A Blog for the Masses

On the Cliff of Economic Change - Is Greece or Germany the Key?

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:56:00 +0000

If you haven't heard about it already, then you must either live in a bubble, or don't really care how the economy works, but right now there is a lot of pressure on Greece to reform its public spending as a whole. The Greeks are being asked to change a whole load of things in a bid to help repay the bail-out that has been guaranteed to their government on behalf of the other eurozone countries in a bid to stabilize the Euro. Of course the other countries are doing it for 'selfish' reasons, which is fine. I mean, why should they have to suffer for the mistakes of others? This is why the Spanish are out and about carrying on with 'very angry protests' about the newly proposed reforms.

But that's only the tip of the ice-berg. The real change is going to happen based on whether or not the Greek government finally accepts the prerequisites given to it by the EU (and IMF). Of course, the Greek people are not at all pleased at the prospect of losing a majority of their services to privatization. Who can blame them? Here in England 'public' transport is notoriously expensive because of that very fact. So, now the Greek government have to choose whether to face they fury of fellow eurozone countries, or their own people.

But this €12bn loan is the key to an economic overhaul that could change the social-economic structure of Europe, the eurozone and the Euro.

Why?

This is the question that will be asked quite often. Why does this have the potential to change everything in Europe? The reason is that Germany's 'value' - and I put value is quotes because it's not a real value, only an abstract one; €1 in Germany is still €1 in Greece - of the Euro is stronger than that of most other countries in the eurozone. They kept their monetary strength by cutting back instead of requesting bail-outs. As a result, Germany does not have loans that it needs to pay back. So, Germany has managed to float the Euro's value almost completely on it's own back. Without Germany, the Euro would have plummeted in value.

Even Obama has said that Germany's leadership has alone saved the Euro and that it hopes that Germany will lead the rest of the eurozone countries in a suitable economic reform (here's one story, for example). This matters a lot to the USA, whose economy is also suffering. It cannot afford (quite literally) for the Euro to fail. If it does, the US Dollar would most likely be hit with a second recession which would bode really badly for Obama and his 2012 campaign for re-election - but that's another story.

How?

So, how can the Euro save itself? From what I can tell (so far) is that there are three basic options.

The first option, and the one that most people want - with the exception of the Greek people, is that Greece will accede to the demands of the eurozone and IMF and cut their government spending, sell of parts of itself to privatization to start paying off the debt it owes, and try to get investors to pump money into their country. This is the best solution as it will help balance the drastic difference of value of the Euro. Yes, Germany will have to 'suffer' with a slight devaluation of the Euro, but Greek can be happy with the increase of value on their side. And over a period of two or three years, the overall value would stabilize.

The second option is to drop Greece from the eurozone. This is what many economists believe will happen if Greece does not accept the changes demanded of it. Many economists have already written about why and how it will affect the EU and the Greek nation if that happens (here's one), so I won't really get into it. Suffice to say, that the people who will be hit hardest will be the Greeks themselves. Some think this unfair, but Germany has been floating the value of the Euro on behalf of other nations sacrificing the very things demanded of Greece and they are so far the strongest country in terms of economic power in the eurozone. But if Greece is indeed dropped, the value of the Euro will increase considerably. Some estimates have put the number as high as 1%! That's a lot.

The figure was taken from taking the general value of the change of value of the Euro per person for Greece against the change of value of the Euro per person for Germany and averaging it out. If you view the data, notice the significantly high number of change in Greece's value (change is good) compared with the lower value of change for Germany. If Greece is dropped from the eurozone, the 4% change will then be passed back into Germany, rising the average change of 2% to 3% (or more).

The third option, and the option that most of the eurozone really fears, is that Germany will drop itself from the eurozone and establish their own currency. That would destroy the overall value of the Euro and Germany's economic reforms would propel it into currency powerhouse. This is the option that most affects Europe as a whole, but it's also the option that most Germans would want (psst, don't tell them that). By dropping itself from the EU, they would summarily increase the value of their own currency (which would suck for the tourism industry because no-one would be able to afford the exchange rate - but you would suddenly see a lot of Germans all over the world). If Germany were to drop itself and take on a new form of currency, I estimate that the value would come close to €4 (around £3.5 - as of today). This is why France is trying to 'tie-in' with Germany to try and prevent this from ever happening. But that, again, is a different story. If Germany does decide to leave, though, it will probably take around 2 years for it to completely remove itself from the eurozone, causing a lot of hassle in the process.

Side Note...

Already the Chinese (here is an example) and Indians (here is an example) are going nuts investing everything in Germany as they are trying to establish economic security; and Germany is also investing heavily in China and India. Companies from other nations - USA and UK especially - are seeing this and are outsourcing themselves to these countries in a bid to stay 'in the game'. They also realize that the exchange rate in India and China will be a lot kinder than the exchange rate in Germany - if it were to pull out.

Conclusion?

Greece should accept the changes. This is the best option for everyone as a whole.

If Greece were to go, the people would suffer tremendously for it (economically). Restructuring the entire economy from scratch would also pull out a lot of investors as it will become to 'risky' to invest in the country. Companies would pull out. People would lose their jobs. The probability of sanctions regarding immigration is high, restricting the freedom of movement of Greeks inside the rest of Europe. They would become isolated. This is a very, very bad thing.

If Germany were to go, it would change everything. It would put Germany in the lead as it will become an economic powerhouse. India and China would come in close behind, that would push the rest of the EU and the US out as contenders in the global market.

Top 10 Accounts Worth Following on Twitter - June 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Twitter, is the micro-blogging site. However, with so many users and accounts how do you know who are the best ones to follow? I honestly rarely use Twitter, but I see the usefulness and the need for it, and with the rise of social-news/media, it is a great way on informing the world directly without having the need to go through mainstream media news. For example, someone in Libya posting updates as frequently as they can about the war currently active in their country (http://twitter.com/#!/shabablibya), or new computer vulnerabilities that have been detected in the world and how severe they are (http://twitter.com/#!/metasploit).

So, here are my Top-10 Twitter accounts that you ought to follow:

Magnum Photos - http://twitter.com/#!/magnumphotos
If you want photos, and good photos, photos that speak to you, or pictures that make you open your eyes and mind, then you need to follow this account. It's got so many amazing pictures, essays, journals, etc. If you need any more proof, then check out the movie below. Be warned though, some of the pictures in this presentation are shocking and sad.
F*** My Life (FML) - http://twitter.com/#!/FMLtoday
There are several FML accounts, and different types of FML, but they have one thing in common. They are hilarious. They are just small anecdotes of the crazy stories that are somewhat (or not) likely to happen to everyday people. If nothing more than to cheer you up, some of these will make you smile or laugh out loud.
Douglas Wheelock - http://twitter.com/#!/astro_wheels
A NASA astronaut, Douglas Wheelock takes some breath-taking photos of our planet and publishes them for us here on Earth to see. Some of his photos are not clear, but they are honest, and that 'amateurish' edge to them adds to the magnificence of the pictures. Although he's no longer hovering around the planet at 25,000km/h anymore, take a look at his photos before his mission ended on June 1, 2011. Some of those pictures will take your breath away. If you follow this account, you will also get in touch with other astronauts and cosmonauts (and even NASA).
Reuters Pictures - http://twitter.com/#!/reuterspictures
I was loathed to put 2 picture related items in my Top 10 list, but this one is too good not to be. This has got to be some of the most amazing pictures you will see. It differs because it's current, and it's news. It helps give you an a visual representation of a wall of text, which sometimes helps define the meaning of the story better than words. After all, pictures are worth 1000 of them. Definitely a great way to get your news as well. A very popular one, and since it's current, it has a really high number of posts. Sometimes 5 or 6 in an hour depending on the news.
Fail Blog - http://twitter.com/#!/FailBlog
If you've got a slightly sadistic side to you, and I know that some of you who read this blog do, then you will love this. If you don't know what the Fail-Blog is then you're already missing out. But if not, it's essentially videos and pictures of the most ridiculous things, people and events on Earth. Some of which are hilarious. But viewer discretion is advised as some images might be a little bit offensive for those that are a little sensitive rude humor.
WTF Japan - http://twitter.com/#!/wtfjapan
It's a well known fact on the Internet (and in real-life) that Japan comes out with the most outrageous things. Period. There is nothing that can out-do Japan's ability to confuse, astound, cause revulsion, and elation all at the same time. A great account to find things to get a few good laughs. It's also user-submitted, which adds to the hilarity since anyone (and everyone) can add to the good times at any moment. Be warned though, this site will destroy your time. Since it's user added as well as source added, you will get a lot of people in your feed if you follow.
Time Magazine - http://twitter.com/#!/TIME
If you're not already following TIME, you ought to do it. It's got everything you could ever want, and what's more, it comes with some great things that you won't see on their regular site. Some photos that will automatically get shoved into the archives, or videos that are rare. There are usually at least 2 good editorials a week, and some amazing stories. If you had to follow something 'normal', then I would definitely recommend TIME.
CERN - http://twitter.com/#!/CERN
If you love Physics, then you will love CERN. So it makes perfect sense to keep up to date with all the incredible stuff that goes on there. It's so incredible, in fact, that I have to say that it's almost like science-fiction, rather than fact. I mean, every day there is a new discovery that brings us closer to another significant shift in our understanding of the universe. Even if you're not into physics, it is still a great way to find out about the going-ons in the universe.
SkyShare - http://twitter.com/#!/SkyShare
If you like the stars, the planet, and nature in general, then this is a great one. It's got a lot of links to all sorts of really interesting information, but its primary focus is on the stars. It has some really fantastic pictures, some other-worldly videos (literally), and pretty decent editorials. Be warned, though, they post a lot (around 1 port per hour), so if you follow this then be prepared for a flux of messages.
NOAA, Ocean Explorer - http://twitter.com/#!/oceanexplorer
There are more than one undersea accounts, but I like this one the best. It does not really post articles, but rather pictures. Some of them are simply the most stunning underwater photos I have ever seen. Sometimes they post videos, but if you like the oceans, and all things aquatic, then I would recommend this one.

