How I’d Hack Your Weak Passwords (onemansblog.com)

The author starts off with a list of the top ten passwords, and how he would go about finding the personal information needed. For example, number 1 is “Your partner, child, or pet’s name, possibly followed by a 0 or 1 (because they’re always making you use a number, aren’t they?)” and number 2 is “The last 4 digits of your social security number.”

The really interesting bits are when the author explains exactly how he would approach hacking your accounts, and how likely he would be to succeed. Unfortunately, the tools needed to engage in this kind of mischief are readily available and do not require great skill to employ.

Some key protection points include…

• Don’t use the same password for all of your online activities. Use different passwords for each site. That way, if your Facebook password is compromised, your Wachovia password is safe.
• Never use dictionary words, names, or other common passwords.
• Look for a trusted password management utility to help ease the pain of having a hundred different passwords.
• Your email is one of the most important and critical passwords—a criminal can use the “reset my password” feature on many shopping sites once they have access to your email account.

Take a look at the article and see if you can make some changes in the way you handle password security so that you don’t get hacked!

I’m serious. You don’t need to know anything at all about Linux to use one of these. Just download the image, install, and you suddenly have a full featured NAS file server, or you might have a database or a source code repository.

Last year I wrote an article on how to set up a NAS device using Ubuntu Linux. I have been a fan of Ubuntu since the start because it is a very easy distribution to install and configure. The down-side of using Linux has always been the fairly steep learning curve. Before you can get around to using the server, you need to get down in the weeds with configuration files and other stuff.

TurnKey Linux changes all of that.

Painless Installation

A few weeks back, I was setting up an aging PC as a standalone wiki server for a small office—this machine was going to provide a place for the office staff to document their procedures, how-tos, and other things.

I was about to set up an Ubuntu server, as I have done before many times, and install MoinMoin, like I did some months back. I remembered that it was a bit of a pain to get everything tweaked just right, so I did a quick check to see what kind of standalone wiki options were available online.

This is how I found TurnKey Linux. This project is all about single-purpose preconfigured Ubuntu server images.

One of those preconfigured images happens to be a MediaWiki appliance—the wiki engine behind Wikipedia—and I was in business.

The installation took about fifteen minutes, with very little user interaction. I answered a few basic questions and the installer took over from there. As soon as the install was done, the machine rebooted and displayed a message on the monitor with the IP addresses where you can browse to from any other machine.

Full Featured

The work that has gone in to these appliances is amazing. In fifteen minutes I had installed a complex configuration that has the Apache, PHP, MySQL, MediaWiki core, as well as maintenance utilities such as a neat tool that provides a Flash-based pure-AJAX-based SSH command line in a remote browser (i.e. your browser becomes a terminal). Even someone with Linux experience would have to spend quite a bit of time fiddling around with different packages and configuration options in other to provide the same functionality that TurnKey gives you out of the box.

As with most open source projects, the documentation is about 80% complete, with deep detail in some areas, but leaving others fairly sparsely documented. But don’t let this deter you: in most cases users know how to use the product they are installing (e.g. MediaWiki) but don’t want the hassle of configuring it on Linux. That’s where TurnKey shines.

Some Examples

In minutes, you can set up a NAS device. If you want to try advanced content management in your office, try Joomla or Drupal.

If you are working on a small project team and want to protect your source code, try Redmine or Trac and do your bug tracking using Bugzilla.

And while you are at it, you can document your organization’s working practices using a wiki such as MoinMoin or MediaWiki.

Don’t forget to back it up!

As with any computer, you should include your new TurnKey appliance in your backup strategy. The nice thing is that you don’t really need to care at all about backing up Linux or the other software; just back up the data. I don’t need to back up my entire MediaWiki machine; I just need to back up the database and image files. If anything goes wrong, you can rebuild the TurnKey appliance from scratch in minutes and then restore your data.

To save yourself some pain, keep notes on any small tweaks you made to the configuration.

One Machine, One Purpose

These disk images share common Ubuntu underpinnings, but they are referred to as Appliances because they turn your PC into a purpose-built appliance.

This means that if you want a content management system and you also want a ticket management system, you will need two old computers—not a rare commodity these days.

Take a look at what they have to offer and give TurnKey a shot—specialized software used in corporate environments is now within reach of small offices at the right price.

