Archive for November, 2011
US Readers, Help Us Stop Internet Censorship
Nov 30th
Karl and I try to not get too political on our blogs for the most part. I mean, Bauer-Power and AskTheAdmin are just not the right forums for political debate. However, I think this type of topic is relevant, and it’s something I am very worried about.
You see, if you did not know, there are currently two major censorship bills passing through the halls of government these days. SOPA, and Protect IP. From what I understand from the media, SOPA is pretty much dead thanks to you Internet users that have contacted your representatives, but Protect IP is still being pushed through the Senate.
What is Protect IP? From Wikipedia:
The PROTECT IP Act (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011; United States Senate Bill S.968) is a proposed law with the stated goal of giving the US government and copyright holders additional tools to curb access to "rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods", especially those registered outside the U.S.The bill was introduced on May 12, 2011 by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and 11 initial bipartisan co-sponsors. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that implementation of the bill would cost the federal government $47 million through 2016, to cover enforcement costs and the hiring and training of 22 new special agents and 26 support staff. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill, but Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) placed a hold on it.
The PROTECT IP Act is a re-write of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), which failed to pass in 2010. A similar House version of the bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was introduced on October 26, 2011
According to groups like the Eff and AmericanCensorship.org, this bill is vague enough that it will make it really easy for the US Government to shut down any website they deem a threat. Mmmm, what’s that smell? Smells like communist China! I don’t know about you, but I like my freedom of speech protected by the first amendment. This act threatens that freedom.
Imagine if one day Uncle Sam had an issue with AskTheAdmin? Guess what Jack! You can’t read it any more! Don’t let that happen!
Well, I’m asking for your help. Please use the form above to call your representatives and let them know that you oppose the Protect IP Act. We need as many calls as possible before the Senate breaks for the holidays if we want to stop it.
-=El Di Pablo=-
Microsoft’s Vision of Tomorrow
Nov 30th
I was cruising around on Stumbleupon today during some down time, and came across this video from Microsoft showing how they envision our world of tomorrow with the advancements of technology. It’s pretty interesting to thing that some day we will not have computers and laptops like we do now, but our smart phones, and tablet devices will be powerful enough to replace them. Heck, even our credit cards will be powerful computers!
Not only that, but all the walls, and windows around us will be computerized as well, and can sync up with our mobile devices. Seeing the way technology is right now, I don’t think this dream is too far fetched any more. Check it out:
Some comments on the Youtube page say things like:
Technology? will kill us! – pajkica
I know I am a f***n hippie or something for all of you.. But who cares about the future of technology? We have computers, and cell phones, and we can enter? internet every moment we want, we have bluray, we have 3d.. We can communicate now with everybody! so… It’s time to talk about the future of the people microsoft..;/ – RandomProductionzzTV
While others are saying:
All I can say is that it’s awesome. I would like to live that future? :) thank you for sharing it. – wesamly
It seems the future holds technology that is incredibly intuitive, knowing exactly where the user wants it? to go, as if there are no other options. There are some interesting and exciting parts to this video, but also some things that woulde cause fear for anyone concerned about privacy. The concierge seemed to know a lot. Identity theft seems easier in the future. – citzsold
What do you think about Microsoft’s vision of the future? Flippin’ awesome? Cold and bleak? I’m curious to know what your vision of the future is. Let us know in the comments!
-=El Di Pablo=-
Cool Free Tool For Wardriving
Nov 29th
I think it was in 2006 I attended my first hacker convention in San Diego called Toorcon. It was pretty cool because the company I worked for at the time was a sponsor, so they paid for my admission in. I will never forget one of the guys that I saw there. Dude was bald with a douchy bluetooth headset on, a military M1 jacket with cammo pants, sunglasses indoors, combat boots, and of course a backpack with a friggin’ antenna coming out of the back that was easily six feet tall. The dude was a serious wardriver.
What is wardriving you ask? According to Wikipedia:
Wardriving is the act of searching for Wi-Fi wireless networks by a person in a moving vehicle, using a portable computer, smartphone or PDA…
…Wardriving originated from wardialing, a technique popularized by a character played by Matthew Broderick in the film WarGames, and named after that film. Wardialing in this context refers to the practice of using a computer to dial many phone numbers in the hopes of finding an active modem.
