Tux Love

Google : Starting to be evil?

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:22:21 +1300

Google recently deleted AdBlock Plus from its Android Play Store. This is supposedly due to the possibility of its ”interference with another service or product in an unauthorized manner„, but as AdBlock developer Wladimir Palant pointed out:

This looks like a course change at Google, until recently the main distinction between Android and iPhone was that Android allowed you to install any app as long as it wasn’t malicious (meaning that it’s obvious what the app does). Google Play still allows apps stating ”for rooted phones only„ but I wonder whether these are next on the list to be removed - each of them performs ”unauthorized actions„.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) blasted the move:

Google established a reputation for building tools that put the interests of their users first. This new form of censorship is the exact opposite. It is not only a betrayal of the principle of openness, but a betrayal of the trust that people put in Google when they decide to buy an Android phone.

Are they only going to censor ad blockers?

Ad blockers are not only useful and extremely popular, but also currently the only way that Internet users can effectively protect themselves against non-consensual third party tracking.

Will they next block other privacy enhancing apps such as those that prevent Skype from tracking your location or Foursquare from grabbing the contents of your address book?

The EFF conclude:

For developers on the Android and other Google teams who are reading this, we urge you to rethink this terrible decision. Stand up for users. Don't let Android take the dark path. Don't be evil.

Fun on Facebook Chat

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:38:41 +1300

You're probably already familiar with the standard Facebook emoticons you can use in chat sessions. Here are some of the most useful, along with the key strokes to create them ...

Smile		:-)
Frown		:-(
Tongue		:-P
Grin		:-D
Gasp		:-O
Wink		;-)
Glasses		8-)
Sunglasses		8-\|
Grumpy		>:(
Unsure		:-/
Cry		:'(
Devil		3:)
Angel		O:)
Kiss		:-*
Heart		<3
Happy		^_^
Squint		-_-
Confused		o.O
Upset		>:O
Pacman		:v
Moustache		:3
Robot		:\|]
Shark		(^^^)
Penguin		<(")
Thumbs up		(y)

... but did you know you can use anyones profile picture as an emoticon? It's very simple, just enclose their Facebook name in two pairs of square brackets, like this: [[nzpcworld]] and you get ...

The other way to do it is to use the 12-digit profile ID which you'll see at the end of their URL, prefixed with the string "id=". Again, just enclose the number in two pairs of square brackets. So for example "...id=133603427601..." becomes [[133603427601]] which yields ...

You'll find hundreds more of these here, including a Dislike icon: [[139407806171115]]

But why stop there? Though the format is restricted to blocks of 16x16 pixels, you can combine them like jigsaw pieces to make bigger pictures. Like this ...

[[471899176184791]][[471899179518124]][[471899166184792]][[471899169518125]][[471899172851458]]
[[471899239518118]][[471899249518117]][[471899242851451]][[471899246184784]][[471899252851450]]
[[471899319518110]][[471899316184777]][[471899322851443]][[471899326184776]][[471899329518109]]
[[471899412851434]][[471899399518102]][[471899406184768]][[471899409518101]][[471899402851435]]
[[471899489518093]][[471899486184760]][[471899479518094]][[471899482851427]][[471899492851426]]
[[471899562851419]][[471899556184753]][[471899552851420]][[471899549518087]][[471899559518086]]

... which makes ...

... or this ...

[[370434879716448]][[370434876383115]][[370434889716447]][[370434883049781]]

[[370434886383114]][[370434979716438]][[370434976383105]][[370434983049771]]
[[370434986383104]][[370434973049772]][[370435059716430]][[370435053049764]]
[[370435063049763]][[370435056383097]][[370435066383096]][[370435153049754]]
[[370435143049755]][[370435149716421]][[370435139716422]][[370435146383088]]

to create a picture of a teddy bear.

Of course, if those are a bit schmaltzy for you, there's always this one...

