How do you recover your Windows password if you forget it?

Ever wake up and decide that today you're going to beef up your digital security? Maybe you heard about all the scary crackers and identity thieves out there and decided to give your laptop a really strong password...except now you can't remember what it is and your locked out of your own computer. So, what do you do? Take it to a professional and pay $50.00 while waiting 24 hours? Not me...

All you need to do (if you're running Windows) is go to http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/ and download the ISO file for either (or both) Windows Vista or XP in the LIVE CD version.

Check the hash with Winmd5sum which can be found here http://www.nullriver.com/products/winmd5sum by right-clicking the ISO file then:

• Click Send To, then winMD5Sum.

• Wait for winMD5Sum to load and finish the checksum.

• Copy the corresponding hash from the source's website into the bottom text box.

• Click Compare.

It's important to verify the hash after downloading the file because of the possibility of errors during the download process. It is a very good idea to run an MD5 hash comparison check when you have a file like an operating system install CD that has to be 100% correct.

Cryptographic hashes such as MD5 allow you to verify that the data you have downloaded is the original file and hasn't been altered, corrupted or poisoned in any way... (as long as the hash you use for comparison comes from a trusted source) you can verify the status of a file downloaded from anywhere.

After you have checked the hash and seen that the two hash files match go to Sourceforge at http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/ophcrack/index.php?title=Frequently_Asked_Questions#How_to_installl_the_LiveCD_on_a_USB_stick.3F and download tazusb by clicking on the link about halfway down the page under the heading “How to installl the LiveCD on a USB stick?” Then connect your USB, launch tazusb.exe and follow the directions.

Tazusb will create bootable usb media with a few simple commands. It can also compress and backup the entire current file system to the media, thus preserving all modifications for future use. You will also download SliTaz which is a free operating system, working completely in RAM and booting from removable media such as a cdrom or USB key.

Once this is finished just decompress the iso file you downloaded to the root of the USB stick with your favorite decompression software (like 7-zip). There should be two directories on your USB stick (boot and ophcrack).

• Execute the script bootinst.bat that is in the boot directory.

• Reboot your computer and make sure it boots from the stick.

Easy Peasy. Now all you need to do is plunk it in your computer, turn your computer on, log into the BIOS and change the boot order to boot from your USB drive and then continue the boot process. Slitaz will load automatically and you can even have Ophcrack run automatically.

Within minutes pwdump will have given you the password hashes and Ophcrack will be cracking away. (note: Vista is much, much harder to crack so use a dictionary attack not brute force)

How to install Mac OSX on a PC without dual boot

How to install Mac OSX on a PC without dual boot

This is why I love Linux. You can find a tutorial to do almost anything and if there isn't a tutorial you just need to get creative and write a soloution yourself.

That, and that the EULA agreements and instructions in Linux are a hoot! You can tell it's going to be a difficult install when step 8 is a reminder to breathe and step 12 is your almost done and to rejoice and hump everything in sight :)

And We're Back to Windows

I love EeeBuntu. That said, I'm letting Jas borrow my lappy for AIT and he insists on Windows so we're back to Windows again. The $74.00 Chinese battery I mentioned in an earlier post lasted about 8 solid hours under linux with WiFi on and lasts around 9 1/2 on windows so not a whole lot of difference.

All in all, the reinstall disk that comes with the Eee pc is pretty good. They used Ghost and the install only took two hours to get all the updates etc. (This is why I prefer Linux, NO RE_BOOTING)

I kept it simple and only added FireFox, Netstumbler, a VPN and NOD32. I'll password protect the BIOS before I give it to him and maybe incrypt the drive with TruCrypt (or at least add a hidden encrypted drive for movie storage :)

It will be interesting to see how the lappy handles military life in Oklahoma heat...

EeeBuntu

Well, I finaly have an OS I'm happy with.

