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links for 2010-05-14

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Kippi - May 14, 2010 at 6:06 am

Categories: delicious   Tags:

links for 2010-03-28

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Kippi - March 28, 2010 at 6:02 am

Categories: delicious   Tags:

Gizmo Boxes

OK, I admit it. I’m a geek. When I head off on vacation (as I will be doing this week) I cart around two Pelican 1510 rigid carry ons loaded with cameras, HAM radio equipment and maybe even a laptop or three.

These cases are the best thing since sliced white bread. They are equipped with wheels and a telescoping handle. You can also get a lid organizer for the case. This is a good place to store all of your cords.They are the maximum size that the FAA will allow for a carry on. They are practically indestructible. They’re water tight to a depth of three feet. If you happen to break one, Pelican will fix it for free forever. They’re a little spendy at $159 for the  the padded model, but well worth it when you figure that this will be the last carry on that you will ever buy.

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Kippi - March 1, 2010 at 2:10 am

Categories: review   Tags: , ,

So how did Lower Merion School District monitor their laptops?

In this article, Stryde Hax (no relation to your humble commentator) does a fine bit of detective work on the technology that Lower Merion School District MAY have used to “monitor” their laptops. I’m struck by just how little difference there is between “remote administration tools” and spyware. Like most things, I guess it all comes down to intent.

It will be interesting to see if the anti-virus vendors add this suite to their signature list. Most of the major AV vendors flag VNC as a possibly hostile program. Will this be next?

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Kippi - February 23, 2010 at 8:43 pm

Categories: security   Tags: , ,

Children, Webcams and Electrical Tape

Parents protect your children.  If your child’s computer has a webcam on it please physically disable it in some way when it’s not in use. If it’s a laptop, put a piece of electrical tape over the lens. If it’s on a desktop computer put a paper bag over it. You can remove the tape or bag if the webcam needs to be used.

In addition to virii which can unexpectedly turn the camera on, and remote technicians who may unexpectedly turn the camera on we now have a new threat… School administrators.

School-issued PCs were spying on kids

Official: FBI probing Pa. school webcam spy case

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Kippi - February 20, 2010 at 8:10 pm

Categories: hardware, security   Tags: , ,

Mike Rowe says goodby to Captain Phil

This is a pretty touching blog post by Mike Rowe. For those that don’t know, Mike Rowe is the narrator of  “Deadliest Catch” and host of “After the Catch.”

Captain Phil

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Kippi - at 12:24 pm

Categories: celebrity   Tags: ,

I was excited about the Amazon Kindle 2 supporting .pdf files until…

I was dog gone excited. Finally my Kindle was going to be able to read .pdf files. I uploaded the 2.2.3 firmware manually (for some reason my Kindle 2 did not automagically upgrade from 2.0.3 to 2.3.3) uploaded the .pdf files from the CD in Shon Harris’ CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Fifth Edition. By George! I was ready to study! Then I tried to read the .pdfs.

It appears that the Kindle’s .pdf client does not support zooming. What you see is what you get. Unfortunately things were way too small. I attempted to rotate the .pdf to landscape. This did increase the size some, but not nearly enough. Converting the .pdf files to Amazon’s proprietary  format messed up the file’s pagination. Not good for a book with pictures. :(

AMAZON – PLEASE UPGRADE THE KINDLE’S PDF CLIENT TO SUPPORT ZOOMING!!!!

MS. SHON HARRIS – Please sell the latest version of your CISSP study guide in Kindle format!!!!

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Kippi - February 19, 2010 at 1:36 am

Categories: hardware, kindle   Tags: , ,

Inexpensive power supplies for the MSI A5000-025US Laptop

Very inexpensive adapters. They cost $6.49 each. The same size and form factor as the original. Now if I could find a cheap battery…

A5000-025US Power Supplies

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Kippi - February 15, 2010 at 1:27 am

Categories: hardware   Tags: ,

When Lawyers Get Involved

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Kippi - at 12:46 am

Categories: flickr picture of the week   Tags: ,

RIP Captain Phil

TMZ has just reported that Captain Phil Harris, Captain of the F/V Cornelia Marie, has died. Captain Phil was my favorite Captain on “Deadliest Catch.”

I hearby dedicate this morning’s Red Bull to Captain Phil. You’ll be missed.

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by Kippi - February 9, 2010 at 11:28 pm

Categories: celebrity   Tags: ,

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