Dave's Tech Shop

Digg vs Reddit - Vote

davestechshop.net — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:21:50 GMT

Who do I think would kick ass?
"Reddit"

Created by Datepad

Adding Social Bookmarking to Community Server 2008 Or Any Website

davestechshop.net — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:30:47 GMT

Here is an excellent article on how to use the "addthis.com" widget with Community Server by mystyleit:
http://mystyleit.com/blogs/mystyleit/archive/2008/02/07/adding-social-bookmarking-to-community-server-2007.aspx
I used the instructions with Community Server 2008 without any modification even though they were written for CS 2007.

In case it is not clear in the original post, here are my steps:

sign up with addthis.com
get your button code from addthis.com. I used the "website" button version and the dropdown style option.
URL encode the button code you got from addthis.com using http://www.albionresearch.com/misc/urlencode.php
paste the URL encoded button code into the PasteHere variable in the line below, which is the new config element:
<add name = "SPWReferItModule" type = "SPWorks.CS.Freeware.SPWReferIt,SPWorks.CS.Freeware" ReferLinks="PasteHere" />
paste the entire new config element as modified by step 4 (e.g., <add name ... />) into CommuntyServer.config at the end of the CSModules element.

Forget your passwords

davestechshop.net — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 02:39:31 GMT

Sxipper lets you log into any website with a single click. Sxipper saves you time by keeping track of an unlimited number of usernames and passwords and it has a useful feature called personas. Sxipper is different from most password managers or form fillers in its use of artificial intelligence to figure out how to properly fill in web-based forms (with your data) that it hasn't seen before. In other words, when you visit a web page for the first time, Sxipper can often figure out where your data should go.

Here's a nice review of Sxipper:

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/
You can download Sxipper here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4865

I like the fact that it is cross platform - runs on Linux, Max and Windows.

Quote from the review:
Sxipper the dog loves to learn new tricks as he gets older
Malcolm Parry, Vancouver Sun
First Published: Thursday, April 05, 2007

"... includes straightforward stuff like remembering and applying site passwords, automatically filling in forms, and remembering all the sites you've accessed and what you've told them.

"But today's dynamic data is much harder to handle than it was when web pages were static. Sxipper is in his element here, Hardt says, especially when its master's identity data is dynamic and would be hard or impossible to manage.

"He's referring to stuff like disposable e-mail and one-time credit cards."

FCC chief grills Comcast on BitTorrent blocking

davestechshop.net — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:01:47 GMT

Previously I have written about How Comcast Silently Blocks your Internet traffic. Today, Federal Communications Commission chief Kevin Martin questioned Comcast on this issue. Here is on report on it.

Update at 3:10 p.m. PST: CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Federal Communications Commission chief Kevin Martin on Monday targeted Comcast's contention that delaying peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic serves user interests, appearing to sympathize with the cable company's critics.

Through pointed questioning at a public hearing at Harvard Law School here, Martin, a Republican, seemed to be pushing a two-pronged agenda: Internet service providers like Comcast should be as transparent as possible about manipulating network traffic, and consumers should have the freedom to, in effect, get what they pay for.

But at the end of the event, which, all told, lasted nearly six hours, Martin told reporters he still hadn't made up his mind about whether Comcast had done anything more than "reasonable" network management.

The chairman was also unable to predict when the Commission would reach a decision on Comcast's conduct and the broader question of constraints on network operators' traffic shaping practices, except to say, "I think it's important we try to act very quickly."

Read the full story here:
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9878330-7.html?tag=nefd.lede

Maybe we need to write our representatives. I'm also considering, as one option, switching permanently to DSL.

Find open source software alternatives to well-known commercial software

davestechshop.net — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:25:17 GMT

I just discovered a site that helps one locate open source software alternatives to well-known commercial software. See http://www.osalt.com

Hiding an SSID will not hide a wireless network

davestechshop.net — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:26:30 GMT

Steve Riley on Security

"Hiding an SSID will not hide a wireless network, so ignore any such advice. By the way, also ignore any advice that says to use MAC address filtering. It's amazingly trivial to spoof the MAC address of an allowed supplicant -- simply sniff the traffic, look at the MAC addresses, and use the neat little SMAC utility to change your MAC to one that's permitted. Nonbroadcasting networks are not secure networks. The right way to secure a wireless network is to use protocols that are designed specifically to address wireless network threats. If you're still using WEP, either static or dynamic, I encourage you to move to WPA2 as soon as possible."