Basically you drive around, and look for open wireless networks. Simple right?
Now I’m not saying you need to be like the guy at the hacker convention, but sometimes it’s nice to know where in town you can go to catch some free Internet in case you have to send an emergency Tweet, or update Facebook at the drop of the hat.
Well I found a cool tool that runs on Windows that will automatically try find and connect to open wireless networks when you’re in range, and will alert you to stop when it has found an open access point and is trying to connect.
The tool is called outSSIDer, and you can get it as a free download. From their page:
outSSIDer automatically attempts to connect to any open access point that comes within range as you walk down the streets hunting for WiFi.
When an attempt is made it alerts you with sound to stand still and wait. That way you don’t need to watch the screen while walking – you can even close the laptop lid to save battery!
The connection is then verified against payment hotspots and restricted networks by trying to fetch the Google website icon.
If it fails connecting or verifying, it alerts you with the sound again and resumes scanning.
This tool is light and easy to use, and certainly a good tool to have in your wardriving goody bag. Do you go wardriving ever? What tools do you like to use? Let us know in the comments!
-=El Di Pablo=-
Need A Free Web Host? We’ve Got The Hookup!
Nov 28th
A few years ago I came across a free web host provider, and have been using them ever since. Now, as some of you know, I have my own technology blog called Bauer-Power, and that is hosted on Blogger. I love Blogger because it’s easy and free. Plus it’s owned by Google, so that means that the servers that it’s running on are fairly rock solid. The problem with Blogger though is it’s not as versatile as other blogging platforms like WordPress.
For you guys looking to move over to WordPress like here at AskTheAdmin, you probably want to go with your own web host. What if you don’t have any cash yet? I mean it takes a few months for that Adsense revenue to kick in right? Well don’t fret, I have a solution for you. It’s a free webhost that supports PHP and MySQL. Guess what? That is exactly what WordPress runs on jack!
The provider is called 000Webhost, and here is a list of their free hosting features:
- 1500 MB of Disk Space, 100 GB Bandwidth
- Host your own domain
- cPanel Powered Hosting
- Over 500 website templates ready to download
- Easy to use website builder
- Free POP3 Email Box with Webmail access
- FTP and Web based File Manager
- PHP, MySQL, Perl, CGI, Ruby.
- And many more…
I personally use them for my custom Ninja themed URL shortening service, and I also set up a test WordPress blog so you can see what I’m talking about. You can have unlimited websites under your account as well, so if you want to be the next Internet mogul, you can get started on 000Webhost.
Know of any other free web hosting providers? Are they better than 000Webhost? Why? Share with the rest of the class in the comments!
-=El Di Pablo=-
Disclosure Notice: Although 000Webhost is free for you, I will get $5 per sign up as long as your account stays active for 30 days. A guy has to pay the bills doesn’t he?
And You Thought Your Email Address Was Long…
Nov 25th
Many moons ago, right around the time I started blogging on Bauer-Power, I worked for a company called Newland Communities. Simple enough name, but when you cram that name into a URL, it now becomes a pretty long domain name. Now add that to the end of your user name, and you have a really long email address. Try calling support with that email address, and the technician asks you to spell out your address phonetically. Needless to say, it sucked!
Well, I found a place that puts the long-ass email address I had at Newland Communities to shame. Oh, and by the way, you can get an email address with them if you like for free! The site is, and I’m not kidding here, abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.com, and they are giving away free mailboxes so you too can have one of the worlds largest email addresses!
Take a look at their selling points from their home page:
With each account, you not only get an obnoxious email address that is sure to piss you friends off, but also you get 25MB of storage. True, you’re better off with Gmail, but then again, you won’t have an email address that won’t fit into some web forms. Your call I guess.
-=El Di Pablo=-
XKCD: A little geeky laugh for you…
Nov 24th
Happy Thanksgiving everyone from everyone at AtA!
Here is a little humor for all our Linux friends out there… The text on mouse over was: Ew, gross you moddified link()? How can you enjoy abusing a file system like that! – [via XKCD]
