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BRIAN'S BLOG |
Brian Grainger |
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At last there is a way to try out the Linux operating system without having to create special partitions on the hard disk. In the last month or so 3 different CDs have come my way where you can run Linux from a CD-ROM, provided you alter your PC BIOS to boot from a CD. It does not upset any settings of the hard disk or any current Windows settings. The first disk came my way when I saw a box entitled 'Linux the Complete Guide' in my local W.H. Smith. What drew my attention was the CD of Demo Linux: Try Linux without installing. A bit more expensive than the normal magazine at £7.99 but I have to say it is value for money. Apart from the Demo Linux it comes with 2 CDs which give the Mandrake Linux 9.0 download edition along with all the software you are likely to want to go with it - OpenOffice.org , KDE or Gnome desktop system, Mozilla browser, a CD burner, etc. Before I had chance to look at the Demo Linux another magazine, PC Essentials, came out this month with another Linux that could be run without installing. This was called No Install Linux. I was not sure if this was the same as the Demo Linux so I started searching the web for information. I found they were not the same. I also found that the No-Install Linux was based on a Linux distribution called Knoppix that was very highly praised. It did not take long to find the Knoppix home page, http://www.knoppix.org, and from there the English page, http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html, which describes Knoppix and gives sources for buying the disk if you do not want to download it. There were two sources in England and the one I found easiest to work with was the Linux Emporium, http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk. At the Linux Emporium another CD was mentioned, the SuSE Linux 8.1 live evaluation CD. At £2.50 for each disk plus £2 postage it did not take long to realise this was cheaper than a magazine so my order was placed. I later found out that the disk on PC Essentials magazine had to have some of the stuff removed from the Knoppix disk to make it fit on. There was no clue as to what was missing, so clearly getting a proper Knoppix disk is the best solution. My Knoppix (and SuSE evaluation disk) arrived the next day and I booted up with Knoppix this last weekend. It is very impressive. The basic set up is a Debian based Linux with the KDE desktop. However, there are oodles of software titles, including OpenOffice.org. It is clearly more than a demo. There are still some oddities I have to work out, such as how to get my printer to work with it and how to write data to my FAT32 formatted hard disk. Both of these can be done. It is just me having to learn how to do it. If, like me, you want to look at Linux but don't want to disturb your Windows system while doing so, I strongly recommend having a look at Knoppix. One final web link to mention is the source of the unofficial Knoppix site. It is quite comprehensive and provides lots of tips and tricks information. Also, it is geared towards the English speaking user whereas the official Knoppix site is a translation from the German. The unofficial Knoppix site can be found at: It all started with a small news item in Computer Weekly. A bank had obtained a court injunction to stop Ross Anderson and Michael Bond giving evidence in a trial concerning 'phantom' withdrawals of cash from a customer's account. Anderson and Bond had previously discovered how a bank insider could crack the PIN numbers of its customers cards and use the information to dishonestly obtain money. The bank was trying to suppress the information becoming public - rather than trying to close the loophole. Since the injunction was granted, they appear to have succeeded. What happened to democracy and freedom of speech in this country? This set me off on a Google search for "Ross Anderson" "Michael Bond" . The most informative link was http://cryptome.org/pacc.htm. Commentary and links to the events in the story are provided. As regards the publishing of material related to the methods involved, the ban only applies after a certain date. Fortunately, the University of Cambridge Computer Library publish all their technical reports on the web and Mike Bond's original paper, co-authored with Piotr Zielinski, that details the technique of cracking the PIN numbers, was already available. If you are up to Cambridge level mathematics you can find it at: The question I am left asking myself is why is it OK to identify, gleefully, all the security issues with Microsoft software, but not OK when it concerns security issues with our banking system? Virtually all of us use bank cards so shouldn't as many heads as possible know the details and try to solve the problem? That is apart from the infringement of free speech involved and the potential dampener on further research in the area. Let's start with some news from elsewhere on the web. A German web site claims that when you connect to the Microsoft update service using XP it sends data about non Microsoft software held on your machine. More information from: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=7980 The Commodore 64 is still selling! What a fabulous PC that was. Ken Ross tells me that it was knocked out by the Amstrad in the Micromart's PC challenge, although he thinks the votes were rigged! In the same competition the IBM PC has been knocked out by the BBC Micro. Anyway, back to the plot. The only poll that matters is what sells and the Commodore 64 has turned up again as an emulator for the pocket PC! More information from: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=7855 Over the past week or two I have been doing a lot of web surfing. Primarily it has been concerned with programming Windows and a feature about that will eventually appear. However, I also did some investigating into picture viewer programs and found the magical program, IrfanView. A more detailed review will appear in the features section but, for those that cannot wait, information and download can be found at: Information: http://www.irfanview.com Download IrfanView: http://www.irfanview.com/download_sites.htm Download Plug Ins: http://www.irfanview.com/plugins.htm Further to the previous blog entry, for those of you interested in following the investigations into the Columbia disaster, complete with access to the information released to the media, I suggest the following links: http://www.nasa.gov/columbia The story that appeared here was related to the activities on board the space shuttle Columbia during its scientific mission. Following the tragic news of the loss of all crew members during the return to earth on 1st February 2003 the story has been removed as a mark of respect. Space travel is always dangerous. It is so sad when we are reminded of this fact in the most dramatic way possible. Have you ever wondered where I go to when I need computer help? Being near the top of the advice tree means the choices are limited. I usually know more than most help lines, although that isn't saying much. When ICPUG published a paper Newsletter there were articles from members more expert than myself, but such items are few and far between now. Everyone is too busy to provide stuff! About 13 months ago, the IT department where I work did something which caused Windows NT4 Explorer to hang on an irregular, but frequent, basis. I believe it was related to updating the (MacAfee) virus engine, but I could never be sure. In any event the help desk did not solve it. They gave a work around, but I had already got one of those, which was better for my purposes! Since that time I have tried ideas, on and off, without success. Just before Christmas our good old IT department did something else that will invalidate their work around, (but not mine!). Coupled with the quiet time of working the last couple of days, when everyone else is still on holiday, I was inspired to try a new line of attack. I started by trying to seek guidance on the mysterious .scf files, one of which, explorer.scf, is used to start Windows Explorer from the Program Menu of most recent Windows versions. This did not hang up so I thought the solution lay here. Where did I go to seek help? Before trying a Google search I thought I would try the august bunch of MVPs. In American sport an MVP is the most valuable player to a team. In the computer world an MVP is a most valued professional and they have their own web site: It consists of a series of links to the pages of various experts. I have used them in the past to successfully research problems with Microsoft Office so I thought it might be useful to try them again. Sure enough, I found the most useful stuff on the web about .scf files here. When I did a Google search later I did not find anything more useful. There seems to be a strange dearth of information on the web concerning these files. In the event, the .scf files were not the solution to my problem, but they did lead me on the path to that which was. On Friday January 3 2003 I had that 'Eureka' moment when I believed I had found the real answer to the 13 month old problem. Namely, calling Explorer using Dynamic Data Exchange, (DDE). DDE is something else that appears to be shrouded in mystery. Microsoft tell you in the resource kits to recent versions of Windows that it is an outdated technology and only there to be compatible with Windows 3.1. If that is the case why do Microsoft use it to kick start the mysterious .scf files! I am now trialling the solution to the Explorer hang up problem and when I have confirmed it works I may well write a detailed feature article on it. In the meantime, if anyone has some information on how to create a file to send a DDE command, without the need for additional software above the Windows OS, I would be interested in hearing from you. My solution uses a rather inelegant way of doing it! Also, if anyone knows how I can find which messages can be sent with DDE, and their syntax, please let me know. A web search revealed some examples, but a complete list would be nice! The start of this little surf in the backwaters of the web started with a snippet of information in the trade paper for the computing industry, Computer Weekly. The British Computer Society were announcing the finalists in their IT awards for this year. One of them was for a project at Hull University. This consists of the Domesday Explorer CD-ROM, which combines images of the entire manuscript of The Domesday Book together with a translation and a search engine. A web reference was given, www.domesdaybook.net. Basically the web reference talks a bit about the project and how to get the CD-ROM. The price, at £350, is not cheap so I think I will give that a miss. I will mention in passing though that the Domesday Book is a classic example of how technology is not the solution to all man's problems. The original book has been around for hundreds of years. When, some years back, the BBC started a project to perform a similar task for modern Britain the result was stored on video disk. Who can read that now! Anyway, to get back to the plot, I went to the web site and had a look around. Very interesting, especially the links page. Lots of useful entries here to investigate. The one that stood out was: www.hastings1066.com/baythumb.shtml This site has 35 images that make up the complete Bayeux Tapestry. They come with translations for the Latin inscriptions to be found on the Tapestry. I've never seen the real tapestry but now, thanks to the web, we can all see it. A few difficulties in my life outside computing have left little time for wandering the web but this week I came across something useful. Finally despairing of the pop ups and Flash produced ads on the news sites I monitor I decided to do some googling. As I use a humble 56K modem and pay as you go Internet access it is beginning to cost me for all these ads I don't read. Anyway, I came across a wonderful piece of software called Proxomitron. This software kills all sorts of unwanted stuff. Unlike most of the software available for this task, what you choose to kill is fully customisable. It provides a script like language to define what to look for and to kill. It is a Windows product and works with all browsers. Installation is to unzip the download to a suitable directory and setup your browser to use a localhost proxy server. The software does NOT add files in the Windows folders and does not write to the registry. Proxomitron can be found at:
Above is the answer to the number puzzle I set before the holiday. In order to solve this puzzle first think about the number 32. There is only 2 square numbers above 32, (36 and 49), so 32 must be flanked by 4 and 17. Applying similar logic to every number above 25 we have: 32 must be flanked by 4 and 17 and because the number 1 is given flanked by 15 and 8 and therefore not next to 24 24 must be flanked by 12 and 25 This means as soon as one of these triplets of numbers appears we can immediately complete 2 more numbers. 10 was given so the next two numbers must be 26 and 23 8 was given so the next two numbers must be 28 and 21 Possible options for the other number next to 21 are 4, 15, 28. 15 and 28 are used elsewhere so it must be 4. Using this sort of logic we can expand the sequence given as far down on each side as possible. You will arrive at a point where there is more than one option on either leg. You will have the sequence of numbers from 23 to 3. Leave it for the moment. Starting from a triplet that you have not already used ( 18, 31, 5) you can do the same thing again, until more than one option exists on each leg. You will have the sequence of numbers from 13 to 22. Compare the options for each set of numbers and you should see there is only one way to combine the two sequences, via the last number 14, to form the circle. If you did not solve the puzzle over the holiday try it again now with the instructions given here. As to the other puzzle? Well the beginning of September sees the start of the American football season. That was the clue. It was Marv Levy who uttered the memorable quote. Marv was head coach of the Buffalo Bills and apparently used the phrase before the start of every match. He certainly needed some inspiring words each time the Bills reached the Superbowl. They came for four consecutive years and got beat every time. How do you raise the spirit after that? Marv was a gent and a great coach. I just cannot see Alex Ferguson reacting the same way if Man United reached 4 consecutive European Cup Finals and lost every one! |
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