[[311455472226223]][[311455502226220]][[311455518892885]][[311455538892883]][[311455562226214]][[311455588892878]][[311455602226210]][[311455638892873]][[311455655559538]][[311455682226202]]
[[311455702226200]][[311455718892865]][[311455755559528]][[311455775559526]][[311455785559525]][[311455795559524]][[311455812226189]][[311455822226188]][[311455845559519]][[311455872226183]]
[[311455888892848]][[311455898892847]][[311455915559512]][[311455938892843]][[311455952226175]][[311455975559506]][[311455995559504]][[311456002226170]][[311456012226169]][[311456025559501]]
[[311456042226166]][[311456058892831]][[311456088892828]][[311456105559493]][[311456135559490]][[311456155559488]][[311456175559486]][[311456188892818]][[311456215559482]][[311456225559481]]
[[311456255559478]][[311456272226143]][[311456285559475]][[311456302226140]][[311456325559471]][[311456348892802]][[311456362226134]][[311456382226132]][[311456392226131]][[311456415559462]]
[[311456428892794]][[311456448892792]][[311456465559457]][[311456478892789]][[311456495559454]][[311456515559452]][[311456535559450]][[311456562226114]][[311456582226112]][[311456608892776]]
[[311456628892774]][[311456642226106]][[311456655559438]][[311456685559435]][[311456695559434]][[311456722226098]][[311456745559429]][[311456755559428]][[311456778892759]][[311456788892758]]
[[311456815559422]][[311456835559420]][[311456852226085]][[311456858892751]][[311456892226081]][[311456905559413]][[311456935559410]][[311456982226072]][[311457022226068]][[311457045559399]]
[[311457065559397]][[311457078892729]][[311457098892727]][[311457132226057]][[311457145559389]][[311457162226054]][[311457195559384]][[311457222226048]][[311457242226046]][[311457258892711]]
[[311457285559375]][[311457298892707]][[311457312226039]][[311457335559370]][[311457348892702]][[311457372226033]][[311457385559365]][[311457405559363]][[311457428892694]][[311457442226026]]

Cool Tools: Google Keep

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:19:54 +1300

Ever had the experience of having a bright idea, thinking, "That's brilliant, I must remember that!" then realising later on that all that's left is the memory having had a bright idea -- not what it was?

Apparently short-term memory lasts only 15-20 seconds, so unless you employ some sort of clever memory trick or make a note, you're going to lose it. That's where Google's Keep comes in. It's a simple note-taking app that synchronises notes across all your devices. The promo video's a great introduction ...

It is of course a competitor for Evernote, but with a couple of key advantages. I already have a Google account and Keep syncs with that, so that's one less account to worry about. There's no data limit either. (The free version of Evernote only allows you 60MB per month.) But above all, Keep is simple and intuitive. Yes, Evernote has a vast array of extras and add-ons -- from PDF searching to web clipping to a specialised food version -- but sometimes you just want to make a quick note, you know?

It's only been out a week, and I'm already a fan. Apart from sheer simplicity, it's second best feature in my book is being able to record your notes on the run. Keep then transcribes your words, but it also saves the original recording so you can play it back and correct any glitches.

Your notes are synchronised across all your devices and are also available on your desktop. Just visit drive.google.com/keep and you'll find them all neatly filed away.

Hidden Linux: locate and updatedb

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:14:08 +1300

locate is one of my favourite commandline tools. Simply typing

locate somefilename

will list all files in the system containing "somefilename". For example,

locate secret

lists, amongst others, these files:

/usr/share/cups/banners/secret
/usr/share/cups/banners/topsecret
/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.freedesktop.secrets.service
/usr/share/doc/libsecret-common
/usr/share/doc/kde/HTML/en/kgpg/select-secret-key.png

If there are spaces or special characters in the file name, just place the search term in quotes:

locate "secret file"

If you get heaps of output, you can filter the results by piping the output through grep:

locate secret | grep /home

will only find files containing the word "secret" in the /home directory.