I decided that over my week long break between classes I would try out Linux on my Eee PC 1000h netbook.
First I installed Ubuntu's Jaunty Jackalope using a bootable flashdrive and an image file. I liked the distro and everything worked out of the box with the exception of my Netgear router not wanting to connect (every other wireless router I tried to connect to had no problem though).

Next, I burned an EeeBunto ISO file to disk with ImgBurn and WOW. The install took about 45 minutes including downloading all the updates and I didn't have to reboot once. (Apparently you don't re-boot with Linux, YAY) Everything works including my wireless and I've never been so damn happy :)

Next, I'm going to try out Skype and my new aftermarket battery from China. Supposedly it lasts 9-11 hours so, well see.

Insane message

I don't normally post the ramblings of crazy people but after someone left this on my door, my car, AND my motorcycle, I got curious.

Is this organize craziness?

Is it a cult or a sect?

Anyone know?

The scans were a little fuzzy so here it is in a nutshell.

MARK OF THE BEAST (666)
RFID

"He required everyone - great and small, rich and poor, slave and free - to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. Wisdom is needed to understanding this. Let the one who has understanding solve the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666" (Rev. 13:16-18 New Living Translation).

666 IS A SYSTEM OF THE ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT

At the present time, computer-assisted biometric identification systems are being developed rapidly and have been readily accepted into our society. Miniature computer chips, using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, have already been embedded within electronic appliances, retail goods, livestock, and human beings. This is not tomorrow's science fiction
- it is happening today.

In many parts of the world, Applied Digital Corporation's human implanted RFID microchip (VeriChip) is used to help diagnose Alzheimer's disease, mental illness, Diabetes, heart problems and it also helps to prevent kidnappings. In the near future, this type of biochip will be widely accepted and implanted for personal identification, protection, monitoring, tracking, commerce, and other uses not yet imagined.

Unfortunately, such biochips store personal identification and the information generated from its use will be stored and maintained in a computer database. Your body becomes a tagged asset that is monitored and whose behavior will be tracked. Implanting the microchip in the body alters a person's physically, mentally and ultimately - spiritually. The problem that arises from the use of biochip in humans is more than an aesthetic, medical, political, or legal issue.

Satan works in the world and he shapes people and society to achieve his goals. Knowingly or not, anti-christ will force people to follow and obey an agenda that appears to be in the best interest of its people but, in following the pattern of human history and man's rebellion to God, will bring about pain and suffering until Christ comes again.

ETC................................

WATCHMEN

First off a "SPOILER ALERT" second...

PARENTS...Watchmen is NOT a comic adapted movie like Superman! It's rated R for a reason there IS NUDITY...full frontal male and female nudity and that's just the tip of the iceberg, so please research what your kids are going to see before you go to the movies or rent a flick.

Now, I admit I haven't read the Watchmen graphic novel yet, so I am reviewing this movie as a Watchmen virgin.

Right up front I have to say the only thing that I didn't like about this movie was having a poorly designed marketing gimmick thrown in my face at midnight after waiting for three hours to see the movie. (Regal cinemas decided that it would be a good idea to abruptly turn on the lights in the middle of the movie previews in order to raffle off a black tee shirt ) (not a Watchmen shirt)... two (yes only two) movie posters and a ???calculator???WTF?

The raffle tickets apparently hadn't been handed out to everyone, so half the theater had their hands up requesting tickets which took extra time and then, to top it off, the Regal Cinemas employee who was conducting the raffle obviously had no public speaking experience which made the whole situation slow, awkward and uncomfortable.

The movie on the other hand was absolutely amazing! I haven't seen a movie so creative and artistic in....well since Coraline. The beginning was a little slow as the characters were introduced and their backgrounds and histories explored but then the movie really took off.