Among other things he discusses options for prioritizing and cutting down on the total volume of stuff you plan on keeping, digital or otherwise.

“Backup, backup, backup” made number four on his list.

And finally, he provides a few notes on some helpful free organizing software. I think I’m going to check out that Know Your Stuff application he mentioned.

Five Tips to Paperless Finances (moneytalksnews.com)

Recently I have been mulling over the possibility of commuting to New York—owing to a hazy future at my current employer. Whether or not I am ready to trudge there and back every day of the week is still an open question, but the siren song of the city has its draw.

With such a fine commute comes an interesting problem: one needs to cart lots of stuff to and from, especially a laptop and possibly a Kindle for the train ride, but no one wants to lug huge bags throughout the subways of Manhattan.

Anyway, here’s the article from Wired Magazine’s How-To Wiki on how to Travel Light Without Leaving Your Laptop Behind.

Got any ideas? It’s a Wiki, so go ahead and contribute yours.

One point that I don’t think they mention: I want a bag or backpack that looks nothing like a laptop bag. I really don’t care to walk around with a neon sign on my back saying “I’m carrying $3000 in electronics!”

I’m still looking for that perfect gruffy looking bag.

I never really considered that this book might raise eyebrows until some years later when I was in the Navy. We had just come back from a cruise and everyone was heading out to their dormant cars to go off base. One of my shipmates was quite surprised to find police surrounding his vehicle when he reached the parking lot. It seems that a few weeks prior, some night watchman had seen two curious items in the back seat with his flashlight: the butt of a BB pistol and … The Anarchist Cookbook. He sure had some ‘splainin’ to do about that one. They were more interested in the book than the pistol.

What about today? Do we have to worry if our reading habits are known to others?

Though I chuckle at the thought that anyone would care that I have Clive Cussler in my Kindle, it’s not difficult to imagine situations where one might not want Kindle searches or eBook library contents known:

• People reading hotly political materials that might attract unwanted government attention.
• Folks who are reading materials that hint at their sexual orientation, a fact they might wish to keep private.
• Readers who are searching for materials on one of many different illnesses, that they might not want potential employers and insurers to know about.

Want to know how eBook vendors are treating your privacy? Here’s an article on the subject by Ed Bayley on the Deeplinks Blog:

An E-Book Buyer’s Guide to Privacy

This article provides a table with five key e-reader technologies—Google Books, Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, Sony Reader, and FBReader—and provides answers to several key privacy questions for each product.

Even if you have nothing to hide, think about this: Considering how poorly Amazon chooses recommendations for me, I wonder how poorly our government might pigeonhole me based on my book collection. One thing is certain: somewhere in that list is one ancient copy of The Anarchist Cookbook!

I have always been a big fan of HowStuffWorks, with their detailed in-depth articles describing such disparate topics as manual transmissions and money laundering.

Anyway, author Diane Dannenfeldt has written a lengthy article on How Paperless Offices Work, giving ample coverage to myriad aspects of the topic:

• Introduction to How Paperless Offices Work
• Benefits of a Paperless Office
• Transitioning to a Paperless Office
• Managing Digital Documents
• Going Paperless at Home
• Paperless Office Solutions

Take a look at the full article here: How Paperless Offices Work (howstuffworks.com)

The basic tool required to bridge the gap between the carbon-intensive paper document present and the greener electronic document future was invented in 1993 as a way to streamline communications between publishers and printers.

Today, the humble PDF file is the file format of choice for “final” electronic documents. Properly created and deployed, PDF alone serves a critical need in reducing both business costs and environmental impacts.

Duff Johnson of Planet PDF wrote an article about two of my favorite topics: PDF Documents and Paperless Offices.

In the article, he discusses several key motivating factors for fitting PDF into your own workflow, with the underlying goal of making your office a little bit greener.

Read it all here: PDF is green tech for your office

23 tips for getting organized, streamlining your online time, managing your media and more

In this Computerworld article, the writer gives several great tips on getting your geeky side in order. I’m happy to note that procurement of a Fujitsu ScanSnap and scanning your life to PDF made number 4 on his list.

Other useful tips include topics such as cable management solutions (for that rat’s nest of wires), Google Desktop search and Google Sync, online identity management, and protecting your children online.