And that's it for my list. I don't really follow individuals. For the one reason that it's too specialized for my tastes, but even if I did, I think that they should have a top list of their own anyway. Maybe one day I'll make one.

Traumatic Train Tales 01: Unwanted Oral Projectiles

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:35:00 +0000

Let's face it. Commuting can be a real pain in the rear. No-one likes to commute. Going to work, and back, every day. It gets monotonous, tiring, and mundane.

However, there are times when commuting has its... 'moments'. During my time in England, I have experienced some of the strangest, weirdest, and 'disgustingest' things, and I feel that now enough time has past since and that I can reveal them to the general public.

Read on... if you dare.

First of all, let me set you up with my particular scenario. I work in London - in the middle of the city to be exact. This helps me put myself on two different types of trains. The London Underground (affectionately called the Tube), and the surface rail system. Most of my friends think me mad for doing this every single day, and they would be right. But then again, a little bit of madness can be a good thing, at least I tell myself that.

Now you know that much, you have to get to know the layout of the English trains. More specifically, the train company known as "First Capital Connect", which apparently has one of the worst ratings of scheduled trains in the UK. I think the worst is one of the south-going trains, but I'm not worried about them. In order to understand this story, you need to get a picture in your mind as to what the trains look like from the inside.

(Typical FCC train - photo courtesy of http://www.therailwaycentre.com/)

The trains are designed as such: As soon as you walk in through the doors, you have the entrance, which has these two glass panels on your left and right that are used to separate the entrance/exit area from the seating area. This area is:

Not carpeted
Where all the trashcans reside
Where all the people leave their bikes
Where all the people leave their suitcases
Where all the people leave their baby strollers, carriages, etc
Where all the people who don't have seats sit down

Whatever the case, people who usually board the train at the last minute decide to cramp themselves into these areas (where these trains doors are) and remain there for the duration of the commute. I think they do it to do some sort of community bonding. Like how all the people in the seats usually act all hoity-toity and have this 'holier-than-thou' attitude. The non-seating people must then get insulted and feel inadequate, so they band together to comfort one another.

(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

The meaning of this is that if you didn't get a seat, you're usually stuck standing in the middle of the entrance and exit area of the train squished in between people trying to get to the same destination with you. Very rarely do the people move into the aisle where the seats are, and those that do always seem to feel sad and awkward. Although it is somewhat bad, it is nothing compared to Japan.

(Not as bad as this)

So, here I am, running to catch the train at the busiest time of day. Of course, as I am running to catch the train I notice that there is an army of people standing on the platform. The trains not only have been delayed, but the train that was supposed to couple with the train on the platform had just been cancelled. So now, instead of 8 carriages for everyone to get in, it's down to 4. This was a build-up of 2 cancelled trains. So, essentially, there were three trains worth of people to be crammed into half a full train!

Keep in mind that this was also back in the day when the typical train only carried 8 carriages. Now they've added 4 more nowadays to make it 12, so it's actually got room and most people can actually get a seat. So when I say it was crowded, I mean it was really crowded. You couldn't pick your nose without touching someone's butt. Every time you inhaled someone's face was there to breathe out coffee breath air at that particular moment. I was horrible. We were crammed in there like canned sardines, but still not as bad as the Japanese though. At least, I don't think so.

Sadly, this was a common occurrence at the time. Cancellations and delays were so common, that it became a surprise when the trains actually went on time. So now, every single person, including people who have been waiting for nearly an hour, had to cram into 4 carriages instead of 8, which would have still been a tight squeeze. And you can tell that no-one wants to wait, because everyone knows its a matter of time before the next train is delayed or cancelled, so everyone is getting on this train. You could see it in their eyes. They were going to get on this train. Ain't nothing was going to stop them.

As soon as the doors open, it was as if they train's doors were vacuum cleaners and the people were dust balls. They crammed into the train (almost like they do in Japan). It was as if I was caught up in a river; a river of angry Brits, rushing towards the train.

Suffice to say, I manage to get onto the train just as the last whistle was blown and the conductor pushes the 'go' button. The doors slammed shut, and the people who couldn't get on the train started to scream and shout profanities (not literally). I felt a little smug. I'm sure there was this sadistic smile on my face as I am crammed in the train's entrance mashed up against a the transparent plastic-glass, peering into the main seating area.

So here we are, chugging along, when we get to the first station. So now, not only is the train over crowded, but now you get a bunch more people struggling to get on (not as bad as Japan). Sadly, only a few lucky ones managed to clamber aboard. Due to this, more people were forced to walk down the aisles to stand in the middle area next to the people sitting down on the seats. So now, it was already ridiculously crowded.

On we go, we keep on going until we reach the next station. Then again, more people are piling on! This forced whatever breathing room we had left to be used up literally forcing us to fill up every inch of the train with people. I was surprised that no-one decided to put themselves in the over-head area. That was how crowded it was. But still, not as bad as Japan, but it was getting close.

Now, when you're squished up against a wall, there really isn't much to do. But I was lucky. Since the wall in front of me was transparent and I could look inside the seating area. And trust me, I was silently cursing those that had managed to find comfortable seats, wishing ill of them, when my eye caught something... strange.

There was a man, not too old, maybe in his 40's, wearing a business suit, standing about 5 or 6 feet away from me in the aisle where the seats were. I was looking at him through the glass partition. At first it looked as if he seemed to be dancing, the way he was moving his body looked like an inch-worm standing up. He was making this wave motions with his body, and seemed to be swaying from side to side. It took me a few more seconds to realize that he wasn't dancing, he was gagging. And no-one else paid him any attention. I watched, intrigued by this. Here was a man, standing in the middle of a over-crowded train, trying to hold back his breakfast.

Suffice to say, it didn't last. About a minute later...

(Picture just to give you an idea)

The man let it out. And when I say out, I mean all out. Every thing that could have possibly been stored in his stomach returned from whence it came. What also bewildered me was that instead of facing downwards, towards the ground, to minimize the damage, the man was looking straight towards me, and when his episode started, he turned his head away from my direction, and managed to do a complete 180 degree turn. His projectiles therefore did not head down towards his feet, but outwards like a fountain of semi-digested food almost on every single passenger in the carriage! He managed to hit as many people as he possibly could.

Now, this is the situation. An over-crowded train had just been hit by a puke-bomb of great magnitude.

Everyone in the carriage (well, most of them at least) has some amount of vomit on them. So, here's the million dollar question: what do you do?

Whatever you answer is, you certain do NOT PULL THE EMERGENCY BREAK!

Yes. That's exactly what someone did. Thinking that it was perhaps a bio-weapon, some hero decided that pulling the emergency break would be a good idea. So, here we are, miles in the middle of nowhere, a train full of people with vomit attached to their clothing, with no air circulating (because the train has stopped), in the heat. It took every ounce of strength I had not to let my own stomach release its contents.

After around 15 minutes, the train reversed back towards the last station. Everyone got off the train and threw themselves on the slow train (that stops at all the stations along the way).

I am not sure what happened to those that were unlucky enough to get touched by semi-digested contents of the man's innards, but to this day I refuse to sit in the middle two carriages of any First Capital Connect train. I would rather stand the entire duration than sit in what could possibly be the Vomit Train.

Further reading: Another upset commuter writes about his experiences on First Capital Connect, although from a different line...

The Three Taboo Topics

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Thu, 05 May 2011 15:07:00 +0000

The Three Taboo Topics was something that a drunk told me once upon a time. The man, who I will not name, was completely and utterly upset because he had this huge debate with some other person that turned violent and he ended up getting his butt handed over to him on a silver platter. With his lip cut, his nose blocked with dried blood, he turned to me and told me simply:

"Tucks, whatever you do, always stay away from the Three Taboo Topics. They are the quickest way to get your hurt, lose friends, or worse..."

And he's right.

Now, this happened in the days before Internet, before Wikipedia, before Google. The only information you could get was via newspapers, and sometimes newspapers left out certain bits of important information and there was little you could do about it. But with the advent of the Internet that changed. Now people can go after one another's beliefs and morals without any qualms or the slightest bit of hesitation in online discussion forums, which normally turn into a big steaming pile of human verbal abuses and expletives as they argue, swear, and generally let their inner-asshole say things that they would never say in real life (usually although there have been exceptions where people say whatever they feel).

