IT Resource

The inbuilt Firefox download manager is a gem in itself, but recently I came across Down Them All.

Down them all is a Firefox add-on and it is a download manager/accelerator. The website claims up to 400% faster downloads. It’s a bit like download accelerator pro in that it uses up maximum bandwidth when downloading large files.

I used Down Them All to download a few 700mb files, including the Ubuntu operating system from an Optus mirror. The results were excellent: using a 1.5mbps connection, I was averaging about 150kb/sec throughout the download.

I have since used it to download 5gig of data today, and it has saved me plenty of time.

What’s more, it integrates itself, so when you right click and save as, DTA will automatically appear as one of the options. Selecting it will open the download manager.

DTA allows for easy management of your downloads, including: pausing, resuming, limiting, and prioritising your downloads.

DTA can be found via: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/201

Guest post by Raja Devanathan of MrFeedback.net

A couple of snippets concerning Google’s new Chrome browser:

Pop-ups not shown, but Advertisers billed?

It seems like Chrome’s new Pop-Up hider still loads the Pop-Up ads, but doesn’t present them to the viewer.

This is somewhat different to how traditional Pop-Up blockers work, in that they actually prevent the ad from loading. Our understanding of that approach is that this means the Advertiser wouldn’t be charged, as their ad is not loading.

The situation with Chrome may well be different, as the ad is being loaded but not shown, which could lead to advertisers still being charged for Pop-Ups that no one will ever see.

For Pop-Up haters that’s fine, but if true and if Chrome grabs a significant portion of the Browser market,  then this could well lead to changes in advertising methods.
 

Google promotes Firefox, oops!

In a very public spirited gesture, it seems that Google (via YouTube at least) is still advertising Firefox, even after the launch of Chrome.

Whether this is an oversight on Google’s part, or a requirement of their agreement with Mozilla we don’t know. Is Google still the default search engine bundled with Firefox installs, as per their agreement (which was re-negotiated earlier this year)? If so, how much longer will this arrangment last?
 

Thanks to Raja of MrFeedback.net for the heads up about the Firefox ad in Youtube.

This is a guest post contributed by Raja of MrFeedback

We have seen privacy introduced in Internet Explorer 8 (beta 2 version) & Google Chrome, and Firefox has recently announced that private browsing will be incorporated into their browser in version 3.1 – currently you can get private browsing mode by downloading the Stealther 1.06 plugin available through Download.com, and there are similar solutions available from Mozilla’s add on website.

The concept behind Privacy mode is simple – any record of your browsing history is discarded once you close the browser session in IE or Google Chrome. Firefox plan to take this feature a few steps further and will have:

• no autofill for passwords
• all cookies will be discarded after browsing
• all downloads in Download Manager will be discarded after browsing
• Unlike IE, you won’t even be able to tell if you’re surfing in Private Mode. IE has a neon indicator to announce the activation of private mode. Firefox will keep the fact that you’re surfing in private mode, well..private. Nice feature.

Private surfing is useful, despite the obvious concern that it will assist people to do things on the internet which are questionable. As internet shopping becomes the norm, it will enable people to keep gift purchases, for example, and other activities private. It’s good that browsers are installing this feature, despite it inevitably being misused by a percentage of people.

I’d love to hear any comments or feedback on Privacy mode and Browser security in general.

Raja Devanathan
Founder of MrFeedback.net

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There is often a requirement to block/deny user access to certain websites and this post shows how administrators can utilise Squid to achieve this:

Squid is a popular open source web proxy server and web caching software. It has a wide variety of uses, from speeding up a web server by caching repeated requests, to caching web, DNS and other network lookups for groups of people sharing network resources and (which is of most interest to us for the purposes of this post) by aiding security via traffic filtering. It was originally inteneded for Unix/Linux but has been ported to a number of platforms.

Squid has powerful ACL (access control list). The primary use of the ACL system is to implement simple access control. This can be used to deny a user from accessing particular site.

In order to do this we have to edit the Squid configuration file.

e.g. # vi /etc/squid/squid.conf

Search for `Access Controls’ and append the following lines (in this example we are blocking access to ‘nastysite.com’):
acl badsite dstdomain .nastysite.com
http_access deny badsite

Save and close the file, and then restart Squid:
# /etc/init.d/squid restart

 If required, you can specify more than one site to be blocked:
acl badsite dstdomain .nastysite.com  .anothernastysite.com
http_access deny badsite

You can also use regex expressions to block access to more than one website. for example,  if you would like to deny access for any sites where the URL contains the word “twitter”, use the following ACL lines:
acl badsitegroup url_regex -i twitter
http_access deny badsitegroup

More information on Squid commands can be found at: http://wiki.squid-cache.org/FrontPage

The infamous Microsoft “Blue Screen Of Death”, or BSOD, can of course have many causes, some of which can be fixed up with a reboot. Other BSOD errors may signify a more serious issue related to Drivers, memory or other factors.