But locate needs something to work with. The database it uses is created by the updatedb command, which must typically be run by the root user;

sudo updatedb

will do it on Debian-based systems such as Ubuntu and Mint. When you first run the command it may take a minute or two to build the database, but once it's done all subsequent runs will be very quick.

Not all files on the system are indexed. It'd be silly to catalogue temporary files, for example. You can control which files are catalogues by adjusting the parameters in the updatedb/etc/updatedb.conf file.

Of course, locate is only as good the last run of updatedb. Any files subsequently deleted will still show up. To have locate dynamically check the existence of each file, just add the -e parameter;

locate -e secret

Cool Tools: AirDroid

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:37:06 +1300

AirDroid is a brilliant little Android app that lets you wirelessly manage your phone or tablet from your desktop computer -- or any other device with a web browser.

Connection is simple. Start up AirDroid on your portable and it'll present you with a 6-digit passcode. On your other device, direct your browser to web.airdroid.com, enter the code and you're in. The connection uses the secure https protocol, so it's safe to use even on public WiFi networks.

For me, the biggest plus is AirDroid's file management. You can drag and drop files between devices as well as cut, copy, paste, search, delete and rename them. You can also do virtually anything on your desktop that you can do on the device including send and receive text messages, manage contacts, update your apps, change ringtones and even stream music or videos.

You don't even have to connect to find AirDroid useful. Tucked away behind the Tools tab is a handy collection of tools ...

... including a natty device summary ...

The desktop presentation is even better!

AirDroid
Source:   Google Play Store
Size:   3.7MB
Price:    Free

Xtra woes continue

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:38:42 +1300

A week ago I wrote about what appeared to be a minor spam problem at Xtra. Well, perhaps not so minor. Later that morning I heard from friend in a small Wellington company. Their 20 staff had received over 1,000 spam messages that weekend.

Still, Xtra said it had been fixed, so ...

Last Thursday I received a call from Radio New Zealand. I was surprised to learn the issue was still on-going.

Then I spotted this morning's DomPost. The front page lead reads Emailers shut out as chaos grows. 60,000 compromised accounts have been shut out, and many users are struggling to get back in. (Curiously, this story doesn't currently appear on Xtra's own "news" page.)

The timeline of this saga of blithering incompetence goes back to last November when the alert went out about a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Yahoo!'s mail system. It was even offered for sale for $700.

"Yahoo said it quickly repaired the vulnerability."

Two months later, it still wasn't fixed: "Yahoo Mail users still seeing accounts hacked via XSS exploit".

An update to that story claimed it was all sorted and that "Yahoo! takes security and our users’ data seriously." Ha!

A few weeks on and the country's been hit by what must surely be our biggest email outage ever. Ten days into it, Xtra are still struggling, and the best they can manage is to cancel people's accounts.

Bruce Simpson in this morning's Aardvark sums it up:

Firstly, Yahoo's role in this is reprehensible. They have tried to deflect criticism by denying fault and repeatedly claiming to fix a problem that has persisted for several months now. It would also appear (although I could be wrong) that when approached by Xtra, they fed them a line of BS too -- once again denying any fault on their part when they must have known the exact opposite was true.

Secondly, Telecom/Xtra has become a clerical and sales operation -- seemingly completely lacking anyone with even the most basic technical skills. Surely, given the size of their customer-base and the profits generated, they could afford to hire someone (even if just as a consultant on a retainer) who keeps an eye on the industry and warns them in advance of potential vulnerabilities that could affect their users.

Here's what I think Telecom/Xtra should do now;

Apologise.

Refund the February accounts of all those affected.

Offer three months free email re-direction so that users can move to a proper provider as it's clear that Xtra aren't up to the job.

Xtra spam today?

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:59:45 +1300

You may have a bit of spam in your inbox this morning. Depending on the number of Xtra / Yahoo contacts you have, it may be quite a bit. One TradeMe trader reported receiving "100+ emails from all xtra email addresses with varying spam" on Saturday night.