So, what are the Three Taboo Topics?

The number one Taboo Topic is Religion.

Religion is perhaps the most dangerous topic of discussion. Even people who believe in the same religion end up arguing because of their interpretation of it. There was this one time at a church I was in that I heard two priests arguing as to how to properly say 'Amen'. One argued that the correct was was to say it so the 'A' sounded like the long 'A' in the word 'Ape', while the other said it was 'A' in the word 'Apartment'.

To me, both are the same thing. There's no difference! But they ended up having a really heated discussion about it, using references from all over the place, to which I found surprising. In the end, though, they managed to be content that they will keep with their own version of the word, and to hell with the other's opinion on the matter.

But that's just a small scale. I don't think I need to tell you just how severe arguments over religion can go.

The number two Taboo Topic is Politics.

Politics are taboo because no matter what you do, no matter how much evidence you provide, and no matter how hard you try, the other person will absolutely refuse to shift their own perspective. In fact, the harder you try, the more resolved they become to stick with their own political ideals. It takes a really rude and harsh awakening for the person to realize for themselves whether or not their political allegiance is wrong or right.

That is evident in all cultures around the world. The strange thing is that it is because of these arguments that people are able to change their governments. Usually for the better, but sometimes not. Politics is usually something that is best avoided during a social situation, and is better suited for the Internet on forums.

The last Taboo Topic is either Sex or Money.

It really depends on the culture, actually. Money in many cases is seen as something that should be kept to yourself, and not to be 'brandished'. English people especially, I find, are especially uptight about the mentioning of cash. They would rather talk about raunchy sex in explicit details, then to reveal about how much they've earned the night before.

But in other countries, the mere mention of sex will cause people to freeze in their tracks and become 'scandalized' by it. For example, Saudi Arabia (from what I believe and from what I've been told) the mere mention of sex will get you in a load of trouble.

Essential Tools for the IT Man: Clonezilla

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:33:00 +0000

Do you run a network with a lot of computers on it? Do you have to update them all? Do you have to make sure that each machine is exactly the same for everyone? Don't want to spend tonnes of money on Symantec or Arconis solutions (or pirate these software)?

Then Clonezilla is your program!

This program can clone your 'prime' machine so you can distribute it to all your workstations easily. And what's more, if you don't have a Unix server, you can use a Unix Live CD on the server itself to distribute the image of the computer. It makes life so much easier especially if you have to update a tonne of computers at the same time.

And don't forget to support the developers.

If you're interested, check out their site @ http://clonezilla.org/

Essential Tools for the IT Man: GPartED

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:35:00 +0000

Let's face it. Sometimes (not always), our brains suddenly forget the simplest of things, and we end up building a mountain on top of a really, really silly mistake. One of the most common mistakes of a bored IT professional is the 'oops, wrong partition' mistake. How does that come about?

You're working deep into the sunny afternoon on a computer whose hard-drive has been corrupted or taken over my a virus, who knows? You're too bored to 'fix' it, so doing a system wipe and resetting it is the best way to do this. But... when you formatted and created your partition, you forgot to give enough space for Windows to be installed on the primary partition, thereby causing grief.

Now, instead of reformatting and starting again, you can use GPartED, a Linux Live CD that allows you to modify partitions without having to reformat your computer! It may not be used often, but having it on your emergency bootable USB (or CD, if you prefer CD's) is a plus, plus, plus!

And what's more, it's free, fantastic, and pure genius.

Don't forget to donate!

For more information, please go to their site @ http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

Installing Open Biblio on Third-Party Webserver

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:03:00 +0000

So, you've decided to use Open Biblio the free online library system? But, you want to attach it to a website that you're hosting outside of your building (somewhere on the Internet). Why would you want to do this? Well, I find that in-house servers can be a cumbersome thing to maintain. You have to ensure that backups are properly working and scheduled. If something happens, and your server goes down, it's your responsibility to ensure it gets up and working. It takes up space. It uses bandwidth. I could go on and on and on. So, hosting it elsewhere resolves most of these problems. The most distinct disadvantage is it's advantage; it's not in your hands. So if something happens to your external server, then you're screwed.

So get a good web service.

Here, I have taken the trouble in actually setting up Open Biblio on a third-party server since I already have an external webserver and don't want to clutter my personal one with this.

It's not hard at all, just follow these steps and you will have a fully functional online library.

Step 1: First, verify that your webserver has the minimum requirements needed to load this software. It will need:

PHP v4.2.0 or higher
MySQL v4.0.12 or higher

Usually your webhost will gloat and brag about having this somewhere on their site. If not, ask around the forums or send an email to the admins asking them if they've got what it takes. If not - stop. You can't use this.

Step 2: Download the software. Download it here.

Step 3: When it is down downloaded, you will need to Unzip the folder (by double-clicking on it).

Step 4: Use your FTP program. If you have no idea what that is, follow the next few steps. If you do, scroll down until you reach the next step.

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is used to move file quickly from one computer to another.
There are plenty of free ones. Use FileZilla (all) or SmartFTP (Win) or Cyberduck (Mac)

If you don't want to install one, you can use the web version here: net2ftp

Note: This can be much slower than using a program

Install your program
Run it
It will ask you for 3 things.

Hostname
Username
Password

Ask around your forum or your admin if you're unsure what these are

Log into your site

Step 5: Upload the entire contents of the Open Biblio folder you've unzipped or upload the entire Open Biblio folder itself. If you're using a FTP program, this is as simple as drag and dropping it from one side into the other. Note: Dragging the entire folder over is better.

Do NOT delete the folder on your computer. This will save you some time at later stages as you will have to modify some files.

Step 6: After uploading the contents of the folder onto your server log into your host's MySQL server.

Here you will encounter 1 or 2 things. Either your host will allow you to create multiple databases or not. Some hosts think that 1 database for everything is fine. It is, but it just makes more sense to have two different databases doing two different tasks, although 1 database with multiple tables will be fine. It will work if you have just a single database with multiple tables. It is strongly recommended that you use a separate database.

Multiple Database Hosts:

Log in to MySQL. Usually you will use phpMyAdmin. This is what I am going to go by.
Now in the main screen you will see a shortcut called Databases.

If you see this image below, stop and go to where it says Single Database Hosts. If not, proceed to the next step.
Create a new database:

Image courtesy of oslims
Once the database has been created, a confirmation will appear. To make sure, check the list as shown.

Image courtesy of oslims
Now create a new database username using the code below. Be sure the change your password to something powerful and complex to prevent security issues. Here is the code if you want to copy and paste it (edit the bold parts):

grant all privileges on OpenBiblio.* to obibliouser@localhost identified by 'obibliopwd';

Image courtesy of oslims
Remember the username and password you have created for the next step. This is important!

Single Database Hosts:

If you do not have the ability to make a new database, you can instead create a new table. Does this degrade from the performance and response of a website? Yes. It does. Does it do so drastically? That depends on the amount of access you require from the database. And, going by personal experience, I have not noticed any differences at all.

In a Single Database Host, your service provider would have already created the database for you, usually with the same name as your login. So, if your username for the website is 'quickdraw', then chances are that your database name will also be 'quickdraw'. When you log in, the name of the database will be given to you.

If you have a database already populated, the new data from OpenBiblio will put the new data into new fields for you. So, you are essentially all set up, all you need is to do now is to change your access to the database in the database connection file called: database_constants.php

Step 7: Now you are ready to modify the connection to the database.

On your computer (if you have not deleted the OpenBiblio folder) find the OpenBiblio folder. The file called database_constants.php will be there.

Using Notepad (Start > Run > 'notepad' > [OK] ) open the database_constants.php file.

If you did delete the OpenBiblio folder, you will have to use your FTP program. Connect to the server and find the file: database_constants.php

Download the file back onto your computer (somewhere you can easily find, i.e. the Desktop) and use Notepad.

Mac - If you're using a Mac, you're going to have to download a text editor as Text Edit is not a program utility and will modify the code. You are going to have to download something similar. I use TextWrangler.

Note: When you open the file, if you see a lot of text, but nothing coherent, hit the 'Word Wrap' button under 'Format' in the toolbar. You should be able to see a bunch of readable text.

