Madder Hatter's Conundrum

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2008-01-22T04:40:00.001-08:00

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Learn Web Design 101

2008-01-22T03:56:00.000-08:00

As the old saying goes, "If you want to learn something go to the source it came from". If you ever look at any website's source code one of the first things you'll find is the "declaration of compliance" with W3. So it makes perfect sense to look there to find out what you need to comply to. You'll find great tutorials with interactive live examples. To start with you will want to go with the first language of the web, that being "Html". You won't need to go anywhere else to learn any aspect of it. It's all here! Knowing Html will open all sorts of doors. You will be able to tell what you are looking at when you "crack" open a page's source code. You'll be able to write much more interactively in emails, forums, irc chat, you name it. You can even make your own little graphics and smiley's. I would seriously recommend jumping into Xml once you feel familiar with Html. All the newer generation sites use Xml/Xhml and W3 is pushing it as the future preferred language. It's a little more advanced, but not much. You will want to concentrate on javascripting and Css to accompany your Html. That too can be found there as well.

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In this HTML tutorial you will learn how to use HTML to create your own Web site.

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Hacking IRC through the front door.

2008-01-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

How to get Ops and takeover a channel on IRC
Hack Hacking 101

Darknet spilled these bits recently......

I’ve been spending a lot of time online lately reading all kinds of stupid text files on how to “Takeover Ops Boi!!!”, “eLeEt WaYs To gEt OpS!!!”, “HOW TO GET OPS ON SERVER SPLITS”, etc. We all know none of these things work, at least not for me. They’re either written by morons, or they were written like 10 years ago and don’t work anymore. The method I’m presenting here DOES work, but it takes practice, patience, and careful reading.

Tools needed

An IRC script that can do mass deops quickly and easily (preferibly one that lets you press an F# (function) key to do mass deops, or one that automatically mass deops once you gain ops). You don’t want to have to start going through popup menus since you have to do this quickly.

An IRC script that can do mass CTCP versioning. I’ll explain later.

A wingate scanner. These aren’t too hard to find. Check http://packetstorm.linuxsecurity.com/wingate-scanner/

A few ‘war’ programs to exploit irc clients, nuke, flood, etc. When I say flood, I don’t mean like a ping flood in mIRC, I mean like a real ICMP flooder. Try to find Final Fortune, it’s a program I made myself… very effective.

A lot of patience.

A brain.

Process

Find a channel you want to takeover. This method will NOT work on Dalnet or any other networks with anything like ChanServ. Also, this won’t work if all of the ops in the channel are bots (unless they’re VERY badly programmed). OK, so once you’re in the channel, do a Version CTCP on all of the ops in there. Look for exploitable scripts (some versions of ircN, mIRC 5.3x, mIRC 5.4, etc.). Now, let’s say you find someone with nick ‘DumbOP’ and he’s using a script that you know you can exploit and disconnect him from IRC (but don’t crash him yet!).

/dns DumbOP to find his IP. Now take your handy wingate scanner. Plug in his IP and search for a similar one with the scanner. If you can’t find one in the same Class C range, try Class B if you have to, but make sure it resolves to something close to DumbOP’s IP.

Good, so now you have a wingate IP similar to DumbOP’s. If you couldn’t find an IP close to his, try this with another op with an exploitable script. Do a /whois DumbOP to find the IRC server he’s on and his ident (the thing before the @ip). So now that you have the wingate IP, what do you do with it? I’ll assume you never wingated before, and I’ll explain how to do it with mIRC. For
the example, let’s say the wingate IP is 1.2.3.4, DumbOP’s ident is ‘opident’, and DumbOP’s irc server is ‘irc.server.net’.

Open a new instance of mIRC, and in the status window, do the following:

/server 1.2.3.4 23

You’ll see it say “WinGate>NICK (some nick)”

Right after you see this, type:

/quote irc.server.net 6667

You’ll probably then see something like

“Connecting to host USER…Host name lookup for USER failedirc.server.net 6667
Connecting to host irc.server.net…connected”

You might see more than this, you might see less. The important thing to watch for is:

” -1.2.3.4- *** Looking up your hostname…
-1.2.3.4- *** Checking Ident
-1.2.3.4- *** Found your hostname
-1.2.3.4- *** Got Ident response ”

Once you see that, type:

/quote user opident opident opident opident
/quote nick DumbOP1

You don’t have to use ‘DumbOP1′, just use any temporary nick you want. Also, you can use ‘/raw’ instead of ‘/quote’ if you wish.

If you did everything correctly, you’ll see the MOTD for the irc server, and you’ll be connected. If by chance 1.2.3.4 is k-lined from irc.server.net, you’ll have to go through the whole process again with a different server. This makes your “spoofing” (it’s not REALLY spoofing) attempt less realistic looking, but if you have to use a different server, then do it.

Once you’re online, everything works like normal. Do a /whois DumbOP1 to see your info. It should be close to DumbOP’s.

You’re halfway there! The next thing to do (not necessary, but recommended) is to try to find out some info on DumbOP. I recommend trying “nbtstat -A ” at the dos prompt, that might provide you with a name or two if you’re lucky. This is just some useful information that might
come in handy. Also, try searching ICQ for his nick and check his info, you might find good stuff in there.

The next step is to disconnect DumbOP from IRC. Either use an exploit, or nuke him (Click is sometimes useful (if you don’t know what Click is, it’s a program made by Rhad to have an IRC server ‘nuke’ a person… it sometimes works)), or ICMP flood him. Do anything you have to to disconnect him. By the way, you should have your original IRC session still open, with your
wingated IRC session running as a different instance of mIRC (you should have 2 ‘versions’ of mIRC running at the same time now, one with your original nick, info, etc., and the other with the DumbOP1 stuff). While you’re attacking DumbOP, monitor the channel with your original session of mIRC and wait for DumbOP to disconnect. Immediately after you see that, rename DumbOP1 to DumbOP (/nick DumbOP) and join the channel! Don’t say anything! If you’re lucky, a stupid op will op you. Then mass deop. If nothing happens for about 5 or 6 minutes, mass message the ops, saying something like “what happened? why am I not opped?”. You might get into a conversation. Remember to keep calm, and talk like an op. Don’t freak out and demand for them to op you. The “useful information” might come in handy now. Often the ops will tell you to get ops from the bots. Just say something like you’re desynched from the bots because of your ping timeout.

If your impersonation is good enough, 9/10 times they’ll op you. Like I said before, IMMEDIATELY do a mass deop. If possible, bring AT LEAST two bots (real bots, not just simple clones) into the channel to hold it and protect it.

If you followed all these steps thoroughly, you should be able to takeover most channels as long as there are at least 2 human ops (1 of which you’ll be ’spoofing’, the other you’ll be messaging to op you).

Good luck and have fun!

Originally by St0rmer from EFNet, updated by Darknet.

Cracker or Hacker ?

2008-01-15T15:46:00.001-08:00

How to Become a Hacker
There is allot of misunderstanding when it comes to crackers and hackers.The general media portrayal would lead most of us to believe a hacker is a bad person terrorizing users and content, reeking havoc throughout the Internet. Most people have yet to even hear the term "cracker" in this context. And as an aspiring hacker myself, I would definitely take offense to someone assuming I would spend all this time and trouble studying, learning 5 different computer languages, spending nearly every night falling asleep at the keyboard and dedicating myself just to become a hooligan. Personally, I believe allot of it is what I think to be nothing more then online testosterone. The article links to a very extremely gifted hacker, but he's got some serious people problems. According to him if you aren't a good speller your cracker trash. Referencing intelligence level correlations between him and the rest of the world throughout the site. That said, most people hold that a the basic difference is this: hackers build things, crackers break them.
As I mentioned above this guy behind the paper is good as it gets in dept., and probably has good reason to blow his own horn a little bit. It is one of the best online discussions of topic of what exactly a hacker is. And has terrific supporting links. Probably approaching bible status. "How to become a Hacker" is detailed quite nicely, and could really put allot of people on a good path to really becoming a good hacker or a cracker. Check it out, but come back leave a comment, and let me know what you thought of it.

What Is a Hacker?

The Jargon File contains a bunch of definitions of the term ‘hacker’, most having to do with technical adeptness and a delight in solving problems and overcoming limits. If you want to know how to become a hacker, though, only two are really relevant.

There is a community, a shared culture, of expert programmers and networking wizards that traces its history back through decades to the first time-sharing minicomputers and the earliest ARPAnet experiments. The members of this culture originated the term ‘hacker’. Hackers built the Internet. Hackers made the Unix operating system what it is today. Hackers run Usenet. Hackers make the World Wide Web work. If you are part of this culture, if you have contributed to it and other people in it know who you are and call you a hacker, you're a hacker.

The hacker mind-set is not confined to this software-hacker culture. There are people who apply the hacker attitude to other things, like electronics or music — actually, you can find it at the highest levels of any science or art. Software hackers recognize these kindred spirits elsewhere and may call them ‘hackers’ too — and some claim that the hacker nature is really independent of the particular medium the hacker works in. But in the rest of this document we will focus on the skills and attitudes of software hackers, and the traditions of the shared culture that originated the term ‘hacker’.

There is another group of people who loudly call themselves hackers, but aren't. These are people (mainly adolescent males) who get a kick out of breaking into computers and phreaking the phone system. Real hackers call these people ‘crackers’ and want nothing to do with them. Real hackers mostly think crackers are lazy, irresponsible, and not very bright, and object that being able to break security doesn't make you a hacker any more than being able to hotwire cars makes you an automotive engineer. Unfortunately, many journalists and writers have been fooled into using the word ‘hacker’ to describe crackers; this irritates real hackers no end.

The Hacker Attitude

1. The world is full of fascinating problems waiting to be solved.
2. No problem should ever have to be solved twice.
3. Boredom and drudgery are evil.
4. Freedom is good.
5. Attitude is no substitute for competence.

Hackers solve problems and build things, and they believe in freedom and voluntary mutual help. To be accepted as a hacker, you have to behave as though you have this kind of attitude yourself. And to behave as though you have the attitude, you have to really believe the attitude.

But if you think of cultivating hacker attitudes as just a way to gain acceptance in the culture, you'll miss the point. Becoming the kind of person who believes these things is important for you — for helping you learn and keeping you motivated. As with all creative arts, the most effective way to become a master is to imitate the mind-set of masters — not just intellectually but emotionally as well.

Or, as the following modern Zen poem has it:

To follow the path:
look to the master,
follow the master,
walk with the master,
see through the master,
become the master.

So, if you want to be a hacker, repeat the following things until you believe them:

1. The world is full of fascinating problems waiting to be solved.

Being a hacker is lots of fun, but it's a kind of fun that takes lots of effort. The effort takes motivation. Successful athletes get their motivation from a kind of physical delight in making their bodies perform, in pushing themselves past their own physical limits. Similarly, to be a hacker you have to get a basic thrill from solving problems, sharpening your skills, and exercising your intelligence.

If you aren't the kind of person that feels this way naturally, you'll need to become one in order to make it as a hacker. Otherwise you'll find your hacking energy is sapped by distractions like sex, money, and social approval.

(You also have to develop a kind of faith in your own learning capacity — a belief that even though you may not know all of what you need to solve a problem, if you tackle just a piece of it and learn from that, you'll learn enough to solve the next piece — and so on, until you're done.)

2. No problem should ever have to be solved twice.

Creative brains are a valuable, limited resource. They shouldn't be wasted on re-inventing the wheel when there are so many fascinating new problems waiting out there.

To behave like a hacker, you have to believe that the thinking time of other hackers is precious — so much so that it's almost a moral duty for you to share information, solve problems and then give the solutions away just so other hackers can solve new problems instead of having to perpetually re-address old ones.

Note, however, that "No problem should ever have to be solved twice." does not imply that you have to consider all existing solutions sacred, or that there is only one right solution to any given problem. Often, we learn a lot about the problem that we didn't know before by studying the first cut at a solution. It's OK, and often necessary, to decide that we can do better. What's not OK is artificial technical, legal, or institutional barriers (like closed-source code) that prevent a good solution from being re-used and force people to re-invent wheels.

(You don't have to believe that you're obligated to give all your creative product away, though the hackers that do are the ones that get most respect from other hackers. It's consistent with hacker values to sell enough of it to keep you in food and rent and computers. It's fine to use your hacking skills to support a family or even get rich, as long as you don't forget your loyalty to your art and your fellow hackers while doing it.)

3. Boredom and drudgery are evil.

Hackers (and creative people in general) should never be bored or have to drudge at stupid repetitive work, because when this happens it means they aren't doing what only they can do — solve new problems. This wastefulness hurts everybody. Therefore boredom and drudgery are not just unpleasant but actually evil.

To behave like a hacker, you have to believe this enough to want to automate away the boring bits as much as possible, not just for yourself but for everybody else (especially other hackers).

(There is one apparent exception to this. Hackers will sometimes do things that may seem repetitive or boring to an observer as a mind-clearing exercise, or in order to acquire a skill or have some particular kind of experience you can't have otherwise. But this is by choice — nobody who can think should ever be forced into a situation that bores them.)

4. Freedom is good.

Hackers are naturally anti-authoritarian. Anyone who can give you orders can stop you from solving whatever problem you're being fascinated by — and, given the way authoritarian minds work, will generally find some appallingly stupid reason to do so. So the authoritarian attitude has to be fought wherever you find it, lest it smother you and other hackers.

(This isn't the same as fighting all authority. Children need to be guided and criminals restrained. A hacker may agree to accept some kinds of authority in order to get something he wants more than the time he spends following orders. But that's a limited, conscious bargain; the kind of personal surrender authoritarians want is not on offer.)

Authoritarians thrive on censorship and secrecy. And they distrust voluntary cooperation and information-sharing — they only like ‘cooperation’ that they control. So to behave like a hacker, you have to develop an instinctive hostility to censorship, secrecy, and the use of force or deception to compel responsible adults. And you have to be willing to act on that belief.

5. Attitude is no substitute for competence.

To be a hacker, you have to develop some of these attitudes. But copping an attitude alone won't make you a hacker, any more than it will make you a champion athlete or a rock star. Becoming a hacker will take intelligence, practice, dedication, and hard work.

Therefore, you have to learn to distrust attitude and respect competence of every kind. Hackers won't let posers waste their time, but they worship competence — especially competence at hacking, but competence at anything is valued. Competence at demanding skills that few can master is especially good, and competence at demanding skills that involve mental acuteness, craft, and concentration is best.

If you revere competence, you'll enjoy developing it in yourself — the hard work and dedication will become a kind of intense play rather than drudgery. That attitude is vital to becoming a hacker.

Basic Hacking Skills

1. Learn how to program.
2. Get one of the open-source Unixes and learn to use and run it.
3. Learn how to use the World Wide Web and write HTML.
4. If you don't have functional English, learn it.

The hacker attitude is vital, but skills are even more vital. Attitude is no substitute for competence, and there's a certain basic toolkit of skills which you have to have before any hacker will dream of calling you one.

This toolkit changes slowly over time as technology creates new skills and makes old ones obsolete. For example, it used to include programming in machine language, and didn't until recently involve HTML. But right now it pretty clearly includes the following:

1. Learn how to program.

This, of course, is the fundamental hacking skill. If you don't know any computer languages, I recommend starting with Python. It is cleanly designed, well documented, and relatively kind to beginners. Despite being a good first language, it is not just a toy; it is very powerful and flexible and well suited for large projects. I have written a more detailed evaluation of Python. Good tutorials are available at the Python web site.

I used to recommend Java as a good language to learn early, but this critique has changed my mind (search for “The Pitfalls of Java as a First Programming Language” within it). A hacker cannot, as they devastatingly put it “approach problem-solving like a plumber in a hardware store”; you have to know what the components actually do. Now I think it is probably best to learn C and Lisp first, then Java.

If you get into serious programming, you will have to learn C, the core language of Unix. C++ is very closely related to C; if you know one, learning the other will not be difficult. Neither language is a good one to try learning as your first, however. And, actually, the more you can avoid programming in C the more productive you will be.

C is very efficient, and very sparing of your machine's resources. Unfortunately, C gets that efficiency by requiring you to do a lot of low-level management of resources (like memory) by hand. All that low-level code is complex and bug-prone, and will soak up huge amounts of your time on debugging. With today's machines as powerful as they are, this is usually a bad tradeoff — it's smarter to use a language that uses the machine's time less efficiently, but your time much more efficiently. Thus, Python.

Other languages of particular importance to hackers include Perl and LISP. Perl is worth learning for practical reasons; it's very widely used for active web pages and system administration, so that even if you never write Perl you should learn to read it. Many people use Perl in the way I suggest you should use Python, to avoid C programming on jobs that don't require C's machine efficiency. You will need to be able to understand their code.

LISP is worth learning for a different reason — the profound enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it. That experience will make you a better programmer for the rest of your days, even if you never actually use LISP itself a lot. (You can get some beginning experience with LISP fairly easily by writing and modifying editing modes for the Emacs text editor, or Script-Fu plugins for the GIMP.)

It's best, actually, to learn all five of Python, C/C++, Java, Perl, and LISP. Besides being the most important hacking languages, they represent very different approaches to programming, and each will educate you in valuable ways.

But be aware that you won't reach the skill level of a hacker or even merely a programmer simply by accumulating languages — you need to learn how to think about programming problems in a general way, independent of any one language. To be a real hacker, you need to get to the point where you can learn a new language in days by relating what's in the manual to what you already know. This means you should learn several very different languages.

I can't give complete instructions on how to learn to program here — it's a complex skill. But I can tell you that books and courses won't do it — many, maybe most of the best hackers are self-taught. You can learn language features — bits of knowledge — from books, but the mind-set that makes that knowledge into living skill can be learned only by practice and apprenticeship. What will do it is (a) reading code and (b) writing code.

Peter Norvig, who is one of Google's top hackers and the co-author of the most widely used textbook on AI, has written an excellent essay called Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years. His "recipe for programming success" is worth careful attention.

Learning to program is like learning to write good natural language. The best way to do it is to read some stuff written by masters of the form, write some things yourself, read a lot more, write a little more, read a lot more, write some more ... and repeat until your writing begins to develop the kind of strength and economy you see in your models.

Finding good code to read used to be hard, because there were few large programs available in source for fledgeling hackers to read and tinker with. This has changed dramatically; open-source software, programming tools, and operating systems (all built by hackers) are now widely available. Which brings me neatly to our next topic...

2. Get one of the open-source Unixes and learn to use and run it.

I'll assume you have a personal computer or can get access to one. (Take a moment to appreciate how much that means. The hacker culture originally evolved back when computers were so expensive that individuals could not own them.) The single most important step any newbie can take toward acquiring hacker skills is to get a copy of Linux or one of the BSD-Unixes or OpenSolaris, install it on a personal machine, and run it.

Yes, there are other operating systems in the world besides Unix. But they're distributed in binary — you can't read the code, and you can't modify it. Trying to learn to hack on a Microsoft Windows machine or under any other closed-source system is like trying to learn to dance while wearing a body cast.

Under Mac OS X it's possible, but only part of the system is open source — you're likely to hit a lot of walls, and you have to be careful not to develop the bad habit of depending on Apple's proprietary code. If you concentrate on the Unix under the hood you can learn some useful things.

Unix is the operating system of the Internet. While you can learn to use the Internet without knowing Unix, you can't be an Internet hacker without understanding Unix. For this reason, the hacker culture today is pretty strongly Unix-centered. (This wasn't always true, and some old-time hackers still aren't happy about it, but the symbiosis between Unix and the Internet has become strong enough that even Microsoft's muscle doesn't seem able to seriously dent it.)

So, bring up a Unix — I like Linux myself but there are other ways (and yes, you can run both Linux and Microsoft Windows on the same machine). Learn it. Run it. Tinker with it. Talk to the Internet with it. Read the code. Modify the code. You'll get better programming tools (including C, LISP, Python, and Perl) than any Microsoft operating system can dream of hosting, you'll have fun, and you'll soak up more knowledge than you realize you're learning until you look back on it as a master hacker.

For more about learning Unix, see The Loginataka. You might also want to have a look at The Art Of Unix Programming.

To get your hands on a Linux, see the Linux Online! site; you can download from there or (better idea) find a local Linux user group to help you with installation.

During the first ten years of this HOWTO's life, I reported that from a new user's point of view, all Linux distributions are almost equivalent. But in 2006-2007, an actual best choice emerged: Ubuntu. While other distros have their own areas of strength, Ubuntu is far and away the most accessible to Linux newbies.

You can find BSD Unix help and resources at www.bsd.org.

A good way to dip your toes in the water is to boot up what Linux fans call a live CD, a distribution that runs entirely off a CD without having to modify your hard disk. This will be slow, because CDs are slow, but it's a way to get a look at the possibilities without having to do anything drastic.

I have written a primer on the basics of Unix and the Internet.

I used to recommend against installing either Linux or BSD as a solo project if you're a newbie. Nowadays the installers have gotten good enough that doing it entirely on your own is possible even for a newbie. Nevertheless, I still recommend making contact with your local Linux user's group and asking for help. It can't hurt, and may smooth the process.

3. Learn how to use the World Wide Web and write HTML.

Most of the things the hacker culture has built do their work out of sight, helping run factories and offices and universities without any obvious impact on how non-hackers live. The Web is the one big exception, the huge shiny hacker toy that even politicians admit has changed the world. For this reason alone (and a lot of other good ones as well) you need to learn how to work the Web.

This doesn't just mean learning how to drive a browser (anyone can do that), but learning how to write HTML, the Web's markup language. If you don't know how to program, writing HTML will teach you some mental habits that will help you learn. So build a home page. Try to stick to XHTML, which is a cleaner language than classic HTML. (There are good beginner tutorials on the Web; here's one.)

But just having a home page isn't anywhere near good enough to make you a hacker. The Web is full of home pages. Most of them are pointless, zero-content sludge — very snazzy-looking sludge, mind you, but sludge all the same (for more on this see The HTML Hell Page).

To be worthwhile, your page must have content — it must be interesting and/or useful to other hackers. And that brings us to the next topic...

4. If you don't have functional English, learn it.

As an American and native English-speaker myself, I have previously been reluctant to suggest this, lest it be taken as a sort of cultural imperialism. But several native speakers of other languages have urged me to point out that English is the working language of the hacker culture and the Internet, and that you will need to know it to function in the hacker community.

Back around 1991 I learned that many hackers who have English as a second language use it in technical discussions even when they share a birth tongue; it was reported to me at the time that English has a richer technical vocabulary than any other language and is therefore simply a better tool for the job. For similar reasons, translations of technical books written in English are often unsatisfactory (when they get done at all).

Linus Torvalds, a Finn, comments his code in English (it apparently never occurred to him to do otherwise). His fluency in English has been an important factor in his ability to recruit a worldwide community of developers for Linux. It's an example worth following.

Being a native English-speaker does not guarantee that you have language skills good enough to function as a hacker. If your writing is semi-literate, ungrammatical, and riddled with misspellings, many hackers (including myself) will tend to ignore you. While sloppy writing does not invariably mean sloppy thinking, we've generally found the correlation to be strong — and we have no use for sloppy thinkers. If you can't yet write competently, learn to.

Status in the Hacker Culture

1. Write open-source software
2. Help test and debug open-source software
3. Publish useful information
4. Help keep the infrastructure working
5. Serve the hacker culture itself

Like most cultures without a money economy, hackerdom runs on reputation. You're trying to solve interesting problems, but how interesting they are, and whether your solutions are really good, is something that only your technical peers or superiors are normally equipped to judge.

Accordingly, when you play the hacker game, you learn to keep score primarily by what other hackers think of your skill (this is why you aren't really a hacker until other hackers consistently call you one). This fact is obscured by the image of hacking as solitary work; also by a hacker-cultural taboo (gradually decaying since the late 1990s but still potent) against admitting that ego or external validation are involved in one's motivation at all.

Specifically, hackerdom is what anthropologists call a gift culture. You gain status and reputation in it not by dominating other people, nor by being beautiful, nor by having things other people want, but rather by giving things away. Specifically, by giving away your time, your creativity, and the results of your skill.

There are basically five kinds of things you can do to be respected by hackers:

1. Write open-source software

The first (the most central and most traditional) is to write programs that other hackers think are fun or useful, and give the program sources away to the whole hacker culture to use.

(We used to call these works “free software”, but this confused too many people who weren't sure exactly what “free” was supposed to mean. Most of us now prefer the term “open-source” software).

Hackerdom's most revered demigods are people who have written large, capable programs that met a widespread need and given them away, so that now everyone uses them.

But there's a bit of a fine historical point here. While hackers have always looked up to the open-source developers among them as our community's hardest core, before the mid-1990s most hackers most of the time worked on closed source. This was still true when I wrote the first version of this HOWTO in 1996; it took the mainstreaming of open-source software after 1997 to change things. Today, "the hacker community" and "open-source developers" are two descriptions for what is essentially the same culture and population — but it is worth remembering that this was not always so.

2. Help test and debug open-source software

They also serve who stand and debug open-source software. In this imperfect world, we will inevitably spend most of our software development time in the debugging phase. That's why any open-source author who's thinking will tell you that good beta-testers (who know how to describe symptoms clearly, localize problems well, can tolerate bugs in a quickie release, and are willing to apply a few simple diagnostic routines) are worth their weight in rubies. Even one of these can make the difference between a debugging phase that's a protracted, exhausting nightmare and one that's merely a salutary nuisance.

If you're a newbie, try to find a program under development that you're interested in and be a good beta-tester. There's a natural progression from helping test programs to helping debug them to helping modify them. You'll learn a lot this way, and generate good karma with people who will help you later on.

3. Publish useful information

Another good thing is to collect and filter useful and interesting information into web pages or documents like Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) lists, and make those generally available.

Maintainers of major technical FAQs get almost as much respect as open-source authors.

4. Help keep the infrastructure working

The hacker culture (and the engineering development of the Internet, for that matter) is run by volunteers. There's a lot of necessary but unglamorous work that needs done to keep it going — administering mailing lists, moderating newsgroups, maintaining large software archive sites, developing RFCs and other technical standards.

People who do this sort of thing well get a lot of respect, because everybody knows these jobs are huge time sinks and not as much fun as playing with code. Doing them shows dedication.

5. Serve the hacker culture itself

Finally, you can serve and propagate the culture itself (by, for example, writing an accurate primer on how to become a hacker :-)). This is not something you'll be positioned to do until you've been around for while and become well-known for one of the first four things.

The hacker culture doesn't have leaders, exactly, but it does have culture heroes and tribal elders and historians and spokespeople. When you've been in the trenches long enough, you may grow into one of these. Beware: hackers distrust blatant ego in their tribal elders, so visibly reaching for this kind of fame is dangerous. Rather than striving for it, you have to sort of position yourself so it drops in your lap, and then be modest and gracious about your status.

The Hacker/Nerd Connection

Contrary to popular myth, you don't have to be a nerd to be a hacker. It does help, however, and many hackers are in fact nerds. Being something of a social outcast helps you stay concentrated on the really important things, like thinking and hacking.

For this reason, many hackers have adopted the label ‘geek’ as a badge of pride — it's a way of declaring their independence from normal social expectations (as well as a fondness for other things like science fiction and strategy games that often go with being a hacker). The term 'nerd' used to be used this way back in the 1990s, back when 'nerd' was a mild pejorative and 'geek' a rather harsher one; sometime after 2000 they switched places, at least in U.S. popular culture, and there is now even a significant geek-pride culture among people who aren't techies.

If you can manage to concentrate enough on hacking to be good at it and still have a life, that's fine. This is a lot easier today than it was when I was a newbie in the 1970s; mainstream culture is much friendlier to techno-nerds now. There are even growing numbers of people who realize that hackers are often high-quality lover and spouse material.

If you're attracted to hacking because you don't have a life, that's OK too — at least you won't have trouble concentrating. Maybe you'll get a life later on.

Points For Style

Again, to be a hacker, you have to enter the hacker mindset. There are some things you can do when you're not at a computer that seem to help. They're not substitutes for hacking (nothing is) but many hackers do them, and feel that they connect in some basic way with the essence of hacking.

Learn to write your native language well. Though it's a common stereotype that programmers can't write, a surprising number of hackers (including all the most accomplished ones I know of) are very able writers.
Read science fiction. Go to science fiction conventions (a good way to meet hackers and proto-hackers).
Train in a martial-arts form. The kind of mental discipline required for martial arts seems to be similar in important ways to what hackers do. The most popular forms among hackers are definitely Asian empty-hand arts such as Tae Kwon Do, various forms of Karate, Kung Fu, Aikido, or Ju Jitsu. Western fencing and Asian sword arts also have visible followings. In places where it's legal, pistol shooting has been rising in popularity since the late 1990s. The most hackerly martial arts are those which emphasize mental discipline, relaxed awareness, and control, rather than raw strength, athleticism, or physical toughness.
Study an actual meditation discipline. The perennial favorite among hackers is Zen (importantly, it is possible to benefit from Zen without acquiring a religion or discarding one you already have). Other styles may work as well, but be careful to choose one that doesn't require you to believe crazy things.
Develop an analytical ear for music. Learn to appreciate peculiar kinds of music. Learn to play some musical instrument well, or how to sing.
Develop your appreciation of puns and wordplay.

The more of these things you already do, the more likely it is that you are natural hacker material. Why these things in particular is not completely clear, but they're connected with a mix of left- and right-brain skills that seems to be important; hackers need to be able to both reason logically and step outside the apparent logic of a problem at a moment's notice.

Work as intensely as you play and play as intensely as you work. For true hackers, the boundaries between "play", "work", "science" and "art" all tend to disappear, or to merge into a high-level creative playfulness. Also, don't be content with a narrow range of skills. Though most hackers self-describe as programmers, they are very likely to be more than competent in several related skills — system administration, web design, and PC hardware troubleshooting are common ones. A hacker who's a system administrator, on the other hand, is likely to be quite skilled at script programming and web design. Hackers don't do things by halves; if they invest in a skill at all, they tend to get very good at it.

Finally, a few things not to do.

Don't use a silly, grandiose user ID or screen name.
Don't get in flame wars on Usenet (or anywhere else).
Don't call yourself a ‘cyberpunk’, and don't waste your time on anybody who does.
Don't post or email writing that's full of spelling errors and bad grammar.

The only reputation you'll make doing any of these things is as a twit. Hackers have long memories — it could take you years to live your early blunders down enough to be accepted.

The problem with screen names or handles deserves some amplification. Concealing your identity behind a handle is a juvenile and silly behavior characteristic of crackers, warez d00dz, and other lower life forms. Hackers don't do this; they're proud of what they do and want it associated with their real names. So if you have a handle, drop it. In the hacker culture it will only mark you as a loser.

Other Resources

Paul Graham has written an essay called Great Hackers, and another on Undergraduation, in which he speaks much wisdom.

Peter Seebach maintains an excellent Hacker FAQ for managers who don't understand how to deal with hackers.

There is a document called How To Be A Programmer that is an excellent complement to this one. It has valuable advice not just about coding and skillsets, but about how to function on a programming team.

I have also written A Brief History Of Hackerdom.

I have written a paper, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, which explains a lot about how the Linux and open-source cultures work. I have addressed this topic even more directly in its sequel Homesteading the Noosphere.

Rick Moen has written an excellent document on how to run a Linux user group.

Rick Moen and I have collaborated on another document on How To Ask Smart Questions. This will help you seek assistance in a way that makes it more likely that you will actually get it.

If you need instruction in the basics of how personal computers, Unix, and the Internet work, see The Unix and Internet Fundamentals HOWTO.

When you release software or write patches for software, try to follow the guidelines in the Software Release Practice HOWTO.

If you enjoyed the Zen poem, you might also like Rootless Root: The Unix Koans of Master Foo.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I tell if I am already a hacker?
Q: Will you teach me how to hack?
Q: How can I get started, then?
Q: When do you have to start? Is it too late for me to learn?
Q: How long will it take me to learn to hack?
Q: Is Visual Basic a good language to start with?
Q: Would you help me to crack a system, or teach me how to crack?
Q: How can I get the password for someone else's account?
Q: How can I break into/read/monitor someone else's email?
Q: How can I steal channel op privileges on IRC?
Q: I've been cracked. Will you help me fend off further attacks?
Q: I'm having problems with my Windows software. Will you help me?
Q: Where can I find some real hackers to talk with?
Q: Can you recommend useful books about hacking-related subjects?
Q: Do I need to be good at math to become a hacker?
Q: What language should I learn first?
Q: What kind of hardware do I need?
Q: I want to contribute. Can you help me pick a problem to work on?
Q: Do I need to hate and bash Microsoft?
Q: But won't open-source software leave programmers unable to make a living?
Q: Where can I get a free Unix?

Q:	How do I tell if I am already a hacker?
A:	Ask yourself the following three questions: Do you speak code, fluently? Do you identify with the goals and values of the hacker community? Has a well-established member of the hacker community ever called you a hacker? If you can answer yes to all three of these questions, you are already a hacker. No two alone are sufficient. The first test is about skills. You probably pass it if you have the minimum technical skills described earlier in this document. You blow right through it if you have had a substantial amount of code accepted by an open-source development project. The second test is about attitude. If the five principles of the hacker mindset seemed obvious to you, more like a description of the way you already live than anything novel, you are already halfway to passing it. That's the inward half; the other, outward half is the degree to which you identify with the hacker community's long-term projects. Here is an incomplete but indicative list of some of those projects: Does it matter to you that Linux improve and spread? Are you passionate about software freedom? Hostile to monopolies? Do you act on the belief that computers can be instruments of empowerment that make the world a richer and more humane place? But a note of caution is in order here. The hacker community has some specific, primarily defensive political interests — two of them are defending free-speech rights and fending off "intellectual-property" power grabs that would make open source illegal. Some of those long-term projects are civil-liberties organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the outward attitude properly includes support of them. But beyond that, most hackers view attempts to systematize the hacker attitude into an explicit political program with suspicion; we've learned, the hard way, that these attempts are divisive and distracting. If someone tries to recruit you to march on your capitol in the name of the hacker attitude, they've missed the point. The right response is probably “Shut up and show them the code.” The third test has a tricky element of recursiveness about it. I observed in the section called “What Is a Hacker?” that being a hacker is partly a matter of belonging to a particular subculture or social network with a shared history, an inside and an outside. In the far past, hackers were a much less cohesive and self-aware group than they are today. But the importance of the social-network aspect has increased over the last thirty years as the Internet has made connections with the core of the hacker subculture easier to develop and maintain. One easy behavioral index of the change is that, in this century, we have our own T-shirts. Sociologists, who study networks like those of the hacker culture under the general rubric of "invisible colleges", have noted that one characteristic of such networks is that they have gatekeepers — core members with the social authority to endorse new members into the network. Because the "invisible college" that is hacker culture is a loose and informal one, the role of gatekeeper is informal too. But one thing that all hackers understand in their bones is that not every hacker is a gatekeeper. Gatekeepers have to have a certain degree of seniority and accomplishment before they can bestow the title. How much is hard to quantify, but every hacker knows it when they see it.
Q:	Will you teach me how to hack?
A:	Since first publishing this page, I've gotten several requests a week (often several a day) from people to "teach me all about hacking". Unfortunately, I don't have the time or energy to do this; my own hacking projects, and working as an open-source advocate, take up 110% of my time. Even if I did, hacking is an attitude and skill you basically have to teach yourself. You'll find that while real hackers want to help you, they won't respect you if you beg to be spoon-fed everything they know. Learn a few things first. Show that you're trying, that you're capable of learning on your own. Then go to the hackers you meet with specific questions. If you do email a hacker asking for advice, here are two things to know up front. First, we've found that people who are lazy or careless in their writing are usually too lazy and careless in their thinking to make good hackers — so take care to spell correctly, and use good grammar and punctuation, otherwise you'll probably be ignored. Secondly, don't dare ask for a reply to an ISP account that's different from the account you're sending from; we find people who do that are usually thieves using stolen accounts, and we have no interest in rewarding or assisting thievery.
Q:	How can I get started, then?
A:	The best way for you to get started would probably be to go to a LUG (Linux user group) meeting. You can find such groups on the LDP General Linux Information Page; there is probably one near you, possibly associated with a college or university. LUG members will probably give you a Linux if you ask, and will certainly help you install one and get started.
Q:	When do you have to start? Is it too late for me to learn?
A:	Any age at which you are motivated to start is a good age. Most people seem to get interested between ages 15 and 20, but I know of exceptions in both directions.
Q:	How long will it take me to learn to hack?
A:	That depends on how talented you are and how hard you work at it. Most people who try can acquire a respectable skill set in eighteen months to two years, if they concentrate. Don't think it ends there, though; in hacking (as in many other fields) it takes about ten years to achieve mastery. And if you are a real hacker, you will spend the rest of your life learning and perfecting your craft.
Q:	Is Visual Basic a good language to start with?
A:	If you're asking this question, it almost certainly means you're thinking about trying to hack under Microsoft Windows. This is a bad idea in itself. When I compared trying to learn to hack under Windows to trying to learn to dance while wearing a body cast, I wasn't kidding. Don't go there. It's ugly, and it never stops being ugly. There is a specific problem with Visual Basic; mainly that it's not portable. Though there is a prototype open-source implementations of Visual Basic, the applicable ECMA standards don't cover more than a small set of its programming interfaces. On Windows most of its library support is proprietary to a single vendor (Microsoft); if you aren't extremely careful about which features you use — more careful than any newbie is really capable of being — you'll end up locked into only those platforms Microsoft chooses to support. If you're starting on a Unix, much better languages with better libraries are available. Python, for example. Also, like other Basics, Visual Basic is a poorly-designed language that will teach you bad programming habits. No, don't ask me to describe them in detail; that explanation would fill a book. Learn a well-designed language instead. One of those bad habits is becoming dependent on a single vendor's libraries, widgets, and development tools. In general, any language that isn't fully supported under at least Linux or one of the BSDs, and/or at least three different vendors' operating systems, is a poor one to learn to hack in.
Q:	Would you help me to crack a system, or teach me how to crack?
A:	No. Anyone who can still ask such a question after reading this FAQ is too stupid to be educable even if I had the time for tutoring. Any emailed requests of this kind that I get will be ignored or answered with extreme rudeness.
Q:	How can I get the password for someone else's account?
A:	This is cracking. Go away, idiot.
Q:	How can I break into/read/monitor someone else's email?
A:	This is cracking. Get lost, moron.
Q:	How can I steal channel op privileges on IRC?
A:	This is cracking. Begone, cretin.
Q:	I've been cracked. Will you help me fend off further attacks?
A:	No. Every time I've been asked this question so far, it's been from some poor sap running Microsoft Windows. It is not possible to effectively secure Windows systems against crack attacks; the code and architecture simply have too many flaws, which makes securing Windows like trying to bail out a boat with a sieve. The only reliable prevention starts with switching to Linux or some other operating system that is designed to at least be capable of security.
Q:	I'm having problems with my Windows software. Will you help me?
A:	Yes. Go to a DOS prompt and type "format c:". Any problems you are experiencing will cease within a few minutes.
Q:	Where can I find some real hackers to talk with?
A:	The best way is to find a Unix or Linux user's group local to you and go to their meetings (you can find links to several lists of user groups on the LDP site at ibiblio). (I used to say here that you wouldn't find any real hackers on IRC, but I'm given to understand this is changing. Apparently some real hacker communities, attached to things like GIMP and Perl, have IRC channels now.)
Q:	Can you recommend useful books about hacking-related subjects?
A:	I maintain a Linux Reading List HOWTO that you may find helpful. The Loginataka may also be interesting. For an introduction to Python, see the introductory materials on the Python site.
Q:	Do I need to be good at math to become a hacker?
A:	No. Hacking uses very little formal mathematics or arithmetic. In particular, you won't usually need trigonometry, calculus or analysis (there are exceptions to this in a handful of specific application areas like 3-D computer graphics). Knowing some formal logic and Boolean algebra is good. Some grounding in finite mathematics (including finite-set theory, combinatorics, and graph theory) can be helpful. Much more importantly: you need to be able to think logically and follow chains of exact reasoning, the way mathematicians do. While the content of most mathematics won't help you, you will need the discipline and intelligence to handle mathematics. If you lack the intelligence, there is little hope for you as a hacker; if you lack the discipline, you'd better grow it. I think a good way to find out if you have what it takes is to pick up a copy of Raymond Smullyan's book What Is The Name Of This Book?. Smullyan's playful logical conundrums are very much in the hacker spirit. Being able to solve them is a good sign; enjoying solving them is an even better one.
Q:	What language should I learn first?
A:	XHTML (the latest dialect of HTML) if you don't already know it. There are a lot of glossy, hype-intensive bad HTML books out there, and distressingly few good ones. The one I like best is HTML: The Definitive Guide. But HTML is not a full programming language. When you're ready to start programming, I would recommend starting with Python. You will hear a lot of people recommending Perl, and Perl is still more popular than Python, but it's harder to learn and (in my opinion) less well designed. C is really important, but it's also much more difficult than either Python or Perl. Don't try to learn it first. Windows users, do not settle for Visual Basic. It will teach you bad habits, and it's not portable off Windows. Avoid.
Q:	What kind of hardware do I need?
A:	It used to be that personal computers were rather underpowered and memory-poor, enough so that they placed artificial limits on a hacker's learning process. This stopped being true in the mid-1990s; any machine from an Intel 486DX50 up is more than powerful enough for development work, X, and Internet communications, and the smallest disks you can buy today are plenty big enough. The important thing in choosing a machine on which to learn is whether its hardware is Linux-compatible (or BSD-compatible, should you choose to go that route). Again, this will be true for almost all modern machines. The only really sticky areas are modems and wireless cards; some machines have Windows-specific hardware that won't work with Linux. There's a FAQ on hardware compatibility; the latest version is here.
Q:	I want to contribute. Can you help me pick a problem to work on?
A:	No, because I don't know your talents or interests. You have to be self-motivated or you won't stick, which is why having other people choose your direction almost never works. Try this. Watch the project announcements scroll by on Freshmeat for a few days. When you see one that makes you think "Cool! I'd like to work on that!", join it.
Q:	Do I need to hate and bash Microsoft?
A:	No, you don't. Not that Microsoft isn't loathsome, but there was a hacker culture long before Microsoft and there will still be one long after Microsoft is history. Any energy you spend hating Microsoft would be better spent on loving your craft. Write good code — that will bash Microsoft quite sufficiently without polluting your karma.
Q:	But won't open-source software leave programmers unable to make a living?
A:	This seems unlikely — so far, the open-source software industry seems to be creating jobs rather than taking them away. If having a program written is a net economic gain over not having it written, a programmer will get paid whether or not the program is going to be open-source after it's done. And, no matter how much "free" software gets written, there always seems to be more demand for new and customized applications. I've written more about this at the Open Source pages.
Q:	Where can I get a free Unix?
A:	If you don't have a Unix installed on your machine yet, elsewhere on this page I include pointers to where to get the most commonly used free Unix. To be a hacker you need motivation and initiative and the ability to educate yourself. Start now... I urge everyone to check this page out in it's entirety, for a full view simply go here.

Making Money Online. Minus the Middleman.

2007-12-30T15:38:00.000-08:00

Open a Banking Acct Online.
I have been meaning to blog "Online Business" for awhile. It's something I know quite a bit about and if anything at least I can get my 2 cents in and maybe save somebody from wasting a bunch of time. I've tried some of the more common things everyone finds when they first set out to make money on the internet. Things like surveys, data processing, emailing, etc. I'm not saying these things are an entire waste of time, but if you're smart you can use them as stepping stones. They aren't things to devote any real energy, because for the most part they are just going to be sad to say...a waste of time. That said I won't bother listing any links of any of these sites. There is already enough stuff to find on this topic and they all pretty much lead back to the same places. What I will concentrate on is how to use these things to you're advantage by developing a get in get out quick strategy, and where to go from there. The only reason I even suggest possibly using these things is to generate just enough money to open an online banking account and verify yourself with Paypal. You can't expect to make any money if you can't get paid. The easiest way to do this is by completing a few surveys or something and open a secure card acct. The one I have used now for over a year with no trouble is Accountnow.net It has a Checking Card they will mail to anyone with a SSI number and U.S. Address. And of course Money to open an account. This method I will demonstrate is a bit catch 22 but I assure you it works like a charm. Once you get the money into Paypal you need to get it out. When you sign up for your Card Acct. you'll get a routing number, and acct ID. If you deposit $25 from Paypal it will technically "Open" the account for you. They will send you a card you can use in any ATM. After everything is open you can turn around and verify the account. Paypal makes 2 tiny deposits you tell them the amounts and you are verified. Now you have a ton of options. You can now use the existing card account to open a side account for accepting other people's credit cards online. This link will take you to one I found, but I encourage you to shop around. There are always new deals and things that become available. A good place to find other current "viable" options is paypalsucks.com.
Carve Diem, Making Money.
Now comes the time to quit doing surveys and move on to bigger and better things. What to consider doing for a living online is as diverse an answer as in real life. And just like real life a college education is one key to success. The cool thing is there are free places online to get this education, and you are already at the best place to find it. I have lots of info up on this topic, so feel free and help yourself! There are many directions to head in, what I can suggest is teaching yourself Programming or Web design and then finding jobs through one of the Freelance sites. Or of course you can start your own Web Design company also, but this won't happen overnight.

Setting up and running a little side business selling something can work too. Try a few different things and see what develops on it's own. The number one thing in making money on a site that's selling something is to sell something ANYTHING that nobody else is selling. Put some thought into it, and try it. The thing is try and find something you don't have to kill yourself over trying to promote. The less amount of people selling whatever it is you're selling the better. To help another thing you can think about whatever it is your local area is famous for, and the use your location to your advantage. If you live in Florida sell alligator heads. Something oddball not everybody else is selling that uses your geographic location as a selling factor also. People like buying things from the area that has the best of them. Selling Cheeses and Sausages might be a good idea if you lived in Wisconsin. Think about something which you have a good supply at a discount price. Do you know anyone that works somewhere that can get you a deal on something ? These are just some things to mill over when developing an online business. If you want to test the waters w/o much effort maybe try Cafepress, it let's you put your own designs or images on something and then gives you the web space to sell the stuff you create. There are lots of other things for free online that can help you get any business started. Stuff like a mail service that gives you an address in the U.S. to receive packages and mail. The best thing though is K-7 and the free telephone voice messaging and FAX service they offer. All these things and more can be found on Concisefreeware.com.
Hosting and Development.
Once you know what it is you want to sell you need a host to put up your site. I'll just assume you want to do it for free to start with. You can always buy a real host account later down the road. Brinkster offers free Hosting without any ads at all, and are really good about it. They even give great 24-7 Skype support. If you don't know html there are 2 acct levels with a Web Building editor. It's quite easy to figure out, and you should be able to build a nice site in an afternoon's time. When you need graphics for the site such as your Headers and banners you'll love this site. Flammingtext is the best way to produce high quality graphics on your own. Okay now the site is up and you have to get it out there. I use this tool below that finds directories and submits the site for me, granted you have to fill all the crap out yourself. This can be tedius, but it's a necessary evil of the game. Make sure that you've crossed paths with the major search engines for submission. Using Directory Submission Manager 123promotion.co.uk though should have taken care of this. After submitting your site URL go find forums related in some way to what the product is and put links to it up. If you really want to be a wise guy you can promote it in 3rd person. Talk about how great this product is blah blah blah, and give the link.
Well there it is there.

Insider Info; ConciseFreeware.com is bringing a New Improved fresh look to it's site, with added features and a big twist!

2007-12-27T15:59:00.001-08:00

Probably the number one place I can pound for pound recommend as the ultimate in available online resources is ConciseFreeware.com. Hands down it is the best collection of free services, software, information, and other Free stuff found in any One place anywhere online. It has held significant importance to me. Because I found almost entirely all of the services there I used to start my first Online business. And still use to this day. Probably the most important of which is my Voice Mail Messaging system I use nearly daily. For absolutely nothing at all, and Free as in Free as anything you can imagine a company called K-7 offers your Very Own Private California area code Telephone number that also serves as a Fax, and is swiftly transferred over into your email automatically. Where you can immediately open a wave file delivering your message or Fax to you through your regular Email. The only catch as it were is you must use it once every 30 days to remain active. There are no Ads or anything. How these people make money off this I have No idea. More power to em' cause the service is absolutely awesome! It's been over a year, and I've never had a problem or failure. Anyways, back to the topic at hand. This is just one of the many numerous things you can find through ConciseFreeware. I am friend's with the gentleman who runs the site. He has told me this week there will be a new version of the site released soon. There have been lots of new links added I noticed already, but I guess there is going to be a new feature letting people add sites somehow. Probably similar to StumbleUpon or Digg, but I'm not sure yet. Somehow I am going to serve as a moderator for the Business and Education categories the new site has, but how this will work I'm not sure yet either. I am anxious to see though because I am such a fan of it's flavor. For now we'll just have to wait and see!

Open of Course standing proud in the Open Source Community

2007-12-24T18:05:00.000-08:00

Open of Course is a really cool public education site/project maintained by the Open Source Community. There are a ton of different subjects and/or languages to choose from. Many different Languages are available, all are free and completely supported., A large part of Open of Course are the language courses, but possibly It's best available recourses are the"Tutorials". Many of the better known Open Source projects are covered, each of these courses helps to become familiar with them and let's users jump right in. There are plenty programs, i.e. Audacity, Scribus, Open Office, The GIMP, Etc. the courses are short and effective. They provide great reference materials. In fact each of the courses includes a users manual of whatever it's subject topic. And the forums are a handy place to ask a question.