Listed below are a few of the most common Error messages that accompany a BSOD, together with explanations of what they may mean.

The error messages take the form of an 8-character hexidecimal code (the last eight characters in the ‘STOP’ message code).

 
STOP: 0×0000000A
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Indicates that a kernel-mode process or driver attempted to access a memory location it did not have permission to access, or a memory location that exists at a kernel interrupt request level (IRQL) that was too high (a kernel-mode process can only access other processes that have an IRQL that’s equal to or lower than its own).

 
STOP: 0×0000001E
KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
The Windows XP kernel detected an illegal or unknown processor instruction. The problems that cause this error can be either software or hardware related and result from invalid memory and access violations, which are intercepted by the Windows default error handler if error-handling routines are not present in the code  itself.

 
STOP: 0×00000024
NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
Indicates that a problem occurred within Ntfs.sys, the driver file that allows the system to read and write to drives formatted with the NTFS file system. (A similar Stop message, 0×00000023, exists for the file allocation table [FAT16 or FAT32)] file systems).

 
STOP: 0×00000050
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
The requested data was not in memory. The system generates an exception error when using a reference to an invalid system memory address. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software may cause this error.

 
STOP: 0×0000007B
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
Windows XP has lost access to the system partition or boot volume during the startup process. Incorrect device drivers typically cause this error although it can also indicate a possible virus infection.

 
STOP: 0×0000007F
UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
A hardware problem e.g. resulting from mismatched or defective memory, a malfunctioning CPU, or a fan failure that’s causing overheating.

 
STOP: 0×0000009F
DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
Indicates that a driver is in an inconsistent or invalid power state. This error typically occurs during events that involve power state transitions, such as shutting down or moving in or out of standby or hibernate mode.

 
STOP: 0×000000D1
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
The system attempted to access pageable memory using a kernel process IRQL that was too high. Typical cause is a bad device driver (one that uses improper addresses) although it can also be caused by faulty or mismatched RAM or a damaged pagefile.

 
STOP: 0×000000EA
THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
A device driver problem is causing the system to pause indefinitely. Typically, this problem is caused by a display driver waiting for the video hardware to enter an idle state. This might point to a hardware problem with the video adapter or a faulty video driver.

 
STOP: 0xC0000218
UNKNOWN_HARD_ERROR
A required registry hive file could not be loaded. The file may be corrupt or missing. The registry file may have been corrupted due to hard disk corruption or some other hardware problem. A driver may have corrupted the registry data while loading into memory or the memory where the registry is loading may have a parity error.

 
STOP: 0xC0000221
STATUS_IMAGE_CHECKSUM_MISMATCH
Driver, system file, or disk corruption problems (such as a damaged paging file). Faulty memory hardware can also cause this message to appear.

Sun’s ‘Light-weight UI Toolkit’ (LWUIT) has been made available for download under a version of the GPL2 open-source license, which will make it easier for developers to create applications for the Jave ME mobile/smart phone platform.

According to Sun’s Craig Gering: “We are enabling mobile developers to quickly and easily create rich, portable interfaces for their applications,” declared Craig Gering, Sun’s senior director of embedded Java software.

“This software will also help address the mobile industry’s fragmentation issue by enabling developers to create a single interface that will work anywhere Java is found.”

More information: http://lwuit.blogspot.com/

Quick post to tell you about a very useful site (recently ‘wiki-fied’ covering free software for business, development and home use. There seems to be a lot of useful stuff in there and it’s pretty active as well…well worth a look:

It can be found here – Gizmo’s Tech Support Site

Research in Motion, makers of the Blackberry, has warned businesses to disable the function which allows a BlackBerry to read PDF files, after a security flaw was found in the software.

A “high” severity flaw affecting how BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) opens PDF files may be used to compromise a network. RIM disclosed the flaw last week but is yet to issue a patch, stating that no timeframe for a fix was available.

Until then, customers asre advised to disable the BlackBerry Attachment Service, which allows BES to process PDF attachments for users to view on their BlackBerry devices. The flaw relates to how the service processes PDF files, which can be exploited via a maliciously crafted PDF.

Vulnerable systems include BES software version 4.1 Service Pack 3 (4.1.3) through to 4.1 Service Pack 5 (4.1.5). RIM has given the advisory a “high” severity rating.

“If a BlackBerry smartphone user on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server opens and views the specially crafted PDF file attachment on the BlackBerry smartphone, the arbitrary code execution could compromise the computer,” RIM states on its advisory.

