews across the board. If you're going to purchase a new unit I would suggest choosing something that it's brand new to the market and that has solid reviews.

Actually, I would have said something that's been on the market for a while and has solid reviews.

No use buying something that's 'brand new to the market' and then 8 months later everyone suddenly finds that the mCPU in it blows up due to the date matching and IP address ;)
That was indeed what i meant to say. My bad, ty 4wd.

Ehtyar.
591
The past few years I've had two NetGear products. The first was a WGR614 which was fine, but its range was too limited for my sister to use wireless in her bedroom, so now we have a WPN824v2. Anyway, now that you know my life story :P both products have been extremely stable (the dlink we had prior to the WGR crashed weekly) and I would most definately purchase a netgear product again.

Netgear are generally considered to be at the economical end of the higher quality routers. If you wanted something really powerful, you probably go for a Linksys or a CISCO, but you'll pay a lot more for those.

Experience with routers varies significantly. You'll find it difficult to pinpoint a brand that has good reviews across the board. If you're going to purchase a new unit I would suggest choosing something that it's brand new to the market and that has solid reviews.

Ehtyar.
592
General Software Discussion / Re: Fast Dial Warning for FF
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 08, 2009, 10:30 PM »
Mozilla has rather stringent checks on new addons but after determining them to be safe, updates seem to be unchecked.

What irritates me is that everyone just expects Mozilla to police every update for every addon for their browser. That's like asking Microsoft to police every program for Windows (on muuuuuch less of a budget). Granted Microsoft doesn't offer Windows applications from their own website, but really, who wouldn't go for that? Seems like Mozilla is now being penalized for offering a service as a convenience for users. It's really a shame this had to happen, the author should be responsible here, not Mozilla.

Ehtyar.
593
General Software Discussion / Re: windows 7 beta available for free Jan 9 (!)
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 08, 2009, 08:18 PM »
MS need to embrace torrents for legitimate uses...fail.

Anyway, having installed Windows 7 on the desktop, IT IS FAST!!! Boot speed has been significantly improved also.

It looks a whole lot better than Vista (as everyone already knows), and the Firewall looks like it is going to be working a whole lot better than the XP/Vista f/w. Just something quick to tantilise the taste buds (I am at work ya know :P).

Ehtyar.
594
General Software Discussion / Re: windows 7 beta available for free Jan 9 (!)
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 08, 2009, 05:16 PM »
Ah f0d man, always the skeptic.

The graphics in a VM suck ofc (as you knew before posting that reply :P). I meant just in general usability. IE in the VM noticeably outperformed IE in Vista, as did Firefox. This is also as a comparison to Vista, which certainly doesn't run faster than a host in a VM.

Ehtyar.
595
General Software Discussion / Re: windows 7 beta available for free Jan 9 (!)
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 08, 2009, 04:16 PM »
We're gonna try it today on a proper box to try out aero. I'll let you know how it goes.
At one stage we ran it in VirtualBox with 1024 megs of ram and it ran faster than the Vista host.

Ehtyar.

[edit]
It was questioned in the IRC channel (JOIN IT!!) how this was possible. So it doesn't look like I'm full of it, here is the explanation: http://en.wikipedia....ion#Hardware_support
[/edit]
596
Living Room / Re: Apple Wheel macbook - revolutionary
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 08, 2009, 02:30 AM »
At work about half the creative staff were taken hook line and sinker to the end of the video.

Ehtyar.
597
General Software Discussion / Re: Large Text File Viewer
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 07, 2009, 11:15 PM »
Nice one, Phil :)

I know the next is pretty oooold, but I decided I might as well comment on it since I saw it now:

I'm pretty sure my current fav text editor (Notepad++) could handle a file that big, but I can't say for sure since I don't have currently have any text files that size to test it with.
Nope, Notepad++ (which is my favorite editor as well) performs miserably when dealing with files of relatively few megabytes in size. This is mainly because it uses the Scintilla edit control, which really wasn't designed for huge amounts of text - and working around that would be really clunky.
Indeed. I will sing npp's praise 'till the cows come home...except when it comes to large file support. Definitely try something more up to the task IMO. VIM would likely be my choice if it's available.

Ehtyar.
598
General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox not safe at all
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 07, 2009, 07:37 PM »
Sorry I don't have anything meaningful to add to the topic.
Well neither did I, but that's no excuse to reserve your opinion :P

Ehtyar.
599
Living Room / Google and Feedburner
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 07, 2009, 07:27 PM »
Firstly, I want praise for not using 'GOOGLE IS EVIL!!' as the title of this thread.

There, now that that's out of the way...

We have here and here two identical RSS feeds, yes? One is the source feed from TechCrunch's Wordpress, the other is that very same feed proxied through Google's recent Feedburner acquisition which happens to be the only feed that TechCrunch themselves link to.

Now I understand people using Google services when Google gets to mine the user's data/behavior in return. I have a personal objection to it, but if people are willing to expose themselves like that then it's on their back. But exactly what benefit does the user receive when retrieving feeds from Google's proxy as opposed to getting them directly from the source site?

I fully acknowledge that the provider of said service benefits from using this service, but it's not the provider's behavior Google gets to mine. It deeply concerns me that in this case Google has, in my opinion, moved from providing services that entice users, to providing services that entice providers into forcing users to use said services.

I'm going to stop short of claiming Google is evil in this case simply because I can't imagine I'm not missing something here. I would really appreciate some insight into what the F is going on here.

Ehtyar.
600
General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox not safe at all
« Last post by Ehtyar on January 07, 2009, 05:41 PM »
What a joke. Can we change the topic to 'IE Zealot Trashes Firefox For No Apparent Reason'?

Ehtyar.
Pages: prev1 ... 19 20 21 22 23 [24] 25 26 27 28 29 ... 50next