http://www.abunchofutils.com/utils/developer/cron-expression-helper/
Cron Jobs explained!
Cron Expression helper
November 23rd, 2011How Windows knows it has an Internet connection
May 17th, 2011Found this interesting article about Windows 7 Network awareness on blog.superuser.com
Whenever I connect to a WiFi network which requires in-browser authentication, such as university networks and hotel access points, Windows somehow magically knows. Windows also knows when your internet connection isn’t working, and can differentiate between having local LAN access, no network access at all, or full internet access. But how?
If you have ever been wondering how this feature works, how you can turn it off and how it affects your privacy I highly recommend this.
Hardware vs. Software Keyboards on Android Phones
March 1st, 2011I upgraded my HTC Hero to a Desire HD at the end of the year asking myself whether I wanted a phone with a touchscreen (Desire HD) or a hardware keyboard (Desire Z).
The decision was in favor of the Desire HD because I was used to a touch-only interface on the Hero and the better tech-specs. Before i got my first Android phone, i had to make a similar decision between the HTC Dream (aka G1) and the HTC Hero (aka T-Mobile G2 Touch). This quickly turned out to be a no-brainer since the difference from a technical perspective was enormous.
Recently I got a new corporate mobile phone and selected a Desire Z since I did not want a second Desire HD and Windows Phones were out of the question for me.
Also, the Desire Z has a better battery life due to the fact that the big screen on the Desire HD is one of the biggest Power Drain on the phone.
This gave me a good chance to compare both phones directly, focusing on the usability of the keyboard, not the tech specs or other features. This led to the following conclusions:
- the hardware keyboard on the Desire Z is not bad but on smartphones this size it is basically only usable with your thumbs due to the design
- the hardware keyboard allows for a better visibility of the screen since the software keyboard will take up about 60% of the screen space
- the software keyboard on the Desire HD is actually bigger than the hardware keyboard due to its larger form factor
- the usability of the Sense UI is not in any way affected by the use of a hardware or software keyboard, the only changes are really the input form fields.
- using the hardware keyboard makes writing longer messages a lot more comfortable if you are able to type with your thumbs
- you can place the Desire HD on a flat surface to allow a limited form of finger typing but due to the integrated camera on the back the surface is not completely flat which will make it harder to write when it is place on a solid surface
- this also works with the Desire Z with the base surface of the phone completely flat
Both keyboards have their pros an cons however they will obviously not be able to substitute for a full size keyboard, so longer Messages will most likely be avoided as far as possible.
I highly recommend trying both solutions to see what fits your taste.
Adding Thunderbird to the indicator-applet in Ubuntu 10.10
February 14th, 2011The indicator-applet in Gnome was added with Ubuntu 10.04 to notify the user about incoming messages.
The default indicator applet works with Evolution and Empathy (which replaced pidgin a while back as the default IM application)
With the Thunderbird addon Thunderbird Indicator, you can add the notification for Mozillas Thunderbird as well.
quote from https://launchpad.net/libnotify-mozilla/
This is an add-on for Mozilla Thunderbird which notifies you of new mail messages via Ubuntu’s standard notification system and the Messaging menu. Once a new mail is received, the Messaging menu’s icon turns green and a notification pops up. The Indicator Applet also provides quick access to your contacts and allows you to compose a new message.
Simply add the repository using
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ruben-verweij/thunderbird-indicator
and install via
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install xul-ext-indicator
The detailed installation instructions can be found on the ubuntublogger blog
Visualizing the Internet takedown in Egypt with bgplay
January 28th, 2011BGP ist often used in order to Censor the Internet on behalf of the government.
From the technical side this is an interesting process when asking yourself “How would a government shutdown the Internet if they had/want to – and is this even possible?”
Well, the current situation in Egypt shows that a goverment backened takedown is possible.
From the bgpmon blog: http://bgpmon.net/blog/?p=450
Different media are reporting that Internet and other forms of electronic communications are being disrupted in Egypt. Presumably after a government order in response to the protests. Looking at BGP data we can confirm that according to our analysis 88% of the ‘Egyptian Internet’ has fallen of the Internet. In this post I’ll share some observations I made with regards to the reachability of Egyptian networks and providers.
The article lists the biggest ISPs in Egypt and the current prefix changes made. Using the Autonomous System Nr. (ASN), you can visualize the BPG route announcements.
The most noteable prefix changes involve AS8452 AS24863 and AS36992.
Go to http://bgplay.routeviews.org (requires Java) and set the timeframe around 2011-01-27 at around 10PM and watch.
With all prefixes removed, LINKdotNET-AS using AS24863 and the Prefix 62.135.0.0/17 shows the greatest impact.
By the way, one of the most noteable events in the last years involving BGP was the failed censorship of youtube by Pakistan Telecom. I recommend watching this video before looking at the Egypt situation because it includes commentary on what is happening.
Rooting the Desire HD: Quick n dirty
January 13th, 20111. Set your Phone to accept unknown Software Sources in Menu -> Applications
2. Download Visionary+ from Modacos Page
3. Install the application (using an App manager such as Astro File Manager)
4. Launch Visionary+ and temproot the device using Temproot now
5. After aquiring temp root privileges, choose Attempt Permroot now, reboot and youre finished
Read the article in the link and use at your own risk!
Coming Up soon: My Desire HD Review, Customizing your Bootloader
Effective method of filtering many unwanted mails (:
January 12th, 2011Made my day…
550-5.0.0 This email was
rejected because it violates our security policy 550 5.0.0
Remotehost is listed in the following RBL lists: DNSWL.org (in
reply to end of DATA command)
OpenBSD
December 15th, 2010OpenBSD – only one government backdoor in 10 years….
Registration for Ubuntu One Windows client Beta is open
December 1st, 2010https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/canonical.com/viewform?formkey=dGpyR1B5VFlZTzNFcVAtdllENVlsenc6MQ
What is Ubuntu One?
Ubuntu One is your personal cloud. But it’s not just about syncing files — whether you need to access your contacts, notes or bookmarks from any computer or the web, enjoy your favorite music from a cloud integrated store or stream your entire collection to iPhone and Android mobile phones — we’ve raised the bar on personal clouds.
For more info, visit https://one.ubuntu.com/
Phrack Vol. 67 released
November 19th, 2010With its 25th anniversary, phrack has released vol. 67 of its magazine.