If you had to create your own database

Where it says define ("OBIB_DATABASE", "OpenBiblio");Change OpenBiblio to the name of the database you entered from before.
Note: Make sure the spelling is EXACTLY the same (caps in the proper places)
Example: If you had created a database called LibraryDB, your line should look:
define ("OBIB_DATABASE", "LibraryDB");
Where it says define ("OBIB_USERNAME", "obibliouser");Change obibliouser to the username you entered from before
Note: Make sure the spelling is EXACTLY the same (caps in the proper places)
Example: If you had created a user called libraryAdmin, your line should look:
define ("OBIB_USERNAME", "libraryAdmin");
Where it says define ("OBIB_PWD", "obibliopwd");Change obiblipwd to the password you entered from before
Note: Make sure the spelling is EXACTLY the same (caps in the proper places)
Example: If you had created a user called libAcc3ss193, your line should look:
define ("OBIB_PWD", "libAcc3ss193");
Save the file

If you had a database 'given' to you

Where it says define ("OBIB_DATABASE", "obibliouser");Change OpenBiblio to the username you use to login
Note: Make sure the spelling is EXACTLY the same (caps in the proper places)
Example: If you have the username johnsmith, your line should look:
define ("OBIB_DATABASE", "johnsmith");
Where it says define ("OBIB_USERNAME", "obibliouser");Change obibliouser to the username use to login - these are 99% usually the same
Note: Make sure the spelling is EXACTLY the same (caps in the proper places)
Example: If you have the username called johnsmith, your line should look:
define ("OBIB_USERNAME", "johnsmith");
Where it says define ("OBIB_PWD", "obibliopwd");Change obiblipwd to the password you use to login
Note: Make sure the spelling is EXACTLY the same (caps in the proper places)
Example: If your password is libAcc3ss193, your line should look:
define ("OBIB_PWD", "libAcc3ss193");

Step 8: Now you will have to upload the modified database_constants.php onto the server using your FTP program.

It will tell you that a file already exists under that name and will ask you to do one of several things. Select Overwrite File as you will no longer be using the old one. If you really are scared, you can rename the old file (e.g. call it database_constants.php.bak), that way it won't be deleted.

Step 9: Now with your database all set up, you're ready to install OpenBiblio.

You will need to go to your website's OpenBiblio install domain. So, if you are hosting it off a website called 'mcgaw.me', then you'll have to do: http://mcgaw.me/openbiblio/install/index.php (not a real webpage)

Another example: http://myself.afreedomain.com/openbiblio/install/index.php

Replace the domain with your domain you are using.

Step 10: If you have done it correctly you should see this page:

Image courtesy of oslims

I would recommend clicking the 'Install Test Data' as it gives you a better idea on how the site works.

Step 11: Break out a six-pack, because you're done. Installing it, at least. Now you will have to populate it with your books.

Image courtesy of oslims

Step 12: Be sure that you change the default username and password for your site ASAP! After clicking on the above link, you will be redirected to the main page:

Image courtesy of oslims

Click on Admin.

The default username and password is 'admin'.

A New Revolution in Animation is Close...

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:15:00 +0000

Yes, that's right. Right here, right now, I am going to say it. With the release of the much anticipated and much hyped Kinect from Microsoft for the XBox 360, we are now looking into a future of digital animation revolution. With the ability to track your movement, a multi-billion dollar movie production tool is now an affordable toy! We are going to see the release of games that will enable users to create full-length motion pictures and animations using their own bodies! To see what I mean, just read more...

First, take a look at the video.

Pretty much self-explanatory. If you notice the 'freestyle' moments, look how much detail is captured, and how accurately the Kinect tracks the person?

Already there are hacks to use the Kinect with PC animation programs. The storm of new Animations is just right around the corner.

So, I am thinking of getting a Kinect, and then hooking it up to my Mac and use a 3D animation program to capture the motion using a simple mapping! I have used a program called Daz in the past (because it's simple, well programmed and most importantly - free). The potential is astronomical! Simply astronomical.

Seriously. It's going to be one helluva ride!

Bypassing Megavideo 72 Limit

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 03:26:00 +0000

Let's face it. We all use Megavideo to watch videos, movies, etc. Whether or not this is a good thing is another debate, but I find it incredibly annoying that the 72 minute time limit exists, and in some cases I do not agree with it. Although a lot of people abuse it by uploading episodes of TV serials, and Anime episodes, it also blocks people from watching legitimate videos, such as Public Domain documentaries, and other public stuff. Even creating an account does not cancel it. You have to purchase a premium account to get actual content. At first I tolerated it, but then it got on my nerves, and I did some investigating, and I found that a lot of people have already suggested bypasses for it. In fact, I also did a How-To about it in this blog in the past. But now, I've figured out how to do it better.

The first thing you have to do is download Cacaoweb.

Then after that, you ought to download the Firefox or Chrome extension: Illimitux.

Now, whenever you open up a Megavideo link, you will see a notification asking if you would like to bypass the time-limit in the bottom-right corner of the webpage. Just click the link, and voila! You will be on your way in watching the show. You can use Cacaoweb without the extension, but if you do you won't get the pop-up. The only way to use it will be to open the Cacaoweb application directly, which will then open a web-page where you can dump the Megavideo link directly.

Please note: if you use Illimitux, you will need to sign up for an account.

How does this happen? Well, it essentially integrates the video into a separate network that produces a publishing IP, this is never 'received' as all communication from this IP is outgoing, so you are technically asking for the server to send video, and it's sending it back via an open port, but the IP is technically not receiving data, therefore you're creating an open loop, essentially discounting the time-limit.

Once you install the above, you won't have any time-limits to Megavideo links. How you use this power is up to you.

The Count of Monte Cristo

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 18:12:00 +0000

To be honest, the first time I came across 'The Count of Monte Cristo', it was the movie that came out in starring James Caviezel as Edmond Dantes and Guy Pearce as Fernand Mondego.

Let me tell you right now that the movie has absolutely nothing on the book. The movie is garbage. Utter garbage. The acting is okay, but when I look back at the movie and compare it to the novel, it angers me that they would change it so much. To be honest, when it comes to something like this, it's irrelevant if the book might be too offensive to some viewers. That is why the motion picture rating system was invented in the first place! If people can't be bothered to check to see what the contents of the movie are, then they should not complain if they watching something that they find offensive. It's the viewer's responsibility, not the author. But that's just my personal opinion. I just like to see something in its 'true' form, such as foreign movies. I can't stand dubbed movies as they take away the essence of the movie in more ways than one. The meaning of words, expressions, everything is lost!

But I am getting side-tracked, let's continue with the book...

The book is a masterpiece. It is amazing. Where do I begin? The language? The constant use of words that it really rolls off your tongue, like a long poem. Perhaps it is the French influence behind it (the original was written in French). It 'feels' good to read the pages. It's heavy in material, but the way it is written makes it seem spectacularly simple and makes you want to progress through the story. Sometimes when I run into a huge paragraph, I skim through it, because it's a massive block of text. But for some reason in this book, it makes you want to read that huge blocks of text. Not only that, it makes you want to go back over it, as if it were some kind of sweet drug.

Then the premise of the book. Amazing. He was living through an age, albeit the very end of it, where France was still recovering from Napoleon's rule. Although it's just the background to the story, you can really feel as if you were there. That's how well the setting has been described and how it sucks you in. It makes you smell the air of that period, to appreciate the things that you normally take for granted, shoves the drastic separation of class and wealth and the contrast of the social order right in your face.

Another point is Alexandre's ability to convey a sense of mysticisism and magic. In the story, the main protagonist uses drugs, and potions and their side-effects to his own advantage. The descriptions are amazing, and I can only say that he has experienced those 'trips' first hand. The more you read, the more complex and entangled the story gets, and you sometimes just have to put the book down and shake your heard in amazement as the pieces of the puzzle start coming together. Some are predictable, but others just blow past all sense, and yet in some way, Dumas convinces you that this can be so. Like how Sir Author Conan Doyle could convince you of his deductions through Sherlock Holmes.

I am not really giving much away in regards to the story because I want you to read it. I think that as a reader, you'll definitely enjoy it, and it will engage and enthral you. Don't be intimidated by the size of the book, it isn't all that big, and you will find yourself fighting to keep it down.

In a way, I suppose you could say that the book is a drug.

IPHONE VS ANDROID- A NEARLY BIAS FREE OPINION

noreply@blogger.com (John C) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:37:00 +0000

This has sparked quite a debate recently with Apple's new Iphone 4 launch. As an IT professional or even as a regular person one should be as informed as possible about these two phones, then make a decision on which phone to buy.

Now I will say that Apple's Iphone has revolutionized the industry, when this smartphone came out I wanted one, you wanted one, everyone did. If you denied the power of the Iphone when it first came out then you were being bias as it was a moajor player in paving the way for all smart phones today.

Speaking paving the way by Apple, I want to give you my opinion and a little know fact about Apple and Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs seems to do things his way only and not budge, as back in the day when Macintosh ruled the computing world. It was the breakthrough company that led to Microsoft. Apple lost the computing market share to Microsoft because Jobs was closed off and did not have the ability to adapt and see that people wanted more. And although he revolutionized the personal computing industry then as he has done now with the Iphone he lacks the ability to upgrade and give into popular demand. This man is like a one hit wonder, although he seems to have a one hit wonder every century. So we can't really put him down, he is a brilliant man, without him we might not be where we are today. I hope on the next version of the Iphone he will not be so closed off, then he might have a future with the Iphone. Frankly where is the Iphone going to go from here? HTML5 is it's savior? His client base would be so much larger if he puts his ego down, because he is already losing his market share in the phone industry which I will get into further in this blog.

With that said lets get into the proper discussion.