This Geekzone thread carries more details, but it seems that a problem with Yahoo! Mail that they insisted was fixed over a month ago has resurfaced. (Yahoo! host Xtra/Telecom's email from Sydney, so you may have received spam from all three sources. I have!)

This morning the NBR are reporting that the problem has (once again?) been fixed and that, accordiing to a Telecom spokesman, "Telecom has no way of knowing exactly how many customers were affected."

Telecom customers are urged to change their passwords and can do so securely from here: https://selfservice.xtra.co.nz/live/selfservice/ChgPwd/

Other useful links:
Spam in Yahoo!New Zealand webmail
How do I fight Spam with Yahoo!New Zealand Mail?

Skynet's first strike

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:30:37 +1300

Last week the Copyright Tribunal made its first decision under the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Bill (aka 'Skynet') which came into effect in September 2011. An unnamed Telecom subscriber was ordered to pay a total of $616.57 for pirating music.

Time-line of the case

24 November 2011		A "Detection Notice", originating from Island Def Jam Music Group (Universal Music NZ Ltd), was sent to the subscriber stating that they'd shared the Rihanna song ‘Man Down’.
19 June 2012		A "Warning Notice" was sent after the subscriber was discovered uploading the same track again.
30 July 2012		An "Enforcement Notice", this time from monitoring by RCA Records (Sony Music Entertainment NZ Ltd), was sent claiming the accused had shared the Hot Chelle Rae track ‘Tonight Tonight’.

There was no actual hearing for the case. It was handled "on the paperwork", which is to say by written submission. In it, the subscriber admitted to downloading the first track, agreed that her ineptitude with the torrent software concerned (uTorrent) may have led to the second offence, but denied ever downloading the third track.

The Tribunal found her guilty nonetheless because, in it's own words;

The Act creates a presumption that each incidence of file sharing identified in an infringement notice constitutes an infringement of the right owner's copyright in the work identified.

In other words, you're guilty unless you can prove yourself innocent. They go on;

An account holder may submit evidence that this presumption does not apply, or give reasons why it should not apply. In this case, the Respondent has not provided any evidence that the presumption should not apply. In fact, she acknowledges that at least some manner of infringement has taken place and has apologised for this.

So acknowledging that "some manner of infringement has taken place" means she's guilty of every alleged infringement. What a bizarre idea! And even though the Tribunal admits

There is insufficient evidence ... to make detailed findings on [the] factual issues

it does so anyway. No doubt the Recording Industry Association of NZ (RIANZ), which prosecuted the case, are kicking themselves they didn't chuck in another 500 allegations and really score a big fine.

In case you're wondering about the odd amount, the fine was calculated as follows;

Cost of all three song via iTunes	$6.57
Cost of RIANZ notices	$50.00
Tribunal application fee	$200.00
"Deterrent sum" ($120 x 3)	$360.00
	$616.57

No doubt cheques are already winging there ways to Rihanna and Hot Chelle Rae. After all, as the industry keeps reminding us, "it's all about the artists". Isn't it?

It's worth noting that the RIANZ has dropped two potentially bigger cases, one "after the account holder filed submissions with the Copyright Tribunal identifying a large number of defects in the claims" and the second after "the account holder had not received any of the warning or infringement notices sent by his or her internet protocol address provider".

Sometime this month the Tribunal will hold its first proper (ie: face-to-face) hearing in Christchurch. Watch this space!

Windows 8: Unusable?

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:01:33 +1300

Brian Boyko is not enamoured with Windows 8. Boyko, an experience operating systems reviewer, planned to spend a month on Win 8 then do a thorough and detailed review. He did the same a while back with Ubuntu 6, Mac OS 10.4 and Windows Vista. But Win 8 thwarted him. His conclusion:

He couldn't even manage to write a review of Windows 8 on a computer loaded with Windows 8!

He's not the only one to reach that conclusion...

