Category: Tech

Tech related posts.

TuxBoot

Tuxboot, a bootable USB drive for Clonezilla, DRBL Live, GParted Live and Tux2Live, is a lifesaver.  I cannot recommend it enough.   I got a new, 3x bigger drive for my laptop and cloned it with Tuxboot/Clonezilla and resized the primary partition with Tuxboot/GParted.  All went without a hitch.  I love free things that work.

Safe(r) Surfing

I don’t do a whole lot online that really warrants anonymity, but I still don’t care for the idea of being watched.  Further, I’m no fan of the growing trend of linking logins, such as the ubiquity of Facebook, or of browser tracking.  Just because I’m not doing anything wrong doesn’t mean I don’t want privacy.  Regardless of the existence of darknets and freenet I don’t think there’s a way to really hide online if the right (or wrong) people really want to find you – but there are definitely ways to make it more difficult.

  1. Use Firefox (or, conversely, Chrome) and not IE.
  2. Install the Adblock Plus addon for Firefox.
  3. Install the NoScript addon for Firefox.  This one’s a pain in the ass to initially configure, but soon you’ll get used to it and find approving (and not approving) sites will become second nature.  NoScript not only covers your tracks, it prevents other nasties like malicious code execution and cross-site scripting.  You’ll be amazed to see just how many connections you’re actually making when you hit a single site.
  4. Install and use HotSpot Shield, a free IPSec VPN solution that masks your originating IP address and encrypts your traffic.  Bonus:  although HSS is ad-revenue based, you’ll never see a single banner pushed from it if you have the aforementioned Adblock Plus installed.  Good times.

There are other paid options for online anonymity as well as TOR – which is almost unbearably slow in its default configuration, not to mentioned riddled with its own dark corners and dangers – but the above represents the easiest free as in beer way to cover some of your tracks online.

Disabling comments on WordPress posts

Done to this site because of the amount of absolute garbage coming in.

To kill the ability to comment on all existing posts, hit your database and zap it thusly:

UPDATE wp_posts p SET comment_status = ‘closed’, ping_status = ‘closed’ WHERE comment_status = ‘open’;

To turn off future, log into WP and head to Settings > Discussion and uncheck Allow people to post comments on new articles.

Post greenpois0n – appsync

Not that I’m suggesting anything illicit or illegal.

Add the appropriate repository in Cydia:

  1. Cydia -> Manage -> Sources
  2. Edit -> Add -> http://cydia.hackulo.us
  3. After it completes downloading:
  4. Search for appsync for 4.1 and install.

    Run Line / Command Line Options

    Here’s a nice list of run line/command line commands for Windoze:

    Accessibility Controls access.cpl
    Add Hardware Wizard hdwwiz.cpl
    Add/Remove Programs appwiz.cpl
    Administrative Tools control admintools
    Automatic Updates wuaucpl.cpl
    Bluetooth Transfer Wizard fsquirt
    Calculator calc
    Certificate Manager certmgr.msc
    Character Map charmap
    Check Disk Utility chkdsk
    Clipboard Viewer clipbrd
    Command Prompt cmd
    Component Services dcomcnfg
    Computer Management compmgmt.msc
    Date and Time Properties timedate.cpl
    DDE Shares ddeshare
    Device Manager devmgmt.msc
    Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* directx.cpl
    Direct X Troubleshooter dxdiag
    Disk Cleanup Utility cleanmgr
    Disk Defragment dfrg.msc
    Disk Management diskmgmt.msc
    Disk Partition Manager diskpart
    Display Properties control desktop
    Display Properties desk.cpl
    Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) control color
    Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility drwtsn32
    Driver Verifier Utility verifier
    Event Viewer eventvwr.msc
    File Signature Verification Tool sigverif
    Findfast findfast.cpl
    Folders Properties control folders
    Fonts control fonts
    Fonts Folder fonts
    Free Cell Card Game freecell
    Game Controllers joy.cpl
    Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) gpedit.msc
    Hearts Card Game mshearts
    Iexpress Wizard iexpress
    Indexing Service ciadv.msc
    Internet Properties inetcpl.cpl
    IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) ipconfig /all
    IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) ipconfig /displaydns
    IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) ipconfig /flushdns
    IP Configuration (Release All Connections) ipconfig /release
    IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) ipconfig /renew
    IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) ipconfig /registerdns
    IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /showclassid
    IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /setclassid
    Java Control Panel (If Installed) jpicpl32.cpl
    Java Control Panel (If Installed) javaws
    Keyboard Properties control keyboard
    Local Security Settings secpol.msc
    Local Users and Groups lusrmgr.msc
    Logs You Out Of Windows logoff
    Microsoft Chat winchat
    Minesweeper Game winmine
    Mouse Properties control mouse
    Mouse Properties main.cpl
    Network Connections control netconnections
    Network Connections ncpa.cpl
    Network Setup Wizard netsetup.cpl
    Notepad notepad
    Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed) nvtuicpl.cpl
    Object Packager packager
    ODBC Data Source Administrator odbccp32.cpl
    On Screen Keyboard osk
    Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed) ac3filter.cpl
    Password Properties password.cpl
    Performance Monitor perfmon.msc
    Performance Monitor perfmon
    Phone and Modem Options telephon.cpl
    Power Configuration powercfg.cpl
    Printers and Faxes control printers
    Printers Folder printers
    Private Character Editor eudcedit
    Quicktime (If Installed) QuickTime.cpl
    Regional Settings intl.cpl
    Registry Editor regedit
    Registry Editor regedit32
    Remote Desktop mstsc
    Removable Storage ntmsmgr.msc
    Removable Storage Operator Requests ntmsoprq.msc
    Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) rsop.msc
    Scanners and Cameras sticpl.cpl
    Scheduled Tasks control schedtasks
    Security Center wscui.cpl
    Services services.msc
    Shared Folders fsmgmt.msc
    Shuts Down Windows shutdown
    Sounds and Audio mmsys.cpl
    Spider Solitare Card Game spider
    SQL Client Configuration cliconfg
    System Configuration Editor sysedit
    System Configuration Utility msconfig
    System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) sfc /scannow
    System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) sfc /scanonce
    System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) sfc /scanboot
    System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) sfc /revert
    System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) sfc /purgecache
    System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x) sfc /cachesize=x
    System Properties sysdm.cpl
    Task Manager taskmgr
    Telnet Client telnet
    User Account Management nusrmgr.cpl
    Utility Manager utilman
    Windows Firewall firewall.cpl
    Windows Magnifier magnify
    Windows Management Infrastructure wmimgmt.msc
    Windows System Security Tool syskey
    Windows Update Launches wupdmgr
    Windows XP Tour Wizard tourstart
    Wordpad write

    “The required section was not found in the INF”

    While rebuilding an older HP laptop XP threw me this error upon attempting to install the Texas Instruments PCIxx21 Integrated Flashmedia controller:

    The required section was not found in the INF

    I had the right drivers… in fact, I had a bundle for the media controllers of which this bit was but a small part of.  The rest installed without a hitch.  No unknown device appeared in the device manager, but XP would still try – and fail – to install this.

    Here’s how to get around it.  After allowing the error to generate, open in a text editor this file:

    C:\Windows\Setupapi.log

    And scroll to the bottom.  You should be able to identify verbiage pertaining to the failed installation attempt.  Mine looked like this:

    #I022 Found “PCI\VEN_104C&DEV_8033” in C:\WINDOWS\inf\oem10.inf; Device: “Texas Instruments PCIxx21 Integrated FlashMedia Controller”; Driver: “Texas Instruments PCIxx21 Integrated FlashMedia Controller”; Provider: “Texas Instruments Inc”; Mfg: “Texas Instruments Inc”; Section name: “FMDriverInstall”.
    #I023 Actual install section: [FMDriverInstall.NT]. Rank: 0x00002001. Effective driver date: 06/23/2005.
    #-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
    #I063 Selected driver installs from section [FMDriverInstall] in “c:\windows\inf\oem10.inf”.
    #I320 Class GUID of device remains: {4D36E970-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
    #I060 Set selected driver.
    #I058 Selected best compatible driver.
    #-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
    #I063 Selected driver installs from section [FMDriverInstall] in “c:\windows\inf\oem10.inf“.
    #I320 Class GUID of device remains: {4D36E970-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
    #I060 Set selected driver.
    #I058 Selected best compatible driver.
    [2010/10/02 03:14:03 2728.5]
    #-199 Executing “C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe” with command line: rundll32.exe newdev.dll,ClientSideInstall \\.\pipe\PNP_Device_Install_Pipe_0.{2D6E77D8-0EB1-460B-A156-76EF5419451A}
    #I140 Installing device class: “MTD” {4d36e970-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}.
    #E067 Could not locate section [ClassInstall32].
    #E142 Class: {4D36E970-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}. Install failed. Error 0xe0000101: The required section was not found in the INF.

    The parts we’re interested are highlighted.  the data in orange represents the actual .inf file XP is utilizing to attempt the driver installation. The data in green represents the missing section of that .inf that XP requires.

    In your handy text editor, open the orange file.  Scroll to the bottom of the file and, on a new line beneath the last bit of data in it, put the green information.  Save and close the inf and try your install again.