Well, this website is about making your life easier right? So here are a few links I think will do just that.
If you need to get rid of a lot of junk, junk that might be someone else's treasure, go to chanceXchange. They focus on trading dvds, vhs, games, books and more.
If you're on vacation but don't like the being part of a group tour, go to tourcaster. They allow you to download a podcast audio tour of your destination and points out historic landmarks and notable sites. I'll be sure to check this out when I'm on vacation.
Lastly, go to travelicio.us to get a compilation of blogs, articles, and pictures from Flickr, BootsnAll, del.icio.us showcasing different travel spots around the world and get helpful hints and reviews as well.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
More Cool Websites To Help Ease Your Life
Friday, August 31, 2007
If You Like Giveaways Then Read On
So I was looking around for a watermarking software for my photos and I came across this cool site that offers free, fully licensed software - Giveaway of the Day. The only catch is that you have a specified time frame to download the software. If anything, it's a good place to get some reviews on the software you're interested in testing out.
I did see a watermarking software they were offering for free, but I found a little software program, referred by one of the commentators, that does the job fine - and best of all, it's free!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Aftermath Of A Password Hack
A former colleague of mine emailed me the other day to catch up on life and just chew the fat. He mentioned that someone hacked into his Hotmail account and deleted some important information... but I'm sure he stole the vital information before the big deletion. And I'm talking social security number, a couple of credit card numbers and passwords, and most importantly, his freakin' address. He's paranoid now and looking to get a cctv surveillance system for his property. The house alarm's already installed... at least he's got that covered.
I had to say he had it coming. One thing you definitely do not do is keep sensitive information like that in an email account. Hotmail is not a safe. Yahoo mail is not Fort Knox. If you're in business, especially for yourself, you need to clean out your email account of any private or business data that can hurt you and your clients later on. I mean it's only common sense. He told me he was going to get around to it but had no time. Well, I guess he's going to make time now.
He's going to make time to research what is good password practice. His password was common, connected him to it and was most likely brute forced because the words in his password were commonly found in a dictionary. Do your own research and be safe.
I found some good information here that gives you the do's and dont's. You can learn about what programs people use to bypass passwords as well. It pays to educate yourself. If you need high security passwords, especially for wireless networks, go here.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
An Awesome Car - The Shelby GR-1
Like every other man, I always dream of driving those supercars, whether Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, etc. I remember taking a ride in a Porsche that was custom made for the track. That thing was a pain to get into as the seats really hug your body - and with good reason. That thing almost made me pee my pants. The acceleration was like nothing I've ever experienced before, and I've been in and driven a few fast cars. The tight seats are needed to allow you to take the G-force around a corner. The engine sounded like it belonged in a Mac Truck. And it really was made for the track. All the luxuries taken out to lighten the car.
I was watching the Discovery Channel HD Theater yesterday and it showcased the Shelby sports car. The father and racing legend, Carroll Shelby, talked about how his car was known as the "Ferrari Slayer" back in the 60s and 70s. Then they unveiled the new Shelby GR-1...all I can say is sweeeeet! The funny part of the show was when the design team took the Shelby to a Ferrari convention - a little silver car in a sea of red. But it got a lot of oooohs and awes.
The Shelby GR-1 American Supercar has the classic sports car look mixed with diamond cut
machined styling. With powerful rear haunches, polished aluminum skin and tear drop side windows it looks fast when standing still.
The GR-1 shares some components with the Ford GT, among them suspension and the 6 speed transmission. The 600 horsepower comes from the 6.4L V-10 giving the GR-1 a theoretical top speed in excess of 200 mph.
The exterior designer, George Saradakis, only needed one try on paper to get the design for the Shelby GR-1 approved. If he's that talented, I'm looking forward to all his future designs. Bravo!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Prevent Overheating And Monitor Your Computer's Temperature
If you work on applications that make your computer really work, like graphics applications, you might want to get a little program that monitors the cpu and hard drive temperatures and performance of your hard drive.
I found this great program called Speedfan that monitors your system's temperatures and can even control the fan speeds for you. I actually don't want to mess with another application controlling my fan speeds but Speedfan is great just as a monitoring device. Normally, the computer fan will kick in at certain temperatures but if you want to save the wear and tear on your fan you can get an external fan to help out - a chill mat.
I did some research and found a great chill pad that doesn't require any power - the THERMALTAKE I-XOFT. It uses what's called Gauber salt to dissipate the heat. At cooler temperatures it solidifies, but when the computer gets hot, the material inside the pad liquifies and dissipates the heat, bringing down the temperature of the laptop. It's portable and from all accounts and reviews, it really works.
