Ubuntu wtf number 1984

So, what's new THIS release of a "server" (read: we don't know much about all that stable ABI and API business, but hey, we make this stuff easier than before)

http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/serveredition/techspecs/whatsnew

Oh yes, the new "select-editor" command. Indeed. Suggesting people to use $EDITOR? You're a poisonous person, get out of our community!

Select-editor command

Running the

sudo select-editor

command now allows you to pick which editor will be used by default to edit documents.

I mean, seriously. 6 months for a new "server" version and that's all they could come up with? Probably only has "nano, pico, joe, kedit, gedit and Vigor" as options anywho. And most likely depends on Python and GTK2.

This release also featuring the all improved one of a kind "Uncomplicated Firewall". Apparently it just has an "on/off" switch.

Change Analysis Diagnostic tool for Windows XP

Here's a neat tool for digital forensics, reversing or malware analysis:

This tool allows you to track changes in:

• Software Programs
• Operating System Components (hotfixes and updates)
• Browser Helper Objects
• Drivers
• ActiveX Controls
• Autostart Extensibity Points

Get it from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924732

Maximum login name lenght - Username too long in AIX 5.3

# useradd itssomeguy
3004-694 Error adding "itssomeguys" : Name is too long.

# getconf LOGIN_NAME_MAX
9
# lsattr −El sys0 −a max_logname
max_logname 9 Maximum login name length at boot time True
# chdev −l sys0 −a max_logname=18
sys0 changed
# reboot

Windows 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Beta Hands on Preview

Windows 2008 R2 is also in the works.



Some major changes there it seems. The 2008 release was a bit rushed IMHO (Hyper-V still in Betas on release and so on).



And again, our new friends, the taskbar and the ribbon from Windows 7 are present:



Also comes with PowerShell v2.

Task manager, resource monitor and performance monitor got a few new additions also:



Overall, my first impression is a positive one. Seems pretty responsive also.



For some reason a lot changes withing the monitoring tools and taskmanager remind me of Mark Russinovich's Sysinternals tools.

Even trivial applications such as CALC got a new facelift and functionaly in Windows 7 and 2008 R2 . Like "Programmer mode" calc:



Even minor applications are getting a facelift. Paint gets ribboned too:

Obama gets a NSA approved "Blackberry"

Anyone else thinking Obama using a Blackberry is a bad idea? Apart from the whole WinCE thing inside, there's been precedent of getting in trouble over a phone call...

The first African-American president of the U.S.A. might want to learn a thing or two from the (first) Chechen Republic president Dzhokhar Dudayev, who was killed on the April 21, 1996, by two laser-guided missiles when he was using a satellite phone, after his location was detected by a Russian reconnaissance aircraft, which intercepted his phone call.

If they could detect speech patterns back in 1996 and stage such an attack, think of the things technology can do now...

Cryptography you say? I say inference attacks :-). And so on. Mobile phone insecurity is abysmal at best... I wonder what they'll do about 3rd party applications (probably not allowed) or stuff like Internet Explorer mobile, heh.

TEMPEST attacks is also something he might want to watch out for.

There's been precedent for this sort of thing :-). Like hacker group "anonymous" breaking into Sarah Palin's yahoo mail account.

Winodws 7 beta hands on preview

A first look at Windows 7:



Looks and feels pretty much like Vista SP1 on steroids.



Graphically it's not much different from Windows Vista (with the slight exception of the taskbar). There's some minor UI changes and so on though.

VMware actually assumed it was a Windows Vista when I selected the ISO, and proceeded to start "EasyInstall" and automagically installed the OS without any kind of input.

So, at least from the installer point of view, it's pretty much 100% compatible with Windows Vista.

All VMware tools and drivers installed fine also.

Even our old friend "The Ribbon" is omnipresent. Now even mandatory when using Wordpad:



Of course, remember, this is still a beta...



All and all, it can be considered somewhat as an evolutionary change from Windows Vista, and not a revolution by far. It's more of a Windows Vista SP2 "Plus". I just wonder how this will reflect on Vista sales and such.

Error EC950008: Driver mining failed with Norton Ghost or Backup Exec

Error EC950008: Driver mining failed

This happens when trying to create a Symantec Recovery disk with various versions of Backup Exec System Recovery or Norton Ghost (they largely use the same codebase). I've seen this issue all the way up to Ghost 14 with the latest patches.

The issue is most likely due to Daemon Tools (happens even with the latest version to date). It errors out when it encounters it's SPD driver.

The solution is simple: uninstall Daemon Tools, create your System Recovery Disk, reinstall Daemon tools.