Read the entire article at http://blogs.technet.com/steriley/archive/2007/10/16/myth-vs-reality-wireless-ssids.aspx

Boycott Trend Micro

davestechshop.net — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:44:34 GMT

--- Press Release ---

WORKUM, The Netherlands -- Friday, February 8, 2008 -- The ScriptumLibre.org Foundation issued a call today for a worldwide boycott on Trend Micro products. The call comes as a response to the public announcement on January 29th that a lawsuit was filed by Trend Micro in November 2007, which claims that software-security company Barracuda Networks is infringing its U.S.-patent on software that filters out viruses on Internet gateway computers. The claim targets the free and open source (FOSS) software program ClamAV (Clam AntiVirus), and demands that Barracuda either cease distributing it with their web filtering hardware and other products, or pay Trend Micro a licensing fee.

Software vendors that hold software patents tend to wage a "cold war" amongst each other, collecting patents and holding on to them for defensive purposes. Rarely are suits filed against one another aggressively. ScriptumLibre's chairman Wiebe van der Worp claims Trend Micro's aggressive use of litigation to be "well beyond the borders of decency," and points to the company's past history of "extorting organizations such as Symantec and McAfee with similar threats of litigation." However, there are deeper concerns echoed by van der Worp, and others, in the threats this lawsuit holds toward others in the FOSS community. Recognizing this threat, Barracuda CEO, Dean Drako, in a statement to the FOSS community, writes, "Trend Micro’s actions illustrate that ClamAV and other open source projects remain vulnerable to commercial patent holders attempting to unjustly hinder the free and open source community."

As a result, many in the community are banding together, and offering support towards Barracuda, such as Eben Moglen of the Software Freedom Law Center, who has stated that the "Collective defense from software patents is a shared responsibility for everyone in the free software ecosystem." ScriptumLibre feels that the patent system is fundamentally broken. But even though the system is broken, this does not mean that companies should be held blameless for abusing that system.The foundation therefore urges the entire IT community, including both the proprietary and FOSS communities, to boycott Trend Micro products.

About ScriptumLibre

ScriptumLibre.org Foundation is the international branch of the Dutch "Stichting Vrijschrift.org". ScriptumLibre creates awareness about the economic and social meaning of free knowledge and culture for our society. The foundation was involved in the successful campaign to keep software patents out of the European Union.

Links and Attachments

Boycott web page with information, banners and cartoons: http://www.scriptumlibre.org/Boycott_Trend_Micro
Barracuda Networks call for help: http://www.barracudanetworks.com/ns/legal/
Cartoon as line art in pdf-format

[get | view] (8.2 KB) attachment:boycott_trend_micro_dweil_2_trans_l.png
[get | view] (29.7 KB) attachment:boycott_trend_micro_troll.pdf

Contact

Wiebe van der Worp, chairman ScriptumLibre, wiebe at vrijschrift.org tel.: +31 6 455 939 82

Yes We Can Music Video

davestechshop.net — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:57:09 GMT

The will.i.am music video "Yes We Can" hit the Net on Friday and by Tuesday it had been streamed a staggering 10 million times on YouTube and the website www.yeswecansong.com.

Watch it.

The Yes We Can Song
by will.i.am

I was sitting in my recording studio watching the debates...
Torn between the candidates

I was never really big on politics...
and actually I’m still not big on politics...
but 4 years ago, me and the black eyed peas supported Kerry...
And we supported Kerry with all our might...
We performed and performed and performed for the DNC...
doing all we could do to get the youth involved...

The outcome of the last 2 elections has saddened me...
on how unfair, backwards, upside down, unbalanced, untruthful,
corrupt, and just simply, how wrong the world and "politics" are...

So this year i wanted to get involved and do all i could early...

And i found myself torn...
because this time it’s not that simple...
our choices aren’t as clear as the last elections ...
last time it was so obvious...
Bush and war
vs
no Bush and no war...

