Welcome to the Hypocrites Ball! Three major corporations who can't even keep their own houses in order have joined forces to tell whole countries what they should be doing about privacy and free speech.

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! are the big-name signatories to the recently-formed Global Network Initiative, a body whose members will "collaborate in the advancement of user rights to freedom of expression and privacy."

Pardon me?

Is this the same Google that works with the Chinese government to filter the search results of nasty words like "democracy" and "Tiananmen Square"? Surely not.

Could this be the Microsoft that blocked the blog of a prominent Chinese media researcher after he posted articles critical of the Beijing News Daily? I must be thinking of another company.

And it surely must have been another Yahoo! that ratted on reporter Shi Tao, meaning he now gets to spend 10 years in prison for leaking a document about possible Tiananmen Square protests.

And don't even mention privacy!

Here's how Privacy International ranked these guys in their 2007 Privacy Ranking of Internet Service Companies, (subtitled "A Race to the Bottom");

• Yahoo!: "Substantial Threat"
• Microsoft: "Serious Lapses" (with extra marks for Windows Live Space: "Substantial Threat")

But only one company managed to achieve the lowest rating:

• Google: "Hostile to Privacy"

(The full PDF is here.)

The only thing more chilling than these guys telling the world about how to protect privacy is reading their Terms and Conditions!

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 )

diff is one of those brilliant little utilities tucked away inside every Linux distribution. Used in its most simple form, diff original_file current_file, it will detail all the differences between two files. Pipe the output to a third file -- as in diff original_file current_file > outfile -- and open it in a GUI text editor, and you'll find the differences highlighted in different colours.

diff has plenty of options (type man diff for a list of them), but most users will prefer to use it in GUI form. In the KDE world the choice is between KDiff3 and  Kompare. Both work splendidly, but only the latter promises to "Entertain you during that boring compile." How does it do that? Well it's a little hard to explain. Let me just say that scrolling through file differences becomes something of a 3D experience due to the way Kompare highlights them...


KDiff3 and Kompare's view of the same two files. (Click to enlarge.)
Only one has natty 3D views!

In computer science terms, diff is a solution to the longest common subsequence problem. (Or see here for a more succinct explanation.)


<--Previous Hidden Linux      Next Hidden Linux -->

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 )

It seems that Microsoft's Vista continues to be the best thing that ever happened to Linux. Jason Perlow, Senior Technology Editor at Linux Magazine, writes about his installation woes here (registration required) on what's pretty standard computer kit these days ...

If a computer expert can have these kinds of problems with a Windows release and is unable to resolve them, then it doesn’t say much for your average end-user.

He goes on ...

Just to make sure I wasn’t having some sort of hardware issue, I swapped out the SATA hard disk with two of the same model and installed both Windows XP 2005 MCE rollup 2 and Ubuntu Gutsy 64-Bit without any issues at all.

His conclusion:

... its a bizarre thing when the latest consumer version of Windows is less compatible with modern hardware than either Linux or the previous version of Windows, one year after its release.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 10 )

If you don't have a CD writer or want to try Linux on a machine that doesn't have a CD reader -- such as an ultra-portable laptop -- you might find yourself stuck. The solution is to download UNetbootin (the Universal Netboot Installer) and create your own bootable images on a USB drive.

Coming in a variety of download packages for both Linux and Windows, UNetbootin simplifies the process of creating live-booting USB drives for a huge variety of distributions. (It can also install to local hard disk drives.) With no interim CD required, UNetbootin works directly from the .ISO image file. All you have to do is tell it which distribution and release number you want from a couple of drop-down lists. It'll handle everything from Arch Linux to Zenwalk, or you can customise the Kernel, Initrd and Boot Options settings manually.


Simply select the distribution, release number, image file and USB drive
to use, and UNetbootin will build a bootable distribution on it.

Just getting rid of the need to burn a CD for every distribution I want to try makes UNetbootin an essential tool in my ever-expanding Linux toolbox.


<--Previous Hidden Linux      Next Hidden Linux -->

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

In this month's print edition of NZ PC World I explore some of the ways you could lose your laptop -- legally! Many people don't realise, for example, that US Federal agents "may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies..." [more]

But what about those more common threats to laptops; theft or simple carelessness?

Laptop tracking services have been around for a while. The basic idea is that a hidden piece of software regularly reports to a central server, detailing the IP address at which your laptop's currently connected. Since each IP address is unique, law enforcement agents can swiftly home in on your missing machine's new location.

Such services cost typically around $US3 per month. But now there's a free, open source alternative: Adeona.

Taking its name from the Greek goddess responsible for guiding lost children back to their parents, Adeona works on Linux, Mac or Windows machines, and once installed sends anonymous encrypted notes back to a central server. If your laptop ever goes missing, you download another program, enter your username and password, and see what's become of your missing machine. (The Mac version will even take snapshots of whoever's currently using the computer!)

The best part though is not only is it free and open source, but it's also privacy-preserving. No one but the owner can track your laptop -- unless you let them have your password.

My rating: Brilliant!  Download it here.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 7:48 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

This weekend is your once-a-year chance to safely dispose of all manner of electronic waste. The scheme, which started in Wellington in 2006, last year saw more than 400 tonnes of e-waste dropped off for recycling nationwide. This year there are more than 30 locations around the country where you can ditch unwanted ...

• computer hardware
• monitors
• networking equipment (e.g. modems, routers, hubs)
• scanners
• keyboards, mice, speakers
• laptops
• printers
• game consoles
• toner and ink jet cartridges
• mobile phones

Remember to securely wipe any confidential data if you're dumping hard disk drives. And eDay's a cars-only affair; no trucks or trailers please.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )