Ian's Thoughts

Lose weight the right way

2012-01-02T23:57:00.001-08:00

As a person who once weighed over 250 pounds, and now weighs under 180, I would like to share some weight loss advice with you. This advice was given to me by physicians:

Consult a physician
There may be a medical reason for avoiding a change in diet that only a physician can see, so it's always best to consult a physician before starting any weight loss or exercise program.

Go to bed hungry
Or, eat something small and light. Your metabolism slows down while you sleep.

Never eat unless you're hungry
Many people eat for the wrong reasons; anxiety, stress, depression, etc. The stomach is the body's fuel reservoir and there's no need to stuff more fuel into it if it's already near full.

Never eat to the point of being full
There's a difference in being full and being no longer hungry.

Exercise
Exercise builds muscle and muscle burns calories more efficiently than fat.

Don't give up
Take control, you're in charge. If you want it bad enough then you'll be successful. I weighed 250 pounds at one time and am now under 180.. and still losing.

The diet pill trap
I've seen numerous diet programs which promise weight loss while eating anything and as much as you want. The problem with this is that, while you may lose weight, you're locked into the medication that caused you to lose weight. If you stop taking the weight loss medication without a change in diet or exercise you're going to gain most, if not all, of the lost weight back. The company that makes that weight loss medication can count on you as a permanent source of income because, if you want to maintain the lower weight, you'll have to continue taking the medication. This is what the makers of that medication don't want you to know.

The only real way to lose weight and keep it off is to either decrease your caloric intake or increase your exercise regimen, or both. Dieting to lose weight and then returning to your old eating habits will cause you to return to your old weight because the old eating habits were the reason for the initial weight gain. If you want to keep excess weight off for life you'll need to change your diet and/or exercise regimen for life.

Above all, be happy. Nothing worthwhile comes easy so take pride in the fact that you're working on something that will make you a better person in the end.

Multiple wipes prior to flashing a ROM?

2011-12-31T12:44:00.001-08:00

In the world of Android, performing a full wipe cleans the system to make way for a new ROM. However, I've seen many instances of people recommending three or more successive wipes to "completely clean" the system. I'd like to explain why I feel multiple successive wipes are unnecessary.

If we assume a single wipe is complete and reliable, then successive wipes are not going to be any more complete or reliable than the first. In this assumption successive wipes are a waste of time.

If we assume a single wipe is incomplete and unreliable, the reasoning behind multiple wipes, then successive wipes are going to be just as incomplete and unreliable as the first. In this assumption an incomplete or unreliable method cannot be made complete or reliable by performing the same multiple times.

Let me rephrase this in programming terms:

broken * n != fixed

I've been using computers since around 1980, building computers since around 1995 and began writing software shortly after that.

I've been using Android devices since the release of the HTC g1 and have rooted all of the devices I've owned. My device history includes the HTC g1, Motorola Cliq, Motorola Cliq XT, Samsung Vibrant, Motorola Droid, HTC Hero, HTC EVO 4G and several tablet devices from various manufacturers. I'm also an Android developer and have created my own ROMs. Never have I experienced the failure of a single wipe and never have I been required to wipe more than once.

If you've experienced a situation in which a single wipe was incomplete or unreliable, then the wipe function you used should never again be trusted to perform its job correctly.

Christmas has nothing to do with Christ

2011-12-24T04:18:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked why I, an ordained minister, don't celebrate Christmas. My reply was "Christmas has nothing to do with Christ".

* The origins of most Christmas traditions actually predate the birth of Christ.

* December 25th originated with the ancient "birthday" of the pagan sun god Mithra. Originally a Persian deity related to the Semitic sun god Shamash, Mithra became popularly worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. The Romans combined the worship of this deity with a midwinter celebration of the god Saturn known as the Saturnalia, which began a few days before December 25th. The festival was characterized by gift-giving, feasting and singing, as well as downright debauchery, as the priests of Saturn carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession throughout Roman temples.

* Nineteenth-century German immigrants to the United States were among the first to use a recognizable Christmas tree in this country, so it is often assumed that the Christmas tree hails from the traditions of northern Europe. In fact, it is more authentically a product of much older southern traditions. The Romans, too, decorated their homes and public places with evergreens near the time of the winter solstice. Among the forerunners of today's holiday gifts were strenae, tree branches presented to political and military leaders as tokens of loyalty.

* Kissing under the mistletoe is a holdover from celebrations during the winter solstice. The Celts in pre-Christian England used the plant in religious custom around the second century B.C. The Druids celebrated the start of winter by gathering the mistletoe that grew on sacred oaks and burning it as a sacrifice to their gods. If enemies chanced to meet under a tree that bore mistletoe, they were required to lay down their arms and forget their differences for a day.

* Many know the origins of Christmas traditions and yet justify observing the holiday by saying that the original meanings of these customs are not important now that they're part of such a wonderful family time that's fun for the children. Worship celebrations should follow the weekly and annual days that God chose and on which He expects us to worship Him. Anytime the worship of God is diluted with pagan religious customs, it is no longer pure.

* In the Gospel accounts, there is no record of the date of Christ's birth.
There are hints at the time of year He was born (not in winter), but nowhere in the New Testament does the early Church celebrate a day for the birth of Christ. Instead true followers of Jesus Christ are told to remember Passover, the day of His death. During the days of Jesus' apostles in the first century, the early Christians had no knowledge of Christmas as we know it. But, as a part of the Roman Empire, they may have noted the Roman observance of the Saturnalia while they themselves persisted in celebrating the customary "feasts of the Lord" (listed in Leviticus 23).

Google does not support CarrierIQ

2011-12-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

Eric Schmidt, of Google, states that CarrierIQ is indeed a keylogger that keeps your keystrokes:

"It's a key-logger, and it actually does keep your keystrokes, and we certainly don't work with them and we certainly don't support it,"

Source: Google says does not work with, support Carrier IQ

How to improve Android for everyone

2011-12-08T05:04:00.001-08:00

Why does it take so long for my android phone to receive an update?
Two words.. carrier customizations

Three things need to happen to improve the android experience:
1 Take carriers out of the software upgrade cycle
Software upgrades on all android devices should come directly from Google, without carrier intervention. This will result in faster upgrades without carrier customizations.

2 Take carriers out of the hardware design process
If carriers want to make money they'll sell the devices as offered by Google. This will produce android handsets that last longer because carriers won't be able to limit the included technology just so they can sell us a new handset sooner.

3 Shop for a carrier after handset purchase
This will result in competition between carriers to offer better/cheaper plans and services. A high-end handset loses its appeal if it's placed on low-end services.

I remember back when I was on the Motorola Cliq XT. Motorola kept promising upgrades to the android operating system.. and they kept promising. Meanwhile those of us on the Cliq XT were seeing apps disappear from the android market because developers were dropping support for older versions of android.

After many deadlines passed, Motorola finally told us that upgrading to the latest version of android would be too difficult due to their carrier customizations. This wouldn't have been a problem had we been able to purchase a Cliq XT devoid of carrier customizations.

Secret Software Spying On Millions Of Phones

2011-11-30T07:39:00.001-08:00

Researcher’s Video Shows Secret Software on Millions of Phones Logging Everything

The Android developer who raised the ire of a mobile-phone monitoring company last week is on the attack again, producing a video of how the Carrier IQ software secretly installed on millions of mobile phones reports most everything a user does on a phone.

Though the software is installed on most modern Android, BlackBerry and Nokia phones, Carrier IQ was virtually unknown until 25-year-old Trevor Eckhart of Connecticut analyzed its workings, revealing that the software secretly chronicles a user’s phone experience — ostensibly so carriers and phone manufacturers can do quality control.

But now he’s released a video actually showing the logging of text messages, encrypted web searches and, well, you name it.

Eckhart labeled the software a “rootkit,” and the Mountain View, California-based software maker threatened him with legal action and huge money damages. The Electronic Frontier Foundation came to his side last week, and the company backed off on its threats. The company told Wired.com last week that Carrier IQ’s wares are for “gathering information off the handset to understand the mobile-user experience, where phone calls are dropped, where signal quality is poor, why applications crash and battery life.”

The company denies its software logs keystrokes. Eckhart’s 17-minute video clearly undercuts that claim.

In a Thanksgiving post, we mentioned this software as one of nine reasons to wear a tinfoil hat.

The video shows the software logging Eckhart’s online search of “hello world.” That’s despite Eckhart using the HTTPS version of Google which is supposed to hide searches from those who would want to spy by intercepting the traffic between a user and Google.

Cringe as the video shows the software logging each number as Eckhart fingers the dialer.

“Every button you press in the dialer before you call,” he says on the video, “it already gets sent off to the IQ application.”

From there, the data — including the content of text messages — is sent to Carrier IQ’s servers, in secret.