Check out the full video, Windows 8: The Animated Evaluation, here.

Serf's up!

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:08:27 +1300

The computing world is turning feudal according to security maven Bruce Schneier. In his latest essay he writes;

Some of us have pledged our allegiance to Google: We have Gmail accounts, we use Google Calendar and Google Docs, and we have Android phones. Others have pledged allegiance to Apple: We have Macintosh laptops, iPhones, and iPads; and we let iCloud automatically synchronize and back up everything. Still others of us let Microsoft do it all. Or we buy our music and e-books from Amazon, which keeps records of what we own and allows downloading to a Kindle, computer, or phone. Some of us have pretty much abandoned e-mail altogether … for Facebook.

These vendors are becoming our feudal lords, and we are becoming their vassals. We might refuse to pledge allegiance to all of them -- or to a particular one we don't like. Or we can spread our allegiance around. But either way, it's becoming increasingly difficult to not pledge allegiance to at least one of them.

This is coming about because in many internet-enabled devices (smartphones, tablets, e-readers and the like) the vendor has more control over the software and hardware than the user. In addition, many online services (GMail, Hotmail, Facebook, etc.) have taken over the hosting and maintenance of much of our data.

There's a plus side to fealty. Instead of having to worry about anti-virus software, backups, firewalls, system configuration and software updates we get convenience and, hopefully, some measure of security. But there's a downside too;

Today's internet feudalism ... is ad hoc and one-sided. We give companies our data and trust them with our security, but we receive very few assurances of protection in return, and those companies have very few restrictions on what they can do.

And as anyone who's read history, seen Monty Python or indulged in A Game of Thrones will tell you, serfs don't rate highly in the general scheme of things.

Ultimately, they will always act in their own self-interest, as companies do when they mine our data in order to sell more advertising and make more money. These companies own us, so they can sell us off -- again, like serfs -- to rival lords...or turn us in to the authorities.

Elite and dangerous

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 22:50:01 +1300

Where were you in 1984? Possibly not even born, but if you were and had the slightest interest in computers, chances are you'll recognise this...

That's the view from the cockpit window of your Cobra Mark III as you attempt to dock with a rotating dodecahedron-shaped space station. Most first attempts were messy -- I know mine were -- as you not only had to get the angle right but also match the rotation speed of the station or you'd end up smeared along a wall.

If you're still scratching your head, the game was called Elite and was originally published for the 8-bit, 32KB BBC Micro Model B. It was -- and still is -- an astonishing feat of programming. A full, 3D space game with multiple ships, eight galaxies (each with 256 star systems, each of which had its own planets, and each planet had its own economy, legal system, market and prices) squeezed into just 22KB of memory -- less space than a typical single email takes today. (The other 10KB was needed by the system -- 8KB for the screen and 2KB for the OS.)

The appeal of the game was its "open universe" nature. It's creators, Ian Bell and David Braben, were sick of games that gave you three lives and a bonus for every 10,000 points, so they set out to create a free-wheeling game where you chose your own path. You only had one life -- you soon learned to save it every time you docked! -- and could chose your own route to fame, fortune and the coveted rating of "Elite". You could play at innocent trader, black marketeer, pirate, miner or explorer, switching between roles as ambled about, building up your ship and weapons. The occasional mission from the Galactic Navy would send you scuttling across the galaxy or off into another one, and now an then your hyperdrive would hiccup, dropping you into "witch-space" to do battle with the deadly Thargoids.

As you might have guessed, I spent a lot of time playing Elite. Time I really don't have any more for all sorts of reasons. But now, horror of horrors, it's is back. Well almost...

David Braben, one of its original creators, founder of gaming company Frontier Developments and co-founder of the Raspberry Pi foundation, has launched a Kickstarter fund to finance Elite: Dangerous, "The next game in the Elite series -- an amazing space epic with stunning visuals, incredible gameplay and breath-taking scope, but this time you can play with your friends too."