Get Paid for Blogging? No way! Well... actually, yes.

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:01:00 +0000

At first I was skeptical. Who wouldn't be? You get to make money from people reading Blog posts? Why not? That sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it? Most of my 'readers' are my friends on Facebook, so they rarely ever actually visit my Blog site (blog.mcgaw.me) which is completely understandable. Why should you have to when you can read it on my wall in Facebook and then in my 'notes' (thanks to the RSS feed reader). However, because they do this, the ads never get seen, and therefore I don't get money.

So, yes, click on the ads! Yay!

But seriously, the website I am talking about is: http://www.fanbox.com

Now, before you raise your eyebrows, I will admit that the site isn't optimal, but as of today (the 19th of November 2010) it's still in Alpha. And honestly, it isn't that bad for an Alpha. This site differs in that it forces the users to go to the site directly (which can be a nuisance in some cases) to read the posts. What that then entails is that the site now has a steady visitor stream to generate revenue from ads, which a small portion is then given to the Blogger.

However, Bloggers can also advertise their own Blogs to generate more visitors to get more revenue. Also, to add the cherry on the cake, you can create a 'Premium Account' area. This is a pretty nifty feature in which only people who have paid the subscription fee can view. Let me show you.

What you could do (and this is only a suggestion) is write a Blog about taking photos of 'Nude Chicks', and then in the subscribed section put a bunch of pictures of baby chickens without any feathers on. You could also do the same with 'bald pussy', and shaved cats - I can taste the scams. However, as far as I understand it, a Premium User is a monthly subscription that gives you access to all portions of the site.

So, you get paid to have someone read your Blog, you can make more money if you attract Premium subscribers to your site, and you can also sell ads to promote yourself.

Not a bad deal. Still, I don't know if I'll make it a habit of posting there just yet. It's a pain to navigate, the format and fonts don't appeal, and the face that the entire site is in Ajax is going to be difficult for people who have slow Internet connections to post and modify. Another issue is the lack of RSS feeds. I don't want to write a blog here, then have to copy-paste it into the other side. There should be an automated feature for users like me, and there are a lot of users that write on Blogger and would like to connect their blogs to Fanbox. Maybe when they release the Beta. Who knows.

I currently run 2 Blogs there: Today's Moment of Zen and Technical Troubleshooting Blog. And yes, they're the same posts as here and there.

So in summary:

Pros:

Get paid for people to read your Blog
Sell yourself easily

Cons:

Cannot 'connect' Blogs from other sites
Difficult to navigate intuitively
Ajax site makes it hard for people with slow connections

On a side note, there is another nifty feature that plays on the whole 'Cloud Computing' concept. I think I'll just add pictures. It'll be a lot easier than me describing it (please note that I am using 'Full Screen' via Chrome in these pictures).

NetGear Network Management Software

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 11:48:00 +0000

First, let me tell you that I am not really a big fan of NetGear. I find their products lacking in performance, and they tend to fail a lot more than Cisco switches. Saying that, though, I checked out their 'Network Management Software' and was impressed with what I saw. I am just going to post some screens of this piece of software because it is relevant to me interests.

First off, you need NetGear switches and/or routers. You can use this without NetGear merchandise, but I am sure that there are better programs out there.

So, download the 30 trial.

Install it. When it asks you for your server IP, just add your computer's local IP address. To find this out, just go to: Star > Run > Type 'cmd' and press OK.

Enter the IP address and Subnet EXACTLY how you see it. Now, where it asks for 'community', unless you're working in a domain, this is usually 'WORKGROUP' (this is a Windows Default). If you are working within a Domain then use that one instead. If you're not sure, then go ask your IT people. If they're not sure, fire them.

Now that you've installed the program, you will need to run it. So, go to Start and find the newly installed files. There you ought to see 'Startup System'. Click on it.

Now that you've started the service, you will see this Window:

Just hit 'Cancel', then hit 'Continue' at the next screen (30 Day Trial...). You are now in the program.

Now the system should start up. Wait a few minutes for the program to scan your network. If you have set the network correctly, you should see this:

If you have a huge and complex network, you can move the labels around to best suit your taste and to make it clearer to you to see how the switches are connected.

Here is an example.

Now, you can also view what is connected to which router (which is useful). To do this, simply double-click on the router you want, then all the computers connected to that router will be listed, and also any wireless routers.

This is useful to see what's connected to what. However, since I don't have manageable switches, this program does little for me. If you do have switches that can be managed, then this program can help you create clusters, and groups quite easily. It also allows you to merge two different groups and reassign computers to certain subnets even if they are out of scope.

A pretty nifty program.

Windows Vista - Microphone Broken

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 11:11:00 +0000

Whenever people ask me what OS I prefer, I always say that my preference is Linux as a System Administrator, Windows as a Gamer, and Mac OS as a Designer (CAD, 3D rendering, etc.). With the advent of Windows 7, which is so much better than their previous version of shit called Vista, Microsoft have regained a little more respect from me... until what they did around 2 months ago. And what did Microsoft do? They decided to 'update' device drivers for microphones.

The result? You guessed it. 90% (and this is not an exaggeration) of microphones around the world suddenly stopped working.

Why? That is my question. Why would they do that? It's ridiculous. If you don't believe me that this is a major issue, just check out these searches: Google Search Results, Microsoft Site Search. So, it's now been 2 or 3 months since this issue had first been published, and has Microsoft come up with a new update and fix for it? No.

But enough banter, let's try and fix this problem.

Please be sure to check that your Mic is not broken in the first place.

Option 1: Update Your Machine

First of all, see if there are any updates that 'might' be able to fix this problem for you. To do that, go to Window Update in your Control Panel. You should see a window like the one below:

First, check to see if there are any additional update available (this should be done automatically, but no harm in checking just to be sure). Click the Check for Updates icon in the top-left corner of the screen. Depending on your computer and internet speed, this should not take that long.

Now, if you feel patient enough, you can just install everything (not the language packs, unless you really want those). If not, explore the updates to see if they can aid in fixing this problem. To do this, click on the update and look on the left side to see what it fixes.

As you can see from the above picture, that there is an update that 'might' fix the problem (the others do not). So, we will install it and hope for the best. It is good to periodically check for updates on your computer anyway, to patch vulnerabilities and security flaws in the system.

Just click the checkbox next to the update and then click 'OK'. Windows will then continue to the install/update wizard (note: you might have to restart your machine).

Option 2: Roll-Back Drivers

Start > Right-click 'Computer' > Properties

You should see this screen:

Click where it says Device Manager in the top-left corner of the screen. This will open a new window. Open the Sound, videos and game controllers sub-menu. Select your Sound-card listed in the menu. Mine is the SoundMAX Intergrated... the 'Screaming Bee Audio' is a voice-modification program.

Right-click the soundcard and then click on 'properties'.

Select the 2nd tab called Driver, then look for 'Roll-Back Driver'. Then click 'Yes'. The computer will automatically roll-back the driver for you.

You will have to restart your computer after this.

Option 3: Reinstall Drivers

To do this, go to see Option 2. But instead of right-clicking and going to Properties, click Update Driver Software...

You can try and search for the update automatically, but this rarely works.

It is better to search the web and manually download the drivers and install them using the Manual approach. Just Google for you computer model.

Hopefully one of these methods should solve your problem.

Avenue Q

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:06:00 +0000

I went to see the musical "Avenue Q", and I was impressed with it. I thought that because they had muppets inside that it would be a childish show, although many peer reviews and other people who had seen it told me that this was far from the case. It is not childish. It is a very mature show that takes a childish attitude in telling the lives and stories about people living on 'Avenue Q'; what that means is that the story is adult, but the way it is depicted is a little bit childish, which makes this work. Otherwise, it would have just been another run-of-the-mill musical.

My favorite song was the 'Internet is for Porn' song, as it is hilarious. When I first heard it, it was on YouTube using Warcraft characters, and didn't put 1+1 together.

If you ever get a chance to watch it, I recommend it for it will make you laugh your ass right off your backside.

Amazing People - Inspire Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 11:44:00 +0000

People are amazing. No matter how many times I say it, no matter what I see (and I've seen a lot), this statement doesn't change. People have so much in them. There is potential in each and every single human being. People have the ability to great... and terrible things. The human is certainly an unpredictable, exciting, dangerous, and wonderful.

But to me, one of the most incredible thing a human can do for another is: inspire.

When you inspire someone, you not only give them something to do, but you instil a certain part of you in them. You breathe a new life into them. You give them something worth doing, and believing in. So, to commemorate these incredible people who inspire others, here are some videos of I've found on YouTube that will simply amaze you, and I hope that perhaps one of these will inspire you today, and change you a little.

Nick Vujicic

Nando Parrado

Jessica Cox

Randy Pausch (RIP)

Ben Underwood (RIP)

Windows 2003 Server - Worst-Case Scenarios - Useful Tip

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:40:00 +0000

Do you know what a System Administrator fears the most when it comes to Windows Server 2003? The infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSoD). An appropriate name. But, there is something worse. You ask, 'what could be worse than the infamous BSoD?

A system corruption.