By the way, it cannot be turned off without rooting the phone and replacing the operating system. And even if you stop paying for wireless service from your carrier and decide to just use Wi-Fi, your device still reports to Carrier IQ.

It’s not even clear what privacy policy covers this. Is it Carrier IQ’s, your carrier’s or your phone manufacturer’s? And, perhaps, most important, is sending your communications to Carrier IQ a violation of the federal government’s ban on wiretapping?

And even more obvious, Eckhart wonders why aren’t mobile-phone customers informed of this rootkit and given a way to opt out?

Source: Researcher’s Video Shows Secret Software on Millions of Phones Logging Everything (includes a video)

Carrier IQ Drops Empty Legal Threat

2011-11-25T07:13:00.001-08:00

Today mobile software company Carrier IQ withdrew (pdf) a bogus legal threat to a security researcher who published an analysis of the company's software, as well as training materials on which he based his research.

Last week, Trevor Eckhart published a detailed article pointing out that Carrier IQ's software logs a great deal of information about users' activities without their knowledge. Attempting to suppress his research, Carrier IQ fired off a baseless cease-and-desist demand (pdf) claiming that Eckhart infringed the company's copyrights and made "false allegations" about their software.

Eckhart reached out to EFF for help, and we helped him push back against the unfounded threat. As EFF explained in a letter (pdf) to Carrier IQ on Monday, Eckhart's research and commentary is protected by fair use and the First Amendment right to free expression.

We're pleased that Eckhart gave us an opportunity to help him fend off this attempt to censor his findings and shut down public discussion about important privacy concerns. We also hope this incident will serve as an example to others who would misuse the law to squelch legitimate research and criticism.

Read the full article at the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Closed Captioned movies in the Android Market

2011-11-24T06:53:00.001-08:00

Google makes accommodations for the deaf and hard of hearing communities, whereas Netflix and Blockbuster have left us behind.

The new price model adopted by Netflix requires that users pay twice for closed caption capability. Users are required to sign up for the streaming service and then pay for the DVD by mail program if they want closed caption capability - Netflix's streaming service doesn't offer closed caption capabilities. Blockbuster doesn't offer closed caption capability in their streaming service either and neither company was able to provide a time line of compliance.

Closed captioning: the process of displaying text on a television, video screen or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information to individuals who wish to access it. Closed captions, similar to subtitles, typically show a transcription of the audio portion of a program as it occurs (either verbatim or in edited form), sometimes including non-speech elements.

Google, however, is working to provide closed captions in the movies offered in the Android market. I recently emailed the android market team to inquire about closed captioned movies and received this email in response:

"Hi Ian,

Thanks for writing in today, Currently, closed captioning is available on
a limited number of movies. Accessibility of our products is extremely
important at Google, so we're working hard to expand our closed captioning
offerings, and make it easier to search for them on Android Market.

In the meantime, here's a list of the movies that have closed captioning.
Note that movie availability is subject to change at any time.

Aag
Aag (1994)
Aah
Aaj Aur Kal
Aaja Nachle
Aangaaray
Aankhen
Aao Pyar Karen
Ab Dilli Dur Nahi
Accepted
Adhurs
Alaap
American Pie
Anamika
Anand Aur Anand
Anarkali
Andar Baahar
Ankahee
Apollo 13
Army of Darkness
Around The World
Assault on Precinct 13
Atonement
Awaara
Awara
Awwal Number
Baaz - A Bird In Danger
Bachna Ae Haseeno
Backdraft
Bad Boys
Badla
Badmaash Company
Bal Ganesh 1
Bal Ganesh 2
Balls of Fury
Band Baaja Baaraat
Band Baaja Baaraat
Banphool
Barsaat
Bass Ackwards
Bawarchi
Benaam
Benaam Badshah
Bewafa Se Wafa
Bhabhi
Bhanwar
Bheja Fry 2
Bhoot
Billy Elliot
Billy Madison
Biradari
Biwi O Biwi
Black Holes: the Other Side of Infinity
Black Mail
Bluff Master
Bobby
Bombai Ka Babu
Boot Polish
Brindavanam full movie HD - Jr NTR kajal Agarwal And Samanta
Brokeback Mountain
Bunty Aur Babli
Caption Test - FtVid
Caravan
Carlito's Way
Casino
Chak De India
Chak De India
Champion
Chand Ka Tukda
Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang
Chhalia
Children of Invention
Children of Men
Chirag
Chor Machaye Shor
Chor Mandli
Curious George
Daasi
Dance Dance
Dancer
Dariya Dil
Darr
Dashavatar
Daulat
Dawn of the Dead
Deewana Mujh Sa Nahin
Deewana Mujh Sa Nahin
Deewana Tere Naam Ka
Deewangee
Des Pardesh
Devta
Dhamaal
Dharam Karam
Dhoom
Dhoom 2
Dil
Dil Bole Hadippa!
Dil Deke Dekho
Dil To Pagal Hai
Dil To Pagal Hai
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Disco Dancer
Do Anjaane
Do the Right Thing
Dogville
Doli Saja Ke Rakhna
Don
Doom
Doosara Aadmi
Dostana
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Dulaara
Ek Chadar Maili Si
Ek Musafir Ek Hasina
Ekka Raja Rani
Elizabeth
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
F.A.L.T.U.
Faasle
Fanaa
Fanaa
Field of Dreams
Fletch
Fool N Final
For Love of the Game
Friday Night Lights
Gair Kanooni
Gauri
Ghar Ek Mandir
Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani
Ghar Sansar
Gharana
Ghatothkach
Golmaal
Guide
Gumnaam
Half Baked
Half Ticket
Happy Gilmore
Hare Rama Hare Krishna
Heer Ranjha
Heera Panna
Henna
Hera Pheri (1976)
Holiday Inn
Hum Hai kamal Ke
Hum Hindustani
Hum Naujawan
Hum Tum
Humse Badhkar Kaun
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Ilzaam
In Good Company
Inside Man
International Crook
Ishk Ishk Ishk
Ishqiya
Isi Ka Naam Zindagi
Jaal The Trap
Jaan Ki Baazi
Jaaneman
Jab Jab Phool Khile
Jagte Raho
Jai Vikraanta
Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharni
Jamai Raja
Janani
Jarhead
Jeeva
Jewel Thief
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Joroo Ka Ghulam
Julie
Kaajal
Kaala Patthar
Kaalia
Kabhi Kabhie
Kabul Express
Kal Aaj Aur Kal
Kanhaiya
Karma
Karz Chukana Hai
Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki
Khoon Ki Pukar
Khota Paisa
Khubsoorat
Khuda Gawah
Khwahish
kick
Kindergarten Cop
Kis Kis Ki Kismat
Kismat (1995)
Kissi Se Na Kehna
Knocked Up
Kroadh
Krodhi
Kuchh Mitha Ho Jaye
Kudrat
Laaga Chunari Mein Daag - A Journey of a Woman
Ladies Tailor
Lafange
Lafangey Parindey
Lamhe
Leader
Liar Liar
Loafer
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Locket
Lootmar
Lorenzo's Oil
Lorie
Love In Simla
Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega
LUV Ka The End
Maha Badmaash
Mahaadev
Mahaan
Main Solah Baras Ki
Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki
Makdee
Mallanna Full Movie HD Quality - with English Subtitles - Vikram & Shreya
Mangal Pandey
Manorama Six Feet Under
Maryada Ramanna
Mashaal
Mastana
Maun
Maximum Acceptable Metadata - Trailer
Meera
Mera Naam Joker
Mere Baap Pehle Aap
Mere Huzoor
Mere Jeevan Saathi
Meri Jung
Miami Vice
Mili
Mohabbatein
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
MP3 - Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar
Mughal-E-Azam
Mughal-E-Azam (Col)
Mujhse Dosti Karoge
Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost
Munimji
Nagina
Namak Halaal
Namak Haraam
Naqab
Nastik
National Lampoon's Animal House
Nauker
Naya Daur (Col)
Nazrana
Neal 'N' Nikki
Neel Kamal
Nehlle Pe Dehlla
New York
Nigahen
Notting Hill
One Too Many Mornings
Orange
OSHO Dynamic Meditation
OSHO: Allow Silence to Grow
OSHO: And Now the Sutra - A Zen Experience
OSHO: Bravo America - Glimpses of a Cosmopolitan World
OSHO: Bringing Up Children
OSHO: Chakras - The Energy Centers of the Body
OSHO: Crimes Against Humanity, Nature, Environment...
OSHO: Every Human Being Is a Seeker of Truth
OSHO: I Don't Want to Be Respectable
OSHO: I Dreamt I Had Become a Butterfly
OSHO: I Respect Money
OSHO: Jesus Never Died on the Cross
OSHO: Joined into One Existence
OSHO: Life Does Not Exist as Separate Islands
OSHO: Life Is a Deep Interdependence
OSHO: Life Is a Mystery to Be Lived
OSHO: Love and Hate - Just Two Sides of the Same Coin
OSHO: Make Your Belly Your Best Friend
OSHO: Meditation - a Dancing Silence
OSHO: Meditation - the Most Valuable Contribution
OSHO: Men-Women - The Psychology of Frustration
OSHO: My Teaching is Not for Pleasure
OSHO: One on One With Osho
OSHO: Only this Earth Has Flowers
OSHO: Our Mother the Earth
OSHO: Rebellion and Reverence for Life
OSHO: Rediscovering Your Joyful Self
OSHO: Spiritual Growth and Enlightenment
OSHO: Ten Bulls of Zen
OSHO: The Fear of Intimacy
OSHO: The Fear of Knowing Oneself
OSHO: The Fear of the Unknown
OSHO: The Three Stages of Love
OSHO: The Ultimate Challenge - Choosing Life
OSHO: The World Is Just a Playground
OSHO: There Is No God, But I Have Found Something...
OSHO: This Beautiful Planet
OSHO: What Do You Say About Meditation?
OSHO: What Is More Important: To Be Thyself or...?
OSHO: What Is the Problem if the World Ends?
OSHO: Why Is Communication So Difficult?
OSHO: Will and Desire
OSHO: World of Words
OSHO: You Are In Prison and You Think You Are Free
OSHO: You Are the World
OSHO: Your Children Are Not Your Children
OSHO: Zen Was Born in Laughter
Out Of Africa
Pakeezah
Pangaa Gang
Parvarish
Pehli Sher Doosri Savaasher Navra Paavsher - subtitled
Pokiri
Ponga Pandit
Prem Pratigyaa
Prem Pujari
Prem Rog
Psycho
Pyaar Impossible
Pyar Hi Pyar
Pyar Ki Jeet
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Rafoo Chakkar
Ragada - 2011
Raja Babu
Raja Saab
Rajaji
Rajkumar
Ram Teri Ganga Maili
Rama Rama Krishna Krishna
Rangam
Raqeeb .. Rivals In Love
Ravan Ek Mahayoddha
Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year
Saath Saath
Sachche Ka Bolbala
Sachha Jhutha
Sadma
Sainik
Saints and Soldiers
Salaam Namaste
Salma Pe Dil Aagaya
Samay Ki Dhara
Samrat Chandragupt
Sanam
Sanam Bewafa
Sanam Teri Kasam
Sangam
Sapnay
Sapoot
Satyam Shivam Sundaram
Satyamev Jayate
Sau Crore
Scarface
Shadow
Shakthi
Shareef Budmaash
Shaun of the Dead
Shiva
Shiva Ka Insaaf
Shool
Shree 420
Simha
Sindoor
Sister Street Fighter
Slap Shot
Smokin' Aces
Staying Alive
Swami Dada
Swarg
Ta Ra Rum Pum
Tarzan
Tashan
Teesri Kasam
Tejaa
Testing: Andy reads some news ppw
The Big Lebowski
The Blues Brothers
The Bourne Supremacy
The Break-Up
The Breakfast Club
The Good Shepherd
The Great Gambler
The Hulk
The Interpreter
The Jackal
The Legend Of Devi Durga
The Skulls
The Sting
The Wiz
Thirst
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic
Tum Mere Ho
U-571
Udhaar Ki Zindagi
Umar Pachpan Ki Dil Bachpan Ka
Vansh
Veer-Zaara
Veerta
Waqt Ki Awaz
Waterworld
Weird Science
Wild Child
Yamudu
Yatra
You, Me and Dupree
Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota
Zakhmee
Zakhmi Aurat
Zindagi Zindagi
Zulm Ki Zanjeer
Zulmi

