posts tagged as gadget

worm on april fool’s and other things

Friday, 27 March 2009 12:46 pm by noel
posted in tech | tags: , , , , , , , , ,

i have been preoccupied of late with security stuff. the first one is what they’re calling conficker.c which will activate on the first of april. no one knows what it will do but i would bet a beer that its not entirely good. symantec has a removal tool for this and previous versions of conficker (aka downadup).

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another news item that has been in that particular corner of my brain is the network bluepill aka psyb0t botnet. its a new botnet targeting routers/modems instead of pcs. these router/modems are the gadgets that give you access to the internet. imagine what bad things can happen when that’s been compromised. you can’t scan for the botnet either because the botnet code is not on your pc. according to dronebl–a real-time tracker of abusable ips–you are vulnerable if:

  • Your device is a mipsel (MIPS running in little-endian mode, this is what the worm is compiled for) device;
  • Your device also has telnet, SSH or web-based interfaces available to the WAN, and
  • your username and password combinations are weak, OR the daemons that your firmware uses are exploitable.

the best way to ensure that you don’t get infected (or reinfected) is to perform a hard reset of the device, update the device’s firmware to the latest and change the administrative passwords to stronger ones, maybe use a passphrase instead.

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and then there’s the next version of ubuntu–jaunty jakalope or version 9.04–coming out by april (2009.04). that’s something to look forward to. at the same time i’ve been studying/ evaluating the server version of ubuntu as a replacement for some (or all my server installations).

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i have taken on a new project making a new website which will act much like a repository of information about a famous person. this will replace another project that i had to let go. its another php/mysql/apache install (spelled as web 2.0). this should prove interesting. 8-)

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a small distraction

Sunday, 27 January 2008 6:49 pm by noel
posted in cycling | tags: , ,

12km to moa (mall of asia) from the house. at the moment, the cyclocomputer is a distraction.

i have to maintain 25kph.
what?!? i’ve only ridden this long?!? this far?!?
wow. look at the time. i’m late.

its a small distraction but i’ll keep it on because i want to know how far i’ve gone after every ride. i know i will eventually get into that habit of ignoring it.

i have ridden for years without having the need for one until now. still, i just want to ride.

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my computing recommendations

Saturday, 26 January 2008 12:46 am by noel
posted in tech | tags: , ,

being known as the “computer guy”, a good number of people ask me for recommendations of what computer to get or what computer-related “toy” to buy. and i get asked these questions quite often warranting this post.

get a laptop.

honestly. laptops are cheaper these days. almost everything you need is there and you can fold it up and go. i don’t think you can do that with a desktop. ;)

some specifics:
try not to get the ones with the uber speed cpus. leave that to the desktops. you just want to get something that can handle the type of work you will do on it plus some. you’ll save some money that can best be spent on more memory. do get one of those dual core cpus — either amd or intel would do although amd is usually cheaper. get the maximum memory that the laptop can handle. seriously. if its 2 gig, get that. if its 4 gig, buy it. you’ll thank me for it. the minimum should be 1 gig. 80 gigabytes is usually the standard capacity for the hard drive. if you have some extra, try to get a 160 gig drive instead. the optical drive should be at least a cd burner although dvd burners are common now. and lastly, if you can get an extra battery pack, why not?

operating system:
laptops usually come with windows pre-installed. i would not wish on my friends the trouble that is called vista so if you can get xp pro that would be better. being the geek that i am, i would recommend getting linux as an operating system. its not as fancy and polished as windows but its almost there. it gets the job done and its free. i’m using it now.

brand:
for the brand of laptop, well, there are a handful of good ones. stick with a manufacturer that is well known. hp comes to mind as well as asus and lenovo. fujitsu and sony has been around for some time as well. but if you prefer the mac then by all means. what ever brand you get just make sure that they can give you the technical support you need when the time comes.

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4k ride

Friday, 25 January 2008 9:53 am by noel
posted in cycling | tags: , , ,

velo 8 at workdespite the fact that i felt a little sick this morning, i took a 4k ride to mendiola and back. i had to. my son needed a change of clothes for practice. ;)

this gave me an opportunity to test the velo 8. nice little gadget for the price but i wouldn’t really trust the calorie meter.

on the way back mendiola was blocked by students of san beda college. its the foundation day parade — part of the frolics.

when i finally got through i got to pass this guy on a white/red argon bike. nice whip dude.

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velo 8

Sunday, 20 January 2008 12:53 pm by noel
posted in cycling | tags: , , ,

cateye velo 8

my gurlfriend and i got a cateye velo 8 for an upcoming project of ours. it will fit our intended purpose perfectly. and its cheap too at 600 pesos (us$14; € 10).

the last cyclocomputer that i had was a vetta. i think it was one of those two-button entry level models too. the wire near the pickup eventually frayed and that put an end to it. but that was several years ago and i haven’t been riding with one for a few years now. i never had a good enough reason to convince myself to get one. i still don’t. but this project of ours sort of dictated the need for one so…

i don’t mind though.

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iphone on hand

Sunday, 13 January 2008 11:43 am by noel
posted in people, tech | tags: , , , ,

iphonei got hold of an iphone the other day. sooo nice.

its one of those gadgets that shows it’s different thinking from a different direction. its like a palm pilot with a cell phone feature added but with lots of advanced hardware and software bling.

melvin, a long-time friend of ours flew in for the holidays and just met up with him along with several friends. he brings out his iphone but no one in the group seems to notice. ;) sorry melvin. anyway, he did mention that he didn’t give it much thought either when he was first handed the phone. a phone is a phone. no biggie.

but once he started using the thing then the wow started.

and it really is true. it looks like a rectangular shiny black thing that will be mistaken for an electronic organizer with a picture of a half-eaten fruit at the back.

the fun starts when you turn it on.

melvin with iphoneyou just have to experience using the thing to really appreciate it. even just browsing its website doesn’t do it justice — unless you have a touch screen and … well, web technology is not there yet.

its an example of how hardware and software is made to work together to provide a user with a more intuitive and easier way of using something.

melvin, i think, made our group of friends seriously think of getting one in the future. i know nikki, the daughter of one of our friends, wants one. you can see it in her eyes. ;) don is getting one soon and maybe gemma as well. cherry wants one also.

as for me… well… maybe when i can afford it. :roll:

oh. and melvin, you’re a certified gadget freak. ;)

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