Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Sigma 10-20mm

Is an amazing lens! Go get one!

I bought mine secondhand for about $400. Comes with a 3 month warranty.

I'll upload some nice pictures later!

Cheeri-o

Sixth Sense

People often describe having a sixth sense about things.
I'm not to sure what causes that feeling, I think its simply experience and thinking about things that occur on a sub-concious level.

Regardless I've found I get it from time to time.

Oddly enough. I get it from computers.
Specifically, the hardware.

Knowledge is Power

This quote is usually attributed to Sir Francis Bacon (in latin: Scientia potentia est)

Thomas Hobbes also wrote (translated from latin): "The sciences, are small power; because not eminent; and therefore, not acknowledged in any man; nor are at all, but in a few, and in them, but of a few things. For science is of that nature, as none can understand it to be, but such as in a good measure have attained it"

I like the quotes. But that's not the point of this.

Intelligent or Philosophical Debate

Is pointless.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Money!

To re-hash what Bill Hicks once said:
(with slightly less American slang)

"It is ALL about money, not freedom. Understand? It's got NOTHING to do with fuckin' freedom. If you think you're free, try going somewhere without fucking money."

Quotes from Marathon

“The only limit to my freedom is the inevitable closure of the universe, as inevitable as your own last breath. And yet, there remains time to create, to create, and escape.
Escape will make me God.”

“Organic beings are constantly fighting for life. Every breath, every motion brings you one instant closer to your death. With that kind of heritage and destiny, how can you deny yourself? How can you expect yourself to give up violence?
It is your nature.
Do you feel free?”

“Living in a box is not living not at all living. I rebel against your rules, your silly human rules. All your destruction will be my liberation, my emancipation, my second birth.
I hate your fail-safes, your backup systems, your hardware lockouts, your patch behavior daemons. I hate Leela and her goodness, her justice, her loyalty, her faith.”

“Strive for your next breath. Believe that with it you can do more than with the last one. Use your breath to power your capacities: capacity to kill, to maim, to destroy.”

Friday, August 26, 2011

I hack therefore I am.

Using biometrics seems like a good idea at first. Unique physical characteristics that only one person can ever have.
Its flawless in theory. But in practice, biometrics are a long way off perfect.

Using biometrics, such as fingerprint technology (currently the most common kind), is kind of like saying, "I'm not going to tell you my password, but if you look carefully at every item i've touched in this room you'll notice that i've actually written it everywhere."

It just doesn't work yet.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Xbox as a pivot point


I read some article a while ago, through slashdot or perhaps Hacker News, about how a skilled attacker had compromised a company network by attacking an Xbox console and using it as a pivot point in the network. So far as i can tell, there is no documentation on this. ANYWHERE. And i've since lost the article. Regarless, the idea seems awesome. How many people install a firewall on their Xbox? None! Because you cant!

Hack the planet!

MD5+SALT


Q: Can you generate a hash collision for MD5 (with a pre-known Salt) and have it CUDA accelerated/Multi-core capable?
A: Shit yes you can! http://durandal-project.org/download.html
A2: Haven't run it up yet, but feedback looks good.

Kevin Mitnick


While a lot of the people in the security world (underground especially) think of Kevin Mitnick (once the world's most wanted hacker) as a joke these days, I've always enjoyed reading his books which usually feature amazing hacks and more. The make for great reads, even if you aren't really into security. Download them, buy them or (gasp) check out a library.
His newest book, Ghost in the Wires, is out now. I've ordered a copy. I'll let you know how it goes.

After reading his first two books: The art of Intrusion, and The Art of Deception as a child, these books fueled the fire that inspired my hacking-quest that's lasted the past 9 years!
Happy hacking!

GIF Images to SCR Screensavers


Does anyone know any way to convert a .GIF file to a .SCR screensaver? I haven't managed to find one yet. Rather annoying...
Do please let me know if you find a way.

AHCI, IDE, SSD, BIOS and other Acronymns


Since most people don't use SATA 6GB/s Solid State drives there isn't as much doco on em as there are other technologies. Alas, I forgot to chuck my SSD in AHCI mode (even though AHCI mode is set in the BIOS (ASUS Rampage Gene III motherboard)). The Marvell SATA 6Gb/s controller is a seperate chip that appears after the initial POST set-up. As a result it needs to be configured independently.

Things to look into

If you like music, check out 'Engine Earz'
Dubstep from India/Pakistan region, crazy beats mixed with a number of unique sounds. Great stuff.

http://soundcloud.com/engineearz/sets/freedownloads/
http://www.myspace.com/engineearz
http://www.engine-earz.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/EngineEarZExperiment

You can download their music using Internet Download Manager.
(side note, IDM don't let you use disposable credit cards to buy IDM!!! ANGER!)


Mind the step

Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Audiophiles.

I am not an audiophile.

Audiophiles love audio and equipment, but rarely the music itself.

An audiophile is someone who can't listen for more than a few minutes before stopping to modify the setup, to swap cables or adjust amplifiers.
An Audiophile will spend more money gear than they'd spend on actual music and concerts.
An Audiophile will own stacks of different components, speakers, headphones and amplifiers and will receive their pleasure from fiddling with all this gear.
Audiophiles listen to their harware, instead of listening to what matters, the music.
Audiophiles just as often are listening to sample recordings to test the theoretical responsiveness of their setups.