If I can assist you further, please let me know.

Cheers,

Coty
The Android Market Team"

Not only is Google working on making more movies accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing communities, they freely provide a list of currently captioned movies when asked.

I love it when companies lead by example. Thank you, Google!

Google’s Chris DiBona Calls Out Mobile Antivirus Companies

2011-11-19T14:33:00.001-08:00

From this article by Chris DiBona of Google:

Sometimes I read an article about open source that drives me nuts. A recent one stated, without irony, that 'critics have been pounding the table for years about open source being inherently insecure' and that android is festooned with viruses because of that and because we do not exert apple like controls over the app market.

Let me speak to the first one: Open source, which as you know is present in a major way in all three major mobile phone operating systems (android, ios, rim) is software, and software can be insecure. I would posit that popular open source software only gets to become that popular if they pay close attention to security and respond to users concerns about the same, otherwise other projects come to the fore.

For example, in the dusty spans of time, both sendmail and apache went through a year or multiyear period when after they hit 95% and 70% marketshare where the security flaws started becoming a problem on the growing internet.

Sendmail saw multiple oss and proprietary competitors (qmail comes to mind) and over a period of years educated enough sysadmins on how to wrestle sendmail.cf appropriately and fixed problems with the system to stem the loss of marketshare to other vendors and projects.

Similarly, Apache saw people rejecting many of the modules that were perceived to be (And often were) problematic. Some modules didn't come back, some came back stronger or with stronger default options.

So in the spirit of making a positive post here are some facts for future writers of articles about open source, mobile os' and security. A Cheat sheet, if you will:

IOS and Android both use webkit derived browsers, Webkit is coded by android, chromuim and apple developers, and (edited: to fix a sentence here) both use code from the original khtml projects out of KDE.

Both use , at their core, open source kernels (ios uses a bsd derivative, android, a linux one).

Every single CE device uses tons of libraries from open source, especially openssl.

Every single CE device owes a huge technical thank you to GCC. most are built using gcc.

All the major vendors have app markets, and all the major vendors have apps that do bad things, are discovered, and are dropped from the markets.

No major cell phone has a 'virus' problem in the traditional sense that windows and some mac machines have seen. There have been some little things, but they haven't gotten very far due to the user sandboxing models and the nature of the underlying kernels.

No Linux desktop has a real virus problem.

Yes, virus companies are playing on your fears to try to sell you bs protection software for Android, RIM and IOS. They are charlatans and scammers. IF you work for a company selling virus protection for android, rim or IOS you should be ashamed of yourself.

Yes, a virus of the traditional kind is possible, but not probable. The barriers to spreading such a program from phone to phone are large and difficult enough to traverse when you have legitimate access to the phone, but this isn't independence day, a virus that might work on one device won't magically spread to the other. (and yes, I saw the deleted scene http://www.cracked.com/article_18720_7-famous-movie-flaws-that-were-explained-in-deleted-scenes.html )

If you read an analyst report about 'viruses' infecting ios, android or rim, you now know that analyst firm is not honest and is staffed with charlatans. There is probably an exception, but extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence.

If you read a report from a vendor that trys to sell you something based on protecting android, rim or ios from viruses they are also likely as not to be scammers and charlatans.

Please note: Policy engines, and those tools that manage devices from an corporate IT department are not the same thing at all, but sometimes marketers in companies that sell such things sometimes tack on 'virus' protection. That part is a lie, tell your vendor to cut it out.

So there you go. I'm sure people will now chime in about some worm or malware they downloaded from some app market or something, which will be moderately fun, then it will devolve into a discussion about something unrelated, then I'll cancel comments. :-)

Barnes & Noble Expose Microsoft Shenanigans

2011-11-16T09:03:00.001-08:00

This behavior by Microsoft shows the brass knuckles mentality which has won them so many enemies over the years in the open source community.

From this article:

Just a few weeks ago I wrote about Microsoft making more money from Android patent licensing fees than it does from Windows Mobile. A majority of Android manufacturers are paying Microsoft to "license" certain patents that Redmond claims the open source Android system infringes upon. Barnes & Noble who refused to pay Microsoft and be bound by what they claim is an "oppressive" licensing agreement is involved in a law suit with Microsoft over this. As a result they have gone public with the inside scoop of exactly how Microsoft is strong-arming Android licensees using the same old, heavy-handed tactics that got Microsoft in trouble with the U.S. Justice Department previously.

Read More...

Android isn't a stolen product

2011-11-08T15:57:00.001-08:00

The Android effort started before the iPhone effort.

Why Android Is Better than IOS

2011-10-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs Was Wrong

2011-10-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs’ description of Android as ‘stolen’ is unfair, but his anger that Google developed its own mobile OS knew no bounds, says Wayne Rash

One of the many revelations in the biography of Steve Jobs from author Walter Isaacson is Jobs’ assertion that Android was a “stolen product.” According to Hayley Tsukayama’s report in The Washington Post, Jobs was furious about Android and vowed to spend all of Apple’s cash to destroy it. The problem is Jobs was wrong about Android. Or if he’s right, then the iPhone was also a stolen product.