Check it out: How to simplify your tech life (Computerworld)

Another issue altogether is the spam email that is carefully crafted to appear as if it has come from your bank, saying cheerfully “Your statement for May is available online, just click here to access!” … but whoever clicks will inevitably be providing their secrets to some ne’er-do-well in New Zealand who will promptly empty their accounts.

Here is a simple, quick, and free way to avoid phishing attacks as well as casual/accidental exposure to unwanted adult content.

OpenDNS

The service I am referring to is OpenDNS, a free domain name lookup service that you can use in lieu of your Internet Service Provider’s own DNS servers.

When your computer goes to a web site, the name of the web site must be converted to a numeric address, in much the same way that you use a telephone directory to look up a friend’s number.

This lookup service is typically provided by a server owned by your Internet Service Provider. The address to this server is automatically configured when your cable modem connects to the network the first time.

The way OpenDNS works is you change the Domain Name Server (DNS) setting in your router to now point to the OpenDNS servers instead of your ISP servers. By doing this, you have changed the default telephone directory used by your home network.

A Phone book with the Bad Numbers Missing

To take the phone book analogy further, imagine that in your new phone book, all of the phone numbers for shady businesses such as escort services and massage parlors have been replaced with a special number. When you dial that number, a pleasant older woman gives you a gentle scolding for trying to call such a business.

This is pretty much what happens with OpenDNS: when your browser asks for a page from www.naughtystuff.com, the OpenDNS server points you to a different place, a nice page from OpenDNS that says that the page is blocked and explains why.

One fix for your Entire Network

There are many options available for “net nanny” style software that can be installed on individual machines, such as the kids’ machine. These features are also embedded in modern versions of Windows and OS X. But, what about all of the little portable devices that find themselves into kids’ hands? How about their gaming consoles?

Since you configure OpenDNS at the network entry point to your home, the router, any device attached to your network is automatically covered.

Customizable Blocking

You can use OpenDNS without an account, just by pointing your router to their servers, but the real power comes when you register with them (for free) and make your own choices about what you want to see.

You can choose which parts of the Internet you don’t want to see using their online configuration tool. You can either use their “High/Moderate/Medium/Low/Minimal” options or you can pick and choose individual bits of stuff to allow or block.

Here’s a look at the categories available when you choose the custom blocking level:

Basic Setup (about 20 minutes)

• Configure your router to use the OpenDNS servers for DNS lookups.
• Create a free OpenDNS account.
• Install their small updater program on one machine on your network.
• Log in to your OpenDNS Dashboard on the web and configure your blocking settings to taste.

Why do you need the updater utility?

In order to provide the custom blocking, the OpenDNS servers need to know your main IP address assigned by your Internet Server Provider. The desktop utility simply informs OpenDNS of your new IP address if it ever changes.

What do users see if they go to a blocked page?

They see a page that indicates the site that was blocked, along with a short reason and a link they can click if they want access to the page. If they click that link and fill out the short form, you will get an email from OpenDNS with the user’s request.

The remainder of the “blocked” page is a search form with some sponsored links.

You can customize the message as well as the image shown on the web page. When someone reaches a blocked page in my network, they are greeted by a picture of our calico cat, Roxy.

Keeping the Honest People Honest

This approach to blocking unwanted web sites is not a complete solution for keeping your kids from where they shouldn’t go; it is more like a simple padlock: it keeps the honest people honest. A determined individual can easily get around this product using various techniques, but they have to make a conscious effort to do so.

The real strength of OpenDNS is that it helps avoid accidental exposure to unwanted web content and phishing sites.

“How a lifestyle experiment and a disaster made me realize the value of turning atoms into bits” — Mike Elgin

A couple of months back, Mike Elgin of Computerworld posted an article on his foray into the paperless world: Paperless office? Ha! How about a paperless life?

In this followup article, he considers how lifestyle changes and the raging wildfires closing in on his city have made it clear to him that it is critical to protect whatever can be easily preserved in digital form.

Mike gives a sound strategy, starting off with a fast pass at just getting it digitized with little regard for perfection, followed by more focused efforts.

He pointed out how some objects just aren’t as important as the memories that they represent, illustrating this with a photograph of his son’s martial arts trophies that he has since donated to various organizations.

Mike makes it very clear that backups are mandatory. My kind of guy!

Here’s the whole article: Why you should digitize ‘everything’ (Computerworld.com)