BackTrack 4 R2 is released

BackTrack 4 R2 had been out for a week. I heard good news and great review of it. For those who do not know what BackTrack is, basically its THE distro to load when you are doing hacking, penetration test etc using Linux tools such as Metasploit etc.

Its 2GB in size for both favors of ISO or VMWare. VMWare had some shortcoming in Wifi testing obviously...

Grab it:
http://www.backtrack-linux.org/downloads/

義海豪情 (電視劇 "巾幗梟雄之義海豪情" 主題曲) ~ 古巨基

古巨基 - 義海豪情 (電視劇 "巾幗梟雄之義海豪情" 主題曲) 







作曲：鄧智偉／葉肇中
填詞：陳詩慧
編曲：Johnny Yim
監製：鄧智偉

未懼身上被子彈留痕　維護妳我卻甘於捨身
站在風浪下對抗黑暗　而為妳　是毫無疑問

烈火熊熊升起　圍牆徐徐倒地
嗅著漫遍夜空血鏽味
蝴蝶長埋土地　情愫長留於天地
亂世中煙火　摧毀不了傳奇

漫天的炮火混亂地湧起　處身危城可不理
為只要捍衛　驚恐的妳　就是未怕死

*
未懼身上被子彈留痕　維護妳我卻甘於捨身
就讓天下在見證足印　誰為愛活過而無憾
*
漫天的炮火混亂地湧起　染污無瑕的手臂
在這裡抱著　驚恐的妳　就是未怕死

Repeat*
遇著苦難亦堅守同盟　情義不會淡　即使地陷
就讓天下在見證足印　誰為愛活過而無憾

Drive Extender Technology will be gone for newer Microsoft Server OS

And you read right... And we all thought that was what brought WHS to its heights. And *poof* its gone. That includes the upcoming "Vail" aka WHS : The Next Generation.

Read about this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20101125/tc_zd/257392?

Adobe Reader X Finally With a Sandbox But Turn OFF Your Antivirus???

Adobe had tried pretty hard to improve their security image with the new Adobe Reader X (now with kinda sandbox). But take a look at this...

Its a bit small, but the line highlighted in yellows says "You may have to temporarily disable your antivirus software". Suddenly I feel so safe... Don't you? Why would a software like Adobe Reader requires the user to turn off their Antivirus? This is only typical for installation of malwares! 

Ted Bear ~ Cyanide and Happiness

This is a very funny animation from Cyanide and Happiness.


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Manual Update of Flash

As much as Flash is very vulnerable, we probably still needs it around for a while. But that doesn't mean that there is nothing we can do about it. At least, we can update it regularly to ensure we have a updated copy.

However, the update process often fails due to network, firewall, proxies etc And it becomes very frustrating to keep doing it over and over again especially in IE where the download manager is some kind of ActiveX. But there is a easier way, and you wonder why Adobe wants to complicates a simple solution.

Download Flash manually from the following URL and run it for update.
Firefox:
http://fpdownload.adobe.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player.exe

Internet Explore:
http://www.macromedia.com/go/full_flashplayer_win_ie

And if you need for whatever reason, the Uninstaller:
http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flashplayer/current/uninstall_flash_player.exe

Trend Micro Titanium Internet Suite 2011 1 Year Trial

Yes, there exist a 1 year trial by courtesy of some China promotion. Simply grab the file from:

32 and 64 bits:

http://www.fileserve.com/file/VmmZzUT

32 bits only
http://www.fileserve.com/file/VmmZzUT

The catch is that the interface is in Chinese though. If you want interested to change the interface to other languages, do this:

Right click tray icon. Exit (Last option).
Open UIProfile.cfg from\Trend Micro\UniClient\UiFrmwrk\

Patch : Line 75, 85
"ZH-CN" -->  "EN-US"

PSP 5.50 Prometheus 3 v2

This had been released for a while and I had tested it with a PSP Slim. With no new firmware, sticking to 5.50 will means you cannot play many games which requires 6.x firmware. This is where the Prometheus patch comes in. It enable the 5.50 Firmware to run 6.x required games.


