28 Apr 2007

Using Sat Nav - read about "Unusual Car Navigation Tricks"

Here's a piece of news that I felt was particularly important. Its the announcement that two security experts have managed to send fake messages to the satellite navigation system - the kind thats used by cars (see article).

What is particularly worrying is that this brings hackers right down to the door step of common-users who rely on the instrument - blindly I must add - to show them the path. Given the time it could also affect applications like auto-pilot for aeroplanes and ships. Of course, this isn't the first instance of such a problem. Others like traffic signal hacking, etc have already been in the news.

It should be interesting to see the actual details of the "hack". According to the article, the two experts will have presented the details at a security conference yesterday. I expect the details of the hack to soon show up on the Hack a day website.

Links:
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27 Apr 2007

Fiesty Fawn: New Apps, Performance and WPA-PSK with Wifi

My tinkering on the newly upgraded Ubuntu 7.04 (Fiesty Fawn) continues (see previous article). By this time i've managed to find a few new apps, make some optimization changes and change my wireless settings to something (hopefully) better.

So here it is, the description (aka my ramblings) for anyone who is interested. I would appreciate any corrections or notes along the way.

New Apps
The upgrade didnt seem to get everything that was new. I dont know if it was supposed to. So i used the Add/Remove app (Applications > Add/ Remove...) to find new (and popular - which is new) apps to play around with. Here are a few i found useful:
  • Wifi-Radar (Applications > Internet > Wifi-Radar) - this replaces my earlier favourite Wireless assistant. This looks and feels a lot like the Windows wireless list. However it has the additional facility of being able to add new wireless points (this can come in handy when i decide to connect to hidden access points)
  • Network Selector (Applications > Internet > Network Selector) - this app sits in my system tray (or notification area in ubuntu) and gives me various network related options to use. It shows me some info on my existing connections too.
  • EasyTag (Applications > Sound & Video > EasyTAG) - for me this has filled the gap of a good tagging application when i moved from Windows (it was MP3 tag editor - Tag & Rename, back then)
  • Sysinfo (Applications > System Tools > Sysinfo) - a handy tool for gathering info on your system. I would specifically recommend this tool to non-techies. The information shown can come pretty handy when you are talking to whoever is helping you with Ubuntu.
  • and so on..
Performance
As for the optimizations. Well, i realized my PC's running a bit slow (perhaps because i am loading it up with all sorts of apps) :) But then not THAT slow. I have been loading all kinds of non-sense on windows and still it hasnt come down to such a crawl, except when i installed the latest .NET runtime (shudder). So i tried a few tips from this article titled "Fiesty Performance - Fly like a butterfly". Note that, one has to use judgment when trying them out. Don't forget to do a bit of a reading around the topic before you make the actual change. Things like re-compiling your kernel are not for non-techies and novices. They can bring down your machine, if something goes wrong. The best place to ask for opinions or even basic questions is the the Ubuntu IRC channel. You can even browse the Ubuntu Community forums, if you have a bit more patience. But there's a wealth of experience and information in both these places. So, dont hesitate to ask.

The points i used and found useful (or no problems) were:
  1. Disabling the IPv6
  2. The one about running boot processes in parallel (especially if you are blessed with a dual core CPU)
  3. The one about swapiness
  4. Changes to xorg.conf. I had about 2-3 inexistent font paths in there. And for some reason the installer believed, i had a wacom tablet installed, which i didnt. So i disabled that (note, don't hesitate to ask if you want to do this too)
You can find a few more guides here.
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24 Apr 2007

How to: Stop Vim from blinking / Flashing

This one is for fellow Vim users. If you came here looking for this, then you are looking to turn of something called "Visual bell" in Vim.

A "visual bell" replaces the standard beep (like when you hit escape a few times) with flashing the Vim window. To stop this, do a:

:set novb

For the new-comers, you might want to hit the key a couple of times before you try the command above. For more details on this, try looking up the in-vim help by doing:

:help vb

Note that this will revert to its default setting when you start vim again. So, you might want to set this in your gvimrc file. For details, do:

:help gvimrc

Helpful links:
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19 Apr 2007

New Form of Spam: BMW 2007 draws(You Won A Car)

Spam mails are nothing new. And neither are phishing (phishing?) emails. But until today the spam emails have tried to sell me mostly viagara and the phishing emails tried to fool me into revealing private details like my paypal login name, password or other details like my credit card number.