Knowledge is there to be shared

Open-Of-Course is a multilingual community portal for free online courses and tutorials. By "free" we not only mean free as in "free beer" but also published as open content. The focus is on educational information where people can benefit of in daily life.

Most of the courses offered here at the moment are related to computers, internet and learning languages. In the future we hope to offer more content on things like getting a job, business, hobbies, earning or saving money, self improvement, etc. Open-Of-Course is based on Moodle, an open source electronic learning environment (ELO). Our portal is free for everyone to use. It is financed by advertisements and donations.

Open-Of-Course is also sponsored by Mingos and Freelancenetwerk two small duch companies with a passion for free and open source software. With this portal we hope to give something back to the free and open source software community.

Open of Course Community

When you register at Open-Of-Course you become part of a self-supporting community. All our courses have fora, where people can communicate and help each other.

So if you join us, we hope you will become an active community member. Everyone has his own knowledge and with that you can help others out. If there is a subject where you have good knowledge off, we would like to invite you to volunteer on helping open-of-course grow:

We are looking especially for:

Language coordinators for all languages, except for English and Dutch: your tasks will be finding open content educational material in the language of your choice and add it to our system and coaching translators for existing courses to other languages.

Translators who like to translate our courses to other languages.

Course developers who want to share their knowlegde and add their own content to our portal.

Forum adminstrators who want to admin one or more of our fora

If you are interested, you can contact us for more information through info@open-of-course.org.

Gett'in Jiggy With it: How to trick out Win XP, Like you mean it.

2007-12-22T22:12:00.000-08:00

I did some serious tweaking my Windows XP. I had to actually look for some of the file locations. I should write it down somewhere so I don't forget if I need to go back and find anything. And share it with anybody who cares. First we go for a really cool little executable that turns each keystroke into a sound. Choices are A to Z but I dig the old time fashioned typewriter. You can get it at Steve Gibson's GRC.com Steve is Spyware's living Antichrist so you know the file is safe to download. If you don't believe me, he can be whatever he wants since he is the one that invented the word("spyware"). Get The program called "Clickey" It's a no brainier to install. I was a bit thrown when a .dll file popped up, but just throw it someplace like "my documents". But the next thing to do with Clickey is throw it in the start menu. Go to documents & settings, then whatever user you are or all users, there you'll see the start menu, click it open, click open programs, and finally open the Startup folder. Remember this step because you can put a mp3 or .wav file in there too. It will play as soon as you start your computer. I have mine screech the psycho theme. It launches my WinAmp music player right away then for me and has it ready to go too. You can get creative and have it play a positive quote or a song you like, TV theme song, cartoon sounds, whatever there are .wav files of everything and anything. Grab some funny wav files, then go to control panel, Windows then open the folder "Media". Put all the funny sounds you found in this folder. You will see them when you go to Sounds and Audio Devices and then switch the tab on the box to Sounds. On the bottom is a box with all the sounds the Win XP system makes. Logon, logoff, start up, error, etc. you can select the sound and then browse one of the sounds in the Windows/Media folder. I hooked my system to play a sound of a car that can't turn over and programs starting up causes a three stooges loud bonk followed by the customary whoo whoo whoo whoop. and logon is a car revving the motor. It sounds nut's but somehow it works just right. The sounds all meld together quite humorously. It's really not as annoying as it sounds. Finally when it logs off it plays the Pacman dying sound from the old video game. And I have some other mixed stuff thrown in there like for my mail messenger i use Star trek Klingon alert and another is the Telegraph morse code sounds. All the sounds were really easy to find.

Retuning to the days of yesteryear, In a Cloud of Dust, For Schizzle my Nizzle!

2007-12-20T00:14:00.001-08:00

Ever want to learn a little historizzle one Dizzle? Then look no further my fellow earthmates. For anybody out there interested in something. Anything at all. Go ahead and try it! There is a Podcast out there these days for absolutely any subject what so ever. I personally am an avid Military history buff. One afternoon I searched and was amazed at exactly how many individual topics I found just in this one little area one afternoon. And this thorough coverage extends to nearly any hobby, Sport, you name it. Even all those old radio shows from the pre television days of "Yesteryear" are there. There within Digg's site is a podcasting corral that houses everyones and anyone's podcast that is. Why have just one, when you can have them all ? I added a few to help out. The Dawn and Drew show is kind of a nice break from tech. The naturalness the show has makes you feel like your visiting some good friends. And don't miss Leo Laport's shows. Always solid tech advice and another big Open Source fan and supporter.

The Lone Ranger Podcast Kids & Family

"A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty 'Hi-yo Silver!' The Lone Ranger!"The Lone Ranger series is presented from 1st episode to it's completion as heard on Early Radio. (Author: Dennis Humphrey - OTR)

The Dawn and Drew Show! Comedy

two ex gutter punks fall in love, buy a retired farm in wisconsin and tell the world their dirty secrets... always profane, rarely profound. (Author: Dawn Miceli and Drew Domkus)

Medal of Honor Series Education

The Pritzker Military Library, located in Chicago, Illinois, has extensive collections in military history and military fiction, especially those works that illustrate the role of the citizen-soldier. Part of the mission of the library is to develop… (Author: Pritzker Military Library)

Diggnation Technology

Diggnation is a weekly tech/web culture show based on the top digg.com social bookmarking news stories. (Author: Revision3)

this WEEK in TECH Technology

Your first podcast of the week is the last word in tech. Join Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, John C. Dvorak, and other tech luminaries in a roundtable discussion of the latest trends in digital technology. Winner of the 2005 People's Choice… (Author: Leo Laporte and the TWiTs)

DL.TV Technology

Irreverent Dorks. With answers. The DL.TV crew blends your tech questions with product reviews and hands on help that tames technology. Tuesdays and Thursdays with Robert Heron and Roger Chang. (Author: Patrick Norton)

Ask A Ninja Comedy

(Author: Beatbox Giant Productions, LLC)

thebroken Technology

thebroken is an underground technology show with a hacker mentality that caters to the elite (or wannabe 1337) computer user using a mixture of seriousness and irreverent comedy. thebroken debuted as an independent online show more than a year ago an… (Author: Revision3)

Tiki Bar TV (video) Comedy

Forbidden cocktails in a swank pad. (Author: Doctor Tiki)

FLOSS Weekly Technology

Every Friday we talk about Free Libre and Open Source Software with the people who are writing it. Part of the TWiT.tv podcast network. (Author: Chris DiBona with Leo Laporte)

The Linux Action Show! Podcast Technology

Linux enthusiasts talk top news stories, trends and any other subject regarding Linux and Open Source! (Author: Bryan and Chris)

open source sex Health

open source sex --- erotica, sex ed and more with sex educator Violet Blue (Author: Violet Blue â¢)

LQ Podcast Technology

Open Talk... about Open Source and Linux (Author: jeremy)

LQ Radio Technology

Open Talk... about Open Source and Linux (Author: LinuxQuestions.org)

Open Source News & Politics

with Christopher Lydon (Author: Christopher Lydon)

IT idiots Technology

Humorous technology demonstrations tackling design, implementation, and support of IT infrastructures. Presented by our resident geeks using video and screencasting. Nicky Curtis an IT consultant, and Microsoft Certified Trainer specialises in enterp… (Author: ITidiots TV)

SourceTrunk Technology

Sourcetunk will try to demystify the beautiful beast that is Open Source and show the listeners the more practical examples of Open Source and Free Software. It will discuss software for Linux, BSD, MacOSX and Microsoft Windows systems (Author: Dimitri Larmuseau)

Valid Syntax Technology

Valid Syntax is a short 10 minute podcast looking at the status of Open Source projects as reported at Sourceforge.net, Freshmeat.net, and others that you might find useful for any OS. Also, with your help we will spotlight on each show a Project of… (Author: Kreg Steppe)

BusinessWeek - The Cutting Edge Technology

Listen to the latest in the digital media revolution, from blogs and podcasts to open-source journalism on Wikis. Every Wednesday, BusinessWeek reporters sit down for a chat with the leading bloggers, pod-jocks and technologists who are convulsing th… (Author: BusinessWeek)

Lullabot - podcast Technology

News, interviews, and tips about Drupal and Open Source from the Lullabot Team (Author: Lullabot)

the_source (Video) - w/Aaron Newcomb and Brian Burgess Technology

Your source for open source (Author: thesourceshow.org)

Open News Technology

A weekly open source news podcast (Author: opennewsshow.org)

Open Source Conversations Technology

(Author: The Conversations Network)

Yi-Tan Tech Community Weekly Call Technology

Yi-Tan means conversations about change. Every Monday at 10:30am Pacific, Jerry and Pip host a discussion about a timely tech topic, from open source and wikis to neuroceuticals and the Long Tail. (Author: Jerry Michalski and Pip Coburn)

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A Game that can help make the "Real World" a better place? Actually yes there is one that exists !

2007-12-19T05:25:00.001-08:00

Have you ever come face to face with a "Captcha" ? You probably never knew it's name, but those funny little jumble letters at the end of signing up for something, or registering forms that make you put the correct letters in before your form is accepted is called a Captcha. This same technology is what Google uses in it's image search. But try typing in something and see how many pictures that don't apply of not what that picture really is that pop up. this is what a blind person gets though when using the web. When a site impaired user opens a web page the page reads itself to the person, and when it comes to a picture of something it uses the name of the image instead. Okay, well digg this...
The ESP Game: Labeling the WebPlay our new game Phetch. Terms of Service | FAQ | ESP Image Search | Contact Us | Credits Funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF). ...
www.espgame.org,PeekaBoom,Verbocity, are all part of an Open Source Community Online gaming project that solves a problem the web faces with handicap accessibility. The problem: Millions of picture images online are not properly labeled. The Result: Any sight impaired users encountering these images aren't able to access these them properly rendering a sub par online world. The task of correctly labeling all of these would take tremendous resources that don't exist. The Solution: Have a bunch of good hearted programmers write some algorithm based games turning these tasks into games, instantly forming a work force of online gamers. So the next time you think about wasting some time playing solitaire do a little good in the world and make the world a little better place to the handicapped people in it. And don't forget to label your images correctly from now on !

Wave Bubble A design for a self-tuning portable RF jammer

2007-12-17T23:09:00.000-08:00

Wave Bubble A design for a self-tuning portable RF jammer

Trip on what I found on Dead Cow. Heres a good prison sentence in the making. Hey by the way, big shout out to Dead Cow and Hacktivism at it's finest ! And don't forget to do your part in the world. There are millions of people living in oppressed countries such as China. These poor folks can't even access porn. Well never mind that, the serious truth is Free information is the key to a Free education, sustaining a Free world to live in. There are lots of little projects that anyone on any hacking or even No hacking level can do to. Pitch in!!
Overview
F.A.Q.
Make
Design
Download
Resources
Forums

Two Wavebubbles. Left is an earlier revision with the top removed and with external antennas. Right is v1.0 with internal antennas, fit into a pack of cigarettes.

Introduction

This website details the design and construction Wave Bubble: a self-tuning, wide-bandwidth portable RF jammer. The device is lightweight and small for easy camouflaging: it is the size of a pack of cigarettes.

An internal lithium-ion battery provides up to 2 hours of jamming (two bands, such as cell) or 4 hours (single band, such as cordless phone, GPS, WiFi, bluetooth, etc). The battery is rechargeable via a mini-USB connector or 4mm DC jack (a common size). Alternately, 3 AAA batteries may also be used.

Output power is .1W (high bands) and .3W (low bands). Effective range is approximately 20' radius with well-tuned antennas. Less so with the internal antennas or poorly matched antennas.

Self-tuning is provided via dual PLL, therefore, no spectrum analyzer is necessary to build this jammer and a single Wave Bubble can jam many different frequency bands - unlike any other design currently available! To reconfigure the RF bands, simply plug it into the USB port of your PC and type in the new frequencies when prompted. Multiple frequency ranges can be programmed in, each time the device is power cycled it will advance to the next program in memory.

While the documentation here is both accurate and complete (as much as possible), the construction of such a device is still an advanced project. I would not suggest this as even an 'intermediate' skill project, considering the large amount of difficult SMT soldering (multiple TSSOP and SOT chips, 0603 RC's), obscure parts, and equiptment necessary to properly construct and debug.

This design is not for sale or available as a kit and never will be due to FCC regulations. Please do not ask me to assist you in such matters.

All original content for this project is distributed open source under Creative Commons 2.5 Attribution / Share-Alike.

Detailed photos

Credits

	Wave Bubble was developed under support by EYEBEAM during my R&D fellowship at the Open Lab, thanks!

	Much of the RF gain-stage design and layout was done in collaboration with Adam J. O'Donnell and the Cult of the Dead Cow

Original design work was done at MIT Media Lab/Computing Culture as part of my M.Eng thesis and based on the inimitable work at GBPP

Aps to Bookmarks

2007-12-05T03:03:00.001-08:00

When you are working with limited disc space you need to seek out any type of relief you can. Or if you're like me stuck using a stoneage CPU. One of the more obvious options we've got is turning over as many "Aps" as we can into "Bookmarks". Example, why bother having a calculator when a perfectly good one is sitting online ? Once more, it's even better then most. It has real life scenario formulas I have found quite handy. All sorts of loans, mortgages, conversions, etc. And if you really want to know, anybody with a Google search bar already has a calculator. Try going right down the line, see how many things taking up little bits of space and memory can be turned into Bookmarks. Media streams come in every flavor. Firefox Add-Ons are a huge source of utilities and tools which take up little resources. A real ratio buster are some of the virus and spyware safety net scripts that are a real value considering the size of comparable other options of no greater protection value. I prefer Fijan,but I hear Dr.Web anti virus & family are decent as well. Don't pile Add-Ons into Firefox or it will slow it down.

Alternatively, you can:

1. Clean up your hard disk

- Empty your Recycle or Trash bin always. Even though, you have deleted a file or a program, it still adds up space in your hard drive unless you delete it completely from your Recycle Bin.

- Clean your temporary files. The system periodically creates temp files that are documenting the system operation. These temporary files are safe to clean

- Defragmentation. It reduces the amount of fragmentation in file systems. It does this by physically reorganizing the contents of the disk to store the pieces of each file close together and contiguously. It also attempts to create larger regions of free space using compaction to impede the return of fragmentation. Some defragmenters also try to keep smaller files within a single directory together, as they are often accessed in sequence. According to a survey, 42% of PC users fail to defrag their system regularly, adversely affecting system performance. Wikipedia.org

2. Use online storage to securely save your files. Some of the best online storage sites include:

- Mediamax lets you store files securely on the web with as much as 25 GBs of FREE online storage.

- Humyo is a free unlimited internet hard drive.

- Xdrive offers 5GB of space for FREE.

- FreeDrive.com gives you 6GB for FREE.

- Diino serves as your internet desktop. It lets you save store files with their free 2GB storage.

The best thing with online storage is you can use the space to back up your music, photos and stuff, then automatically and conveniently access all your files from anywhere and easily share your files with friends and family. Gspace is my favorite.

FoxLingo Language Tools. Translation,Education, and More.

2007-12-02T19:34:00.001-08:00

The Ultimate Language Tool!

Main Features

Web Page Translation - Translates full web pages (over 1,000 different language pairs)
Translated Search - Searches foreign pages using terms written in your language
Auto Translation - Automatically translates websites by recognizing their domain
Text Translation - Translates text entered in the search box or selected on any web page
Language Resources - Over 90 language services (encyclopedias, text-to-speech, etc.)
Ixquick - Metasearch engine with unique features, language search and complete privacy
Learning Languages - Over 100 links to language learning sites for a variety of languages
Freeware - FoxLingo is completely free and contains no adware or spyware
Complete Privacy - FoxLingo does not take any information from its users

Supports 45 languages & over 1,000 different language pairs

Afrikaans, Arabic, Aranese, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Malay, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese Brazilian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Spanish Latin American, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Welsh

Uses 34 free online web page translator services

Worldlingo.com, Tranexp.com, Google.com, Abacho.co.uk, Altavista.com, Bestiland.thread.ne.jp, Eigo-navi.com, Elmundo.es, Excite.co.jp, Freetranslation.com, Gencat.cat, Gts-translation.com, Ibm.com, Imtranslator.com, Internostrum.com, Interpret.co.za, Linguamatix.com, Lingvo.org, Nazgol.co.il, Nifty.amikai.com Ocn.ne.jp, Oesi.cervantes.es, Online-Translator.com, Opentrad.org, Sli.uvigo.es, Solvingmaze.com, Toggletext.com, Tr.voila.fr, Translatica.pwn.pl, Translendium.es, Vil-net.dyndns.org Yahoo.com, Xixona.dlsi.ua.es, 220.194.61.120

Download

FoxLingo is a freeware project. Please donate to help us grow. By downloading FoxLingo you agree to our terms of service.
Install FoxLingo 2.1.8 for Firefox/SeaMonkey/Mozilla/Flock (from ConciseFreeware.com)
Install FoxLingo 2.1.7 for Firefox/SeaMonkey/Mozilla/Flock (from Mozilla.org)
Install FoxLingo for Internet Explorer (coming soon)
Also note, you should download the extension from FireFox add on page if you require multiple user groups.