As you can imagine, modern computing power will make Elite: Dangerous sumptuous. Here, for example, is an artist's impression of docking...

(There are loads more glorious graphics on the website.)

At the time of writing, the fund was almost halfway to its goal of raising £1.25m. If it gets there by January 4, development will start and Elite:Dangerous should be on the shelves by March 2014.

So please, for the sake of my sanity and what little free time I have left, DON'T GIVE THIS MAN MONEY!

Apple have patented the rectangle. Seriously!

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:05:11 +1300

A couple of days ago the US Patent Office granted Apple a patent on a rectangle with rounded corners. Check out US D670,286 for a ”Portable Display Device„.

You'll note from the legend below the drawings that ”The broken lines in the Figures show portions of the portable display device which form no part of the claimed design,„ so essentially they've patented a rectangle.

You may also note that this amazing technological breakthrough is the work of no less than 15 people, including the late Steve Jobs.

Hands on: ZaReason's ZaTab tablet

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:13:06 +1300

In Australasian slang the term "rooted" has unfortunate connotations, but that's just what ZaReason's ZaTab tablet is. In fact it's rooted by default.

I am of course using the term in its computing connotation. Where Apple fanboys "jailbreak" their iPhones and iPads to take full control of them, a "rooted" Android device is one that allows for root (or "superuser") access, meaning that you can do anything you like with it and install whatever you like. But root/jailbreak your flash new phone or tablet and you'll probably invalidate your warranty. Not with ZaReason. In fact they seem to positively encourage it, describing the ZaTab as "the first open & hackable tablet".

The specs aren't mind-blowing, but they're pretty good for a $400 device:

OS: Custom Android-based software based on CyanogenMod 9
CPU: Allwinner A10 SoC
Screen: 9.7" IPS 1024x768 display
5 point capacitive touchscreen
16 GB internal storage + microSD for additional storage
1 GB RAM
WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)
Front and Back cameras
High-capacity 8000 mAh battery
- 9 hours battery life playing 3D games
- 14 hours battery life watching videos
Weight: 630 grams

(A little translation for the uninitiated: CyanogenMod is "an open source replacement firmware for smart phones and tablet computers based on the Android mobile operating system [that] offers features and options not found in the official firmware distributed by vendors of these devices," and version 9 equates to Android 4.0, AKA "Ice Cream Sandwich".)

One of the first things you'll notice about the ZaTab is its impressive array of ports arranged along one side.

Along with the power switch, power connector and an headphone jack there's a;

microSD card slot
2 microUSB ports
and a microHDMI video out

Yes, that's easily accessible SD and USB ports built in! In fact the ZaTab comes with a micro-USB-to-USB cable and a micro-USB-to-regular-female-USB adapter so you can connect USB devices easily. That not only means extra, extra storage -- whether for copying files, doing backups or just running stuff straight from USB sticks -- but access to many other USB peripherals too. I plugged in the wireless transceiver from my Logitech keyboard/mouse combo and instantly had a fully functional full-sized keyboard and mouse on the ZaTab. Imagine, the portability of a tablet combined with the functionality of a desktop.

That microHDMI port looks intriguing and I'd have loved to have tried the ZaTab through my wide-screen telly but a note on the website warns it's not yet working:

Note that the HDMI is not working currently. Few people need the HDMI port and it has been harder to get dev time on it. Once the camera is fixed, the HDMI will be fixed. We would love your help on it as we finish the camera & HDMI output.

In use

The ZaTab had a smooth, solid feel with none of the "plasticiness" of some similarly priced tablets. It's touchscreen was responsive and bright, even in full daylight, had great contrast and could be viewed from almost any angle.

In day-to-day use it ran well and felt responsive. In spite of its single core CPU, most apps kicked off smoothly and high-def video playback looked great. Games are often a good test of hardware and though I'm no games player the handful I tried felt fine. It did struggle a bit starting the 450MB behemoth Death Dome, but once loaded it ran okay -- by which I mean the baddies mashed me every time. (Did I mention I'm no games player?)