Prometheus 3 v2 fixes some bug with the XMB return. Just copy my archive to the root of your PSP memory stick and execute the patch from XMB. You most likely needs a reboot.

Grab it from:
http://www.fileserve.com/file/8EPmXeh

A brief history of XCP and Sony / BMG DRM Rootkit

I found an article which details the whole incident from the start:

http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/20244

That turns out to be a pretty good read and therefore I am recommending you go take a look and understand what the big fuss it was all about and why we should not allow companies like Sony install rootkit on our PC.

Most classic quote:

"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" Sony BMG's Hesse

Format FAT32 on big partition

Ever wanted to format a huge FDD like 500GB in FAT32.. for whatever reason. It is not that it is not supported, but the support gets complicated. Windows introduced FAT32ex, but some device like Playstation 3 for example will not recgonize this.

So, I have found this file from a Japanese site that does the trick. Format any partition as the vanilla favor FAT32. Grab it via:
http://www.fileserve.com/file/uqEVsEx

Yet another Thunderbird and Firefox Update

Within days of the previous updates, the 2 Mozilla applications are now at:

• Thunderbird v3.1.6
• Firefox v3.6.12

I guess we can say this is an excellent example of instant patching or simply a case of bad QA test for patches and need to re-patch. I feel it is likely the second case. But look at the case WHY Firefox is patch...

It is a CRITICAL security issue that allows remote code execution. 

Now, I think many people will understand the reason why I banned Firefox for home use.

Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) Released

The next Ubuntu had been silently released with no big party. Now it is available for download via:

http://se.releases.ubuntu.com//10.10/

There are many favors available as usual, but do not forget to download the Alternative version if you need to upgrade from an older version of Ubuntu.

Firefox and Thunderbird Update

There is yet another update from Firefox and Thunderbird silently being released. I did not get a update prompt on both the applications. That bring their versions up to :

• Thunderbird 3.1.5
• Firefox 3.6.11

Honestly, I had lost faith in these applications. I had already made decision to ban them from my home network because of security issues. It is just not sustainable to keep manually updating them and the windows between release and actual updating can be quite large because now I do not even get a proper prompt to update. The only worries will be having Firefox on the server... That is a real issue because I do not think people will wake up middle of the night to upgrade your server... So that gives at least 12 hours or so. 

Why can't Firefox just do a force upgrade like Chrome?

PS3 JAilbreak won't last unless 3.50 is broken

We all know that PS3 had been jailbroken, giving it access to run 3rd party applications and, of course, bootleg games. However, Sony had now mandated that all games release after 1 Oct 2010 to only use firmware above 3.50. What this means is that if you stick to the 3.41 JB firmware, you simply can't play all the new games.

The way I see it, 3.50 may patch the bug, but hackers can probably work towards restoring the bug back into a custom 3.50 firmware. Something along the Wii Trucha Bug restorer. We all know that the 3.50 firmware can be download and there is already a firmware uploader, although there is no custom firmware. What is required to break the PS3 is a custom firmware. I can only wish there are people like DA working on the PS3.

And lastly, even though if JB is to work, I seriously do not see piracy as a big issue. Imagine downloading 50GB for 1 game. I wont mind spending the $80 to buy it, finish it within a week, then sell if off at $60. The size for a Bluray game simply does not meet the quota for PS3 games to be pirated widely. Moreover, just imagine the face on the downloader if the 50GB actually did not work. I am sure Sony will LTFOL.

But I do support the JB. Simply because it opens up the full potential of the PS3. Imagine applications like Instant Messagers, BT Clients, EBooks Readers or even sims like Hobo. All these CAN be possible only if PS3 is jailbroken because nobody will buy and I don't think Sony will license such applications.

All I can see, go for it. Break 3.50 and make my day.

