SPECTROX BLOG tag:spectrox.com,2012:/blog/1 2012-04-28T01:21:35Z The pseudorandom writings of a pseudonerd Movable Type 3.2ysb5-20051201 Disneyland tag:spectrox.com,2012:/blog//1.304 2012-04-28T00:47:12Z 2012-04-28T01:21:35Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com I know I haven't been blogging as much now that I'm using twitter a bit more. Last week I actually took a seven day diet from social media while we were on a family vacation to Disneyland.

Monorail Driver 

I have my short term fill of the Tiki-Room and It's a Small World is still playing on my mental playlist.  One of the coolest things that we were able to partake in during this last trip was to ride up front with the driver on the Mark VII Monorail.  I've wanted to do this for decades, but it never worked out until this trip.  Yes, that is a really nerdy thing to be excited about.

While I'm not a big wig like Guy Kawasaki, I did get a chance to see the outside of Club 33 at Disneyland...  the secret club that is members only and serves booze in Disneyland.

The other things that I figured out on this trip.

  • My oldest son loves the Monorail as much as I do.
  • My youngest son is deathly afraid of non-human characters.
  • The Disneyland childcare center has the best little tiny toilets for those of you trying to potty train a child.
  • While I love churros, there are times when I do not desire to eat them.  I never thought I would write that.
  • The fireworks look so much better when viewed from the carousel in Fantasyland.

 

]]> SOHO Solution tag:spectrox.com,2012:/blog//1.303 2012-02-23T08:31:58Z 2012-02-23T09:10:56Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com For several years I was able to use a Netscreen-10 that I bought off Craigslist for the fairly simple network infrastructure at my house.  I need to be able to deal with a few static IP addresses and a few custom rules for VPN traffic.  Up until about four months ago the pre-Juniper Netscreen-10 unit chugged along like a star.  I actually computed out the MTBF for it, and it went three years beyond what it was designed for. It kept crashing twice a day when my wife's VPN traffic was really heavy, so it had to be replaced.

So, my issue was what to replace it with.  Should I go with Cisco, Linksys/Cisco, Netgear or some other flavor of the week at Fry's.   What I end up with is not what I expected.  I ended up loading Smoothwall on a mini-itx based PC using a IDE to CF converter.  So I ended up with something that didn't cost me a penny (I already had the hardware lying around) and outperformed my previous installation. 

Smoothwall fit the bill and was free.  I'm sure that IPcop or m0n0wall would work just as well on the exact same hardware.   Smothwall is pretty cool in that it provides a snort engine for intrusion detection, which is really helpful in fending off cyber attacks.

 

Links:

 

]]> Happy Birthday Hazel tag:spectrox.com,2012:/blog//1.302 2012-02-08T15:00:00Z 2012-02-08T07:24:37Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com

Today is a very special day for my furry little girl.  Nine years ago today, a furry little Australian Cattle Dog puppy was born.  We adopted her four months later and has been a member of the family ever since.  Her birthday is special you see, as Hazel is the only pet that we know their history from birth, down to the day.  She has been incredibly patient as new member of our family have come on board, human and animal alike.  We are so lucky to have her in our lives.

 

 

 

]]> BART to the future... tag:spectrox.com,2012:/blog//1.299 2012-01-12T17:59:07Z 2012-01-12T18:13:50Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com It looks as if BART has made a leap forward in their quest to update the train cars in the system.  The original car design has been running with minor changes and refurbishments since 1972, so this will be a welcome upgrade.

 

(Photo Courtesy of BART)

So if all goes as planned, we might be riding these in September 2016.  BART is still taking community input in regards to the internal seat configurations and the color palette to be used, so if you actually care, let them know.

Links:

]]> Wishes for the New Year tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.298 2012-01-01T04:00:00Z 2012-01-01T04:30:02Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com I would like to extend warm wishes to all that read this message.  Whether you come to my blog via a search engine or if you are connected to me via Facebook, Google+, LinkedIN, or Twitter, I appreciate all of you.  Whether you are one of my friends or co-workers that I see in person often, a Facebook friend that I haven't seen in person in 20 years, or a Twitter follower that I've yet to meet in person, you have all added value to my daily life.

May the year 2012 be an amazing one for all of you!

]]> QR Code Malware tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.297 2011-12-30T15:45:22Z 2011-12-30T22:53:27Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com You might have seen QR Codes affixed to advertisements in magazines or in public spaces.

They look a little something like this:

 Spectrox URL QR code

For the last several years they have been used to quickly transfer URL information, phone numbers and other types of information to people that use smartphones or PDA devices with cameras.  It turns out now that with the success of this format, people have figured ways to subvert the system to send people to malware sites and other unsavory locations.  Dark Reading as a great article on how the system works and what it being done to use it for evil purposes.

 

Links:

]]> How to ruin a good thing in three steps tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.296 2011-12-14T16:00:00Z 2011-12-14T18:32:23Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com Step 1: Create an innovative product that fills a niche market.

meebo 

Step 2: Grow it over half a decade.  Make your product fast and fault tolerant.

Step 3: Relaunch it as something else that doesn't resemble the original innovative product.  Have the graphics re-branded for Web 3.0 or whatever iteration we are in now.  Wait for VC money to run out.

 

 

]]> Meebo Windows phone home tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.300 2011-11-13T19:23:16Z 2012-01-13T19:33:41Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com When you connect your Windows 7 or Windows Vista computer to a wireless hot spot or plug in your Ethernet cable, have you ever wondered how Windows knows whether or not you have a good Internet connection?  It is a pretty easy thing to take for granted, unless you start looking at your firewall logs.  The Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) service that Microsoft uses a http connection to www.msftncsi.com and transfers a text file called nsci.txt.  An in-depth breakdown of the packets using Wireshark is available at the SuperUser Blog.  The blog also contains instructions on how to edit the registry to stop your system from phoning home.