I guess the pace of the film could be equated to really great sex.
You begin slowly, touching gently, with a little teasing heightening the anticipation, then a little nibble here, a sharp nip there, followed by a long deep stroke to start your pulse pounding and you body throbbing. Then back to gentle caresses, hands stroking, backs arching...before a sharp slap on your ass makes you scream and buck...(You get the picture )

The story was sweet one minute and brutal the next, the extremes almost physically knocked the wind out of me. I've never seen such a range of emotional scenes played so well, for example, in one scene, one of the Watchmen, Rorschach, is being quizzed by a shrink. The shrink shows him a card with an inkblot on it and asks him what he sees. Rorschach claims he sees a butterfly however, we are shown through his memories that what he sees is actually his mother being ravished by a strange man and then cruelly slapping young Rorschach, telling him that he should have been aborted as a baby.

The soundtrack is alternatively dark and moody and fast and intense and really helps the scenes.

Overall I loved it, I give it 5 stars and two opposable thumbs up and plan to buy it along with The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Coraline and Serenity.

Coraline in 3D

I know that I began this blog as just a tech blog and promised regular posts but it's nearing finals and I got caught up with homework and revising my resume. I've gotten behind and for that I'm sorry. However, I'm not sorry to be writing two movie reviews instead of a tech article because they are truly great movies.

I recently saw Coraline and if your not familiar with the story it's about a young girl named Coraline who moves to a new apartment with her distracted workaholic parents. Bored and feeling neglected Coraline discovers a hidden door in a wall that leads to a creepy yet seductive alternate life complete with other parents who dote on her.

The entire film was produced using stop motion animation and was created in my home state of Oregon utilizing about 400 people some of which created the 3000 odd popcorn cherry blossoms used on the set. It took roughly 300 people a week to create just one minute of the film!

The film was amazing. It was creepy and fascinating and so far has been the only movie that I've ever seen that hasn't had one of those slow spots where your just waiting for the action to pick back up. I was completely immersed and absolutely riveted by the film from start to finish, it was that good. The 3D was great and definitely enhanced the experience.

Overall I say see it in the theater and then buy it because you will want to watch it again and no its not just for kids, any adult would love this movie.

virtualized ubuntu running in XP off a SD card

Success! Here is a pic of Ubuntu running in XP on my ASUS Eee 1000h PC

.

It's slow to load and may need some tweaking but it's fun and functional. A great way to play with a Linux distro.

Hacker Helper-now with twice the common sense

As more and more people become upset with problems involving their rights to their software purchases, such as Wal-Marts now infamous letter to consumers warning them about an upcoming cessation of DRM support from the Wal-Mart servers (meaning if you bought digital music from Wal-Mart and don't have it backed up to a CD, it will soon be unusable) and other copyright issues, Apple has now begun adding to the list of consumer complaints due to their poor screening of the apps in their app store and not offering a try before you buy option.

After buying a few apps that were misleadingly represented, people are becoming disillusioned and piracy has become prevelent on the site. As reported on the site "Torrent Freak" "When game designer, James Bossert saw he that his Whack 'em All iPhone game had 400 new users in one day last week he initially got excited. But that sentiment quickly changed when he saw that only 12 people had paid 99 cents for the game on Apple's iPhone App Store. Bossert e-mailed the person who claimed to have cracked and distributed it and posted the response on his blog."

Now, this is where it gets interesting. Instead of mouthing off, the pirate suggested that Apple offer trial versions of the apps and that Bossert offer an ad-supported version of his game. The hacker, "Most_uniQue" said he used Crackulous, "one-tap" cracking software developed by Hackulous, to crack the app. After cracking 35 apps, he is retiring, he told Bossert in their surprisingly friendly e-mail exchange.


The software designer could have complained or accused or litigated but instead he took the helpful hacker's words to heart and said he plans to release a free, ad-supported version of Whack 'em All within a few weeks as a result of the piracy. "I'll leave the 99 cent version out there and see what happens," he added.

This got me thinking, I've downloaded free open source software for years and if I like it, I click the Paypal button and send some luv their way.

Now, logic dictates that as I'm a broke student and I donate for free software after I downloaded and used it, and Open Source software has been around for ages (long enough that it would have died out if people didn't donate)
Then, it only stands to reason that donating to developers who produce a quality product is a time honored tradition and thus a viable business model.