The reason that Steve Jobs was wrong is fairly simple to see if you’ve watched technology product development over the years. Nearly every product grows on the work done before it and the iPhone (and iPod Touch) are no exception. Apple created a very nice design for the iPhone, a design that was innovative, included new ways of doing things and most of all was attractive. But the iPhone was a derivative of other products, and while it was an improvement over what came before it (as it should be), it still depended on the ideas developed in those earlier products.

Apple was not the first

You have to ask yourself what it was that Jobs thought made Android a stolen product. Was it the user interface of icons on a screen that launched applications when touched? Palm had that feature years before Apple ever had a phone. Was it the touch-screen? Palm had that, too, although it worked better if you used a stylus, but then, so does the iPhone. Was it the third-party applications? Several handheld devices had that long before the iPhone, including some Windows-driven phones as well as those from Palm. Was it the integration of email and the personal digital assistant? There were a lot of those out there, too, including the BlackBerry devices.

So what exactly is it that Jobs thinks Android took from Apple? The sleek look of the device? Can you patent that? The thin profile? The touch keyboard? Apple didn’t invent any of those things, although the company’s designers did a masterful job of integrating them into a single product. Perhaps, it was the ability to play music on your device? Nope, Apple wasn’t first with that, either.

So why is it that Steve Jobs was so willing to blow his company’s cash reserves on an endless marketing and legal campaign to destroy this product? Was it perhaps a statement of Steve Jobs’ famous temperament? Perhaps it was his belief that only Apple could have good ideas? It’s hard to tell now that Jobs is gone, but Jobs was famous for his temperament as related by Doug Hardy in Forbes.

Jobs ‘s vendetta

In reality, the iPhone, as nice as it is, is derivative of the products that preceded it in the market. While Apple did a beautiful job of the user interface, and made a device that’s attractive enough to garner a gazillion followers and an ecosystem that was just closed enough to control while being open enough to gain a great deal of external support, the iPhone still depended on the work of others.

This is true of Apple’s products in general. As nice as the original Macintosh may have been, it depended on Xerox for the original design for the interface. As nice as the Apple II may have been, it too was based on predecessors. But this isn’t to suggest that the Macintosh or the Apple II were bad computers or that they shouldn’t have been developed using the concepts of others. There really is no alternative.

Despite Apple’s claims of uniqueness, the company couldn’t have been completely unique if it expected to actually sell computers. Apple didn’t invent computing after all. The company simply developed software using a different approach from what was emerging elsewhere at the time. Of course, Apple insisted on using a closed platform. The company refused, except for a brief time, to allow clones of its product. And when clones did appear, Apple put them out of business.

I suspect that the only reason Apple escaped the interest of the US Justice Department is that the market share at the time was so small that it would be hard to prove anti-competitive behaviour. But the fact is that Apple could never have existed if not for the ideas and creations of other companies. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Shifting the bar

For technology to exist at all, it can’t possibly be invented afresh every time. Great products depend on earlier ones that manage to move the state of the art forward. They depend on other changes in other technologies, and they depend on a vast range of ideas beyond the reach of any single company or any single person. Likewise, designs grow from other designs from other places. And companies that believe that their designs are somehow unique and divorced from everything are deluding themselves.

So why was it that Jobs was so irate about Android? Was it because Android came from the company run by Eric Schmidt, one of his board members? I’m sure that Jobs’ sense of betrayal was rooted in this and in his belief that he was the only one who had great ideas. But the fact is that the world is full of great ideas. What Apple did was take some of those great ideas and execute them very well. That in itself is great enough. You don’t need to denigrate others who do the same. And when Jobs did that, he diminished himself in the process.

Source: Steve Jobs Was Wrong

Locked down bootloader? Blame your carrier

2011-10-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

For many Android fans, tinkering around with devices is one of the most fun advantages of the platform (rooting, ROMs, etc.). This is why locked bootloaders have always been a problem for true believers of Android’s open ecosystem. Even after many months of debate, this problem is still very prominent. But whose fault is this? Many tend to blame the manufacturers; they take a lot of heat from consumers. We must remember that they’re not the only ones making decisions, though. The carriers play a big role in locking these devices. Verizon is one of the biggest advocates of such practices.

Motorola recently announced one of the best devices to come in the near-future, the Motorola DROID RAZR. This super-thin smartphone is not only among the best-looking, but it carries some awesome power under the hood. This means nothing to the unlocked bootloader fans, though.

Motorola has stated that the DROID RAZR will, in fact, be locked down. Sadly, this is not their decision (or so they say). They claim the decision was made at Verizon‘s request. We’ve seen HTC attempt to unlock their devices, but it’s still not possible for Big Red or AT&T customers. Sadly, the DROID RAZR will fall into the same prison, but only in the US. Most carriers outside the States will probably allow unlocked bootloaders and keep their customers happy.

This brings us to our biggest concern – the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Verizon customers are having the time of their lives, knowing that a Nexus device is finally coming to their carrier. Not only is this the first Nexus device to come to Verizon, but it’s also the first to come with Ice Cream Sandwich, the newest and most revolutionary Android update available. We wonder if Verizon’s philosophy will affect the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Nexus devices are meant to be pure Google, completely unlocked phones. We do not know the details yet, but we sure hope Verizon will keep their hands off of this one. Many customers would probably not mind a locked bootloader, since the Samsung Galaxy Nexus would still be an awesome phone. Locking down a device like this would be morally wrong, though, due to its nature.

So, there you go, guys. Let’s remember to also bother Verizon and all the other carriers, so they may someday give us what we ask for. They play a huge role in these decisions and most times don’t have to deal with complaining customers. As for the DROID RAZR, will you guys still be purchasing it? What about the Samsung Galaxy Nexus? Would you purchase it if Verizon ends up changing Google’s Nexus line traditions? We sure hope that Google will not let that happen.

Source

Paganism in Christianity

2011-10-23T01:00:00.001-07:00

Do you celebrate Halloween? Easter? Christmas? You may not be celebrating what you think. Find out the truth about these celebrations.

Mobile Phones Should Be Mobile

2011-10-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Android Phone Manufacturers,
If you want to impress android phone users: Get off the "our phone is the thinnest" kick, make the phone a little bit thicker and use the extra space for a better battery. We don't want a paper-thin phone, we want a phone that will last all day under moderate to heavy use without needing several charges. Mobile phones are no longer "mobile" if we're chained to an electrical outlet most of the time.

FSF Warns Of Secure Boot

2011-10-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

Free Software Foundation warns about the danger of computers becoming Windows-only, calls for signatures to defend the freedom to install free software.

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA — Monday, October 17, 2011 — The Free Software Foundation (FSF) released a statement open for public signing, titled "Stand up for your freedom to install free software."

The statement, published at http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/secure-boot-vs-restricted-boot/statement, is a response to Microsoft's announcement that if computer makers wish to distribute machines with the Windows 8 compatibility logo, they must implement a system called "Secure Boot." The FSF statement warns against the danger that, if done wrong, this system would have to be called Restricted Boot, because it could make computers incapable of running anything but Windows.

The technology in question aims to protect against malware by preventing unauthorized operating systems components from booting. Stopping unauthorized tampering could be a feature, says the FSF, but only so long as it doesn't prevent users from intentionally running and modifying free software. If the boot system works in this fashion, then it deserves the name many are already calling it, "Secure Boot."

However, the FSF is concerned that Microsoft and hardware manufacturers will implement the system in a way that will prevent users from booting anything other than Windows. In this case, the FSF offers the more accurate name of Restricted Boot, explaining that such a requirement would be a severe restriction on computer users and, by giving only a remote third party control over what's authorized to run on their computers, not a security feature at all.

"We're looking at a world in which it could become impossible for the average user to install GNU/Linux on any new computer, so too much is at stake for us to wait and see if computer manufacturers will do the right thing. Secure Boot could all too easily become a euphemism for restriction and control by computer makers and Microsoft — freedom and security necessitate users being in charge of their own computers," said FSF executive director, John Sullivan.

Those signing the FSF's statement urge all computer makers implementing this system to resist any pressure to adopt Restricted Boot:

We, the undersigned, urge all computer makers implementing UEFI's so-called "Secure Boot" to do it in a way that allows free software operating systems to be installed. To respect user freedom and truly protect user security, manufacturers must either allow computer owners to disable the boot restrictions, or provide a sure-fire way for them to install and run a free software operating system of their choice.

Signers of the statement commit to "neither purchase nor recommend computers that strip users of this critical freedom," and to "actively urge people in our communities to avoid such jailed systems."

"I have been astounded by the number of people reaching out to us from all over the world, asking us to help build awareness and put pressure on computer manufacturers," said FSF campaigns manager, Joshua Gay. He added that "some of the people who contacted us expressed their nightmarish scenario of having even more hardware being tossed in landfills as a result of this," referring to the popular trend of reviving older hardware with GNU/Linux — something that would no longer be possible if more computers were locked by design into only running Windows.