匿名遊戲 / Short Film "INTOXICANT" (ENG sub)

This is a short film about hacking, BBS etc... Probably meaningless to other people who do not know what is going on...

Saving Private Hard Disk

Today I am going to talk about something which gives us nightmares. Yes, even with the most sophisticated preparation, it is still bound to happen sooner or later - Hard Disk Failure. Let start this a few weeks back. While slipstreaming a XP Disc, I found that my hard disk was particularly slow. In fact, it even stalled at some point. I know I had a WD Green HDD which is not really state of the art in terms of speed, but I should not be expecting the HDD to stall anyway.

So, I check my SMART statistic via my Hard Disk Sentinel. While this program doesn't fix anything, it does tell you what happened on your HDD on the hardware level. In this case, I see a huge number of bad clusters detected and there had been a lot of relocation as a results. This is a good tell tale sign the HDD is going to fail or at least you will lose data if you do nothing about it.

If you are interested in getting Hard Disk Sentinel, it can be purchased here:
http://www.hdsentinel.com/

Now, I am going to talk about 2 tools which I have in mind. They are :

1. Spinrite 6 ( http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm )
2. HDD Regenerator 1.7.1 ( http://www.dposoft.net/ )

Spinrit 6 is the latest version, but for HDD Regenerator, there is a 2011 version which actually works in Windows. Since I did not have that, I have to fall back to the good old DOS version 1.7.1. The main differences for these programs are as follows:

1. Spinrite can process ONLY your data area and leave those empty spaces alone. This is good enough if you want to recover the data and go RMA / Exchange the HDD.
2. HDD Regenerator processes ALL of the HDD area including empty spaces. This is good if you plan to KEEP the HDD since checking the empty space will preempt any possible failure in the future in those area.

I prepared for the worst and go for option 2 anyway although it took much much more time. Also considering that HDD Regenerator saved my ass once in:

http://nemesisv.blogspot.com/2006/12/hd-regenerator-vs-spinrite.html

HDD Regenrator will take a considerable time, but here is where paying for a Raptor pays out. The RAW speed of your HDD is what counts here. It is also rare that HDD Regenrator cannot read out and relocated the data unless the HDD is really gone BAD in a very bad way. In which case, you should savage whatever you have and RMA the HDD. 

Needless to say, the HDD was saved, and the bad cluster counted also return to normal as checked in SMART. It could be just magnetic retention problem. But I guess I was lucky. But in this case, maybe using Spinrite would had saved me some time. 

I would know many readers will think that it is really expensive considering they cost about USD$80-100 raw. And I also know that there are many so called "cracked" editions of these software floating around. You know that I do not encourage piracy and I won't here. Think about this. It is your data which matters. Will you trust a "cracked" version of the program which may have a chance that it is damaged or even worsed trojanized. Instead of saving your data, it can corrupts it or send it out somewhere. I think I will not take the risk even if it is slim. When it comes to data, I will deem it as priceless, so USD$100 is nothing compared to it. Well, if you really want to be cheap about it, you can share it with a friend or even better, buy a different one each so that you can compare. 

These tools are life saver when shit happens. And all we can hope is that day does come (too often).

Custom Firmware 5.50 Prometheus-2 for PSP-2000 and PSP-1000

If you had been following my PSP update, it is finally time to put in a new firmware to support those games that requires 6.30+  firmware. In any case, you will need to have 5.50 Gen-D3 in order to upgrade to this firmware.

You scan grab 5.50 Gen-D3 from here:
http://nemesisv.blogspot.com/2010/01/psp-firmware-550-gen-d3-final.html

Grab 5.50 Prometheus 2 upgrade here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?f4oy2dn4vq4vc

Skyfire 1.x Sucks, but so does 2.x

Skyfire is a browser. See the site above, there is 2 things to note. Officially,
http://www.skyfire.com/focus-geography-and-skyfire-1-0/

1. Skyfire 1.x does not run on other regions except north USA and western Europe, which about leaves the whole world out...
2. Skyfire 2.x is only for Android.