Yes, a system corruption is vastly worse than the BSoD - unless you've actually taken the time and effort to provide yourself with some useful disaster recovery tools in a worse-case scenario.

The worst part of a system corruption is actually when a file in the Windows System 32 folder has been destroyed.

The System32 folder is the guts of the Windows OS. Without it... well, it won't work.

Let me give you an example.

----------Start Example------------

The other day, I got this message when I had to do a cold restart on a computer:

Windows could not start becuase the following file is missing or corrupt:
[windows_root]\system32\ntoskrnl.exe. Please reinstall a copy of the above file.

Okay, something missing? Well, that's a job for Windows Recovery Console (WRC)! Okay, just pop in your CD, press the key to boot to it... and press 'r' when prompted... okay, now what I have to do is type a specific code, to copy the file from the CD over to the System32 folder. Since the file stored on the server is in the i386 folder, it is non-executable (extension is *.ex_ - if you don't understand this, don't worry about it, it's not important). Therefore the 'copy' command is useless.

You need to use 'expand'.

Thus:

expand [CD]\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ [System]\windows\system32

In my case:

expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ c:\windows\system32

Then press enter.

Access is Denied

WHAT? (I shouted to the heavens) That cannot be true, for I am Admin, god of the server! How is it possible? So, I pressed the 'up' arrow on the keyboard, tried to enter the command again.

Access is Denied

Then I typed 'set'. This is what I saw:

AllowWildCards = FALSE
AllowAllPaths = FALSE
AllowRemovableMedia = FALSE
NoCopyPrompt = FALSE

On different versions of Windows, this command does different things. On Windows Server 2003, it lists a bunch of settings that is created in the group policy editor in the Windows environment. What that means is that unless you have access to the system, you cannot change these settings. Which means, if you system is corrupt, as it was for me, you cannot do anything about it. As you can see, 'AllowAllPaths = FALSE'. that means that the path to Windows/System32 is not allowed, which means, even as Administrator, I cannot have access to this folder. So, I cannot fix the problem with the simple 'expand' key, which would have fixed it by the time you stopped reading this.

----------End Example------------

But noooooooooooooo. Windows wants to make it difficult.

What I had to do was restore from a backup, but if I had done proper preparations, then this would have been solved in about 2 minutes! So, to prevent you from suffering my gruesome fate, follow these easy steps.

In order to prevent this absurdity, you must set these properties to be true while your Windows 2003 is running. This setting should be ENABLED by default, not the other way around. Why would they disable such a vital and important command! It's ridiculous! I understand that it's about security, but a malicious user would need to be physically on your machine, and then there are numerous other ways to bypass a system than using the WRC! Stupid, stupid, stupid.

So, this is what you have to do.

Go to: Start > Run > Type 'gpedit.msc'
In the left-pane, expand 'Local Computer Policy'

click on the small + button to expand the menus

Expand 'Computer Configuration'
Expand 'Windows Settings'
Expand 'Security Settings'
Expand 'Local Policies'
Select 'Security Options' on the left
On the right, double click the entry 'Recovery Console'
Select 'Allow Floppy Copy And Access To All Drives And All Folders'
Click OK

If you have done this correctly, open a command line (Start > Run > Type 'cmd') and type 'set'.

You should see:

AllowWildCards = TRUE
AllowAllPaths = TRUE
AllowRemovableMedia = TRUE
NoCopyPrompt = TRUE

If you do not see this, then there is high probability you will need to restart your machine (as sometimes group policies are updated upon a restart).

Trust me. This is useful. If you're worried about someone using the recovering console to take over your system, then do yourself a favor and put the server in a vault or a secure room, because this isn't going to do anything to stop someone who knows what they're doing.

Useful FireFox add-ons

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:36:00 +0000

A lot of people ask me how I can figure out how to break into websites, or bypass certain simple security features. The simple answer is that I know how to because I'm clever, but the truth is that the brunt of the work has already been done for me. This is all thanks to the developers of FireFox, the world's greatest Internet browser.

FireFox is great because of the way it allows you to do whatever you want with your browser. Not only can you fully customize the feel, but you can add multiple things to your browser that allows you to make your browsing experience smoother, easier, funky, etc.

I am going to go over the browser add-ons I use, and why.

Ad-Blocker Plus

Ad-Blocker Plus is great. It blocks ads. Those annoying ads you see on a website? Well, with ABP, you can get rid of them once and for all! *insert evil laugh here*

Although it might seem cool, a lot of websites are supported by these ads, so by blocking them you are essentially not giving the people who host the sites money to keep their sites running (like me). The best way to use ABP is to remove ads that are annoying. For example, an ad that makes noise while you're watching a video on YouTube is annoying. Blocking it is perfectly the right thing to do. Clever programmers now have programmed a way that you cannot view a site if you have ad-blocker enabled. So if you use ABP or a similar product, you won't be able to see the contents of the site. I don't agree to this. It's up to the user to decide whether or not to view ads, and it is not for the webmaster to control that. That's controlling an end-user's ability to surf the Internet, such control should not be forced.

We can debate over the whether or not forcing a end-user to comply to a webmaster's greedy demands, but that's not why you're reading this. So, back on topic...

Here's a sample of how ad-blocker blocks ads.

Voila! No ads.

AdHacker

AdHacker is a nifty way to tracking who is tracking you. It works similarly to AdBlocker but instead of making it easy to black ads, it shows you which program is watching you, and what keywords its using to determine the ad content on the website to show you. It's a great way to see what sites you visit bring up which type of ads.

If you click on the number of watchers, you can view what tracker is currently tracing you, and by clicking on the words that it finds, you can see which tracker is choosing those words in reference to the ads it's going to display for you.

Here's another example:

HackBar

Anybody who does website security needs to get this to audit their site. This useful tool enables web developers and site developers to test vulnerabilities in their code, and plug them up. It's an essential tool if you're a web-programmer.

Evil people use this to try and ruin websites by exploiting any number of vulnerabilities. A good 'all-in-one' hacking utility that is browser based. The most useful is using the MySQL injection tool. But, for SQL injection tools, you need to 'know' the syntax in order to pull this off. That's where the next add-on actually comes in.

If you are testing SQL injections only, then I recommend the next Add-on over this one. If you're doing a multiple series of tests, such as cross-site linking, or address spoofing, then this is the right add-on for you.

SQL Inject Me

Similar to HackBar, SQL Inject Me is an add-on used to emulate all the ins and outs of a SQL Injection attack. This is a must-have for any secure webserver, as this type of attack is the most popular amongst hackers. It's a nifty add-on that enables you to throw a bunch of attacks at a website without you having to copy-paste a bunch of code. It does all the attacks for you, and you don't need to know how to write the code! Excellent.

Just a warning, with some good administrators, if you run this on a site, there is a chance that they might ban your IP address (for security reasons). You have been warned, use this at your own discretion.

FireBug

FireBug is one of the coolest add-ons for FireFox there is. It enables you to mess around with the code while you are browsing a site. This is great if you want to create new templates, change certain things around and modify the content of your site without having you actually change the actual site itself.

Below is me playing around with Facebook using FireBug, just so you can get a drift of just how nifty this tool can be for web-programmers and graphic designers who are looking to build their website. Please note that this does not change Java code, but you can manipulate JScript.

Take a look at this (I had to censor out the content):

To change the things on a site is easy. I will show you how with FireBug.

Please note that this does not change the website itself, it only changes how you are looking at the website at that particular moment. If you hit 'Refresh', or navigate away from the page, the website will revert to its original color/settings.

Alo

noreply@blogger.com (John C) — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:51:00 +0000

Well after weeks of meetings and round table discussions I decided to accept a five year $25 million contract working with Tucker as an author on this Blog, and by this I mean his.

I look forward to everyone's feedback and opinions as that will make my blogs that much more interesting and entertaining to reply to. I will do my best to entertain, educate and stimulate your minds, as we are all students for life and the only thing we know for certain is that we do not know anything.

Posting will begin shortly!

Thank-you,
John

Western Kitchen Knives

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:30:00 +0000

When I was in college, I got a lot of jobs to help me. One of those jobs was selling knives for a company called Cutco. While I was there, I learnt a lot about knives, how they're made, what type of knife to use on certain products, and the reasons why that is. A couple of times I have caught my fiancée using a serrated edged blade to cut things like soft fruits (bananas, kiwis, etc). This is incorrect. I can understand her though. A knife cuts, so what if it's serrated, or not? And that is true. But I am going to go over the various styles of knives, and what they are used for... or rather, what they're supposed to be used for.

Let us start with the kitchen's favourite knife, the Chef knife.

Chef Knife

A Chef (or Chef's) knife is the most common knife you find in a kitchen. People sometimes call these things a French Knife (although the shape comes from Germany, not France). A chef's knife is slightly curved, with the handle high enough so you don't smash your knuckles into the cutting board every time you try to chop something.

Most people use these to chop up vegetables into tiny little bits. What you do is place your hand on top of the blunt side of the blade (obviously), somewhere near the middle, and using the curve of the blade, rock your hand backwards and forwards.