A more detailed overview of the issue can be found at http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/secure-boot-vs-restricted-boot/.

Organizations interested in adding a prominent notice of their support should contact Joshua Gay at campaigns@fsf.org.

Improving the patent system

2011-10-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

I'd like to see a new law implemented in our patent system. Too many companies are buying patents with no intention of bringing a product that incorporates said patents to market. Their sole intention is to sue other companies that are providing jobs, products and services.

The new law would something similar to the following:
"If you acquire a patent from any entity you may not begin litigation regarding said patent until after you have produced, marketed and sold a product that incorporates said patent."

The patent trolls are stifling entrepreneurship and it needs to stop.

Blockbuster 1, Netflix 0

2011-10-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Blockbuster seems to be more interested in keeping customers than Netflix is. Yesterday I sent a polite complaint that none of the streaming movies at Blockbuster included subtitles or closed captions for the hearing impaired.

Today I received this in an email:

Hello ,
Thank you for contacting BLOCKBUSTER Customer Care.
We do plan on release of Closed Captioning options for the streaming movies, although at this time no specific date is set for that update. Please continue to check back with us in the future for any further information or questions.If you would like to discuss this matter further you can respond to this email or contact us by clicking on the link below. We are open Sunday-Thursday: 8am to 10pm PT, Friday-Saturday: 8am to midnight PT.

At least they replied and I tip my hat to them.

Why I'm boycotting Netflix

2011-10-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

I'm hearing impaired so I need closed captions and/or subtitles in order to enjoy movies. I've been using Linux distros as my sole desktop operating systems since 2001 and Netflix isn't available for Linux. When I sign up for Netflix I am required to pay for the basic streaming service which I can't use because it's not available for Linux. I'm also required to pay for DVD's by mail so I can enjoy closed captions and/or subtitles. I'll consider joining Netflix when we can sign up for DVD's by mail and not be required to also pay for the streaming service.

It's sad that a company as large as Netflix doesn't provide accommodations for disabled persons.

Joined Google+

2011-07-06T23:03:00.000-07:00

I have joined Google+ and am liking it thus far. Add me to your circles if you so desire. The circles convention makes a lot more sense than Facebook's privacy settings. Good job Google!

Benchmarks. Can we trust them?

2011-05-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

Benchmarks can be useful, whether we're talking mobile or any other computer hardware. There is a problem though -- you have to depend on everyone being honest. Let me explain. Anytime you see a video or a screenshot of a benchmark score, what you're really seeing is a measure of how the software interacts with the hardware. There are two big problems with that: No two Android phones run the same software, and there's always some joker who wants to cheat. Recently our pal John from Phone Arena noted some Quadrant scores of a new handset that are just too low compared to the other phones listed. And good on John for pointing it out.

Sure, benchmarks can be fun, like see how little impact LG's UI has on the Optimus 2X compared to Stock Froyo, and they can be useful if you're running them yourself to gauge some changes you're making to your own software. But we're over it. We're going to base our judgment of performance based on performance, and not numbers.

It's just too damn easy to cheat at all benchmarks, because they are just Android apps. Look at all the other magic folks do with Android apps, and ask yourself -- are benchmarks so different that they can't be "hacked"? The answer is no, and we're going to show you how to hack at the easiest (but definitely not the only) one to manipulate, Quadrant.

You're going to need to be rooted for this example. There are plenty of other ways to cheat on unrooted phones by editing the code and rebuilding the app itself, but this easy way needs root. You're also going to need a few tools:

Have adb working, with root access in the shell
Quadrant Standard from the Android Market. We used Quadrant Advanced in our demo, because it's so easy to see the cheating. You'll want to use Standard, because it's so easy to see the cheating
System Panel (or any app that can kill all processes) from the Android Market
SetCPU from the Android Market, or equivalent (if you have an overclocked kernel)
Two hands, a keyboard, and no conscience

Install all your apps and reboot your phone. Let it sit for 5 to 10minutes so all the syncing and scanning gets finished, then run Quadrant (see the "before" side in the image above) so you know the truth.

Hook your phone up to your computer, and enter the shell. As root, run the following command:

mount -t tmpfs tmpfs /data/data/com.aurorasoftworks.quadrant.ui.standard

Enter it exactly as written. What that's doing is simple -- the I/O portions of all phones are the biggest bottleneck, so we're moving the Quadrant data folder off the physical storage, and into the RAM. RAM is good. Reading and writing to it is fast. Super fast. This goes away at reboot, so it's easy to take things back to normal.

Next, we want to cancel out any CPU scaling effect. Who needs to save battery, we want high scores! Fire up SetCPU and crank the CPU clock speed as high as it will go, and choose "performance" as the CPU governor. This will keep things running at top speed all the time.

Now use whichever app you decided on (I use System Panel to monitor things, and it includes the dreaded kill-all as an extra function) to kill all your background tasks. If you can kill system processes, even better. We don't care how well the phone works, only how high the numbers are.

Fire up Quadrant, and run your benchmark. Run it two or three times to get it settled in, then start taking screenshots. Realize just how easy it was to do this, then imagine what other cheats can be done by reverse engineering the benchmark apps and changing the math used to write the scores. Add in a few other tricks like changing a line or two in the build.prop file to inflate the CPU scores, and you're golden. Before someone says "Yeah, but I use Bechmark xyz9000 Pro and you can't cheat on that one." Yes, you can. Even I can, and there's plenty of people out there way more talented than I am. Only believe benchmarks that use lots of meters and wires, with flashing lights, because anything else is just software that someone can hack.

Now the playing field is level. Congratulations, you're a cheater.

From this article
by Jerry Hildenbrand

Ultimate Online Theme Kitchen

2011-04-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying my new htc Evo 4G since the day I made the purchase. Today I found a website that lets android users make themes for their rooted android phones. The phone must be rooted and running a deodexed ROM. The site is called UOT Kitchen and has worked perfectly for the themes I have created so far.

Until today I have been creating my own themes using my favorite image editor - The GIMP. While this is fun in my opinion, it is also a time consuming process and requires a lot of knowledge about how the Android system works. Decompiling files, editing images, working with the draw9patch tool, recompiling files, signing files.. it's fun but can get tedious real fast.

I used the UOT Kitchen today to create a few themes and at no time was I required to know more than how to point & click and basic file management! The site does most of the work for the user and even has previews of what the theme will look like before submitting work on the summary page. I was quite skeptical at first, but the skepticism quickly faded after flashing my first UOT theme, I was 100% satisfied and had no problems.

Usually a full battery icon mod takes me around 30 minutes to complete, but the UOT Kitchen was able to do the same job in just a few minutes.

Kitchen features:

Overscroll glowing (NEW!)
Font packs
Supporting Theme Chooser for CM7 roms
Enable transparency in status bar for GB roms
Supporting Gingerbread roms
Edify and Amend installation script
Supporting hdpi/mdpi/ldpi roms
Patch9 images auto-fix
Numerous battery icon mods
Themed icons for status bar, emoticons, notification power buttons
Uni-color icons
Customizable notification drop-down window
Bootanimation mods
Corrected files for popular roms/themes
Custom battery for MIUI rom
Showing battery % while charging
Custom charging animations
Windows animations
Overscroll mods
Icons for Notification Power Buttons
Themes are stored for 12 hours providing plenty of time to download themes

How it works:
Visit the Kitchen page. This page may be closed when the user arrives but it's only temporary. Upon closing, the page explains that the kitchen closes itself when its queue reaches 30 theme requests. After completing all theme requests, the kitchen opens again. This "closed" page also displays the number of themes being completed along with the approximate time it will take for the kitchen to reopen.

Once the kitchen is open the user will find numerous items that can be themed. For a battery icon mod, for example, the user clicks the Battery tab, checks the "Use this mod" checkbox and all available options will appear for the user to complete. After setting up all desired theme elements, the user will need to upload some files from the ROM that is running on their phone (framework-res.apk, etc.). The site opens the files the user uploads, creates the theme and compiles everything into a signed .zip file.

Once the zip file is completed, the user visits the pickup page, downloads the flashable .zip file and flashes it via recovery (ClockworkMod or Amon Ra) on the phone.

Screenshots:
My phone is an htc Evo 4G. I have created the perfect theme to fit my needs, here are some screenshots (notice the notification bars and the drop-down notifications list):

I added color to the notification bar icons and percent remaining to the battery icons:

(I use LauncherPro and Beautiful Widgets because these apps are far more customizable than htc's default equivalents, and I can get a similar look with custom themes).

I chose the black power buttons and added "htc Evo 4G", thought that would be a nice touch:

I think the colored notification icons and battery percent level looks great on my phone:

Conclusion:
I'm still amazed at how fast and easy it was to create a full theme for my phone, this site saved me a lot of work. Everyone likes to personalize their phone and the UOT Kitchen makes this process fun and easy. Visit the How-To page to get started. And, most of all, have fun with it. The only limit is your imagination!