Not so great however was the sound. It's okay for a bash at Angry Birds and incidental effects, but human voices -- whether in music or movies -- sounded tinny. In fact I'm half-convinced the speaker on my demo unit was faulty as it had a kind of scratchiness reminiscent of "blown" speakers. Plugging the device into even a mediocre set of headphones improved things considerably.

The front- and back-facing cameras aren't anything to write home about either. There's no flash, and even in good light results were rather grainy. But they're fine for video chatting and the occasional snap, and frankly anyone regularly taking photos on a device approaching the size of a sheet of A4 paper is going to look a bit of tool.

The other gripe I had was with the manual, a tiny generic 16-pager full of howlers such as "After charging then can't to open, pls contacy with the supplier". I hasten to add that this isn't a problem peculiar to the ZaTab. My Galaxy S-III came with a manual too small to even use for toilet paper. (Why do manufacturers assume that people purchasing complex technical products have an innate understanding of their operation?) And at least ZaReason are addressing this issue. A proper manual, written by O'Reilly Books author Carla Schroder, is on the way.

On the other hand, battery life was brilliant. I couldn't verify the 9 hours gaming claim, but in regular use -- email, browsing, reading ebooks and watching the occasional movie -- it just went on for days and days.

With the exception of that scratchy sound, I reckon the ZaTab's a winner. On price and features alone it's a very competitive tablet. Add in that glorious connectivity and the fact that it's truly open source and it becomes a must-have.

There's one other thing about ZaReason. They're based in the States and New Zealand, so prices are local, shipping is local and the good old Consumer Guarantees Act applies too.

The ZaReason ZaTab is available here at NZ$399 + GST.

Hidden Linux: Boring screenshots begone!

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:04:05 +1300

Screenie's a handy tool that was originally written to brighten up the presentation of screenshots. Instead of a plain, boring slab like this ...

... you can do stuff like this ...

or this ...

or this ...

Of course you could probably create a similar effect in Gimp, but only after considerable time and effort. Screenie makes it easy. Simply drag-and-drop your images onto Screenie's layout window ...

... use the sliders in the Parameters window to adjust each image's offset, distance and angle or change the reflection and background ...

... then just right-click the preview to save your image as a PNG file.

Install Screenie with you favourite package manager -- you'll find it listed as screenie-qt -- or do so from the command line with ...

sudo apt-get install screenie-qt

If your distro doesn't include it, there's simple instructions on the website for downloading and building the source yourself, and some kind soul's even created a Windows version.

And of course you don't just have to use it for screenshots from your computer ...

(Images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Android: Why you should update

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 21:16:11 +1300

If you have a Samsung or HTC phone running Android, it might be worth checking out this link. If it returns a number ready for dialing -- as in the picture on the left (below) -- you're okay. But if it returns the phone's IMEI number -- as in the shot on the right -- it might be time to upgrade your phone's OS.

The reason is because of a recently discovered bug in some phone makers' implementations of the way that Android treats USSD numbers.

Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) numbers are used for numerous things, from shortcuts for retrieving voice messages to actually configuring the phone itself. Dial *#06## on a Samsung and you'll get back the device's unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. This is useful stuff, and there's even an internet protocol (called tel:) that allows for so-called click-to-call links to be embedded in browsers. The problem arises because this particular bug automatically dials whatever USSD the phone is given.

As I said, USSDs can be used to configure the phone itself. Dialling one particular number -- in the case of Samsung's it's *2767*3855# -- will do a factory reset on the phone and wipe all your data -- contacts, address books, photos, the lot. Rather annoying, especially if you haven't done a backup lately. The potential is for a malicious website to incorporate that tel: code and wipe your phone the moment you visit.

The actual bug was fixed three months ago. Indeed, my Galaxy S3 (running Android version 4.0.4) returned the image on the left for the above test. But there are potentially many phones out there running earlier, buggy versions so it pays to check!