Today I came across the first instance of the BMW spam. The email I received is shown below. Note the elaborate use of pictures from the BMW website. I was curious to see who Holland Burridge was. Here are google results.

So here's what gave this email away:
  1. The email was sent to notic1@ig.com.br. Why would anyone not write to me directly?
  2. The email asks me to contact a "Barr. Chris Wallace". If he is from BMW, why are his email addresses from yahoo and not something like bmw.com?
  3. The email asks me to keep all of this a secret. If I had actually won something, wouldnt BMW get more publicity by making this as public as possible. So what have they got to hide?
  4. The wording of the email was a bit too formal. I mean "We the Board of Directors, members of staff and the International Awareness Promotion Department of the BMW Automobile company, congratulates you ....". We and congratulates?? I mean, come on!
  5. All of these and a few searches on google for the people I am being asked to contact told me the rest. All in a few minutes work.
So next time you car enthusiasts get one of these emails, don't get carried away. Here are a few useful articles:
Be careful!

-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Bmw Promtion Draws <notic1@ig.com.br>
Date: Apr 19, 2007 2:04 PM
Subject: BMW 2007 draws(You Won A Car)
To: notic1@ig.com.br

THE INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS
PROMOTION DEPARTMENT OF
THE BMW AUTOMOBILE COMPANY.
22 Garden Close, Stamford,
Lincs, PE9 2YP, London
United Kingdom.
Reference Number: BMW:2551256003/23
Dear Winner,
We the Board of Directors, members of staff and the International Awareness Promotion Department of the BMW Automobile company, congratulates you on your success as the STAR PRIZE WINNER of our International Awareness Promotion (IAP) held today, the 19th April 2007, in London, UK. I therefore, want to use this opportunity to inform you that you are the proud owner of a brand new BMW 5 Series, M Sport Saloon car and a cash prize of GBP £100,000 ( One Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds )
Description of prize vehicle;
YEAR: 2007
MODEL: 550i M Sport Saloon
ENGINE SIZE: 4799cc with eight-cylinder V petrol engine and 4-valve technology. TRANSMISSION: automatic 6-speed gearbox and servotronic, power steering. AUDIO AND COMMUNICATION: CD preparation for 6-disc CD changer in glove box and an on-board computer. WHEELS: 18-inch M sports spoke alloy style 135M. INTERIOR: uphostery made of dakota leather and Advanced Automatic Air Conditioning Unit. EXTERIOR: Metallic paintwork and high-gloss shadow line. FUEL: petrol. 0-62mph: 5.5 (5.6) seconds
The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized Email Selection System (ESS) from a database of over 1,000,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world.
The BMW International Awareness Promotion is approved by the British Gaming Board (BGB) and Licensed by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). This promotion is an annual event and it is the third in its series. The sole aim of this Promotion is to sensitize the general public and the world at large of our great and unique products.
On the day of your delivery, some BMW Company Executives will accompany your prizes to your residence to formally hand over your prizes to you, under the watchful eyes of a team of international media men who will be there to cover the event and it will be transmitted live on some international channels, including the BBC and CNN.

In order to redeem your prize, you are to contact the BMW International Promotions Fiduaciary Claims Department for more information as regards the redemption of your prizes and to book an appointment date at which your prize will be brought to you live, in the company of media representative to broadcast the event live.
You are to contact:
Barr. CHRIS WALLACE
Fiduciary Claims Department (FCD),
BMW International Promotion, UK.
7 DOCK WAY, SEFTON BUSINESS PARK
LONDON, T40 4RT
United Kingdom.
Direct tell: +44-701-112- 8045
Here is your secret pin code x7pwyz2006 and your Reference Number: BMW:2551256003/23. These numbers are to be kept confidential and are to be filled in the spaces provided for them in your personal data form below and forwarded to Mr.Chris Wallace as soon as possible.

1.FULL NAME:
2.SEX:
3.AGE:
4.NATIONALITY:
5.RESIDENCIAL ADDRESS:
6.CITY:
7.STATE:
8.ZIP CODE:
9.OCCUPATION / POSITION HELD:
10.PHONE NUMBER:
11.FAX:
12.Pin-Code:

I want to again congratulate you for being our star prize winner and to formally inform you that your prize has been approved for claims. Thank you very much and keep trusting BMW for top quality automobile.