Dear Congress

2011-04-09T09:14:00.001-07:00

Dear Congress, Last year I mismanaged my funds and this year I cannot decide on a budget. Until I have come to a unified decision that fits all of my needs and interests, I will have to shut down my checkbook and will no longer be able to pay my taxes. I'm sure you'll understand. Thank you very much for setting an example we can all follow.

Widgetsoid2.x

2011-02-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

If you want to control your phone Widgetsoid is THE tool to have. It provides totally customizable widgets and over 40 toggles widgets. Widgetsoid is the only app that has custom color for icons and indicator. User can customize widgets and make beautiful home screens.

Features:
Custom backgrounds
Change Widgets transparency
Edit existed widgets
Customizable colors
Customizable labels
Show/hide dividers
Label colors
Choose icon color
Different widgets size (10 toggle on one widget max!)
Different indicator type (long, short or none)
Horizontal and vertical widgets

Advanced features:
Widgets in notification bar
Possibility to remove widgets size
Preview of your widget on configuration screen
You can save your widgets on profiles and load it when you want!

Widgetsoid toggles:
2G/3G (Shortcut to mobile settings)
4G (WiMAX for EVO)
Data (Renaming APN or toggle APN)
Wifi
Bluetooth
Brightness (custom seekbar, custom levels…)
Stay Awake
Always ON
GPS (1 click for compatible phone)
Auto Sync
Force synchro
Auto Rotate
Airplane Mode
Media Scanner
Screen timeout (different modes)
Torch (Flashlight, different mode if it’s not work automatically)
Mount USB
Mount SD card
Auto Lock
Pattern Lock
Reboot (only for root users! Shutdown, bootloader, normal, recovery or fastboot)
Battery
Temperature (battery)
Phone memory
SD memory
RAM memory
Locale
Hotspot Wifi
USB Tether
Volume manager
Speaker
Ring mode
Lock Screen (turn your screen off)
Direct Shortcut app (All activities or applications)
Direct Shortcut contacts (or open popup with call, sms, email)
Direct Shortcut bookmarks
MORE...

You can find more information, FAQ and help here.

The second ship

2011-02-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading Immune, by Richard Phillips, the second entry in The Rho Agenda trilogy.

After reading some reviews, I figured a dollar wasn't much so I was sure to get my monies worth, I ended up getting a whole lot more than I bargained for, this particular novel is worth much more than I paid for it.

This novel follows the McFarland and Smythe families as they unwittingly get caught up in a government cover up. The author introduces the characters in such a way that you end up feeling like you've actually met them! This novel falls squarely within the realm of 'plausible sci-fi thriller that will have you glued to the pages'.

I'm currently on chapter 43 of the second book, Immune, and find myself reading on my Kindle as often as possible!

I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys science fiction. Be sure to read Immune, the second entry in this trilogy. The author keeps us up to date as far with the progress of the third entry: Wormhole. You can view progress here.

It's not often that I stick with each entry in a trilogy, but these novels are worth following.

Kindle Books

2011-02-04T09:42:00.000-08:00

I recently added a selection of books by Tom Clancy to my Kindle reader. I think my favorite authors right now are Tom Clancy, John Grisham and Dean Koontz. I'm really impressed with the Amazon Kindle.

Blocking ads can be beneficial

2010-12-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

From the article

Two major online ad networks--DoubleClick and MSN--were serving malware via drive-by download exploits over the last week, experts say, after a group of attackers was able to trick the networks into displaying their ads by impersonating an online advertising provider.

The scheme involved a group of attackers who registered a domain that was one letter away from that of ADShuffle.com, an online advertising technology firm. The attackers then used the fake domain--ADShufffle.com--to dupe the advertising networks into serving their malicious banner ads. The ads used various exploits to install malware on victims' PCs through drive-by downloads, according to information compiled by security vendor Armorize.

The ad networks only served the malicious content for a short period of time, but the episode shows just how difficult the drive-by download problem can be to address.

"Users visit websites that incorporate banner ads from DoubleClick or rad.msn.com, the malicious javascript is served from ADShufffle.com (notice the three f's), starts a drive-by download process and if successful, HDD Plus and other malware are installed into the victim's machine, without having the need to trick the victim into doing anything or clicking on anything. Simply visiting the page infects the visitors," Armorize CTO Wayne Huang said in a blog post describing the scheme.

"Known sites affected: Sites that incorporate DoubleClick or rad.msn.com banners, including for example Scout.com (using DoubleClick), realestate.msn.com, msnbc.com (using both), and mail.live.com. We'd like to note here it's very possible that multiple exchanges, besides those listed here, have been serving the fake ADShufffle's ads."

In some instances, the attackers used the notorious Eleonore exploit pack and the Neosploit package to accomplish the drive-by downloads. The attacks exploited a wide variety of vulnerabilities in browsers and Adobe Reader.

When a victim visited a site that was displaying one of the malicious banner ads, the user's browser tries to render the malicious ad and contacts the back-end ad server. The server pulls in the malicious ad content from ADShufffle, which uses some malicious JavaScript to exploit one of a number of vulnerabilities. The JavaScript generated an iFrame that used the Eleonore exploit pack to finish the compromise and drop some malicious files on the PC.

It's a classic drive-by download scenario, but in this case it's made all the more troublesome by the broad reach of the legitimate ad networks that were victimized by the attack. Armorize researchers contacted officials at DoubleClick after discovering the scheme.

"We reached out to DoubleClick and in less than a few hours time they arranged a meeting with a group of their experts on anti-malvertising and incidence response. We were very surprised and impressed with the speed that DoubleClick acted. We provided details, and DoubleClick said they were already on top of the issue," Huang said.

"At the same time, our CEO Caleb Sima received a private email indicating that mail.live.msn, together with other big websites, were serving drive-by downloads via malvertising. We started to investigate other ad exchanges, because it was apparent that ADShufffle.com was able to trick multiple ad exchanges into serving their malicious javascript."

A spokesman for Google, which owns DoubleClick, told the IDG News Service that the malicious ads were only being served for a short amount of time, and that the company's own malware filters detected the ads, as well.

My new phone

2010-08-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

My first cell phone was the Sidekick ID in December of 2007. From there I went on to the Sidekick LX, G1, Cliq and the Cliq XT. My latest phone is the Samsung Vibrant.

The Samsung i9000 Galaxy S is an Android smartphone that was announced by Samsung in March 2010. It includes Android version 2.1 but Android 2.2 is expected to be available, at least in the UK, at the end of September 2010. It features a 1 GHz "Hummingbird" processor, a 4 inch 480x800 pixel Super AMOLED widescreen, capacitive touchscreen display, a 5 megapixel camera, and a PowerVR graphics processor yielding 90 million triangles per second, making it the fastest graphics processing unit in any Android phone to date. In addition being amongst the first phones to offer Bluetooth 3.0 and/or Divx HD, at 9.9mm it is at time of release the thinnest Android phone.

After using a few Android-based phones, I wasn't expecting too much from the Vibrant. However, the first thing I noticed after turning on the device was the beautiful display - the word "beautiful" doesn't do this display justice at all. The second thing I noticed was the the phone didn't have the lag that I experienced with the other Android-based phones that I had used. The menu system, photo gallery and everything else seemed to be extremely fast and very comfortable on the eyes - we have the 1 GHz Hummingbird processor to thank for that.

View of the Samsung Vibrant:

Samsung Vibrant specs and features:

GENERAL:

2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network: HSDPA 1700 / 2100
Announced: 2010, June

SIZE:

Dimensions: 122.4 x 64.5 x 9.9 mm
Weight: 117,9

DISPLAY:

Type: Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size: 480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches
TouchWiz 3.0 UI
Multi-touch input method
Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
Touch-sensitive controls
Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
Swype text input

SOUND:

Alert types: Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Speakerphone: Yes
3.5 mm audio jack

MEMORY:

Phonebook: Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records: Practically unlimited
Internal: 16GB storage, 512 MB RAM
Card slot: microSD, up to 32GB, 2GB card included

DATA:

GPRS: Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
EDGE: Class 12
3G: HSDPA; HSUPA
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n; DLNA
Bluetooth: Yes, v3.0 with A2DP
Infrared port: No
USB: Yes, v2.0 microUSB

CAMERA:

Primary: 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus
Features: Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection
Video: Yes, 720p@30fps
Secondary: Yes, VGA

FEATURES:

OS: Android OS, v2.1 (Eclair)
CPU: 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor
Messaging: SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
Browser: HTML
Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS
Games: Yes
Colors: Black and Grey
GPS: Yes, with A-GPS support
Java: Via third party application
Social networking integration
Digital compass
MP4/DivX/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
Organizer
Image/video editor
Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration
Flash Lite v3.1
Voice memo/dial/commands
T9

BATTERY:

Standard: Li-Ion 1500 mAh
Stand-by: Up to 432 h
Talk time: Up to 6 h 30 min

Needless to say, I'm quite impressed with this phone and I hope future Android-based phones are even better.