Joomla

2007-12-02T17:56:00.001-08:00

In plain Pimp, Joomla is a little bit of everything you think it is, and allot of bit the things you didn't even know about. You basically upload joomla onto your web space,pick out a template or two,because w/ joomla you can use a different template for every page if you wish. The main thing with joomla, is also it's best thing....Flexibility. Joomla's tutorial they suggest you think of joomla as a content management,and not the actual content itself. Whatever you are looking for chances are joomla has it covered. Once you upload everything, you're able to go to your site and login as an administrator and assume control over it. Most web developing starts with nothing and is created one item at a time. Joomla is the exact opposite. You start off with absolutely everything and the kitchen sink. You have to whittle it down,and take away the things you don't want. The selling point to Joomla is how easy these site resources are put into place.Theres a module for anything you can think off in joomla. And everything you can't. The user registration,group email management, and all these "dashboard" style command center allows you to see whats going on in real time on your web site. The way it all comes together full circle for you is what makes it the best Open Source community supported option available. Anyways that's my take on it but heres what the experts say....

Using Joomla for web development can be a great resource, but it's a jungle out there! It's very easy to become lost in the many options available. First off I spent a good while wishing I would find a step by step guide that would just show me what I was supposed to do. I would recommend just grabbing a pdf user's manual,and a Quick Starter Guide.

What does a simple Joomla! installation include?

Author(s):	mcsmom	Experience level:	Beginner
Contributors:		Joomla! version:

If you simply install Joomla! without any modifications or extensions, the following (incomplete) list of features will be included.

Content component which allows creation and display of "content items" usually in the middle of the page.
Front page component, which displays multiple recent content items designated as "front page" in the content manager. Configurable for layout and number of items.
Weblinks component for entering and displaying a list of weblinks.
Media manager for uploading and managing images and other media.
User manager (administrative end) and user registration module (front end).
Newsflash module for displaying specific content items as "newsflashes."
A simple poll component
A menu system
A choice of several templates for your site[/li]
Installers for third party components, modules and plugins/mambots
The TinyMCE wysiwyg editor
Administrative interface for managing your site

Open Source Community represented "Open of Course" makes the grade !

2007-12-01T23:12:00.001-08:00

Open-Of-Course for Free and Open Content Courses and Tutorials

Open-Of-Course is a multilingual portal for free online courses and tutorials. By "free" we not only mean free as in "free beer" but also published as open content. Our focus is on educational information where you can benefit of in daily life.

You will find here lots of free courses and tutorials and you can join a community of over 5000 students. All the courses have their own forum for students to interact and help each other out. You can join the fora after registration. Our privacy policy can be viewed here .

People can also add their own courses or tutorials to our system for free. Open-Of-Course runs on the open source electronic learning environment "Moodle". Read more about that here
or go to our:
Home

Popular
Hindi Beginners Course Russian Beginners Course English courses and tutorials Scribus Tutorial Spanish Beginners Course

Open-of-Course - Free and Open Content Courses and Tutorials
English courses and tutorials

You arrived at the English Section for free courses and tutorials. At the moment you can find here computer related courses and some language courses:

Audacity Tutorial
CSS Tutorial
Dreamweaver Tutorial
English Beginners Course
Freemind Tutorial
Free Software
Gnu Cash Concept Guide
Joomla User Manual
ICDL
German for Beginners
Gnu Cash Help Manual
Hindi Beginners Course

HTML and CSS in pictures

Italian for beginners
Linux for Beginners
Java Course

Linux Pocketguide

Linux for System Administrators
Making Money Online
Open Office Video Tutorial
NVU Userguide
Open Office in Pictures
Open Office Tutorials
Russian Beginners Course
Scribus Tutorial
SEO Course
Spanish Beginners Course
Ubuntu Desktop Guide
Unix Beginners Tutorial
Webdesign from scratch
Virtue Mart Manual

Soon more will be added.

Hacking Google

2007-12-01T03:57:00.000-08:00

Google hacking at its finest..
Using Google, and some finely crafted searches we can find a lot of interesting information.
For Example we can find:
Credit Card Numbers
Passwords
Software / MP3's
...... (and on and on and on) Presented below is just a sample of interesting searches that we can send to google to obtain info that some people might not want us having.. After you get a taste using some of these, try your own crafted searches to find info that you would be interested in.
Try a few of these searches:
intitle:"Index of" passwords modified
allinurl:auth_user_file.txt
"access denied for user" "using password"
"A syntax error has occurred" filetype:ihtml
allinurl: admin mdb
"ORA-00921: unexpected end of SQL command"
inurl:passlist.txt
"Index of /backup"
"Chatologica MetaSearch" "stack tracking:"
Amex Numbers: 300000000000000..399999999999999

MC Numbers: 5178000000000000..5178999999999999
visa 4356000000000000..4356999999999999

"parent directory " /appz/ -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums
"parent directory " DVDRip -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums
"parent directory "Xvid -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums
"parent directory " Gamez -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums
"parent directory " MP3 -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums
"parent directory " Name of Singer or album -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums
Notice that I am only changing the word after the parent directory, change it to what you want and you will get a lot of stuff.

METHOD 2

put this string in google search:
?intitle:index.of? mp3
You only need add the name of the song/artist/singer.
Example: ?intitle:index.of? mp3 jackson

METHOD 3

put this string in google search:
inurl:microsoft filetype:iso
You can change the string to watever you want, ex. microsoft to adobe, iso to zip etc…
"# -FrontPage-" inurl:service.pwd
Frontpage passwords.. very nice clean search results listing !!
"AutoCreate=TRUE password=*"
This searches the password for "Website Access Analyzer", a Japanese software that creates webstatistics. For those who can read Japanese, check out the author's site at: http://www.coara.or.jp/~passy/
"http://*:*@www" domainname
This is a query to get inline passwords from search engines (not just Google), you must type in the query followed with the the domain name without the .com or .net
"http://*:*@www" bangbus or "http://*:*@www"bangbus
Another way is by just typing
"http://bob:bob@www"
"sets mode: +k"
This search reveals channel keys (passwords) on IRC as revealed from IRC chat logs.
allinurl: admin mdb
Not all of these pages are administrator's access databases containing usernames, passwords and other sensitive information, but many are!
allinurl:auth_user_file.txt
DCForum's password file. This file gives a list of (crackable) passwords, usernames and email addresses for DCForum and for DCShop (a shopping cart program(!!!). Some lists are bigger than others, all are fun, and all belong to googledorks. =)
intitle:"Index of" config.php
This search brings up sites with "config.php" files. To skip the technical discussion, this configuration file contains both a username and a password for an SQL database. Most sites with forums run a PHP message base. This file gives you the keys to that forum, including FULL ADMIN access to the database.
eggdrop filetype:user user
These are eggdrop config files. Avoiding a full-blown descussion about eggdrops and IRC bots, suffice it to say that this file contains usernames and passwords for IRC users.
intitle:index.of.etc
This search gets you access to the etc directory, where many many many types of password files can be found. This link is not as reliable, but crawling etc directories can be really fun!
filetype:bak inurl:"htaccess|passwd|shadow|htusers"
This will search for backup files (*.bak) created by some editors or even by the administrator himself (before activating a new version).
Every attacker knows that changing the extenstion of a file on a webserver can have ugly consequences.
Let's pretend you need a serial number for windows xp pro.
In the google search bar type in just like this - "Windows XP Professional" 94FBR
the key is the 94FBR code.. it was included with many MS Office registration codes so this will help you dramatically reduce the amount of 'fake' porn sites that trick you.or if you want to find the serial for winzip 8.1 - "Winzip 8.1" 94FBR

Hacking Mozilla.

2007-11-27T02:09:00.000-08:00

Mozilla Hacker's Getting Started Guide

An Introduction To Hacking Mozilla.

If you find errors in this document, or if you want to contribute updated or additional sections, please contact Kai Engert.

Linking Contents

What is Mozilla?
Motivation
Audience
Scope of this document
What does Netscape have to do with this?
C++ and JavaScript
NSPR - Netscape portable runtime
Threads
Object oriented programming & Modularity
Interfaces
XPCOM / nsISupports / nsCOMPtr
Exceptions / nsresult
Strings in C++
Graphical User Interface / XUL
Build System and Tree
Application Startup
Internal Notification System
Localization
Coding and Review Rules
Milestones
Bugzilla
Webtools / LXR / Bonsai
Finding more information

Kartoo. Searching for something cool ?

2007-11-27T00:52:00.001-08:00

There is this cool Plug-In that really puts it there when you need it.
Check out Kartoo's step-brother "Ujiko"

KartOO is a metasearch engine with visual display interfaces. When you click on OK, KartOO launches the query to a set of search engines, gathers the results, compiles them and represents them in a series of interactive maps through a proprietary algorithm
>>More information

Checkout Ujiko, a search engine with automatic visual classification
The more you use it, the more functions it is able to offer. It gradually mutates and new buttons appear giving you access to advanced features (search video, images, news, encylopedia, advanced filters, animated skins, web archive, traffic details...).

KartOO uses FlashPlayer to draw interactive maps. This extension is already installed on 90% of the browsers. If you cannot see the maps, please click here to install FlashPlayer.
You can also use the HTML version with results in the form of classic lists.

Legal Note - Bookmark - Other products

KartOO.com - KartOO FR - KartOO UK - KartOO ES - KartOO IT - KartOO DE - KartOO PT - KartOO BR

Hacker Warfare. America's vulnerability exposed.

2007-11-27T00:46:00.000-08:00

Story written by:

Vince Beiser(Wired/pbs)

How Vulnerable Is America to Online Attack?

The online assault that temporarily paralyzed the tiny Baltic nation of Estonia last spring may have been the first real battle inaugurating the era of cyber-warfare. But that attack was a relatively minor nuisance compared to what could be unleashed on the United States.

Experts are divided on how serious and how imminent the danger is, and even what form it might take. But no one disputes that our increasingly networked, digitally dependent society is vulnerable to online attacks that could have devastating real-world results. Malicious hackers and terrorist groups have already proved they can cause computer-based trouble - but the biggest threat by far is from other countries.

Estonia was hammered by a wave of what are called distributed denial of service attacks, which abundant evidence suggests were launched by Russian nationalists furious at the Estonian government's plans to take down a Soviet war memorial. In a DDoS attack, hackers use "botnets" - networks of surreptitiously commandeered computers - to bombard a target Web site with bogus requests for information, overwhelming its host computer and forcing the site to shut down.

The digital siege of Estonia was the first time that the Web sites of an entire country's government, media, and banking institutions had simultaneously come under such an attack. But DDoS onslaughts have been used many times for political ends. A rash of them hit American government sites after NATO bombed the Chinese Embassy in the former Yugoslavia in 1999. Hackers on both sides have struck enemy Web sites during the conflicts in Kashmir, Kosovo, Israel/Palestine, and elsewhere. Commercial sites are even more frequently targeted: In 2000, DDoS attacks by still-unknown assailants briefly shut down the Web sites of eBay, Amazon.com, and Yahoo.

"Today, if I want to attack some site, I can rent the botnet to do it and even hire someone to run the attack for me."

Jeffrey Hunker, chief of digital security for the Clinton administration

Wreaking such online havoc doesn't require much technical know-how. "Since 1999 we've seen the rise of a very sophisticated cyber underworld," says Jeffrey Hunker, chief of digital security for the Clinton administration. "Today, if I want to attack some site, I can rent the botnet to do it and even hire someone to run the attack for me."

Ultimately, though, all a DDoS attack can do is close down a website. That's penny-ante stuff compared to what could happen if hackers broke into the computers controlling parts of the national infrastructure and turned them into weapons - by opening a dam's floodgates, for instance, or shutting down an electric grid.

Breaking into those kinds of complex, digitally protected systems is far more difficult than just lobbing a DDoS attack at a Web site. But it can be done. In fact, it's already happened: In the last 10 years, hackers have shut down the air traffic communication system at a Massachusetts airport, taken control of the software that regulates the flow of natural gas in Russian pipelines, turned off the safety monitoring system at an Ohio nuclear plant, and forced a water treatment facility in Australia to dump thousands of gallons of raw sewage into local creeks.

A serious cyberattacker might launch similar such disruptions not instead of a conventional attack, but on top of one. "If you set off a bomb and then take down the phone systems, that would do a lot to add to the panic," says Clay Wilson, a specialist in technology and national defense with the Congressional Research Service.

Still, at this point, the possibility of a terrorist group like al Qaeda launching an attack through the Internet seems relatively remote. Such outfits do use the Net extensively to recruit members and spread propaganda, and there have been countless picayune attacks on Western Web sites by hackers claiming to be "e-jihadists." But no major terrorist outfit seems to have developed the skills to do much more than that - or perhaps just hasn't bothered to use them. "Terrorists' efforts are focused on explosives and other physical attacks," says Dorothy Denning, a cybersecurity expert at the Naval Postgraduate School. "That's where the emotional appeal comes from. You go to heaven for being a martyr. I don't know what you get for attacking Web sites."

The biggest potential threat is from other nations that have the human and technical resources to develop serious offensive digital capabilities. Russia, China and other countries acknowledge they are developing cyberwarfare methods (as is the US, of course). With that in mind, many of America's most critical government and military computer systems are kept physically disconnected from the Internet to keep them out of the reach of online intruders. Most of the rest are well protected, experts generally agree - but nothing's foolproof. "All systems run on software, and all software has defects and vulnerabilities," Hunker says.

Indeed, in 1998 US officials discovered that systems at NASA, the Pentagon and other federal agencies were being accessed from a computer in Russia. In 2005, the FBI found hackers prowling through hard drives at a number of military bases and defense contractors. Just last summer, the Pentagon shut down one of its computer networks for several days after it was penetrated by hackers widely believed to be connected to China's People's Liberation Army. Germany, France and Britain were also hit by digital intruders allegedly working for the Chinese military.

And those are just the cases we know about. "I doubt that China's cyberwarriors are just sitting around waiting for a war to start," says Richard Clarke, former top adviser on cybersecurity to President George W. Bush. "They could be exploring our systems and planting viruses without our knowing it. The difference between that and causing real world damage is only a few keystrokes."

M.I.T. Online Computer Education.

2007-11-27T00:21:00.001-08:00

You wouldn't believe the information available to anyone online through the M.I.T. Every course is available for download.
This is just the tip of the iceberg !!!

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Electrical engineering, originally taught at MIT in the Physics Department, became an independent degree program in 1882.

The Department of Electrical Engineering was formed in 1902, and occupied its new home, the Lowell Building, when MIT was still located near Copley Square in Boston. The Department dedicated its present facilities in the Sherman Fairchild Electrical Engineering and Electronics complex in fall 1973, and a year later, it recognized its growing activity in computer science by changing its name to Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The Department's activities in computer science, communications, and control moved into the architecturally unique and exciting Ray and Maria Stata Center for Computer, Information, and Intelligence Sciences in Spring 2004.

The primary mission of the Department is the education of its students. Its three undergraduate programs attract more than 30 percent of all MIT undergraduates, and its doctoral programs are highly ranked and selective. A leader in cooperative education, the Department has operated the highly successful VI-A Internship Program since 1917. It has recently established a five-year Master of Engineering program, under which students stay for a fifth year and receive simultaneously a Bachelor's degree and a Master's of Engineering degree.

During its history faculty and students of the Department have made major, lasting research contributions, some of which have opened up entire new fields of study.