I did some more research and decided that the Targus Chillhub would work better for me. I'm using more and more usb devices hooked up to my laptop and the added 4 port hub that comes with the Targus Chillhub was just what I needed. The Chillhub has it's own AC adaptor and the two fans run at about 2500 rpm.
So now whenever I run graphics applications, I make sure to turn on Speedfan and when it shows that the CPU/Hard Drive is going over the limit, I just turn on the Chillhub and it brings the temps down to the normal range within a few minutes. I even leave it on for most of the time and the computer fan hardly goes on, thus saving on wear and tear and extending the life of the computer.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Aaron Russo, Producer Of From Freedom To Fascism Has Passed Away
Aaron Russo, producer of From Freedom to Fascism has passed away this morning. August 24th, 2007. A great American Hero and patriot. God Bless you Aaron! He fought his battle with cancer long enough to inspire and educate countless people to learn the truth about the globalists' agenda. Aaron Russo was a Jewish-American filmmaker and produced the movies "The Rose" and "Trading Places."
This is sad news. I'm grateful for his passion and effort to educate us - we need to wake up! Condolences to his family, friends and volunteers who helped to spread his cause.
If you haven't already, watch From Freedom to Fascism - educate yourself.
Sony Develops Battery Powered By Sugar!
Sony has developed an environmentally-friendly prototype battery that runs on sugars and that can generate enough electricity to power a music player and a pair of speakers.
The bio battery's casing is made of a vegetable-based plastic. It measures 3.9 cm (1.5 inch) along each edge and works by pouring sugar solution into the unit, where enzymes break it down to generate electricity.
This is very cool. For now, it'll take many of these to light a bulb so it's a baby step. But baby's do tend to grow so I'm really looking forward to seeing this as the next viable alternative for everyday use. Indeed, a freely available, growable energy source is what we need now!
What You Need To Know About Bluetooth Security
Bluetooth is everywhere, from our laptops to our cell phones to our PDAs. But you need to know some important facts about its security issues. The following can be found here:
Bluetooth Security
Security has played a major role in the invention of Bluetooth. The Bluetooth SIG has put much effort into making Bluetooth a secure technology and has security experts who provide critical security information. In general, Bluetooth security is divided into three modes:
· Non-secure
· Service level enforced security
· Link level enforced security
In non-secure, a Bluetooth device does not initiate any security measures. In service-level enforced security mode, two Bluetooth devices can establish a non-secure Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) link. Security procedures, namely authentication, authorization and optional encryption, are initiated when a L2CAP (Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol) Connection-Oriented or Connection-Less channel request is made. (Haataja, 2006). The difference between service level enforced security and link level enforced security is that in the latter, the Bluetooth device initiates security procedures before the channel is established.
As mentioned above, Bluetooth‘s security procedures include authorization, authentication and optional encryption. Authentication involves proving the identity of a computer or computer user, or in Bluetooth‘s case, proving the identity of one piconet member to another. Authorization is the process of granting or denying access to a network resource. Encryption is the translation of data into secret code. It is used between Bluetooth devices so that eavesdroppers can not read its contents. However, even with all of these defense mechanisms in place, Bluetooth has shown to have some security risks. The next section of this paper will describe some of these vulnerabilities associated with Bluetooth technology.
Bluetooth Vulnerabilities and Security Risks
Bluejacking: Bluejacking is the process of sending unsolicited messages, or business cards, to Bluetooth-enabled devices. This does not involve altering any data from the device, but nonetheless, it is unsolicited. Devices that are set in non-discoverable mode are not susceptible to bluejacking. In order for bluejacking to work, the sending and receiving devices must be within 10 meters of one another. While this method has been widely used for promotional purposes, Bluetooth device-owners should be careful never to add the contact to their address book. While bluejacking is usually not done with malicious intent, repetitive bogus messages can be annoying to the user, and in some cases, can render the product inoperable. This can also open the door to a variety of social engineering attacks.