But this time it’s not that simple...
and there are a lot of people that are torn just like i am...

So for awhile I put it off and i was going to wait until it was decided for me...

And then came New Hampshire...

And i was captivated...

Inspired...

I reflected on my life...
and the blessings I have...
and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings...

and I’m not talking about a "black thing"
I’m talking about a "human thing" me as a "person"
an American...

That speech made me think of Martin Luther King...
Kennedy...
and Lincoln...
and all the others that have fought for what we have today...

what America is "supposed" to be...

freedom...
equality...
and truth...

and thats not what we have today...
we think we are free...
but in reality terror and fear controls our decisions...

this is not the America that our pioneers and leaders fought and
died for...

and then there was New Hampshire

it was that speech...
like many great speeches...
that one moved me...
because words and ideas are powerful...

It made me think...
and realize that today we have "very few" leaders...
maybe none...

but that speech...

it inspired me...
it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world...
it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world...
and take a "leap" towards change...
and hope that others become inspired to do the same...
change themselves..
change their greed...
change their fears...
and if we "change that"
"then hey"..
we got something right...???...

1 week later after the speech settled in me...
I began making this song...
I came up with the idea to turn his speech into a song...
because that speech effected and touched my inner core like nothing in a very long time...

it spoke to me...

because words and ideas are powerful...

I just wanted to add a melody to those words...
I wanted the inspiration that was bubbling inside me to take over...

so i let it..

I wasn't afraid to stand for something...
to stand for "change"...
I wasn't afraid of "fear"...
it was pure inspiration...

so I called my friends...
and they called their friends...
in a matter of 2 days...
We made the song and video...

Usually this process would take months...
a bunch of record company people figuring out strategies and release dates...
interviews...
all that stuff...
but this time i took it in my own hands...
so i called my friends sarah pantera, mike jurkovac, fred goldring, and jesse dylan to help make it happen...
and they called their friends..
and we did it together in 48 hours...
and instead of putting it in the hands of profit we put it in the hands of inspiration...

then we put it on the net for the world to feel...

When you are truly inspired..
magic happens...
incredible things happen...
love happens..
(and with that combination)

"love, and inspiration"

change happens...

"change for the better"
Inspiration breeds change...

"Positive change"...

no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today...
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above...
It’s all scary...

Martin Luther King didn't have experience to lead...
Kennedy didn't have experience to lead...
Susan B. Anthony...
Nelson Mandela...
Rosa Parks...
Gandhi...
Anne Frank...
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today...

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today...

they just need "desire, strength, courage ability, and passion" to change...
and to stand for something even when people say it's not possible...

America would not be here "today" if we didn’t stand and fight for
change "yesterday"...
Everything we have as a "people" is because of the "people" who fought for
change...
and whoever is the President has to realize we have a lot of changing to do

I'm not trying to convince people to see things how i do...
I produced this song to share my new found inspiration and how I've been moved...
I hope this song will make you feel...
love...
and think...
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me...

that’s all...

Let's all come together like America is supposed to...
Like Japan did after Hiroshima...

that was less than 65 years ago...
and look at Japan now...

they did it together...
they did it...

"We can't?...

Are you serious..?..

WE CAN!!!

Yes we can...
A United "America"
Democrats, Republicans and Independents together...
Building a new America

We can do it...
"TOGETHER"

Please visit www.yeswecansong.com

Thank you for reading and listening...
will.i.am

Contact
mr.dippy@dipdive.com
http://www.myspace.com/mr_dippy

Five Reasons to use VMware Workstation instead of VirtualBox

davestechshop.net — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:34:12 GMT

[UPDATED 25-Feb-2008] After a little research, it looks like I'll be sticking with VMware Workstation a while longer even though I would prefer VirtualBox because it is free and open source [UPDATE: partially open source].

The post, "5 reasons why you should use VirtualBox, instead of VirtualPC or VMware," by mickeyckm -- and particularly the comments -- gave me a lot of good info. But I decided to take the flipside in this post.