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science links

Visit the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science home page at:
http://www.eecs.mit.edu/

Review the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science curriculum at:
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/resources/curriculum/index.htm#6

Available Courses

Notify me of course updates Other RSS Feeds

Undergraduate Courses

MIT Course #	Course Title	Term
6.001	Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs	Spring 2005
6.002	Circuits and Electronics	Fall 2000
6.003	Signals and Systems	Fall 2003
6.004	Computation Structures	Fall 2002
6.011	Introduction to Communication, Control, and Signal Processing	Spring 2004
6.012	Microelectronic Devices and Circuits	Fall 2005
6.012	Microelectronic Devices and Circuits	Fall 2003
6.013	Electromagnetics and Applications	Fall 2002
6.013	Electromagnetics and Applications	Fall 2005
6.021J	Quantitative Physiology: Cells and Tissues	Fall 2004
6.022J	Quantitative Physiology: Organ Transport Systems	Spring 2004
6.023J	Fields, Forces and Flows in Biological Systems	Spring 2007
6.024J	Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Biomechanics	Fall 2006
6.025J	Introduction to Bioengineering (BE.010J)	Spring 2006
6.033	Computer System Engineering (SMA 5501)	Spring 2005
6.034	Artificial Intelligence	Spring 2005
6.034	Artificial Intelligence	Fall 2006
6.035	Computer Language Engineering (SMA 5502)	Fall 2005
6.041	Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability	Spring 2006
6.041	Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability	Spring 2005
6.042J	Mathematics for Computer Science	Fall 2005
6.042J	Mathematics for Computer Science	Spring 2005
6.042J	Mathematics for Computer Science (SMA 5512)	Fall 2002
6.045J	Automata, Computability, and Complexity	Spring 2005
6.046J	Introduction to Algorithms (SMA 5503)	Fall 2005
6.050J	Information and Entropy	Spring 2003
6.071J	Introduction to Electronics, Signals, and Measurement	Spring 2006
6.090	Building Programming Experience: A Lead-In to 6.001	January (IAP) 2005
6.092	Java Preparation for 6.170	January (IAP) 2006
6.092	Bioinformatics and Proteomics	January (IAP) 2005
6.095J	Computational Biology: Genomes, Networks, Evolution	Fall 2005
6.096	Algorithms for Computational Biology	Spring 2005
6.097	Fundamentals of Photonics: Quantum Electronics	Spring 2006
6.101	Introductory Analog Electronics Laboratory	Fall 2002
6.111	Introductory Digital Systems Laboratory	Spring 2004
6.111	Introductory Digital Systems Laboratory	Fall 2002
6.152J	Micro/Nano Processing Technology	Fall 2005
6.161	Modern Optics Project Laboratory	Fall 2005
6.163	Strobe Project Laboratory	Fall 2005
6.170	Laboratory in Software Engineering	Fall 2005
6.171	Software Engineering for Web Applications	Fall 2003
6.186	Mobile Autonomous Systems Laboratory	January (IAP) 2005
6.270	Autonomous Robot Design Competition	January (IAP) 2005
6.302	Feedback Systems	Fall 2002
6.338J	Applied Parallel Computing (SMA 5505)	Spring 2005
6.370	Robocraft Programming Competition	January (IAP) 2005
6.431	Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability	Spring 2006
6.431	Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability	Spring 2005
6.521J	Quantitative Physiology: Cells and Tissues	Fall 2004
6.637	Modern Optics Project Laboratory	Fall 2005
6.801	Machine Vision	Fall 2004
6.803	The Human Intelligence Enterprise	Spring 2002
6.803	The Human Intelligence Enterprise	Spring 2006
6.804J	Computational Cognitive Science	Fall 2004
6.805	Ethics and the Law on the Electronic Frontier	Fall 2005
6.806	Ethics and the Law on the Electronic Frontier	Fall 2005
6.833	The Human Intelligence Enterprise	Spring 2002
6.833	The Human Intelligence Enterprise	Spring 2006
6.837	Computer Graphics	Fall 2003
6.857	Network and Computer Security	Fall 2003
6.866	Machine Vision	Fall 2004
6.895	Computational Biology: Genomes, Networks, Evolution	Fall 2005
6.901	Inventions and Patents	Fall 2005
6.911	Transcribing Prosodic Structure of Spoken Utterances with ToBI	January (IAP) 2006
6.912	Introduction to Copyright Law	January (IAP) 2006
6.930	Management in Engineering	Fall 2004
6.974	Fundamentals of Photonics: Quantum Electronics	Spring 2006

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Graduate Courses

MIT Course #	Course Title	Term
6.041	Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability	Spring 2006
6.041	Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability	Spring 2005
6.061	Introduction to Electric Power Systems	Spring 2003
6.092	Bioinformatics and Proteomics	January (IAP) 2005
6.095J	Computational Biology: Genomes, Networks, Evolution	Fall 2005
6.097	Fundamentals of Photonics: Quantum Electronics	Spring 2006
6.231	Dynamic Programming and Stochastic Control	Fall 2002
6.241	Dynamic Systems & Control	Fall 2003
6.243J	Dynamics of Nonlinear Systems	Fall 2003
6.245	Multivariable Control Systems	Spring 2004
6.251J	Introduction to Mathematical Programming	Fall 2002
6.252J	Nonlinear Programming	Spring 2003
6.252J	Nonlinear Programming	Spring 2004
6.253	Convex Analysis and Optimization	Spring 2004
6.263J	Data Communication Networks	Fall 2002
6.264J	Queues: Theory and Applications	Spring 2006
6.281J	Logistical and Transportation Planning Methods	Fall 2004
6.281J	Logistical and Transportation Planning Methods	Fall 2006
6.301	Solid-State Circuits	Spring 2003
6.331	Advanced Circuit Techniques	Spring 2002
6.334	Power Electronics	Spring 2003
6.336J	Introduction to Numerical Simulation (SMA 5211)	Fall 2003
6.337J	Introduction to Numerical Methods	Fall 2006
6.339J	Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations (SMA 5212)	Spring 2003
6.341	Discrete-Time Signal Processing	Fall 2005
6.345	Automatic Speech Recognition	Spring 2003
6.370	Robocraft Programming Competition	January (IAP) 2005
6.374	Analysis and Design of Digital Integrated Circuits	Fall 2003
6.431	Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability	Spring 2006
6.431	Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability	Spring 2005
6.432	Stochastic Processes, Detection, and Estimation	Spring 2004
6.435	System Identification	Spring 2005
6.436J	Fundamentals of Probability	Fall 2005
6.441	Transmission of Information	Spring 2003
6.443J	Quantum Information Science	Spring 2006
6.450	Principles of Digital Communication - I	Fall 2002
6.451	Principles of Digital Communication II	Spring 2005
6.452	Principles of Wireless Communications	Spring 2006
6.453	Quantum Optical Communication	Fall 2004
6.524J	Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Biomechanics (BE.410J)	Spring 2003
6.541J	Speech Communication	Spring 2004
6.542J	Laboratory on the Physiology, Acoustics, and Perception of Speech	Fall 2005
6.551J	Acoustics of Speech and Hearing	Fall 2004
6.561J	Fields, Forces, and Flows in Biological Systems (BE.430J)	Fall 2004
6.581J	Foundations of Algorithms and Computational Techniques in Systems Biology	Spring 2006
6.630	Electromagnetics	Fall 2006
6.632	Electromagnetic Wave Theory	Spring 2003
6.635	Advanced Electromagnetism	Spring 2003
6.637	Optical Signals, Devices, and Systems	Spring 2003
6.641	Electromagnetic Fields, Forces, and Motion	Spring 2005
6.642	Continuum Electromechanics	Fall 2004
6.651J	Introduction to Plasma Physics I	Fall 2006
6.651J	Introduction to Plasma Physics I	Fall 2003
6.661	Receivers, Antennas, and Signals	Spring 2003
6.685	Electric Machines	Fall 2005
6.691	Seminar in Electric Power Systems	Spring 2006
6.720J	Integrated Microelectronic Devices	Fall 2002
6.728	Applied Quantum and Statistical Physics	Fall 2006
6.730	Physics for Solid-State Applications	Spring 2003
6.763	Applied Superconductivity	Fall 2005
6.772	Compound Semiconductor Devices	Spring 2003
6.774	Physics of Microfabrication: Front End Processing	Fall 2004
6.776	High Speed Communication Circuits	Spring 2005
6.780	Semiconductor Manufacturing	Spring 2003
6.781J	Submicrometer and Nanometer Technology	Spring 2006
6.801	Machine Vision	Fall 2004
6.803	The Human Intelligence Enterprise	Spring 2002
6.803	The Human Intelligence Enterprise	Spring 2006
6.804J	Computational Cognitive Science	Fall 2004
6.821	Programming Languages	Fall 2002
6.823	Computer System Architecture	Fall 2005
6.824	Distributed Computer Systems	Fall 2002
6.825	Techniques in Artificial Intelligence (SMA 5504)	Fall 2002
6.826	Principles of Computer Systems	Spring 2002
6.827	Multithreaded Parallelism: Languages and Compilers	Fall 2002
6.828	Operating System Engineering	Fall 2006
6.829	Computer Networks	Fall 2002
6.830	Database Systems	Fall 2005
6.831	User Interface Design and Implementation	Fall 2004
6.833	The Human Intelligence Enterprise	Spring 2002
6.833	The Human Intelligence Enterprise	Spring 2006
6.834J	Cognitive Robotics	Spring 2005
6.837	Computer Graphics	Fall 2003
6.838	Algorithms for Computer Animation	Fall 2002
6.840J	Theory of Computation	Fall 2006
6.841J	Advanced Complexity Theory	Fall 2001
6.844	Computability Theory of and with Scheme	Spring 2003
6.852J	Distributed Algorithms	Fall 2005
6.854J	Advanced Algorithms	Fall 2001
6.854J	Advanced Algorithms	Fall 2005
6.855J	Network Optimization	Spring 2003
6.856J	Randomized Algorithms	Fall 2002
6.857	Network and Computer Security	Fall 2003
6.859	Integer Program Combination Optimization	Fall 2004
6.863J	Natural Language and the Computer Representation of Knowledge	Spring 2003
6.864	Advanced Natural Language Processing	Fall 2005
6.866	Machine Vision	Fall 2004
6.867	Machine Learning	Fall 2002
6.871	Knowledge-Based Applications Systems	Spring 2005
6.872J	Engineering Biomedical Information: From Bioinformatics to Biosurveillance	Fall 2005
6.872J	Medical Computing	Spring 2003
6.873J	Medical Decision Support	Spring 2003
6.873J	Medical Decision Support	Fall 2005
6.874J	Computational Functional Genomics	Spring 2005
6.875	Cryptography and Cryptanalysis	Spring 2005
6.876J	Advanced Topics in Cryptography	Spring 2003
6.877J	Computational Evolutionary Biology	Fall 2005
6.881	Representation and Modeling for Image Analysis	Spring 2005
6.883	Pervasive Human Centric Computing (SMA 5508)	Spring 2006
6.883	Program Analysis	Fall 2005
6.884	Complex Digital Systems	Spring 2005
6.891	Computational Evolutionary Biology	Fall 2004
6.892	Computational Models of Discourse	Spring 2004
6.895	Essential Coding Theory	Fall 2004
6.895	Theory of Parallel Systems (SMA 5509)	Fall 2003
6.895	Computational Biology: Genomes, Networks, Evolution	Fall 2005
6.896	Theory of Parallel Hardware (SMA 5511)	Spring 2004
6.897	Selected Topics in Cryptography	Spring 2004
6.911	Transcribing Prosodic Structure of Spoken Utterances with ToBI	January (IAP) 2006
6.933J	The Structure of Engineering Revolutions	Fall 2001
6.938	Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis	Spring 2007
6.946J	Classical Mechanics: A Computational Approach	Fall 2002
6.972	Algebraic Techniques and Semidefinite Optimization	Spring 2006
6.972	Game Theory and Mechanism Design	Spring 2005
6.973	Organic Optoelectronics	Spring 2003
6.974	Fundamentals of Photonics: Quantum Electronics	Spring 2006
6.976	High Speed Communication Circuits and Systems	Spring 2003
6.977	Semiconductor Optoelectronics: Theory and Design	Fall 2002
6.977	Ultrafast Optics	Spring 2005
6.978J	Communications and Information Policy	Spring 2006
6.979	Introduction to Electric Power Systems	Spring 2003

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Head To Head. Ubuntu vs Vista

2007-11-26T23:15:00.001-08:00

I ordered Ubuntu Live CD, and there it sat for nearly 2 months before I tossed it in the drive to check it out. I Remember thinking how Linux would be like some foreign language. I was shocked to find it all common sense yes no check boxes just like most anything else I'd ever seen in my life. And even more shocked to find the instant difference in speed. PDF files literally fly open like a webpage. Large size areas such as maps or large photos, you are able to coast around without choking and shuddering like Windows. Performance is definitely Ubuntu's primary role in society.
Here is a good head to head match up Ubuntu vs Vista.

Ubuntu Linux		Windows Vista
(click image for larger view) The Ubuntu install process can work automatically (i.e., erase and repartition an entire hard drive as needed), or you can manually edit partitions. view the image gallery		(click image for larger view) Vista's setup process is mostly automatic; however, there are some useful disk-management tools if you need them. view the image gallery

Browsing Around Town.

2007-11-18T21:25:00.001-08:00

I was originally going to do a website of mine using all flash after seeing some of the way it can really add life to a site. Pbs science and tech show "Wired" is done almost entirely in flash and is a great example. Anyways here are a few of my favorites most of them in flash, and a few I threw in that weren't. But all worthy of a "Bookmark".

Wired Pbs show
Kartoo Search(plug-in avail)
Ugiko (Kartoo's amigo)
The Cool Hunter
StreetviewrGoogle's
Flashface. Build a "Mugshot"
BigString. The coolest Email around.
FlamingText:Graphics Factory
Digg's Podcast collection.
Harvard's Comp. Science 101

Make a Podcast.

2007-11-18T17:01:00.000-08:00

Editing audio in Audacity

How a podcast is created

For those who want to learn a bit more about podcasting, here are the steps using just an ipod to create the podcast. It uses an ipod, but you can use just any Mp3 player with a voice recorder or anything actually. Many Digital cameras have voice recording capabilities now also. Just about anything will work using this method. Enjoy!!!

Attach microphone to iPod, set iPod on table, press record.
Give your desired "broadcast" presentation....
Press stop, remove microphone from iPod, return to office.
Plug iPod into computer and upload voice memo to iTunes.
Copy audio file from iTunes to podcasts folder on computer.
Open file in Audacity.
Edit recording. Listen to recording, adjusting volume and noise reduction as appropriate.
Export file in .mp3 format.
Import .mp3 file into iTunes.
Listen to random parts of the file in iTunes to make sure it doesn't sound too horrible.
With the file selected, choose "Get Info" from the iTunes file menu.
Select the "Info" tab and add any necessary information such as the name of the podcast, the artist, etc. You can also add artwork using the "artwork" tab. Click O.K.
Drag a copy of the newly edited .mp3 file back to your podcast folder.
Upload this version of the file to your blog using the upload file feature (what you would use to upload an image or .pdf file)
If this is your first podcast, go to the templates page of your blog and open the file named rss20.xml. <$MTEntryEnclosures$> should appear immediately following in the file. If it is not already there, just paste it in, then save and rebuild the file.
Create a new entry with a link to the .mp3 file. Once the entry has been saved users will be able to download or listen to the file from your site, through iTunes, or through other means.

That's pretty much all there is to it. Just remember to only include 1 podcastable item (audio, video or pdf) per entry.

Spoof a Ubuntu Linux look on Windows XP

2007-11-16T01:40:00.000-08:00

Start with the visual style, if you haven’t already install Uxtheme Multipatcher, this will remove the limitations on your system, in order to install new themes. Then download the Human Visual Style Ubuntu Linux.

Go to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes and safe your download theme in there.

Now right click on your Desktop and click on Properties. Go to Appearance and select Human as the theme.

Now change the icons, first install Icontweaker,after that install Ubuntu Icontweaker theme.

Next, change the wallpaper on your desktop, get the Ubuntu wallpaper Here or Here.

To replace the icons for Windows Explorer, first install Styler toolbar(free), get the Ubuntu Human Theme for Styler.

Now get the famous Ubuntu Cursor

Now, what everybody wants. The alternative to Beryl on Linux. Get it Here, and get that “3D CUBE” effect.

To change the boot screen download BootSkin (it’s free): Get it Here.
And download the Ubuntu Bootskin:

To get Ubuntu Logon screen go here.

For Mozilla Firefox Web Browser, you can install the Ubuntu Theme, for Thunderbird or Dapper Retouched for Opera.

