Dr. Bill Podcast “Switch Edition” #35

Dr. Bill Podcast – 35 – (05/06/06)
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Intro, my headset is not quite what I want… next week my USB headset comes in! Dewd! Ad spot for the Caffination podcast, how to spell the – computer – curmudgeon URL, you got here so you got 2 points! 25% of Internet Explorer bugs remain unpatched! What up wit dat?!? Check out the Firefox link on the right hand column of the website… click it and get it! Ethanol even for non-green dewds! Common sense reasons to go with ethanol… stick it to the terrorists and the dictators, use ethanol! The doctor mixes up two stories about bio-fuels… oops! My bad! Do I need my tongue need pruning? OpenOffice, the cure for Microsoft FUD! 35% of business offices use illegal software… solve the problem by using OpenOffice! Geek Culture… switching to Linux from MS Windows! Super villians use Linux! You should too! Switch today! Be like Steve! Check out the flash video link:

Switch to Linux Spot

More Jonathan Coulton podsafe music… Christmas with the Andersons on “Chiron Beta Prime”, last news item… if everyone that has a DVR skips commercials, it will cost advertisers 8 BILLION dollars! Commercials should be fun… then maybe we’d watch them! Dr. Bill searches the net for the weird the strange and the odd, Geek Culture tidbits! Send me an e-mail!

8 Billion (with a “B”) Cost to Advertisers?

I have a DVR, in fact, I have two… one in the bedroom, one in the living room. I skip commercials. Commercials are stupid! BUT… am I costing advertisers money? Better question… do I care?

8 Billion (with a “B”) Cost to Advertisers?

They claim only 53% of DVR owners skip commercials… so, is that because they don’t know how to use them? Sheeesh! I skip, and I don’t care! (Sounds like a song, huh?) OK, maybe I should care… because all the media entertainment I am getting, I get because the advertisers pay my way. Will I still skip commercials… well, yeah! But, maybe I will feel the least bit guilty!

25% of IE Bugs REMAIN Unpatched!

This is YET ANOTHER report on a new, bad IE problem, but what got me was the admission at the very bottom of the article… on FULLY PATCHED Windows systems… Internet Explorer still has 25% of the known exploits un-patched… because there are, as yet, no patches for it! WHAT!!!!????

IE Problems Multiply

“Based on 85 advisories published by Secunia between 2003 and 2005, about 25 percent of IE bugs remain unpatched. More than 40 percent of those advisories are serious enough to be used in system compromise attacks.” (Emphasis mine.)

This is ridiculous!

Dr. Bill’s Podcast – The “Code Monkey Edition” #34

Dr. Bill Podcast – 34 – (04/29/06)
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Code Monkey
Intro – A lot to do this week, an extended edition! Explanation of the southern expression “a-gud-un”, promo for the Wireless Tech Radio Podcast, what Wikipedia is, and what the term “Code Monkey” means, podsafe music from Jonathan Coulton called, “Code Monkey!” Philips creates a hardware device that forces you to watch ads! Ack! Linspire release “Freespire”… a free version, it will be released in August, is Bill Gates the “Antichrist?” OK, it’s a joke! Internet Explorer Destroyer effort to destroy the browser from the Internet, and along that line… yet ANOTHER IE exploit revealed! Are users really dumb… or do we geeks just expect too much from them? (With MANY EXAMPLES!) Geek Software of the Week: m0n0wall, an Open Source Firewall! As we exit… another Jonathan Coulton podsafe song called “RE: Your Brains” (a co-worker who happens to be a zombie!) Dr. Bill shares a great e-mail!

Check out more of Jonathan Coulton’s music and buy a CD!