Agree? Disagree?
Until next time always remember...The Cake is a Lie...

For related articles see:

http://torrentfreak.com/game-developer-confronts-iphone-software-cracker-090107/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10142318-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Net Neutrality

I am a huge supporter of Net Neutrality for a variety of reasons but first for those of you who aren't sure what net neutrality is and how it affects you and your life here is a brief overview.

What is Net Neutrality?

Net Neutrality means no discrimination.

Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from blocking, speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination.

Now your probably thinking, why would my ISP block, speed up or slow web content?

According to PC World Magazine,

"A distributor of online video content has filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, asking the agency to stop broadband providers from blocking or slowing P-to-P traffic.

The petition filed by Vuze, which uses the BitTorrent P-to-P (peer-to-peer) protocol to distribute Web content, asks the FCC to set rules for network management by ISPs (Internet service providers). Vuze's filing late Wednesday follows reports last month that cable broadband provider Comcast slows some P-to-P traffic, including BitTorrent."

By blocking or slowing video from Vuze, ISP's were effectively running the company into the ground as a video site rely's on fast speeds to customers. ISPs are futilely fighting customer demand for multimedia services but the broader implications are far more serious.

If ISP's can get away with slowing traffic to sites they dislike, whether it's because the sites utilize a lot of bandwidth for video or file sharing, then the ISP can effectively shut the business down simply by slowing traffic to the point of making the site unusable.

Like the early days of newspapers and radio the internet is a veritable cornucopia of innovation, growth and private individual created content. Anyone can become a video podcaster and start his or her own video show or internet radio program.This is in contrast to newspapers and tv which are now over 90% corporate created content.

If the internet becomes a regulated corporate body then all the freedom and innovation goes the way of the ancient radio talk show.

Comcast, a major cable company recently was busted by the FCC for seacretly blocking internet access to some of it's customers.

"A sharply divided Federal Communications Commission this morning slammed Comcast for blocking Internet access to some customers. It accused the cable company of failing to tell its subscribers about the practice, lying when confronted by regulators and trying to cripple online video sites that compete with its on-demand service."

Blogger, John C Dvorak wrote at on Feb 27 2008

"Comcast has acknowledged hiring people to fill seats before the start of a contentious federal hearing on how the company manages its broadband network, allowing its employees to take those seats when the filled-to-capacity hearing started…

“First, Comcast was caught blocking the Internet. Now it has been caught blocking the public from the debate,” said Timothy Karr, director of an advocacy campaign…

“The only people cheering Comcast are those paid to do so.”

http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2008/02/27/comcast-not-only-limits-p2p-file-sharing-they-keep-public-from-fcc-hearing/

This is an important subject and I hope that freedom prevails.

WePC.com - Idea - The Sojourn by Jen Eidson

A great idea for a new ASUS netbook.

http://www.wepc.com/vote/view/idea/5519/The_Sojourn


I recently submitted my idea for a new ASUS brand laptop. My idea was that the laptop would be waterproofed via Golden ShellBack www.golden-shellback.com and completely user customizable / repairable.

Think about being able to carry a few parts with you on a trip knowing that you could field strip the thing and have it back online in minutes even out in the middle of West Africa!

The Sojourn
PC Idea Description

Make the netbook easily user customizable in regards to upgrading the hard drive, memory, graphics etc.

Then Offer consumers the option to have their netbook waterproofed by utilizing a collaboration with the Northeast Maritime Institute; 32 Washington Street; Fairhaven, MA 02719 USA; ( map ) Phone: + [1] 508 287 2334;
info@golden-shellback.com ;


Have a series of commercials following an intrepid explorer as she braves the elements on a backpacking trip through West Africa.

Show the netbook and explorer surviving monsoons, sandstorms, heatwaves etc. This will illustrate the netbooks ability to go where no netbook has gone before and will give the public a sense of the high quality of ASUS machines.