1. VMware supports both 32-bit and 64-bit host and guest operating systems. VirtualBox supports 64bit hosts but only 32bit guests.
2. VMware supports moving virtual machines with their snapshots. VirtualBox does not support moving snapshots.
3. VMware supports two-way Virtual SMP and you can assign one or two processors to virtual machines. VirtualBox doesn't have immediate plans to support SMP.
4. I believe VMware has better support for DirectX graphics.
5. VMware makes it much easier to create a Virtual Machine from an existing native (installed) OS compared to VirtualBox.

There are also reasons to use VirtualBox. One is that, like I mentioned above, it is free and open source. VirtualBox is a good product and I would like to use it. However, if item number two above remains true (snapshots in VirtualBox are broken), that pretty much rules out any chance for me to use VirtualBox instead of VMware.

I'm hoping someone shows me I'm wrong and that VirtualBox matches VMware feature-for-feature on the requirements that are most important to me, but my research so far makes that seem unlikely.

[UPDATE] My theme in this post has been that VirtualBox is open source and that VMware is not. That is not completely true.
VirtualBox has both a closed source version and an open source version. VMware also supports the open source community and Linux. See this link: http://www.vmware.com/resources/opensource/projects.html

And, when it comes to VirtualBox, two absolute must-have features are not available in its open source version. USB support and Remote Desktop (RDP) as well as the USB over RDP and iSCSI initiator features are not available in the open source version! So even the most compelling (perceived) advantage of VirtualBox starts to break down a bit upon closer examination. VirtualBox is not completely open source. (And VMware is not completely outside the open source community).

Finally, Sun Microsystems has acquired VirtualBox as of this month (February 2008). This acquisition raises a few questions about the future open source status of VirtualBox. I think most of us expect that there will continue to be a free and open source version of VirtualBox, but there will probably be more and more features that get released only in versions that generate revenue -- otherwise a for-profit company would not be able to justify paying the cost to purchase the company making VirtualBox. Sun has to have a strategy for profiting from VirtualBox and that means their attention and energy will be placed on doing those things that generate revenue.

Sure, we'll have a free open source version of VirtualBox, but more of the resources will go into non-free versions.

Here are some resources:

How Comcast Silently Blocks your Internet traffic

davestechshop.net — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 04:56:11 GMT

I am a Comcast subscriber and for much of the time I've had this blog, I have hosted it on my computer connected to the Internet via Comcast. I was shocked to learn about the following Comcast traffic-management scheme thanks to the article at http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/10/19/comcast/.

Bless the Associated Press for unearthing, through careful and diligent investigation, Comcast's shameful, hidden Internet traffic-management scheme.

Comcast, the AP determined, actively manages data on its network by using software to essentially masquerade as its subscribers' machines. When non-Comcast Internet subscribers request files from your Comcast-connected machine -- as happens in peer-to-peer file-sharing applications -- Comcast's technology steps in and tells the non-Comcast subscriber you're not available.

This is a difficult story to explain, but it's quite important. For years, consumer advocates have been demanding that Congress and/or the Federal Communications Commission impose "network neutrality" regulations that would force broadband providers (like Comcast) to treat all data on a network equally. Lawmakers have so far failed to do so.

Broadband providers, meanwhile, insist that they do treat all traffic equally, but they reserve the right to use certain technologies to "manage" data on their network. The Comcast plan suggests that broadband providers mean something very broad by "traffic management" -- including, it appears, purposefully stepping into your network sessions to shut them down.

Read the full story here. It is worth reading.

I also want to share the closing paragraph from the original article here:

OK, so what can we do about this?

It'd be wonderful if the solution was to simply stop subscribing to Comcast. If that would make you feel better, by all means, cancel your subscription.

But know this: Other broadband vendors have not distinguished themselves on the issue of network neutrality. In general, major broadband companies say they should be free to manage traffic on their networks, and it's impossible to tell how expansively they understand that "management" role.

If Comcast is saving money by adopting such methods, you can bet others are already doing so, or soon will. It would be shocking if Comcast were the only one.

But there is an obvious solution. It has been obvious for some time. We need a law!

Providers should be proscribed from interrupting customers' connections or, at the very least, from doing so secretly -- if they're going to disrupt your traffic in any way, they should be forced to tell you how.

Broadband companies have long argued that network neutrality regulations are unnecessary. The Comcast scheme pretty definitively proves otherwise.