According to Sense of Security’s principal consultant, Jason Edelstein, this means that corporate networks are at risk due to the flaw. Most organisations place the BES within key networks, such as email servers, giving it privileged access to other computers on that network.

“Most organisations put the BES on an internal server on the network, which actually is a conduit between the internal server and RIM’s servers based in Canada,” he said.

“If someone loses their device and it’s not locked in some way, you could browse internally to that company’s Web-based resources,” he said.

“The way the end user can determine if they are vulnerable is to try to open the browser on the BlackBerry and attempt to access your intranet resources — if it comes up on the BlackBerry and you know it’s not published on the internet, that should raise alarm bells.”

Blackberry/RIM Knowledgebase article

Microsoft is proceeding with plans to stop selling the Windows XP operating system to retailers and major computer as from June 30th.

Once major manufacturers such as Dell and HP have cleared their stocks of machines loaded with XP, then new machines will only be issued with Vista, and anyone wishing to revert to XP will have to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and then legally “downgrade” to XP.

Smaller PC makers will be allowed to buys XP for resale through til January 2009. Cut down versions of XP will also remain available for use on machines such as the Asus Eee PC.

The decision comes despite vociferous protests from large numbers of people unhappy with Vista and amid calls for XP to be kept on-line until the release of the next Windows version 7, pencilled in for sometime in 2009.

Last week, Microsoft said it would provide full technical support for Windows XP through 2009, and limited support through 2014.

The long awaited Firefox 3 has now been officially released in its final stage.

You can download Firefox 3 from here.

Release Notes can be found here.

By downloading Firefox 3 within the next 24 hours, you will also be helping the Mozilla team set a new world record for the most downloaded piece of software in one day/24 hour period.

Live at Mozilla HQ:
Read more…

Mozilla has announced that Firefox 3 will be available for download on 17th of June.

Following two release candidates on the PC and three on the Mac, the latest iteration of the open source browser has been declared ready for general consumption.

“After more than 34 months of active development, and with the contributions of thousands, we are proud to announce that we are ready,” wrote Mike Beltzner on the Mozilla community blog.

Mozilla is pitching the launch as Download Day 2008 in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest number of downloads in 24 hours.

So far over a million users around the world have pledged to download the new browser on 17 June.

Open-AudIT is an application to tell you exactly what is on your network, how it is configured and when it changes. Open-AudIT will run on Windows and Linux systems. Essentially, Open-AudIT is a database of information, that can be queried via a web interface. Data about the network is inserted via a Bash Script (Linux) or VBScript (Windows). The entire application is written in php, bash and vbscript. These are all ’scripting’ languages – no compiling with viewable source. Making changes and customisations is both quick and easy.

Windows PCs can be queried for hardware, software, operating system settings, security settings, IIS settings, services, users & groups and much more. Linux systems can be queried for a similar amount of information. Network devices (printers, switches, routers, etc) can have data recorded such as IP-Address, MAC Address, open ports, serial number, etc, etc. Output is available in PDF, CSV and webpages. There are export options for Dia and Inkscape.

Open-AudIT can be configured to scan your network and devices automatically. A daily scan is recommended for systems, with network scans every couple of hours. That way, you can be assured of being notified of something changes (day to day) on a PC, or even sooner, if something “new” appears on your network.

For more information about Open-AuIT, please visit http://www.open-audit.org.

This second Firefox 3 Release Candidate (RC2) is a preview release of Mozilla’s next generation Firefox browser and is now available for download.

Preview releases are published to collect feedback from Web developers and the testing community before advancing to the next stage in the release process. The final version of Firefox 3 will be released when Mozilla qualify the product as fully ready.

More information about the new features and improvements in Firefox 3 can be found here.

You can download Firefox 3 RC2 by clicking here.

Microsoft said on Tuesday it plans to test-release a feature-complete version of its Internet Explorer 8 Web browser in August.

Microsoft released a first test version of IE 8 in March, providing developers and Web designers a preview of the latest update to the world’s most widely-used browser.

The next test release, IE 8 Beta 2, will be targeted more at ordinary Web users. It will come with all the features that the browser will have when it is officially launched — although it may still contain bugs, since it is a test version.

Microsoft has not set an official release date for IE 8.

Adobe Systems is launching a new version of its document sharing software Acrobat on Monday, and this time it can package videos.

Acrobat allows users to package documents so they can be read across different hardware and operating systems.

Acrobat 9 comes with Adobe’s video-enabling software Flash. Users can include Flash-based videos when they create and share documents with the portable document format, commonly known as PDF.
Read more…