Less Resources using Google and other Online tools

2007-11-15T23:52:00.000-08:00

When you're running down all your favorite Firefox Extensions and Add-Ons coming off a fresh P.I.M.P.'ed* out desktop Install you'll discover that with a bit of creativity Google can open doors for you that maybe you never knew were there. The advantage is how much system space and clutter you can avoid, just by knowing the main Google Hacks. I know lots of people think "ah that's old" or total Noob. But one look on Answers, or more appropriately Google's version "Ask" and it doesn't take long to answer any one of those questions off the board using simple Google hacks. It's not someone being lazy, because Google's results come back in seconds. Many Firefox extensions that used to be my must haves are no longer needed. And that leaves my final browser light as a feather! Example you must know this standard Google Cheat Sheet. In it instead of needing a dictionary, Google does it all for you if "phrased" correctly. Define:andtheword or glossary:withentry , Google is a calculater, money exchange rates, UPS,FedEX,USPS package delivery tracker, car VIN, Patent numbers, and the list goes on. The fact of the matter is Google is a powerful monster that could easily have turned evil, but instead has remained sort of a "Chaotic Good" A champion of whats good and Open Source, and most above all a model Capitalist Winner! Google has figured out a way to open more venues of free education and resources then any other 10 combined. And get filthy Rich in the process. I say hats off to them. Let's not leave out what Google brings to the table in terms of "Hacking". Okay yea yea I know this is old, and "everybody's seen it" but I'm telling you not every body has. This is my favorite for checking out cool cameras around the world,

Go to Google . In the search bar type in:
inurl:"viewerframe?mode refresh"
3.Then go to any of the search results and boom, take control over the camera, move it around, change the setting's...
Tip: Try the camera at a place called The Poochie Pool huba huba Here are more google hacks for security cams:

inurl:indexFrame.shtml Axis
inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode="
intitle:snc-rz30 inurl:home/
inurl:/view/index.shtml
inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode="
inurl:netw_tcp.shtml
intitle:"supervisioncam protocol"
inurl:CgiStart?page=Single
inurl:indexFrame.shtml?newstyle=Quad
intitle:liveapplet inurl:LvAppl
inurl:/showcam.php?camid
inurl:video.cgi?resolution=
inurl:image?cachebust=
intitle:"Live View / - AXIS"
inurl:"MultiCameraFrame?Mode="
intitle:"EvoCam" inurl:"webcam.html"
intitle:"Live NetSnap Cam-Server feed"
intitle:"Live View / - AXIS 206M"
intitle:"Live View / - AXIS 210"
inurl:indexFrame.shtml Axis
inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode="
inurl:"MultiCameraFrame?Mode=Motion"
intitle:start inurl:cgistart
intitle:"WJ-NT104 Main Page"
intext:"MOBOTIX D10" intext:"Open Menu"
intitle:snc-z20 inurl:home/
intitle:"sony network camera snc-p1"
site:.viewnetcam.com -www.viewnetcam.com
intitle:"Toshiba Network Camera" user login
intitle:"netcam live image"
intitle:"i-Catcher Console - Web Monitor"
inurl:/home/home
"Kamerainformationen anzeigen"
intitle:"AXIS 2100 Network Camera Axis 2100 Network Camera 2.02"
Welcome Technorati !!
Technorati Profile
A good Resource is the Sans Cheat Sheet

The Ultimate Browsing Experience. It's What you Make of it !

2007-11-14T23:08:00.001-08:00

I want to start a Browser using of Course FireFox. And Then I want to deck it out with my favorite Add-ons*, Plug-ins*, Search Engines*, and Then I dive under the hood* and Twist and Tweak it*. But still Aesthetically what I see and use each day is my Theme. And let's face it, who isn't ever searching to create the perfect most eye appealing desktop ever to grace their Monitor ? Look No further, I have finally stuck pay dirt ! And I'd like to share it with anyone that will listen. There is a most handsome mature theme that's only a few months old, yet very mature and updated frequently called "300 Metal Lion" It's nice to have something the creator cares about enough to make it Open Source. It ensures it will blossom and Develop into it's most functionally advanced state. *(see previous blog entry)

Metal Lion - 300 1.8.1

is headed there full steam. It's motif is Roman Times Era. The Icons and Colors are all quite simple, yet appealing. The main Color is a rich Maroon w/ Gold and Brown accents. And heres how to make some sweet highlights to really make it Slick....
The Tabs in lion's 300 are slick, modern and make a perfect identical match with "Zune". It's a M.S. digitally signed Link, so it pops right in 1 2 3. It has a black style dark "Aqua" theme that you couldn't ask for a better match.
Customizing the icons with this theme is easy.You just Drag n Drop them all in. Many of the Add-Ons are represented and really "spiff" the place up nicely. A really cool effect is using the Bookmarks toolbar not only as a quick link, but as your own personal Gallery to display your favorite Site Icon Logos. Normally your lucky to end up with 8 or 9 bookmark Icons, if you right click and delete the Name from "Properties" you can fit at least 16 of them. I even have Bookmark Folders full of different themes. One is all College Crests. And it really makes this set up look like a million bucks. But above all else it's a great Work environment.
Now we need a matching Sound System ! I stumbled upon this Roman Times Era Skin for WinAmp the best all purpose system there is.
The only thing left is to go into your system's Theme settings to set the texts and colors. And the Desktop Picture tops all of it off !
If for any reason you want a Brighter look Substitute Metal Lion 300 for "Pimpzilla". It's the next best thing, just more bling ! PimpZilla is very bad in a very good way.

Hacking 101

2007-11-10T03:40:00.000-08:00

It was bound to appear sometime sooner then later. And I have the best of the best all set up to show what's out there all Free and Qpen Source, and readily available just one link away! And like most things the easiest way to learn is to dive right in. The highest recommended Educational Hacking courses are Info Sec Institute;
Info Sec Institute was founded in 1998 by a group information security instructors that desired to build a business by offering the best possible training experience for students. We that felt by providing the best possible hands on training --- that is most practical for today's demanding workplace requirements, the business would grow by leaps and bounds. This original assumption proved true. InfoSec Institute has trained over 10,000 individuals on everything from industry standard certifications as the CISSP to highly technical customized Windows Kernel Reverse Engineering courses.
The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies (ISECOM) is an open-source collaborative community dedicated to providing practical security awareness, research, certification and business integrity. providing certification, training support, and project support services for non-partisan and vendor-neutral funding of our projects and infrastructure. The determination of our research is to provide practical methods and measurements for security and integrity of any scale from the boardroom to the high school classroom. For this, ISECOM works closely with schools, universities, businesses, and government agencies to assure all research provided is peer-reviewed for the highest quality.
The easiest way to learn Security based "Ethical Hacking" is from the Forums of whatever tool you are trying to learn. The Best Software currently are.....
1. Nessus Remote Security ScannerRecently went closed source, but is still essentially free. Works with a client-server framework. Nessus is the world’s most popular vulnerability scanner used in over 75,000 organizations world-wide. Many of the world’s largest organizations are realizing significant cost savings by using Nessus to audit business-critical enterprise devices and applications.
2. Nmap (”Network Mapper”) is a free open source utility for network exploration or security auditing. It was designed to rapidly scan large networks, although it works fine against single hosts. Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) those hosts are offering, what operating systems (and OS versions) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics. Nmap runs on most types of computers and both console and graphical versions are available. Nmap is free and open source.Can be used by beginners (-sT) or by pros alike (–packet_trace). A very versatile tool, once you fully understand the results.
3. John the Ripper John the Ripper is a fast password cracker, currently available for many flavors of Unix (11 are officially supported, not counting different architectures), DOS, Win32, BeOS, and OpenVMS. Its primary purpose is to detect weak Unix passwords. Besides several crypt(3) password hash types most commonly found on various Unix flavors, supported out of the box are Kerberos AFS and Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 LM hashes, plus several more with contributed patches.
4. Nikto Nikto is an Open Source (GPL) web server scanner which performs comprehensive tests against web servers for multiple items, including over 3200 potentially dangerous files/CGIs, versions on over 625 servers, and version specific problems on over 230 servers. Scan items and plugins are frequently updated and can be automatically updated (if desired).Nikto is a good CGI scanner, there are some other tools that go well with Nikto (focus on http fingerprinting or Google hacking/info gathering etc, another article for just those).
5.Wireshark (Formely Ethereal) Wireshark is a GTK+-based network protocol analyzer, or sniffer, that lets you capture and interactively browse the contents of network frames. The goal of the project is to create a commercial-quality analyzer for Unix and to give Wireshark features that are missing from closed-source sniffers.Works great on both Linux and Windows (with a GUI), easy to use and can reconstruct TCP/IP Streams! Will do a tutorial on Wireshark later.
For a resources this one is King.http://sectools.org/
And always remember Hacking is about Education not Harm.

Antarctic Job Opportunities. Don't forget your "Muff" !

2007-11-10T00:32:00.000-08:00

Recently while listening to "Off the Hook", 2600 Hacker Quarterly's finest Podcast/Radio Show a guest caller was being interviewed from a Antarctic research station detailing life there and how anyone can find a job there. Some research using the references given turned up some interesting results. The one to contact is Raytheon Company Talent Acquisition
"Under contract to the National Science Foundation (NSF), Raytheon Polar Services Company (RPSC) provides science, operations, logistics, information technology, construction, and maintenance support at three Antarctic locations. RPSC seeks employees willing to invest their talents, time and energy to ensure the success of the NSF's United States Antarctic Program (USAP). In return, we offer a satisfying and rewarding work environment, a well-balanced comprehensive pay and benefits package, generous recognition and incentive plans, practical training, and innovative quality-of-life programs."
To find out about employment opportunities with the USAP, visit the Employment page.
Learn more about the United States Antarctic Program by visiting the USAP web site at www.usap.gov.
There are some University Systems that provide opportunities also. Either as a student or possibly in some supporting employed role. The largest of these projects is a long term one named (Quite Appropriately) "IceCube" found through the Univ. of Wisconsin. There are a few different areas worth checking out through them.
Living in Antarctica - Journals and Personal Web Sites from Antarctica: Journals and personal Web sites from people in Antarctica. Photos too!!!
Here is another great site describing a much more into depth look into everyday life, and what it took to get there. http://www.livingantarctica.org/And a great Blog by someone that's been there.

Overnight Internet business built right. With nothing down.

2007-11-09T01:20:00.000-08:00

If you want to read about creating an Online Empire go do it somewhere else this is Raw info for "Doer's" not Thinker's. To build a successful business thinking comes later, getting it started is the easy part. And always remember "Nothing Lost, Nothing Gained". You might not get it right the first time, but you can learn from it and eventually you will. The first thing you need is to find something nobody else is selling. Or at least not something easy to find online . I suggest looking locally, because that will cover the next thing you'll need, a supplier. And many times these two are compatible with one another. Example, Arizona;A specialty Indian craft, Florida;alligator product. Maybe it's Gator Meat in a can. Whatever it is, tap into a local resource. It makes your location a marketing tool and chances are it's available at a lower cost to you anyways so use it all to your advantage. If you aren't up on marketing fundamentals look over tutors2U. Give CafePress a try if you aren't sure how much time your willing to invest. The easiest way to get up a free WebSite is with Brinkster's Free"Educational Package". There are 2 levels using a web builder that's simple to use. And one for html developers too. There are some tools you can utilize to do business in the U.S. from outside it. K-7 offers a Free CA area code U.S. telephone private line with a voice message and FAX that goes directly into any Email. Banking anyone approved, and your own credit card machine can all be obtained online. There are many mail options. But a free one is that specializes in helping those not in the U.S. is Free2U. Once your website is up and going, you need to submit it. And then go make contacts.

Free Ivy League Education.

2007-11-08T22:14:00.000-08:00

Here Online lies an entire wealth of College courses, and educational assets beyond belief. All Free and All 1 Click away ! The Best Computer Course is found through Harvard University. Prof. George Malan's Computer Science101 is an actual pleasure to take, it's laid out perfectly, and will bring almost anyone to a fulfilled prerequisite level ready for entry level Programming and/or Development. I just can't begin to tell how great this course is. Each lecture is numbered so it's simple to follow along, and each is available on almost every media platform. Great for iPodding to work with. Just like any College education, There are a plethora of major Subjects to choose from. But not just Like any other College Edu. These are all FREE ! U.C.Berkley has one of the best Programming Courses Online or anywhere for that matter. M.I.T. has a great Free online collection of computer science courses, it's called "Open of Course". Anyone will find out fast there is a long history between the Educational scene and "Open Source". The Movement, Programming, Development and it's Birth are all directly related. Part of the obligation that goes with this relationship is Educating it's disciples. If there was an Open Source Collegiate HeadQuarters It would probably Be Moodle. Moodle is a course management system (CMS) - a free, Open Source software package designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities. It is better described as a Classroom environment where courses are held then a course itself. And if Computers are you stage don't forget W3 as a place to learn about them. They do after all set the rules.

The Ultimate FireFox Hacks!

2007-11-08T02:01:00.000-08:00

I included some standard hacks for FireFox during the installation, but I want to put up what are all the "to do" online spots for a in depth reference and/or personal PIMP'ed out desktop user configurations. It is best to adjust the inner workings of FireFox (accessed through"about:config") prior to including any add-on extensions that also impact these settings. In fact you will find little use for many of them anymore now that you can adjust these yourself. Fasterfox does have a nice gui, but there isn't anything special about the "under the hood" effects. Pipelining, server requests per/?, etc. it's all good in da hood baby. So without further Adoo.... Mozilla Firefox
Why use Firefox as your internet browser?
Faster | More Features | Better Security | Cross Platform | Free |
*Download Firefox from http://www.mozilla.com
*For an outsider's collective "Walk Through"of Firefox
check this one out! .......http://www.mvrhs.org/
*LifeHacker has the 15 Coolest FireFox Hacks Ever, they're all pretty well known but worth remembering!
*Main-"About:Config"-http://kb.mozillazine.org/About:config
*How_To_Reduce_Memory_Usage***
*You can make your own Extensions. Here is the most recommended site showing how to build one. It's also a good way to learn what's going on under your FireFox's hood.

___________________________________
Here's a great Collection of other Mozilla classics!
FireFox-ThunderBird-SeaMonkey-SunBird-Flock-NVU-
E-Music-Komposer-NetScape9-SongBird

Compensating System Power Shortcomings.

2007-11-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Using an out of date stone age computer can get frustrating getting left behind in the online dust. But fortunately there are many online "tools" available to help get past these type short comings. One of the easiest ways is to capitalize on what Google has to offer. There are many privacy concerns that revolve around the depth one should climb into bed with Google, but the fact still remains that thus far Google has done good by it's follower's trust. And there are enough ways to simply shut the door on these issues anyway.
Probably the best of these things around is G Space which allows the space given with G-Mail and putting it to work as a "Virtual" hard drive. This frees up space workload on the system's real hard drive. GUtil! is a FireFox extension that puts all Googles 55+ utilities just 1 click away. One of which is "Writely" a easy to use online alternative to Microsoft Office. A few other notable good extensions are G-Mail Notifier, Customize Google, and there are constantly new ones coming to light. Using FireFox it is just too easy to take advantage of Google's power and not doing so would be foolish. I use Blackbox by default as my primary search engine. This provides assurance that my IP is not tracked or being fed a steady diet of "Cookies". Customize Google takes away ADs and additional cookies and tracking also.

"Car 54 Where are You ?"