Why you shouldn't use a task killer with Android

2010-08-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

From this article:

I see this come up over and over again. People saying that a task is running in the background and they think it is killing their battery or hogging all of their memory. So their natural reaction is to download a program made to kill tasks. Here’s the thing… you are likely doing more harm than good by killing tasks that aren’t ready to end. I was the same way when I first got my CDMA Hero. There were tons of things running that I didn’t want so I just kept killing them. After a few weeks I realized that if I stopped using a task killer (and totally uninstalled it in fact) my phone actually began to run better! The applications would close themselves and things just seemed to be running better. I get that there may be short term benefits from clearing a task, but you should still take the time to read through this.

Here is some information directly from Android’s developer page. I have put the important parts in bold. This is quite a lengthy read but honestly I think it’s important. If you want the full read then you can check out the dev page here. If you just want the quick TL;DNR version then scroll to the bottom.

By default, every application runs in its own Linux process. Android starts the process when any of the application’s code needs to be executed, and shuts down the process when it’s no longer needed and system resources are required by other applications.
A content provider is active only while it’s responding to a request from a ContentResolver. And a broadcast receiver is active only while it’s responding to a broadcast message. So there’s no need to explicitly shut down these components.
Activities, on the other hand, provide the user interface. They’re in a long-running conversation with the user and may remain active, even when idle, as long as the conversation continues. Similarly, services may also remain running for a long time. So Android has methods to shut down activities and services in an orderly way:
An activity can be shut down by calling its finish() method. One activity can shut down another activity (one it started with startActivityForResult()) by calling finishActivity().
A service can be stopped by calling its stopSelf() method, or by calling Context.stopService().
Components might also be shut down by the system when they are no longer being used or when Android must reclaim memory for more active components.
If the user leaves a task for a long time, the system clears the task of all activities except the root activity. When the user returns to the task again, it’s as the user left it, except that only the initial activity is present. The idea is that, after a time, users will likely have abandoned what they were doing before and are returning to the task to begin something new.

Activity lifecycle
An activity has essentially three states:
It is active or running when it is in the foreground of the screen (at the top of the activity stack for the current task). This is the activity that is the focus for the user’s actions.
It is paused if it has lost focus but is still visible to the user. That is, another activity lies on top of it and that activity either is transparent or doesn’t cover the full screen, so some of the paused activity can show through. A paused activity is completely alive (it maintains all state and member information and remains attached to the window manager), but can be killed by the system in extreme low memory situations.
It is stopped if it is completely obscured by another activity. It still retains all state and member information. However, it is no longer visible to the user so its window is hidden and it will often be killed by the system when memory is needed elsewhere.
If an activity is paused or stopped, the system can drop it from memory either by asking it to finish (calling its finish() method), or simply killing its process. When it is displayed again to the user, it must be completely restarted and restored to its previous state.
The foreground lifetime of an activity happens between a call to onResume() until a corresponding call to onPause(). During this time, the activity is in front of all other activities on screen and is interacting with the user. An activity can frequently transition between the resumed and paused states — for example, onPause() is called when the device goes to sleep or when a new activity is started, onResume() is called when an activity result or a new intent is delivered. Therefore, the code in these two methods should be fairly lightweight.

The following diagram illustrates these loops and the paths an activity may take between states. The colored ovals are major states the activity can be in. The square rectangles represent the callback methods you can implement to perform operations when the activity transitions between states.

So… the TL;DNR Version:

Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when more memory is needed.
Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when it’s done doing what it needs to do.
Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when you haven’t returned to it in a long time.
Most services (while possibly running in the background) use very little memory when not actively doing something.
A content provider is only doing something when there is a notification for it to give. Otherwise it uses very little memory.
Killing a process when it isn’t ready only causes it to have to reload itself and start from scratch when it’s needed again.
Because a task is likely running in the background for a reason, killing it will only cause it to re-spawn as soon as the activity that was using it looks for it again. And it will just have to start over again.
Killing certain processes can have undesirable side effects. Not receiving text messages, alarms not going off, and force closes just to name a few.
The only true way to prevent something from running at all on your phone would be to uninstall the .apk.
Most applications will exit themselves if you get out of it by hitting “back” until it closes rather than hitting the “home” button. But even with hitting home, Android will eventually kill it once it’s been in the background for a while.

Questions? Concerns? Feel that I’m wrong? Comment below and let’s discuss!

Addendum:

One thing that I forgot to even address here is that memory works a bit differently in linux than it does in Windows. In general the way memory works is you really only need as much as you plan on using. So if your combined running programs use 100mb of memory, 150mb is more than enough. There is no need to clear what’s running in memory before you hit that 150mb cap. Now in Windows it seems that the system performs a bit better when you have less stuff in memory, even if it’s not full. No doubt those who have been on computers for a while will remember there used to be programs that could clear your memory in Windows also.
Linux however isn’t generally affected by this. While I admit that I don’t know the architecture and reason for this… linux will run the same regardless of if you have 20mb free memory or 200mb. And as I outlined above, Android will automatically start to kill applications if you do get low on memory! Stealing a quote from Chris Johnston, “Buffers and cache in RAM being cleared is silly. Imagine a professor, who rather than writing all the way across the chalkboard, finishes a sentence and immediately erases and starts writing in the upper left corner AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN OR imagine you like a song. You record it to the beginning of a cassette tape. When you want a new song, do you re-record over the first song or record after it?”
I have also seen people incorrectly assume that the more memory in use, the faster their battery will die. This would actually be more attributed to the amount of processor cycles (CPU %) going on and not the amount of memory being taken up by a certain program. However, that does lead to a good point! When can a task manager be a good thing?? To help you determine what IS slowing down your phone; what may actually be draining your battery faster. That is actually what helped us discover that there appears to be a bug still left over from 1.5 that is causing slow downs on our CDMA Hero’s even today. While an item using up memory isn’t going to hurt things, an item chewing through your CPU absolutely will. Now I still don’t suggest using a task killer to kill a program that is using up your processor (unless of course it is a zombie process that is going crazy, but you should probably just reboot in that case). But it can help you see what’s going on with your phone.
I hope this has helped someone. With all of that said… I always encourage experimenting. It is your phone, and you can do with it what you please. If you swear that a task killer makes your phone amazing, then by all means use it! Thanks for reading.

The spell checker

2010-06-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

I came across this one years ago but it's one of my favorites. Try reading it as fast as you can and see how much you end up slowing down by the time you reach the end :)

I have a spelling checker.
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot see.

Eye ran this poem threw it.
Your sure real glad two no.
Its very polished in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

A checker is a blessing.
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.

Each frays comes posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.

Bee fore a veiling checkers
Hour spelling mite decline,
And if we're laks oar have a laps,
We wood bee maid too wine.

Butt now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
There are know faults with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.

Now spelling does not phase me,
It does knot bring a tier.
My pay purrs awl due glad den
With wrapped words fare as hear.

To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaws are knot aloud.

Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays
Such soft wear four pea seas,
And why eye brake in two averse
Buy righting want too please.

Organizing Information

2010-05-25T02:06:00.000-07:00

We all have them; snippets of code, half-written tutorials, cooking recipes, photo galleries, blogs, information about a project or event, and the list goes on. Information can take many forms. Writing a book? Have a document you want the world to be able to access? Wouldn't it be nice to have a central location for all of these things and have them all conform to a common appearance? Or, better yet, a central location where several authors can collaborate on these items?

Designing a website can be a daunting task. There are many tools available for this task with content management systems being a favorite these days. I began designing websites by writing the html code in a text editor many years ago, and using a web page designer can speed this process up, but there is a better way.

Enter the wiki
A wiki is a software program which allows multiple authors to add, edit, and remove content. The multiple author capability of a wiki makes it an effective tool for collaborative authoring. Many wikis use SQL for the underlying storage method but many people find SQL to be intimidating and prefer the simplicity offered by flat-file storage.

PmWiki
PmWiki is a wiki-based system for collaborative creation and maintenance of websites. PmWiki pages look and act like normal web pages, except they have an "Edit" link that makes it easy to modify existing pages and add new pages into the website. Knowledge of HTML or CSS is not required to use PmWiki and page editing can be left open to the public or restricted to one author or a group of authors. The PmWiki homepage can be found at PmWiki.org.

Installation
Installing PmWiki as as easy as downloading the package from PmWiki downloads, unpacking it, creating a few required directories and initializing the software. My first PmWiki installation took all of three minutes and I was adding content to my site without knowing much about software. The PmWiki package includes installation instructions and the wiki itself can let the user know if anything needs to be done to get the site up and running. PmWiki is distributed under the GNU General Public License and was written with the intent of being easily upgradable. for more information about installing PmWiki, please visit installing PmWiki.

