Category: Devices

  • XBox Live via an OpenWRT router

    One of the concerning requests of Xbox Live connectivity, is to enable UPnP or ‘Universal Plug and Play’ on your home router. The UPnP protocol has a long standing history of security problems, not the least of which being that it allows unauthenticated devices to connect to and through your home network. In the past, […]

  • UPnP – Why I don’t allow it on my Home Network

    The UPnP protocol has a long standing history of security problems, not the least of which being that it allows unauthenticated devices to connect to and through your home network. TLDR; UPnP is a flawed protocol which has been leveraged numerous times to conduct widespread attacks via large numbers of insecure devices. Do not enable […]

  • When USB goes bad…

    So, I decided to give running a linux distro *solely* from a USB 3.0 flash drive… the install itself was fairly simple and painless, the pain only started on the reboot. The drive failed, and I was dropped to the rather unfriendly >initfs prompt. I tried a few things, from fixing the failed superblocks dumpe2fs […]

  • Technology and Recreation – a recipie for AWESOME

    For gadget geeks like myself, there’s always been an opportunity to mix technology with what we do when AFK (away from keyboard). My first heart monitor watch *had* to be imported because no one in this country was selling the IR receiver (connecting through a DB9 (serial) cable no less.. for the more normal, serial […]

  • ASUS Garmin A10

    I got one of these phones when they first came out – they were pretty awesome back then, however over time they have been orphaned on older, vulnerable iterations of Android and they simply don’t have what it takes to be a primary device any longer. Because of this – I’m currently looking to root the phone and install upon it a modified ROM which will give me *just* what I need to turn this into a useful device for sitting in the car.

  • The sky is NOT falling (is it?)

    The Summary Version: The impending Android Malware Apocalypse is overrated, over-hyped and overused to sell more apps and extend control onto mobile devices. That said, it is a perception widely pushed by the media who copy and paste vendor news releases thus the public are beginning to accept the threat as being real. My opinion […]

  • NetHui 2011 – Day 1: Digital Citizenship – 21st Century Parenting

    21st Century Parenting – Challenges and Solutions Lee Chisholm, Operations manager, NetSafe This was an obvious choice as a session for me to attend, and it opened with an attention grabbing quote… “Three times as many smart phones every minute are activated than there are babies being born” – Hans Vestberg, CEO of Ericsson This […]

  • Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty) + WiFi working on EEE

    When Ubuntu 11.04 released, things went backwards for the EEE. If the wireless adapter was enabled, Natty would hang soon after login – it turns out this was due to a kernel issue similar to that experienced in its predecessor. But, as per many things in the open software world, the community has come up […]

  • Skype Beta 2.2.0.25 for Linux – Webcam WORKING!

    Ugh – finally, after much backward and forward (even to the point I dragged out a Windows laptop) I’ve tracked down the issue which was stopping my embedded webcams (which otherwise works in all other applications) from working with the latest beta of Skype for Linux. The solution is this (thanks Ubuntu Forums): for 32-bit […]

  • Getting an XT USB Modem working in Ubuntu

    Given that I’m rocking Ubuntu 10.04 on my beloved ASUS EEE 1005PE, I had a need to be able to use my Telecom XT T-Stick (a.k.a. ‘ZTE Corporation MF636 HSUPA USB Modem’) via Ubuntu. The issue with these particular devices is that they respond to the system by default as a CD drive or USB […]