A chef always has a good knife, and out of all the other knives in your arsenal, this one is the most important one. All the other knives are gimmicks because you can accomplish a great deal of cooking with just this one blade. So, the next time you go pick out a knife, be sure to splurge a little on this one. Otherwise you'll be finding yourself buying a knife sharpener and constantly sharpening it... or worst, it could break (which my mother has done).

Serrated Edged Knives

A serrated edged blade is essentially a saw. It was originally designed to saw people's heads off, and since it worked so well on heads, chefs decided to use it on food.

A serrated blade is usually used on things that are hard to cut. This is because the serrated edge is much more effective at slicing things instead of one long cutting edge. The physics behind it are simple. Think of a flat blade like a camels foot. It's long and wide, making it easy for a camel to walk on the desert sands. Now thing of the serated edge as a horse's hoofed foot. If a horse walks on the sands, it usually tends to sink. Not very effective. Similarly, a serrated edge is like that, it has more force on a single point, thereby able to 'tear' the desired material. Serrated blades are not smooth cuts, and it's easy to spot them.

The serrated blade was actually inspired by the shark. Some species of shark have a serrated edge along its teeth in which it uses to easily tear flesh from its prey. The most famous one is perhaps the teeth of the Great White Shark. Suffice to say that if this thing comes at you, coupled with the force of its bite and its momentum, and takes a bite at you... you'll feel it.

Most steak knives and bread knives are serrated, as well as knives for carving turkeys and stuff. In the military, most blades have serrated edges at the base of the knife, while the tip is smooth. That is because when you stab someone, the smooth point of the blade enters the body easier since the point (the tip) of the blade is a single point. The base is serrated so that it makes more damage when you pull the blade out of your enemy. If you recall Rambo's big ass knife, the tip is smooth and the base is serrated. Practically all knives in the military and hunting knives nowadays are like that.

It's always good to have a set of serrated knives if you're a meat eater. Steaks and other meats are far easier to cut with a serrated blade than a smooth one.

There are actually 3 main types of serrated edges. Under each of these edge-types there are different styles and grades.

'Normal' C-shaped serrated edges

Shallow 'C' - The serrated edges are close to the edge of the knife. Useful for cutting bread
Deep 'C' - Edges are car from the edge giving more cutting surface. Good for steak knives.

V-shaped blades

Some serrated edges have smaller 'V' shaped edges at the ends of each of the V's. These litte 'W-shaped' edges provide more cutting surfaces, but are nearly impossible to sharpen.

D-shaped blades

A mixture between the V and C shaped blades. The D shape has points similar to the V shaped edge, but have flat edges along the inside so a smoother, more even cut.

Paring Knifes

Ever watched one of those old cartoons of Bugs Bunny, or Popeye, or whatever, they are punished by cutting potatoes up? The knife they are using is a small blade with a large handle to give the user more control over their cuts and there is not enough force exerted on the blade to penetrate the skin (if you're careful, blades are blades, if you're careless you will cut yourself).

Paring knives are also known as carving knives, although a carving knife sometimes to refer to large knives used to cut turkeys and other things (and are usually serrated). A paring knife is what you're supposed to use when you cut fruits, potatoes, amongst other things. If you're not using one in the kitchen, then you can use one to cut wood into pretty carvings.

Although paring knives can be long, most are usually around 4" long (but I've seen some that are as long as a Chef's knife). One of the main differences between a Chef's knife and a paring knife (apart from the size) is the height of the blade. A Chef's knife has a high handle, whereas the paring knife does not.

There are a few types of paring knives. The 'birds-beak' paring knife, where the bladed side is curved downwards, and the 'Santoku' style, which is used to slice open tough sea-food such as squid and octopus. The Santoku-style looks like a meat-cleaver in shape, but on a much smaller scale. All types of blades usually have a Santoku-style type (including the Chef's knife).

Butcher Knife

A lot of people always think that the butcher knife and the meat-cleaver are the same thing. They are not. Meat cleavers are used to chop though bone, a butcher knife is to cut up an animal. A butcher knife is usually fairly long, and the end is thicker than the middle. The main cutting edge is the underside of the blade where it does 'inwards', almost opposite to a chef's knife. The blade is shaped like that so that the butcher can used his other hand to push the blade through tough parts of the animal.

Some butcher knives have serrated edges, but if you go to a super-market, they won't. That is because a serrated edge saws the meat, making it look ugly. So to prevent this atrocity, they use smooth-edged butcher knives. The design of the blade actually comes from France.

If you watch the Jason movies, he kills his victims with this kind of blade. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Meat-Cleaver

Meat-cleavers are most like axes than knives. They are used to cut things that are just too damned tough for regular blades, and unless you like killing whole animals by yourself, then you probably will never need one of these. Meat-cleavers is a blade that is more of a novelty item now, since most meat is cut up in huge machines. There isn't all that much to say about this knife. It's big, it's heavy, it's obsolete. It also reminds me of those old cartoons for some reason.

Boning Knife

Despite the dirty connotation, the boning knife is usually a very thin blade and very, very sharp. Boning knives are stiff. This is important to remember. I will explain with the next knife why.

Think of the boning knife as the kitchen razor-blade. It is used to carve meat off a bone. When you go to a restarurant and you order 'boneless chicken' dishes, they are usually carved off the bone by one of these knives.

Boning knives are useful to have if you want to make a boneless dish. But since they are so sharp, they tend to get blunt very quickly through repeat use.

Fillet Knife

Fillet knives are similar to boning knives, but while the boning knife is stiff, the fillet knife is flexible. Fillet knives are usually used on fishes instead of meat and to cut the flesh away from the bone, it needs to be much thinner, than even the boning knife. This makes them very flexible. Most fillet knives are very long Fillet knives are notorious for wounding people because of how sharp they are. If the boning knife is the razor blade of the kitchen, then this is its evil, shaper twin. Fillet knives would cut the skin off your face because they're so sharp (I am talking about it comparatively, not literally).

A lot of Sushi chefs prize their fillet knives as it is vital in making delicate cuts accurately for presentation. You will always see a fillet knife in a Sushi place. It might be a Santoku styled knife, though, but it is still a fillet knife.

Carving Knife/Slicer

Technically they are two different knives. Technically. They are the same knife used for the same thing though. The only difference is the thickness. The Slicer is thinner while the carving knife is broader. They are used to cut big things up. These knives are usually sold in a set with a trident/fork. It is a well known fact that every family in America has a 'good carving set' of knives for Thanksgiving feasts to slice up the turkey. Most carving knives are long and strong so that they can be used roughly to slice things up.

Some carving knives are serrated, while it is rare for a slicer to be serrated.

In the end, it's great knowing all these things, but as my fiancée cleverly put it, "If you can cut it, so what?"

That really covers kitchen knives. I might write more about Eastern knives. If you have any more questions, please leave a comment below, and I'll be happy to respond.

Online Anonymity

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Fri, 14 May 2010 10:58:00 +0000

I take online anonymity very seriously. It's not that I don't mind sharing data (if I did mind, I wouldn't be a part of any social networking site, nor would I be writing in a Blog). The reason why I take it seriously is that the user (you) should be able to dictate what you want people to see, and what you don't want people to see. The ethics of this is up for debate. Many people are fearful that an data you post online can and will be found. Although this is technically true, it's not as simple as Googling for someone and finding out the necessary information. Most identity theft occurs when a database of some sort is breached, or when someone knows enough about you that they can pretend to be you when they call your bank. This is why banks must always ask you the same questions over and over again, to make sure you are who you say you are. It's annoying, but it's better than the alternatives.

So, what is "online anonymity". Well, the phrase should be self-explanatory, but just in case: it's when your activities online are anonymous.

Let's take an obvious example. You want to look at Facebook or another social-networking site at work, but your workplace has blocked the website so that you're unable to view it. There are several methods to do this, but the easiest would be a Firewall to block selected websites.

A firewall is a part of a computer system or network that is designed to block unauthorized access while permitting authorized communications. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewall

Essentially the place where you work knows what you're doing. Although 90% of the population won't care, there is that 10% of people who do care. It's not that they mind people knowing they go to Facebook, but they might be sending confidential data (such as business deals, or schematics for weapons, etc). The point is, a clever person can intercept the data, and know who the sender is.

Also, JScript (Java Script) is extremely dangerous in terms of privacy online. If you're sensitive about your data, then you should turn this off. But if you do, around 99% of the Internet will break, as most of the web needs JScript to work. This is why HTML 5 is a good thing, but I drift. That is another entirely different subject which I may get into in the future.

There are several types of ways to keep yourself anonymous online. I will briefly introduce them.

Proxies

What is a proxy? A proxy is basically an alternative gateway you use to get to the web.

A way to visualize this, is to pretend that whenever you look at the Internet, you look through a window. What a proxy does is essentially place another window in front of your window, thereby hiding the fact that you're looking through your first window.

But how does this help hide you? Again, a clever person can find you if you use just a proxy on its own. Proxies are usually using the 'same traffic' as you would if you access the web without. What it does is that it changes your access, usually bypassing filters and rules set by the system administrator.