This almost sound like a conspiracy. Suppose Google sponsored this and wants to force everyone into using Android, this certainly fits the bill. While Skyfire has its glorious days, I think with this move, it will begin its path into the history just like Netscape... By forcing people into a certain OS is definitely the way to do this. That leaves out the Symbian, windows mobile and AppleOS users, which I dare say takes the majority of the market.

Anyway, I was at first keen to look out for a way to hack out of this using 1.x on my wm6.5, but why not just let it go... After all, there are plenty of choices for the wm6.5 users from IE, Opera to the infamous porn browsers. Skyfire is a good to have, but not dying to have. 

And why doesn't Skyfire support area such as china, japan or eastern Europe? It sound like a lazy way to say "Sorry, English only". If they leave these region out, they can heck away with the language support. This does sound logical?

BTW, if you are on Android, do you really want to use Skyfire? 

USB Loader GX Black Screen on All Games

I had recently did my first virgin softmod on Wii. I might blog about that in details later, but one thing I came across which I think is worth sharing is the problem of black screen on loading games from HDD using USB Loader GX.

I had checked many forums and also nothing really work. But I managed to solve it. So here it is. Before you go further, ensure the following:

1. Your Wii is properly softmodded. All steps works according to whichever guide you followed.
2. Your HDD is using WBFS file system.

I know many will disagree with point 2. But that exactly what happened to me. I was told NTFS works. So I copied a few games onto my NTFS drive using Wii Manager. Black screen. What I eventually did was to format it as WBFS. Load games using the WBFS Manager 3.01. Tada! Works like a charm.

I hope this is useful for you.

A Dangerous Bus Ride

I notice this will never occurs to anyone when they step up the bus: This could very well be your last ride!
Well, I am not trapped on the Philippines bus, but it was a close call anyway. This was what happened:

I was on a typical bus ride on 5xx which passes through many freeway to reach my destination. It was suppose to be a fast ride since its the bus usually travels quickly on the freeway. However, I failed to realized this because I was reading. The bus was, in fact, travelling quite slowly and was doing zig-zag movement like a snake. I suddenly realized this and I took a look at the driver through the back-view mirror. It was a sight of horror! The lady driver's eyes was a thin slit of white. I could even see her purple! It was as if she was a zombie who just step out of some horror movie!

Now, we all know what actually happens. Hot afternoon. Cool air conditioning. Riding fast on the freeway. Its a good time to doze off. And that's precisely what I thought I saw. My mind raced quickly. OK, I grab my phone and SMS J. I was just worried that this will be my last SMS, so I better make it count. After the SMS, and realized I am still alive. I move myself to the "safest" seat I could get to, just in case of a crash. I do not want to be near the side windows or being throw out of the bus.

Now its time to act. I could wake up the driver and give her a good scolding, but knowing how people in this city acts, I pretty much am sure that she will deny everything. Of course, I also did not want to wait until the buss crash and maybe flip a few turns to prove her wrong. I look around to see if there was anyone else who might help me. No luck. Opposite me was a mother and his son sleeping on her lap. And behind us, almost everyone else was asleep. So, I guess its me. If I did not have to risk walking to the bus driver, which if an accident does occurs before I reach her, I am sure my fatality rates shoots up be a few hundred percent.

The buzzer. That could work. Even when I look stupid to press the bell on the highway (And I did not want to alight anyway). Actually this was quite a good idea. But instead, I thought of a better one. I just flip my phone out and blasted it with some MP3. That should be enough to wake her up. Of course, I do realized that I cannot do it so suddenly that it give her a shock and swing the bus 180 degree around.

In any case, I was lucky. She regain control and exited the bus from the freeway. Because it will be all slow and traffic lights, she had to kinda wake up. I sweat I almost felt as if I survived a plane crash or something. The rest of it is nothing special. But I just wonder how many people actually realized how close they were to the final gate in that journey. But I remind myself that I should watch the driver before I decide to sleep on these journey.