Bluesnarfing: Bluesnarfing is a method of hacking into a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone and copying its entire contact book, calendar or anything else stored in the phone‘s memory. By setting the device in non-discoverable, it becomes significantly more difficult to find and attack the device. However, the software tools required to steal information from Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones are widely available on the Web, and knowledge of how to use them is growing. (Kotadia, 2004)
The backdoor attack: This attack involves establishing a trust relationship through the “pairing” mechanism, but ensuring that it no longer appears in the target‘s register of paired devices. In this way, unless the owner is actually observing their devices at the precise moment a connection is established, they are unlikely to notice anything untoward, and the attacker may be free to continue to use any resource that a trusted relationship with that device grants access to…This means that not only can data be retrieved from the phone, but other services, such as modems, or Internet, WAP and GPRS gateways may be accessed without the owner‘s knowledge or consent. (The Bunker, 2003)
The cabir worm: The cabir worm is malicious software that uses Bluetooth technology to seek out available Bluetooth devices and send itself to them. According to Bluetooth SIG (2006), The cabir worm currently only affects mobile phones that use the Symbian series 60 user interface platform and feature Bluetooth wireless technology. Furthermore, the user has to manually accept the worm and install the malware in order to infect the phone. Although this may be the case, this shows that it is achievable to write mobile viruses that spread via Bluetooth and may cause other hackers to explore the possibilities of writing Bluetooth viruses.
The Mabir worm is essentially a variant of the Cabir worm where it uses Bluetooth and Multimedia Messaging Service messages (MMS) to replicate.
Bluetooth wireless is constantly growing in popularity because of the convenience of exchanging information between mobile devices. As Bluetooth usage rises, so do the security risks associated with the technology. Advantages to Bluetooth include the ability to simultaneously handle both data and voice transmissions which enables users to enjoy a variety of innovative solutions such as a hands-free headset for voice calls, wireless printing and fax capabilities, and synchronizing PDA, laptop, and mobile phone applications. (Bluetooth SIG, 2006) Bluetooth users should familiarize themselves with Bluetooth security issues before using Bluetooth devices, and especially before they bring these devices into the work place.
China Will See Underwater Hotel
I've always enjoyed going to theme parks and riding in those mini-subs. In all my travels, I haven't seen or stayed in theme-type hotels. Well, now it looks like one resort will be making the underwater world as their theme and China will see the first one. I think this is cool and kind of freaky at the same time. That thing better be sealed good!
Having obtained sea rights from China, Crescent Hydropolis Resorts will build the world's first underwater hotel and resort there named Hydropolis Qingdao. The Hydrotower component will be located on 33,000 sq meters of land that was formerly the Ocean Entertainment Park in Qingdao, and completion is slated prior to the start of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. The actual underwater hotel section or Hydropalace, will be located southwest of the island of Chidao and will be operative in 2009.The company is also working on the underwater hotel in Dubai, with plans to build in London, Monaco, Munich, New York and the Isle of Man.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
A Fight Club To Ease The Pain
I caught an episode of Taboo on the National Geographic channel last night and saw a fight club that I'm familiar with - Gints Fighting Club. Gints Klimanis has been running this club out of his garage for a number of years and with him are a number of fighters who put their skills to the test in full contact fights. If you've watched Fight Club with Brad Pitt you'll know what I'm talking about. But in Gint's club they fight with knives, sticks, fists, and improvised weapons ranging from baking sheets to chairs to hoses. As you can see in the picture, people get hurt... bad. The show mentioned cases where fighters from other fight clubs have even died as a result of receiving a major blow to vital points.
I've been training in and teaching the use of sticks, knives, fists and improvised weapons for a number of years, but I've never tested my skills in this sort of arena. Other members in my organization have fought in full contact fights held by another group, The Dogbrothers. From watching the fights from last night's show and even some of the Dogbrother's clips, it seems that the fighters need a bit more training in the realm of defense. It is so hard to fight relaxed as your adrenalin is pumping, and you're nervous about getting hit - you get stiff. Another point is the ego factor. We get caught up in this ridiculous mentality of getting as many hits as you can (yes, even with no armor protection) while neglecting defense. And this is defense mainly in the close range. From what I saw in last night's show, fighters just want to clinch in the close range. Is that the best defense to use? Maybe for some, but not me. I may have not fought in these fight clubs but I've fought in the street and when you play on the street, you play for keeps. There's no, hitting with reckless abandon. On the street there's just the perfect opportunity and one nice hit to the throat and then run - you don't know if the attacker has friends nearby. They say there's no rules in fight club, but on the show there clearly was.
And this brings me to the title of my post. Yes, there are rules in fight club. Why? People have to work the next day, man! But it's like an event loop in computer programming - people have this instinctual need to act violent, over and over again. At work, you deal with crap situations and stupid idiots. You can't obviously punch a guy out at the office or risk getting fired. Go home, eat a bit, go to fight club, ease the pain of a most crappy day at work stuck in a cubicle dealing with ignorant, inconsiderate co-workers by beating each other up. With each other's consent, of course. And the loop begins the next day at work and so on.
Luckily, I don't feel the need to act out this way and prove my manhood. You prove your manhood by surviving each freakin' day anyway. If I have a really bad day at work, there's always Tai Chi. But to each his own right?
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