Engr. Holland Burridge
DIRECTOR OF PROMOTIONS,
BMW INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS
PROMOTIONS,
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM.
NB:WE ADVISE YOU KEEP ALL PROMOTIONAL INFORMATION CONFIDENCIAL ESPECIALLY YOUR REFERENCE NUMBER AND PIN CODE UNTIL YOUR PRIZES HAVE BEEN REDEEMED BY YOU. THIS IS TO AVOID DOUBLE CLAIMS.
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18 Apr 2007

Man in UK fined for using open W-fi connection

According to a report by BBC a UK man has been convicted for using a Wi-fi (or Wireless) signal without the owners consent (link). He was caught sitting in a car outside someone's home. There is also a report of people in UK being fined or cautioned for using someone's Wireless connection without prior permission (link).

The UK Communication Act 2003 (link to relevant part) says that its an offence to obtain a connection if it has been done with the intention of avoiding paying the relevant charges. In simple terms, it is illegal to use some one else's connection without their prior consent.

So the next time you try to connect to the internet using someone else's wireless connection, think twice! Also, if you have recently acquired a new wireless connection and are using it as received, here are a couple of things you need to check:
  1. Your Internet Supplier (ISP) supplied you with a wireless router (that little device with a little antenna and flashing lights), were you able to connect to it without being asked for a password? In that case, your connection may be "open". The first thing you should do is set up encryption and a password. See the bottom of this article for some links to help you do this.
  2. Your ISP did not supply you with a wireless router. You bought one yourself and you are prompted for a password the first time you connect to it? In this case, you are protected - but there's still a possible problem. Chances are that you are using your wireless routers "default" password. Try googling for "wireless default password" and you will realize how simple it is for someone to find it out ;-)

    And yes, I don't think asking your ISP for help with setting this up will help. Most ISPs that I know don't support wireless routers that they have not provided. I would start with your routers manual. They are supposed to be in plain English and easy to use. In case you don't have a manual (e.g. second hand users) then google can help you find a online version. Start by searching your routers make and model number. The manual should usually be in the first few results.
  3. Default Router Admin passwords. Most modern routers will come equipped with a web-based configuration mode. In simple terms, they let you modify their settings with a web-page like interface using your web browser (see example). This interface usually prompt you for a login name and a password. You need to change this password at the first opportunity possible. It is quite simple to find default passwords for popular wireless router models using search engines like Google. Needless to say, once someone can get into your routers configuration settings one can use it for a variety of unscrupulous purposes. Refer to your routers manual on where and how to change it.

Now for some useful links:

And finally, if you found the above useful or have some useful tips to share with me. Please leave a comment with the relevant details or links.
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12 Apr 2007

Start using Windows Task Scheduler

Here's something new to try with your Windows running PC.

Today, i came across an article on lifehacker.com (see link below) that reminded me of this little utility that comes with Windows - Windows Task Scheduler. It has always been sitting in your Control Panel. To find it go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks. See screenshot on the right.

The task scheduler allows you to run tasks (i.e. programs) to be run at specific times of the day. It also allows you to specify a frequency (eg. just once, daily, every 3 days, once a year and so on) and some additional criteria like waking up your computer if required (ignore this if you haven't discovered "sleep" and "wakeup" yet).

But a word of warning. If you havent done this before, make sure you understand the process well. I would specifically advise against starting with things like deleting temporary files, etc. You could end up deleting half your hard disk if you make a mistake. I would advise starting with simple tasks like defragment your harddisk, automating your spyware scan or something similiar. For exact steps, please refer to the articles mentioned at the bottom of this post.

With a bit of practice, i was able to automate about 50% of my routine tasks within the first hour. At the end of yesterday, i was able to automate the following:
  1. Defragmenting my harddisk(s) with PowerDefragmenter.
  2. Deleting Firefox Cache (nope, havent forgotten IE. Just stopped using it)
  3. Running the Windows Diskcleanup utility.
  4. Scanning for spywares (or Anti-spyware scan)
  5. Virus scan (but my Antivirus does this for me automatically these days)
  6. Download a few standard files from standard locations
  7. and so on..
Feel free to drop me a comment should you require any help in doing this yourself. And yes, dont forget to search the net for innovative examples of other tasks that can be automated using the task scheduler. You will find a couple of links at the bottom of this post.

And finally, for fellow UNIX-lovers, at and cron have been doing this for years!

Related links:
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