Geek Software of the Week: m0n0wall

m0n0wall Firewallm0n0wall (yes, that is with “zeroes” rather than letter “o’s”) is the BEST totally free software/hardware based firewall there is! Previously, I used Smoothwall, which is also excellent, but m0n0wall has a lot of very cool features that “puts it over” as the best!

m0n0wall Free, Open Source Firewall

“m0n0wall is a project aimed at creating a complete, embedded firewall software package that, when used together with an embedded PC, provides all the important features of commercial firewall boxes (including ease of use) at a fraction of the price (free software). m0n0wall is based on a bare-bones version of FreeBSD, along with a web server, PHP and a few other utilities. The entire system configuration is stored in one single XML text file to keep things transparent. m0n0wall is probably the first UNIX system that has its boot-time configuration done with PHP, rather than the usual shell scripts, and that has the entire system configuration stored in XML format.”

m0n0wall already provides many of the features of expensive commercial firewalls, including:

  • web interface (supports SSL)
  • serial console interface for recovery
  • – set LAN IP address
    – reset password
    – restore factory defaults
    – reboot system

  • wireless support (access point with PRISM-II/2.5/3 cards, BSS/IBSS with other cards including Cisco)
  • captive portal
  • 802.1Q VLAN support
  • stateful packet filtering
  • – block/pass rules
    – logging

  • NAT/PAT (including 1:1)
  • DHCP client, PPPoE, PPTP and Telstra BigPond Cable support on the WAN interface
  • IPsec VPN tunnels (IKE; with support for hardware crypto cards, mobile clients and certificates)
  • PPTP VPN (with RADIUS server support)
  • static routes
  • DHCP server and relay
  • caching DNS forwarder
  • DynDNS client and RFC 2136 DNS updater
  • SNMP agent
  • traffic shaper
  • SVG-based traffic grapher
  • firmware upgrade through the web browser
  • Wake on LAN client
  • configuration backup/restore
  • host/network aliases
  • Just “Think” Your Password?

    What if you could be identified by your brain waves to “unlock” your computer, or a door? Too close to “mind reading?” Maybe!

    Think Your Password?

    “What if you could one day unlock your door or access your bank account by simply ‘thinking’ your password? Too far out? Perhaps not. Researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, are exploring the possibility of a biometric security device that will use a person’s thoughts to authenticate her or his identity. Their idea of utilizing brain-wave signatures as ‘pass-thoughts’ is based on the premise that brain waves are unique to each individual. Even when thinking of the same thing, the brain’s measurable electrical impulses vary slightly from person to person. Some researchers believe the difference might just be enough to create a system that allows you to log in with your thoughts.”

    Are Users REALLY Dumb… Or, Do We Geeks Just Expect Too Much From Them?

    Weeelll, I have MY opinion, and I bet you can guess what it is!

    “Help the Web is Broken!”

    “Sometimes, from the view of the help desk, the end of civilization seems near. Very near, indeed. This is one explanation for interactions such as the following:

    ‘My computer is running real slow. The process ‘System Idle Process’ takes like 90-100 percent of the CPU! And I can’t shut it off! I’ve tried everything!’ (Dr. Bill: the “System Idle Process,” of course, indicates how much IDLE time the CPU has, or, in other words, 98% “System Idle Time” means the system is only running 2% active… duh!)

    ‘Hi, I just scanned my computer and there were 75 instances of spyware found. Should I delete them?’ (Dr. Bill: Oh NO! You really WANT that Spyware, don’t you?!? It just makes you feel all “warm and fuzzy” doesn’t it!)

    ‘But are you sure the Internet is safe to use?’ (Dr. Bill: Not for you!)

    IT workers toil all day, all over the world, to help bridge the formidable gap between human beings and technology in business. So why doesn’t everyone just get along? Is it that clients continually do ‘dumb’ things or is it the way we geeks approach them?

    According to experts, the problems in communication are complex on both sides of the screen. The culprits include ‘TechnoStress,’ the dysfunctional psychology of IT; the sometimes lackluster communication skill sets of technical staff; the generation gap; and the unrealistic expectations of service by clients.”

    Are user’s dumb? Actually, no… but they ARE lazy! I have said from way back that what user’s need to do is put the time in to LEARN how to use their computers! We learn to drive, people learn to play instruments. The analogy that computers should be like “toasters or phones” is dead wrong! Computers are sophisticated technological tools that can greatly enhance your life and lifestyle… in order to use them well, you have to learn HOW!

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