Look and feel
A site administrator can quickly change the appearance and functions of a PmWiki site by using different skins and HTML templates. The PmWiki site currently has over 50 skins and you can easily modify one or create your own if you can't find an appropriate skin already made. Skins can range from the simple but effective default skin to the dark and mysterious Bs-001 skin. Many web hosts offer various software programs that deal with different content. This is good, but many times you will find that the various programs don't use the same skin; the user is required to search for matching skins or create their own. PmWiki can be set up to act as a simple wiki or a full content management system and have every page use a common skin. Visit the skins page at PmWiki skins to see the wide range of available skins.

Customization
One principle of the PmWiki Philosophy is to only include essential features in the core engine, but make it easy for administrators to customize and add new markup. These customizations, known as "plugins", are called recipes and describe add-on scripts and various "tips and tricks" that let you customize PmWiki in many different ways. Some examples of available recipes are: including mathematical formulas, chess games using Portable Game Notation markup, formatted and styled tables, displaying RSS news feeds, producing in line graphs and charts, photo galleries, blogging capability, and web based calendars. Hundreds of features are already available by using recipes and are available from the PmWiki cookbook.

Creating content
The pages on a PmWiki site are Wiki Wiki Web pages, which means that pages can be created and edited by multiple authors. To edit a page, simply click the "Edit" link that exists somewhere on the page, usually in the header or footer. When editing a page, you see the markup text that describes the content of the page. To add text to a page, simply type in the new text. To make a link to another page, enclose the page's name in double brackets; for example [[my new page]] links to a new page. Links to nonexistent pages are displayed as a normal web link to invite others to create the page simply by clicking on the new link. The PmWiki package includes a documentation index and the editing rules are easy to learn. The full documentation index can be found at PmWiki documentation.

Access control
PmWiki password protection can be applied to an entire site, to groups of pages, or to individual pages. Password protection controls who can read and edit pages and upload attachments. PmWiki's access control system is completely self-contained, but can also work in conjunction with existing password databases, such as .htaccess, LDAP servers, and MySQL databases. Visit protecting your wiki for more information about protecting PmWiki.

Conclusion
The net is quite large with people from all over the world sharing information on a daily basis. Using a computer should be enjoyable and PmWiki makes it fun and easy as well as offering the flexibility to create content which is limited only by the imagination of the user. Visit the PmWiki users and success stories pages for an example of the success of this software.

Why I use Linux

2009-03-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

Things you can do with Linux and not with windows

Some people install windows on their netbook (or buy one with windows). I don't think this is very smart because the only things you could ever really need windows for (games and photoshop) are not likely to run very well on these machines. Following ia a list of some of the things you can do with Linux and not on windows (or very difficult).

1. Install a bleeding edge 3d desktop environment on affordable hardware

I've seen compiz running on extremely low-end hardware with incredible results. I'm not saying this is something I would advise anyone to do, because it does eat resources, but it is possible. If you would like something like this on windows you're going to need bleeding edge hardware.

2. Remote control your system (secure) completely over a minimal network connection

Using ssh you can control your Linux computer completely over a reasonably slow network connection. This gives you a command shell over the internet connection and if you use key-based authentication it's very secure. Because in Linux everything can be configured from the command line, you're in complete control. In windows you have some of this functionality with telnet and rdp which are insecure and for full control of a windows system you're going to need a big connection.

3. Completely change your desktop environment, replacing everything you see

In Linux you have a choice of destop environments available many of them as different as night and day. This is great if you're used to windows where you have to edit the registry to change your garbage bin icon. In Linux you can change the look of everything, you can replace your desktop environment and on top of that you can configure your desktop to look exactly the way you like it.

4. Install several different Desktops and Window Managers

In Linux you can install as many desktop environments or window managers as you like, and choose which one to start when log in. So if your girlfriend likes to use a desktop that's more like windows in pink and you like a lightweight xfce desktop, it can all be there on the same machine without interfering with other elements of the system.

5. Run the system without a GUI desktop

It's possible to run your Linux system without the GUI to save on system resources. For instance you can run a system booted in text mode as a webserver or as your bittorrent download client while you're away. You can log into this system from work to see how your downloads are going. Something similar to this feature is available in windows server 2008, you can start that without gui, but it yields a very crippled system.

6. Turn your system into a complete media center

Arguably windows media center could be called a "complete media center" but it doesn't compare in any way to the features you can have with a Linux media center. If you look at the things that are possible with mythTV or linuxMCE you'd be surprised. The Dreambox is built on Linux for a reason!

7. Easily secure file transfers between computers

It's possible to transfer files between windows computers, it's done all the time, but it's clear why there are so many services for file transfer available on the internet. It's not easy doing this in windows. In Linux you can just copy files over the network and over the internet with one simple command. Almost as easy as local copy's.

8. Recover from hard disk problems

Recovering from disk problems which make your system unbootable is possible in Windows, but it's done most of the time by starting with the insertion of a Linux boot cd. I resurrected many laptops from the dead which were running Linux, just insert a live cd, mount the home partition and copy your personal data to another disk, replace the disk and copy the data back. Ok it's not always this easy, but my experience with windows is: forget it, if the system is unbootable you'd better have a backup.

9. Install software by choosing it from a list

In Linux there are package managers which give you the possibility of selecting a program from a large list, and install it. No surfing the web, no searching for cracks or serial keys because the software is to expensive to pay for, no viruses or malware because the photo editing tool you needed came from a torrent. Almost every program is free and just two or tree mouse clicks away.

10. Have all software on your system updated to the latest version automatically

In windows all software comes from different sources, licenses expire, things have to be paid. Linux has tools which make it possible to automatically update your entire system to the latest version. Every program updated to it's latest version, security and bug fixes all updated. One of the great benefits of free software and package management.

11. Open source software

Most Linux software applications are open-source, meaning anyone can freely obtain the source code. The main benefits of this are that anyone can audit the code for bugs and security issues, change the code and redistribute the code or submit patches. If there were code in a closed-source software application, like most Windows apps, that captured your every keystroke (ie name, DOB, SSN, credit card info, etc) and sent that information to a 3rd party, the user would likely never know it was happening. If this type of malicious code were in an open-source application the community would more than likely be alerted because the code can be audited by anyone.

12. Multiple installs and sharing

Most Linux distributions can legally be downloaded online and installed on millions of machines simultaneously and the distros can be legally shared among any user anywhere in the world without cost or activation.

These are just some of the things you can do with Linux which are difficult, expensive or even impossible on windows.

What Is Linux?

2009-03-06T23:28:00.000-08:00

What is Linux?

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system and is one of the most prominent examples of free software and open source development: typically all underlying source code can be freely used, modified, and redistributed by anyone. The name "Linux" comes from the Linux kernel, started in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. The system's utilities and libraries usually come from the GNU operating system.

Linux is used as an operating system for a wide variety of computer hardware, including desktop computers, supercomputers, video game systems, and embedded devices such as mobile phones, and routers.

What can Linux do?

Linux is capable of doing anything any other operating system can do. I have been using Linux since 2001 and haven't really seen the need to use any other OS since that time.

Currently I use Linux for everything; file management, listening to music, viewing movies, creating and editing office documents, processing email, surfing the web, creating and editing graphics, chatting and instant messaging, computer programming, and much more.

What does Linux look like?

On desktop machines, GNOME and Xfce are popular desktop environments, though a variety of other user interfaces exist. Most popular user interfaces run on top of the X Window System. Linux can look like almost anything the user can imagine. It's easy to see that most linux distros can be modified to have almost any appearance the user desires.

What are the advantages of using Linux?

* Most Linux distributions are free of charge
* Most Linux distributions can be downloaded via the internet
* Most software programs are free of charge
* Linux can be legally installed on millions of computers simultaneously
* Linux does not need any "activation"
* There are no active viruses for Linux
* Linux is open-source; anyone can obtain the source code
* Bugs and vulnerabilities are fixed faster
* Changing and redistributing Linux is encouraged
* Linux runs well on old as well as new equipment
* Most anything in Linux can be changed or removed without rebooting
* Linux was designed to run for long periods of time without rebooting
* Linux "live cd's" can run from RAM without needing a hard drive

Can a Microsoft Windows system do all of that?

How much does Linux cost?

Most Linux distributions and software are free to download, install, use, and redistribute. In fact, modifying and/or redistributing most Linux software is encouraged. I've been using Linux since 2001 and haven't had to pay for anything.

Where can I get Linux?

If you're interested in using a Linux operating system, visit Distrowatch and learn about the many Linux distributions which are available. Most Linux distributions are free to download and install, without any type of "activation", on any number of computers.