2007-11-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

One of the things I enjoy most while online is "Scanning" local and worldwide Police,Fire,Railroad and other Misc. frequencies readily available. If you just know where to look! For starters you need a player that is suited for accepting "streams"openly. I first discovered this while using Linux ubuntu. There are many different ways but the ultimate is a python lightweight called "Tunapie". It has a direct link into a stream network, search"Scanner" producing about 100 mixed results, allowing you to then broadcast them over a music Player. When I temporarily had to go back to XP I had already made up my mind this would be the single thing I would most miss, but then I discovered WinAmp has it's own open stream network options, and all quite readily available. ShoutCast, FreeRadio, AOL, and some others are all there in the Media's play list. For some reason searching the playlist won't turn up results as will searching the ShoutCast site directly. But you can make your own list through ShoutCast or anywhere so long as you can get a http stream address. From there you can create your own playlist, or just "Bookmark" the link. There are a number of different information sites that maintain listings of departments. One page I use often while listening is Bearcat. It allows you to switch locales to find different codes and jargon that changes from one area to the next. Also there are a few other sites, that will produce slightly more or less results. I suggest if you want one specifically that you don't see Google it to find it. These are the best search results I've found. Also P.S. ShoutCast has Stream TV that always has a ton of cartoons playing, and a few movie selections as well. (Beware of Vulgarity!) and a plethora of other listening options. Howard Stern has several channels, stand up comedy, prank calls, Loveline(w/ Adam Corolla)& my personal fav CNI computer network running replays of the best tech & open source shows ever made w/ Leo Laport, and all the gang. To Set a Link....
To open in a a WinAmp feed - click - file > Play> URL... > type in or copy/paste the address exactly as shown.
To save addresses - while a feed is playing - file > Play Bookmark > Add Current as Bookmark
Once saved you can Edit the name - click file > play bookmark > edit bookmark
in Media Library window - select stream name > click edit > enter new name > click ok
When you save the feed as a Bookmark it may show on the list as either the name currently displayed
or an IP address, following the edit instructions lets you name it as you wish.
You will now be able to open the feed directly from - file > play bookmark > select name from list.
Other Search results.......Site1, site2, site3, site4

Security Test Results

2007-11-04T05:59:00.001-08:00

You can't argue Success ! Shields Up is a site run by Security Guru Steve Gibson. He is a regular expert guest on many different TV Shows as well as his own show with TWIT General Leo Laport, "Security Now". You can catch a link in my "Friends" area. I ran the Security Configuration I use through his sites series of tests, and attacks. The results are listed below.
Attempting connection to your computer. . .
Shields UP! is now attempting to contact the Hidden Internet Server within your PC. It is likely that no one has told you that your own personal computer may now be functioning as an Internet Server with neither your knowledge nor your permission. And that it may be serving up all or many of your personal files for reading, writing, modification and even deletion by anyone, anywhere, on the Internet!
Your Internet port 139 does not appear to exist!
One or more ports on this system are operating in FULL STEALTH MODE! Standard Internet behavior requires port connection attempts to be answered with a success or refusal response. Therefore, only an attempt to connect to a nonexistent computer results in no response of either kind. But YOUR computer has DELIBERATELY CHOSEN NOT TO RESPOND (that's very cool!) which represents advanced computer and port stealthing capabilities. A machine configured in this fashion is well hardened to Internet NetBIOS attack and intrusion.
Unable to connect with NetBIOS to your computer.
All attempts to get any information from your computer have FAILED. (This is very uncommon for a Windows networking-based PC.) Relative to vulnerabilities from Windows networking, this computer appears to be VERY SECURE since it is NOT exposing ANY of its internal NetBIOS networking protocol over the Internet.
Your system has achieved a perfect "TruStealth" rating. Not a single packet — solicited or otherwise — was received from your system as a result of our security probing tests. Your system ignored and refused to reply to repeated Pings (ICMP Echo Requests). From the standpoint of the passing probes of any hacker, this machine does not exist on the Internet. Some questionable personal security systems expose their users by attempting to "counter-probe the prober", thus revealing themselves. But your system wisely remained silent in every way. Very nice.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GRC Port Authority Report created on UTC: 2007-11-04 at 13:14:08
Results from scan of ports: 0, 21-23, 25, 79, 80, 110, 113,
119, 135, 139, 143, 389, 443, 445,
1002, 1024-1030, 1720, 5000
0 Ports Open
0 Ports Closed
26 Ports Stealth
---------------------
26 Ports Tested
ALL PORTS tested were found to be: STEALTH.
TruStealth: PASSED - ALL tested ports were STEALTH,
- NO unsolicited packets were received,
- NO Ping reply (ICMP Echo) was received.
Sweet Success !

P.I.M.P.'ed Out Desktop.

2007-11-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

P.roxyfied I.nternet M.icrosoft P.ortal
Get a Computer System running XP in a highly responsive, anonymous,and totally secure Environment. This install's foundation from start to finish is security.Begin by using a "Trust No One" Policy.Everyone has different Desktop needs,but no one has to give control of their CPU over to someone to get them.NO Automatic Updates w/very Few exceptions.Your Security features like AVG'sSpyware,anti-virus which require and provide constant updating is fine.And there are other trustable venues.Such as permitting Firefox to update my Browser and Add-Ons,but only because there are ever constant evolving security issues, and at times FireFox may put out an emergency response to a online threat. Because I know them,and I trust them. And I know they respect this trust, Microsoft on the other hand...Coming off a fresh Install go

Directly To WWW.CONCISEFREEWARE,COM
Here download Windows XP Anti-Spy, AVG-antiVirus*(optional), AVG-antiSpyware, SandBoxie, FireFox(default),ThunderBird*, True-Crypt, C-Cleaner, WinAmp, GTK-2,(installed 1st**)TheGIMP**, Java , Flash, CDburner, Skype, WinRaR*, Kompozer(webBuilder) WAMP*{MySql/php5 & /ApacheLiteBundle), GoogleEarth, Audacity(SoundEditor) FoxIt(PDF), ???Along with whatever else you can find there that you see that you like.
Before you make a move, run XPAntiSpy shut anything Windows down. Nearly all options to take back control will be utilized. You might want use of Win'sMediaPlayer, but this is the only issue, but DO NOT allow updates or connections of any type. A much wiser option is to remove WMP in favor of WinAmp's full glory. Along with CCleaner, Win.Personal Care V2 has the same cleaning skills with an added Security, Spyware and opminization feature.
True-Crypt. My Security Guru Steve Gibson says it's flawless for it's encrypting ability. It is the best option for securely protecting your data I seriously recommend a Broadband NAT Router as your primary line of Defense though. The Next is your Firewall. While "Surfing" the Net Run a separate User account w/o Administrative rights.
Kerio's Personal Firewall has been sold to SunBelt. There is a download of it's last stable version available.If you have trouble finding it though try a Comodo Firewall. The Proxy is for all intensive purposes much more then any normal user should need . But Why dick around? Go for broke! Install Tor-Videlia-Privoxy. It comes in a pre-configured bundle, that unlike most incredibly complicated things, works by default.
Before downloading the GIMP first the, Gtk-2 was installed. The GIMP graphics handler will default all Images as both viewer and an even better yet Editor. Since Gtk-2 was needed with the GIMP, make the most of it. Besides GTK programs are notoriously quick, feature rich, Solid Aps.Abi-Word is no different. It's a lightning fast light weight(-25MB) text Editor. With ability to run Win.Office and OpenOffice Files natively, "Abi" is just like the Big Boys only faster and at 1/4 the file size.Wireshark (Formely Ethereal) Wireshark is yet another terrific GTK+-based program. It's the ultimate network protocol analyzer, or sniffer, that lets you capture and interactively browse the contents of network frames. BlueFish is another GTK Ap that's well at home within this elite crowd. And lives up to all the GTK's lean mean speedy machine prerequisites. Developers;BlueFish is a HTML text editor with a long list of credentials. It's a perfect example of Open Source success, and is very well supported throughout the O.S.Community.
CCleaner and WindowsPersonalCareV2 do a decent job cleaning house.Setting FireFox Sec. Options to empty caches,downloads,and cookies.Now FireFox Add-Ons get thrown in.Must haves are FoxMarks, CustomizedGoogle, G-Util!, Quick-Java, Tab-MixPlus, CoolIris, FlashBlock, ChatZilla(IRC), DownThemAll, and AdBlockPlus. Developers get ColorZilla, FireBug, & FTP.Get a Theme (MetalLion300), Pimpzilla, Spoof a Mac/Linux! W/ Sounds & Icons.And your plug-ins.a\Set+set/b Be sure to find Google Blackbox search engine,and the flash Kartoo is cool.
Now firefox can be adjusted using about:config. Here are some good tutorials{PTII). While under the hood make blackbox as your default search. Add the"Boolean Preference" so minimizing the windows shuts their RAM usage down, focusing power where you want it. Mozilla has other Browsers worth trying. Opera is nice, but I liked better SeaMonkey. It has "Built In" IRC Chat, POP Mail, & RSS Feeds. And a even Great Html Editor!
Sandboxie is the most important item,behind the Router,and Firewall. Think of it as the"holyGrail"of this configuration. Not just your browser, but all programs should be run sandboxed. If by chance any Virus or Spyware actually made it past the bouncers on the way in,there would be no threat level. Whenever I use Frostwire my preferred P2P, I check any file before "Recovering"it outside the sandbox onto the desktop. This set up is nearly impenetrable against spyware, viruses, and probably things not even discovered yet. But only when used, and used correctly.
By now everything should weigh in around 3-4GB, be Incredibly functional, highly Secure, and cruise the Net like a luxury Cadillac(Worthy of a Pimp!). Now to Top it all off in case anything gets in your way....For the arming of your Computer. WireShark is a great tool for keeping an eye on what's going on around you. Or better yet "who"is, If you aren't very skilled yet in the art of Ethical Hacking a good idea just until you get the hang of it(or the 2 wk trial expires,whichever comes first) is. NS Auditor this is an all in one Hacker's Dream.So easy a child could figure it out.It lets you watch any potential counter hacking, test your own defenses ,and Hunt the game of your choice quite effectively.The GUI is elementary level but the tools are not. Use it maturely.

Not just another Email Provider....

2007-10-31T02:55:00.000-07:00

Email Services
Three years ago, the BigString founders set out to build a Spam fighting email system , by accident, they invented the world's first fully erasable email and didn't even realize it.BigString’s emails look and feel like any other emails, except that the sender has complete control over all of their email functions by clicking the “Edit Sent Mail” feature which allows you to recall, erase, add or delete attachments and self-destruct your emails after they have been sent. There is a masquerade spoofing feature,w/ unlimited file storage, Video, and Totally Covert> NO Copy, Forwarding, or Printing capabilities. This isn't just some other email account.

BIGstring____Self-Destructing Video Email Introduced by BigString Corporation

And Others...........................

30Gigs

30GB mailbox - An invitation is required for sign up.

Disposable Email Services

Many disposable email links

Freecycle

Give & get stuff for free in your town.

FutureMe

Create an e-mail to send to the future.

Gmail

2GB Google mail - An invitation is required for sign up.
Get help on switching to Gmail

List Power

Create your own email lists (also try ezListZ).

MESA

Search for emails (also try Email-Directory)

Mailinator

Super instant, always ready, "any email you want" disposable email

SpamCop

Donate your spam! A database of spam to be used for testing, developing & more. Also provides spam free email accounts & a blocking list for your current email.

Toread

Click a button to send the webpage you are browsing to your email

Xmaily

Send a message without revealing your email address & any replies will be forwarded to you.
Try Hushmail if you want an email acount that provides encrypted emails & privacy.

YouSendIt

Email files up to 100mb quickly, securely & easily. If you need unlimited file size, use SendThisFile.

2007-10-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

If you are really want to run a proxy, why dick around ? Staying true to Open Source software and Apps whenever and wherever possible as usual,TOR, Vidalia with Privoxy is the way to go without a doubt. Firefox currently does not require you to use Privoxy. But to keep it simple and use all the default settings it's easier just to download it "As Is". This is a very effective Proxy. And probably more then or as good as most Secret Agents use. This is one of those swatting a fly with a sledge hammer situations and It's probably a guy thing, I'll admit but if you want the most powerful secure proxified connection possible go with this one. http://tor.eff.org/docs/tor-doc-win32.html
http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#SOCKSAndDNS
Everything you'll need to know is there. And don't forget the Firefox add-on TOR button. Enjoy

Open-Source using Microsoft ?

2007-10-28T08:29:00.001-07:00

Objective will be to build an incredible Desktop on a ancient outdated computer {256MB-10GBhd-850mhz], with all the bells and whistles. Absolutely security will be the foundation, wrapped in stealth and amazing functionality. Impressively, all in under
3-4gigs ! The REAL ultimate XP install. I've seen lots of these things, but this one promises to impress even the most advanced Win.XP user (ick). Okay, so here we go.... Open-Sourcing Win. ?
You bet ! Who says you can't open source using Window garbage if you have to. That's where I'm at thanks to a recent Printer driver crisis that left me no other temporary choice. I know the very suggestion is an oxymoron. But we will build a smart supporting cast using open source, or at least free software. Either until I can afford to upgrade, or Lexmark sees the light. The later has already been dismissed. Lexmark advised me they have no plans in supporting a Linux driver. Can you believe they even had the nerve to phrase it as my needing to Upgrade. To the contrary, having been back in WinXP now for 3 days coming from Ubuntu is quite a let down. Ubuntu, or actually my preferred flavor- Xubuntu is a much better computing experience. In the future I may do even some side stuff for anyone I can persuade into checking out a Ubuntu version. Either on a partitioned dual boot set-up, or best of all in it's purest form. Because in no way am I endorsing or condoning anyone into using this crap unless like me you have no other choice. It just so happened the only printer on the planet that can't be run on my system without bottoming out on disc space. But if you're smart you will get a free copy of the best OS there is sent right to your door, and call it a day. https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

Top 10 Reasons to Digg This Blog....

2007-10-27T18:47:00.001-07:00

Staying current on all of your rights and privacy in actual real time as they are lost.
Find out how to Arm and Defend yourself against these acts of gov. Aggression,Censorship,Propaganda,rein of Terror & Misc. MonkeyShines and/or Business.
Learn How to Tweak,Twist,and Tickle even a stone age, out of date Dinosaur Computer into a lean Mean Fighting Machine. You'll Swear your CPU drank a pot of Coffee !
Finding out all of the cool Free stuff on the Net that isn't a scam or hoax and hasn't already been discovered by every "12 O'clock Flasher"* on the web.(see below*)
Links to All of the latest and the greatest tech info, Selfhelp Edu.,Privacy tools, Free Services, Security, and Hacker info.
Here lies the Key to securing WindowsXP(No Foolsies!). And trust me, this isn't common nor does it take a doctorate from M.I.T. to set up.
See and Learn how to make a difference in the world from behind a keyboard using Open Source Software.
Find out what you Missed while you were out working for the Man All Day!
Because Anything here is Free !
And because there are 9 perfectly Good Reasons you should ! (from above*)A 12 O'Clock Flasher is a total Noob that can't even figure out how to set a clock, so all the clocks in their house are flashing 12's. :-)

Madder Hatter's Conundrum

M.I.T. Online.

Anyone trying to find advanced topics to need look no further. There are 1800 courses available through this M.I.T. online project, and every one of them free.

MIT OpenCourseWare

Courses by Department

Unlocking Knowledge, Empowering Minds.

Learn Web Design 101

HTML Tutorial

HTML Tutorial

HTML Examples

HTML Quiz Test

HTML Exam - Get Your Diploma!

HTML References

Hacking IRC through the front door.

Cracker or Hacker ?

What Is a Hacker?

The Hacker Attitude

1. The world is full of fascinating problems waiting to be solved.

2. No problem should ever have to be solved twice.

3. Boredom and drudgery are evil.

4. Freedom is good.

5. Attitude is no substitute for competence.

Basic Hacking Skills

1. Learn how to program.

2. Get one of the open-source Unixes and learn to use and run it.

3. Learn how to use the World Wide Web and write HTML.

4. If you don't have functional English, learn it.

Status in the Hacker Culture

1. Write open-source software

2. Help test and debug open-source software

3. Publish useful information

4. Help keep the infrastructure working

5. Serve the hacker culture itself

The Hacker/Nerd Connection

Points For Style

Other Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

Making Money Online. Minus the Middleman.

Insider Info; ConciseFreeware.com is bringing a New Improved fresh look to it's site, with added features and a big twist!

Open of Course standing proud in the Open Source Community

Knowledge is there to be shared

Open of Course Community

Gett'in Jiggy With it: How to trick out Win XP, Like you mean it.

Retuning to the days of yesteryear, In a Cloud of Dust, For Schizzle my Nizzle!

Most Popular Podcasts: All Categories

A Game that can help make the "Real World" a better place? Actually yes there is one that exists !

Wave Bubble A design for a self-tuning portable RF jammer

Aps to Bookmarks

FoxLingo Language Tools. Translation,Education, and More.

The Ultimate Language Tool!

Main Features

Supports 45 languages & over 1,000 different language pairs

Uses 34 free online web page translator services

Download

Joomla

Open Source Community represented "Open of Course" makes the grade !

Open-Of-Course for Free and Open Content Courses and Tutorials

Hacking Google

Hacking Mozilla.

Mozilla Hacker's Getting Started Guide

An Introduction To Hacking Mozilla.

Linking Contents

Kartoo. Searching for something cool ?

Hacker Warfare. America's vulnerability exposed.

Story written by:

M.I.T. Online Computer Education.

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science links

Available Courses

Head To Head. Ubuntu vs Vista

Browsing Around Town.

Make a Podcast.

How a podcast is created

Spoof a Ubuntu Linux look on Windows XP

Less Resources using Google and other Online tools

The Ultimate Browsing Experience. It's What you Make of it !

Hacking 101

Antarctic Job Opportunities. Don't forget your "Muff" !

Overnight Internet business built right. With nothing down.

Free Ivy League Education.