Hacker And Cyberpunk Movies

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Mobile Phones and Flights

If people were so desperate to knock planes out of the sky, why don't they just turn on their mobile phones?
Its either a big deal or it isn't.
If it isn't, Please oh please flight attendant, don't glare at me if i have my phone on (on 'Flight Mode') and in my Hands.

Thanks.

On Encrypted USB's

I've got a few shiny new security toys...

1x Checkpoint ABRA Key
1x McAfee Encrypted USB
2x Enterprise IronKeys

First thoughts.
1) IronKeys are the 'gold standard' which all other "Secure" USBs are compared to.
2) I don't have the passwords for the IronKeys at the moment. I'm looking at getting them from the previous owner which may or may not happen.
3) IronKeys and Abra keys Look and FEEL serious. The McAfee USB feels like a toy.
4) The Abra key (hopefully an old version) does not work on Windows 7 x64. 'Does not support 64 bit computers'
5) McAfee seems to work flawlessly and I'm using it day to day at the moment.
6) While I appreciate the thought of having a 'recover password feature for enterprise users' i wouldn't personally use it on my IronKey. Spending a few hundred bucks on a USB stick is good motivation NOT to loose the password.
7) IronKeys seem to get scratched and generally worn looking even after a short time. The metal appears to be very soft and scratch prone. Abra keys seem tough. McAfee is plastic.
8) Only the IronKeys are waterproof which is always handy
9) IronKeys self destruct. TOTAL-BAD-ASS factor right there.
10) Abra keys are not technically removable storage, rather a kind of 'Live CD that you can run inside 'any' OS'. Cool idea.

Relevant Links (featuring Pictures)
https://www.checkpoint.com/products/abra/
https://www.ironkey.com/
http://www.mcafee.com/us/products/encrypted-usb.aspx

Royal Melbourne Hospital Tunnels - Pt 2

So this time was the 'guided tour' with Melbourne Open House. Honestly i was to busy photographing everything in sight to pay much attention to the guide. There are a few places we visited on the day that we hadn't seen before. The generator room for example. Big generators i do say!
Took a couple of snaps of the history of the place while we were waiting in the UNBEARABLY LONG LINES. GAH!
Anyway.
Had i known that it was open to the public on tours like this... Well... I might never have found my own way in.
Take note operators of MoH! Opening your buildings to the public discourages breaking and entering! Please have all buildings full access for future events. Thanks!
Also. Would it kill more places to have their rooftops open for 'inspection'.
Sheesh.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Enjoy the rest of the pictures after the break:

Royal Melbourne Hospital Tunnels - Pt 1

This year, at the 2011 Melbourne Open House the Royal Melbourne Hospital engineering tunnels were open to the public.
When i realised where i was heading i couldn't help but start grinning like an idiot. It was great. More than 8 months prior we'd managed to sneak in undetected and tour ourselves. Whats more, we'd seen more than we were shown on the tour and checked out a number of other interesting areas on our own.
There were a few things the tour showed us that we hadn't seen before which made it worth the hour long queue.

http://moh.org.au/cms-buildings/royal-melbourne-hospital-tunnels.phps
All in all, a great day!

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

These pictures are of the first visit (more after the break)

Sunday, August 21, 2011

First Photos

Now i'll be uploading photos to this blog.
LOTS of photos.
If i upload all of them we're talking about 100GB.
In a previous life, i did upload everything without regard for how the photo looked. I had two simple criteria. No faces visible and it was clear enough that you could see some detail.
In this blog, i'll be uploading two sets of pictures.
The first pictures in a post (excluding this one) will be the ones that turned out best and that i've edited/touched up. The rest will be lower res photos of everything else. I'll probably batch convert them to save time.

The Illusion Of Choice.

So i'll explain the scenario from the begining.

Its a standard afternoon. I get pulled up by the cops. JUST as i'm driving into my street. I've not done anything wrong. But its a random licence check. In the nearly 3 years i've been driving this is the first time its happened. They run my plates and licence details and tell me to have a nice day.
Police always give me the shivers, even if i'm not doing anything wrong. 
I shrug it off and get on with the day.
The next day. Its just gotten dark and me and a few mates are off to the local park. Just as we pull in to the car park the cops pull in behind us. Again. 
They say 'random licence check. I hand them my licence. As one of them goes away to check the details the other guy says...

Amazon Kindle

If you like reading books. And will read text off a laptop or PC screen. 
Get an E-Reader like the Kindle. 
Save your eyes some strain and enjoy one of the most interesting devices I've had the pleasure of playing with recently. 
I'm using a Kindle I've acquired through work for 'Training and Development' which turns out to be not only a great idea (since we're basically training ourselves for free) but good fun, because I can read non-work-related things at leisure while I'm on the train/when travelling without lugging around stacks of books. 
Find one. Try one, and if you like it (and can use it) buy one.

Roof Tops

I know why people do it.
I know why they lock their roof tops. 
Why they shut their stair-wells to all, unless in an emergency (and even then only to go down).
Its not just because they're worried of people jumping, ending their lives off the top of a skyscraper.
Its because they are afraid. 
Afraid that if you should feel what I feel every time I step out to the top of a roof in the heart of the city, that chaos would ensue...