 

Link:

 

 

]]> Off the grid tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.294 2011-10-24T15:30:11Z 2011-10-25T02:43:27Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com Sometimes you need to get off the grid and have a bit of privacy.  With the proliferation of phones that don't have removable batteries, it becomes fairly difficult.  Many other technologies such as RFID are embedded in identification documents and credit cards.  It is easy to wrap up these items in aluminum foil or in RF blocking Mylar bags, but you risk being unfashionable or as being branded a paranoid lunatic.  To control when and where your wireless devices can talk, a company called MIAmobi has created a fairly ordinary looking pouch that has a silver foil lining that blocks RF.  The company's website does not state specifics on the RF attenuation or what the frequency range that it blocks.  A similar, less expensive, less fashionable bag can be had from Ramsey (yeah, the guys who make the FM transmitter kits), which is designed for cell phone forensic testing.

 

 

Links:

]]> 10 Years tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.293 2011-09-11T18:01:03Z 2011-09-12T01:15:57Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com Ten years ago seems like a lifetime ago. I still can't really speak in a cohesive way about my thoughts and emotions.  Almost on a daily basis, I drive past a street named for Tom Burnett.  There are thousands of other victims of 9/11, and they are equally deserving of our prayers, but Tom's story of bravery and selflessness speaks to me.  While driving through that intersection, I always think of his family's loss, but also how his and others bravery on Flight 93 saved the lives of countless thousands.  I can only hope that I honor these people in my daily work and how I live my life.

 

]]> $25 PC - Delicious Raspberry Pi tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.292 2011-09-02T15:30:31Z 2011-09-03T01:49:50Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com Taking the cost of computing down to the cost of a textbook is the plan for the Raspberry Pi Foundation.  This is not just an educational tool for developing countries like what the OLPC project is doing, it is a platform for discovery and experimentation in the developed world as well.   Think of it this way: Do you want little Johnny taking apart the home computer that houses your tax returns which you never backup?  Or would you rather plunk down $25 for a computer that he can experiment with that can integrate with old CRT TV's that you were going to recycle anyways?  Oh, and it can run Linux, which is awesome.

(Picture from Raspberry Pi Blog)

Links:

 

 

]]> Reality is scary tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.290 2011-08-03T21:07:19Z 2011-08-05T04:37:29Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com The only true reality is that the only secure computer is one that isn't networked, in an alarmed room with no doors and that isn't turned on.  Given enough time and money ANY intrusion is possible.  Dmitri Alperovitch's post on the McAfee Blog Central, really hits the nail on the head:

"After painstaking analysis of the logs, even we were surprised by the enormous diversity of the victim organizations and were taken aback by the audacity of the perpetrators. Although we will refrain from explicitly identifying most of the victims, describing only their general industry, we feel that naming names is warranted in certain cases, not with the goal of attracting attention to a specific victim organization, but to reinforce the fact that virtually everyone is falling prey to these intrusions, regardless of whether they are the United Nations, a multinational Fortune 100 company, a small non-profit think-tank, a national Olympic team, or even an unfortunate computer security firm."

Scary.

Link:

]]> Another social network.. again? tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.289 2011-07-12T20:52:22Z 2011-07-13T04:06:51Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com Much has been said about the new Google+ social networking service.  After a few different approaches (i.e. Orkut and Google Buzz), Google has rolled out something that might take off.  Beyond all the social media hogwash about monetizing the web and other jargon, Google+ has some features that are wonderful.

  • The G+ backend is not based on MySQL.  Facebook's infrastructure is based on a wonderful piece of technology that is now end of life.
  • Anyone who is already using Gmail is already 99% of the way there.
  • Picasa integration.  I'm still more of a Flickr fan, but would rather store and manage photos on Picasa than in Facebook's network.
  • A more granular and configurable security model.   Having the ability to use the same account to connect with work and friends is key.  Being able to have asymmetrical relationships is one of the biggest highlights in my mind.  
  • Once they add iPhone and SMS support they are in the Facebook and Twitter killer market.

]]> Really?!?! tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.288 2011-07-10T07:38:32Z 2011-07-10T13:38:22Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com Okay, I totally get it: Living in a third world county doesn't have a lot of job development options. 

To the Nigerian Scammers that have been calling me on my cell phone, here are some critiques on your work.

  • There is something called a time zone.  Look it up on Wikipedia.  It totally exists.
  • We happen to be in different time zones.  You can generally find which time zone I reside in from the area code on the phone number you happen to be dialing.  Again, all that stuff is on Wikipedia.  That is all free.  You don't have to steal it.
  • When you call me at 3:00 in the morning, if you already woke up one of my children I am going to be mad.  If you wake up both of my children, I will scream at you.  This is a poor use of both our resources (my sleep and sanity time; your scamming time).  Look up opportunity cost on Wikipedia.

Link for the the rest of you if you start getting 234 country code calls:

  •  http://www.419scam.org/419-phone-ng.htm
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]]> Coffee! tag:spectrox.com,2011:/blog//1.287 2011-05-20T15:00:18Z 2011-05-20T23:05:59Z spectrox http://blog.spectrox.com As many of you know, I haven't been getting much sleep lately due to Grant and Miles' sometimes erratic sleeping patterns.  I've been avoiding dozing off at random times by drinking a healthy amount of coffee.  Up until this week I thought I was just propping my eyes open, but now I know that I am helping the health of my prostate.  Hooray!

Link:

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