Alternately you could have a similar commercial showcasing the application of using a waterproof netbook that is almost completely user reparable in the field

(think of a soldier field stripping and cleaning his rifle in the field)

along with miniature medical devices such as the new scanners developed by T2 Biosystems.

This would be a netbook beloved by travelers, Doctors Without Borders, hunters, hikers, photo journalists. Especially if there is plenty of options for additional storage.

People could take their netbook into very inhospitable places with a few replacement parts in case of emergency and be able to travel worry free knowing their patients/pictures/information is safe and their ability to communicate with the world is secure.

Adding internal WiMax capability would be an additional benefit as users prefer to have very few if any peripherals sticking out of a portable machine.



read more | digg story

This months project

This month I've decided to try to run a linux distro off a 16GB class 6 SDHC card. I'm leaning towards Fedora or Ubuntu but plan to try Puppy linux as well. I've downloaded Unetbootin and found a few likely tutorials at http://www.pendrivelinux.com/.

As a warm up, the first tutorial I thought I'd try is running Ubuntu off a virtual drive.
To do this I'll download Qemu, http://bellard.org/qemu/about.html an open source machine emulator. This way I can run Ubuntu and Windows without needing to reboot to switch between them and I can easily share files between OS's as well.

According to:

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/qemu-ubuntu-804-with-a-shared-folder/#more-416

I'll need the following...

Qemu Portable Ubuntu 8.04.1 essentials:

• 1GB+ flash drive (formatted as fat16 or fat32)
• A Windows Host computer
• Ubuntu 8.04.1 ISO
• QPU804.exe

Then I'll need to take the following steps...

Portable Ubuntu 8.04.1 creation process:

1. Download and launch QPU804.exe, a QPU804 folder is created
2. Download the Ubuntu ISO and move it to the QPU804 folder
3. Move the QPU804 folder to your fat formatted flash drive
4. From the QPU804 folder, Click QPU804.bat to start Ubuntu
5. Once Ubuntu is up and running on top of Windows, navigate to Places and click QEMU VVFAT to mount it (this is the mount point for the shared folder).

I'll post an update in a few days about my progress...and if I don't...then you know something went horribly wrong :)

Mega Liquidation Sale Update

Channel 6 in San Diego reports that the scam is continuing. The reporters were prevented from investigating but did manage to help several victims recover what they paid in admission to the "event".

Go to

http://www.sandiego6.com/content/unit6/story/Many-Complain-About-Mega-Liquidation-Club/I9VDRY3LSEOufQD3XWeT_g.cspx

for the full article.

Beware The Mega Liquidation Sale

This scam has been touring the US for a few years now and it's time it was stopped. The organizers take out TV and radio spots a few days before the "sale" and claim to have fantastic deals on high ticket items such as iPods, TV's and DVD players.

In reality there are no deals.

The iPods "If there actually are any" are the same price as in the store and all other items are either generic brands, open box

(And by that I mean in large piles stacked on the ground)

 or extremely outdated models.

(I personally witnessed a vendor trying to sell a laptop that was practically old enough to have a floppy drive at the Portlan Oregon show at the EXPO center.)

In today's economey this type of scam really hurts people.

The only way to stop it is to make the practice no longer lucrative to the scammers. All the scammers need to do, is dupe enough people into buying a $16 admission ticket and it doesent matter if a single item is sold or not.

If 1000 people show up over a three day weekend thats $16,000. There were only seven vendors at the Portland Show so that's over 2,000 each just in ticket sales, actual purchases are a bonus for them not the actual bread and butter.

This type of scam needs to be made so public that everyone  knows not to bother. That way the scammers lose revinue and the practice dies out.

For other articles about this scam see : http://www.sandiego6.com/content/unit6/story/Many-Complain-About-Mega-Liquidation-Club/I9VDRY3LSEOufQD3XWeT_g.cspx

http://stateofaffairs.info/archive/portland-mega-liquidation-sale/