If that is too technical, then how about this: it disguises the websites you access by pretending your accessing a legitimate one.

Most browsers come with the ability the add proxies natively. In Firefox, you can go to your preferences pane, advanced, and then click on the network settings tab. Or if you can't be bothered, Firefox has a bunch of proxy add-ons you can use. I recommend Foxyproxy as it is easily managed, but you need to learn how to use it. In Macs, Safari can only be modified via System Preferences.

There are many various types of proxies, some are more secure than others. I'm going to make it simple. There are 2 types of proxies. Web-based and IP based.

A web-based proxy is essentially a website you go to, and enter the website you want to see, and it voilà! I don't recommend this type of web-proxy to log into anything as it is usually very difficult to verify if the data from the proxy is being stored or not. This is the better option if you're just planning to go and look around websites, maybe make a few anonymous posts, or just view some videos on YouTube.

A good place to see these types of proxies is here: http://proxy.org/cgi_proxies.shtml

IP proxies are a lot more secure, and safer. It also allows you to encrypt data, and transmit it on selective ports (if you know how). You need to physically enter IP's into a browsers settings in order to make this work. That is why you need a browser with that ability. Firefox is the easiest and by far the best browser to do this. Unless you have your own proxy, or pay for a proxy service (which to me is dumb because then you're missing the point of online anonymity), it's going to be significantly slower than your regular connection.

A good list of open proxies: http://www.samair.ru/proxy/ip-address-01.htm

Tor

Image courtesy of http://www.swordandsorcery.org

Okay... no, not that one. The one I want is: http://www.torproject.org/

Tor is an online web anonymity network that shares everyone's connections to help hide who is looking at what and where. When you use Tor, you are connecting to a network of peers (similar to the Peer2Peer (P2P) concept) and are sharing bandwidth with one another. The Tor network is one of the safest ways to surf the web as it not only hides who you are, but also makes it impossible for anyone to trace back who is looking at what.

Although Tor is safe, it's incredibly slow. So slow, in fact, that it's just not worth it if you're doing anything other than looking at text. This is great for users in countries who have blocked access to certain websites, which I believe to be extremely unethical. For example, if someone from China wants to look at something, they need not worry about their government filtering that data, and can safely look at it without fear of getting arrested.

If you are feeling generous, and want to 'help' the Tor network, you might consider becoming a peer. You will help distribute traffic and access, but only if you want to. You are under no obligation to do so if you use Tor. Tor allows users to access their network as and when they feel like. If you want to give this a try, and you're using a PC, then download the Tor Browser Bundle for Windows. It's got not 'install', and you can dump it on a USB stick. Mac... sorry, but you've got to install the whole thing.

Another browser (which I haven't really tried) is: XeroBank. Apparently it has all the presets for complete anonymous browsing already installed (no JScript, Tor, etc). If someone gets chance to try this and let me know, I'd be grateful.

Freenet

Freenet is conceptually a fantastic idea, but its ethical and social repercussions make is not only unsafe, but downright dangerous to normal users. However, since it does keep you anonymous, the chances of you getting in trouble are slim, but the fact that you have information in your computer that can get you into trouble is a problem.

What Freenet essentially does is decentralize the Internet. Websites, and pages are moved across to your computer making it accessible from multiple locations. When you install Freenet, you have to make some space on your computer to store data for other users as well as yourself. This distribution of data helps spread information, and keeps that information safe from censorship and is always publicly available. The flaw is that you don't get to choose what data is being dumped onto your machine. It could be images on how to build explosives, to how to make drugs, etc. If you don't mind stuff like that being stored on your computer, then this is a better option than Tor because it is so much faster since it doesn't use a seperate network from your own. Essentially, if disguises your IP as the broadcast IP (127.0.0.1) and end-users cannot trace you back because it goes through that decentralize process. Data being distributed everywhere at once, it is impossible to trace.

I would only recommend this to people who are extremely good with computers.

I2P

I2P uses the same concept as Freenet in that it uses the broadcast to submit data. How it differs is that instead of decentralizing the data, it decentralizes your connection instead. Because it switches to different proxies on a network that is hidden, it is relatively impossible for anyone to see who you are and what proxy you are connected to because the broadcast constantly changes. The longer you wait, the more proxies you are able to connect to, and the more proxies you connect to, the faster the network becomes. I2P is the only network fast enough to allow Bittorrent, and that is also anonymous meaning that when you download something, no-one can tell who you are because the IP is viewed as the broadcast IP.

I2P is essentially a combination of Tor and Freenet. Again, not for the non-technically minded. This is for people who know how to use computers. Also, recommend that you get Firefox for this one as you need to connect through a 'proxy' (essentially your broadcast address on port 4444).

Conclusion:

If you need to be anonymous for any reason, these options will help you achieve that. If you just want to play around, then by all means, do so. The best way to learn is to explore.

If you are interested, but are a technical challenged, then I recommend getting the Tor Bundle. Just install and run it, and surf the web like normal.

How to check if you're anonymous?

First, before you use any of the above, go to this website: http://www.whatismyip.com/

Then, after you've activated one of the above, go there again. If the IP address is different, you're now anonymously online. Pat yourself on the back, and give yourself a cookie.

India

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:49:00 +0000

India. If I had to describe it in one word, I'd say, "Mysterious."

Why?

First, you need to know about how I know India and why I believe that this word is perfect. This won't take long, I promise.

I was born in Manila, Philippines (my mother is Filipino), where my father worked on an oil rig as a deep-sea diver. Perhaps one of the most dangerous jobs around. Yeah, my dad was (and still is) hardcore in that way. But with family comes responsibility, and my mother didn't like my dad working 150 meters below the surface. My dad then got a job with a research institution, and in the process got an offer to come to India, to a city called Hyderabad. He agreed, and at the tender age of 5 (almost, but not quite 6 yet), we moved from Manila to Hyderabad. The whole family came long, including Samson, our yellow Labrador retriever.
Settling down in India took some time, but that's the boring stuff, so we'll skip ahead.

India to me was a land full of mystery. Everything about it was strange and exciting ways that you could not realize until you are much older looking back. People tend to blame it on nostalgia, but I believe that it's actually because there are so many more questions there than answers, and every time you find an answer to one, you open up a whole bunch more questions.

Let me take for example the famous fortress. Golconda. Golconda fort is an amazing fortress situated on top of a hill. Everyone who goes there finds out about it's history, the battles, conquests, how it was finally captured, and the lives of everyone in there. Yet, this if you go here, and you know where to look, there is more to this place than what meets the eye.

Photo courtesy of http://www.whereincity.com

Golconda is made up of 3 walls. A huge outer-wall surrounding the city, and an inner one defending the innards, and finally a tiny one basically used to keep the riff-raff away from the royal family. When you cross the first wall, you come into a large open spaces, probably used for crops, and agriculture.

Then within the second walls you come to a series of small townships. People still live within these ancient walls, and some speculate that families have been there for generations, and are of descendants of the people who actually worked or were soldiers back in the day.

When you come to the last wall, the smallest, you're essentially in front of the main palace area. This area is the 'tourist trap', where you have to pay to get in and look around.

When you cross the second, you find the garrisons, and military buildings. If you go around to the far side of the fortress, the Indian military currently have training grounds there.

Inside this massive fortress' third wall, but outside the second one, unknown to many, are a couple of fascinating things. For example, there is this huge cannon. A massive thing, and it's not in a museum (at least it wasn't when I last checked). This massive cannon brings about many questions. Why is this massive thing here? Why was it not removed? Why wasn't it stolen? How did they get it up there on the gun tower in the first place? Many questions.

Then there's the famous Golconda Baobab tree. This tree, hundreds of years old, is HUGE! Not tall, but wide, and the middle is hollow. So, what's inside? Since it's hollow, and you can get into it (with a little difficulty for the less agile), and inside there's a small shrine. A little Hindu temple. Why? Who put it there? What reason?

Every time you find something, you get more questions. Those questions keep leading to more answers, in a never ending loop of discovery.

I could go on and on. The Taj Mahal? Why marble? Where did the marble come from? The carvers who carved it where from where? What inspired them?

So many questions! And I think that's what I love about India. It keeps you interested in what's coming.

And it never ceases to surprise you.

Monitor LAN traffic

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:23:00 +0000

One of the biggest problems in maintaining a healthy LAN network is finding out what your local bandwidth is doing. Sometimes an annoying user using proxies can bypass your firewalls and other 'preventive' counter-measures and allow them to do annoying things like download things or chat.

A great tool for helping visualize this is NetLimiter. This nifty tool is really useful in spotting open ports and the amount of bandwidth a particular IP is using. There are other, better software, but this is cheap and I have found it pretty accurate in spotting anomalies.

Give it a try. The Lite version is free, and allows you to monitor your network. The Pro version allows you to manually set the badnwidth and close ports remotely.

Grab it, and give it a try. Let me know how you found it.

Hello

noreply@blogger.com (Tucker) — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:59:00 +0000

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. I decided that I will make a Blog about random things.

So, yeah... that's about it. Stay tuned.