Live Messenger 2011 Error - wlsetup is not a valid win32 application

It is such a weird error message I bet you will not guess what caused it... This error only occurs when you run the Live Messenger 2011 installer in Windows XP and below.

Well, the reason is Live Messenger 2011 is ONLY for Vista and above. Why can't they just put a message indicating so instead of such a cryptic message?

Onee loves his food

Onee loves his food. Especially the full of protein diet which consist of meat and milk.

Onee and his pinky straw hat

Onee likes to play with the paper straws I gave him. Here was once he somehow got it onto his head and it look like a straw hat.

Why AVG Internet Security 2011 is so strong

I suddenly realized AVG IS 2011 had been detecting quite a fair bit of the malware accurately recently... Little did I know why, until I had a look at:
http://www.avg.com/us-en/internet-security

It turns out that AVG IS 2011 is actually leveraging on the cloud to perform the scanning. No wonder it had been improved greatly. So the question remain is : Is Cloud Scanning the way to go?

In a not so long ago conference, I got a presentation from representatives of Symantec to present on their Cloud technology which is essentially based on ranking more or less. Was it really effective? I did not test it out because to me, Norton class of AV is basically bloated-ware and the Symantec Class is too expensive to even try (ya, I recall you need to pay for the 90 day trial as well, which is crap). More on Symantec:
http://www.symantec.com/business/endpoint-protection-cloud

So you think more and more of the AV should move to the cloud?

Xmas Getaway Day 1

This post had been delayed and delayed, so I decided that I should finished it once and for all. That's the trouble with not having a laptop or mobile device to document the events on the spot...

Anyway, it as 23 Dec 2010. Xmas Eve. We choose Xmas Eve because that's Silent Night after all. There was a small hiccups because I made a mistake when I booked the tickets regarding the time in AM and PM. The original ticket was for the night bus. Fortunately, it was found out early and we managed to fix it with a little additional money. But the boarding location had been changed and so we had to really rush. We were right on time and managed to clear everything night and easy. Ok, except the overhead bridge. Damn it is really challenging to carry the luggage over one.

The bus trip was straight forward and we had the usual lousy TV with the pirated movie. It was showing Apocalytica I think. In any case, it would had been a bad movie even if it was on Bluray. We stopped at the usual bus rest place and we tried to cut down buying anything there because we know how much cheaper it will be when we go to ChinaTown later. But I also remember the lesson that we didn't have food and were damn hungry last year, so I bought something to munch on just in case. Fortunately this year, we did not have to go through that.

After we changed our tickets, we should be stopping at the Palace of the Golden Horses. However, the bus actually went all the way in to KL and made a stop nearby our hotel. I thought that was the perfect time to get off. It saved us some time and money to get back into the city from the Palace. But once again I had missed the chance to go to the Palace because I had always wanted to. Since the days of its glory, until its decadents today.

We arrived at our Hotel and were told that our room will not be read yet, so we had to drop our luggage and grab some food instead. We went to a vegetarian store across the road last year and it was good. I wondered if it will still be there. Surely, when we approached it, we notice the same old stores and owners. I am almost happy in a way. Miss the cheap and good food. We ordered something simple and good. Fried Rice and Ice Milo.

It was really cheap and I can't help myself telling the shop owner that we actually came back from Singapore all the way just to taste his food. He told us he also serve night dishes for dinner. I thought I might drop by one night to try it out, but alas, I did not manage to find a dinner slot this trip.

After lunch, we passed by the 7-11 like store which was there last year too. I bought some basic stuff such as the shaver (which was a mistake since I actually brought my electric shaver and I forgot) and herbal tea. The herbal tea was something rather unique which we dun see around much. The herbal tea are actually small packets of actual herbs which you can put with hot water and drink. No fake stuff. All real ingredients. Here is a photo of it:

Because of this, we had a great time eating all the hot stuff and did not suffer any heatiness this trip. 

We went back to the hotel and we were still unable to check in. Well, I am really going to give a Negative for Swiss Garden this time. They offered us a welcome drink, which was essentially a small glass of orange juice. We finished it and start looking around in the lobby. I noticed that the cake shop was still around. We did not managed to buy any cake last time, maybe we would this time. But unfortunately, we missed all the timing for the discount cakes for the next 3 days. But here is one which I thought looked a little bit like Angry Bird, the Red color one anyway...

Anyway, our room eventually was ready and we went up for a rest, unpack and plan. Of course, before we forgotten, we booked the free shuttle to China town for the night as well. 

Now, that was Silent Night. And of course, who would miss a Xmas Party / Dinner. Strangely when I arrived, I found that there were already reservation for the both of us. I thought that was rather strange. And it turns out that it was actually a mistake which the staff made. It was made by someone else, but its not like its free either. We were one of the first to reach (because we wanted to go to ChinaTown) and we were surprised by the stuff on the table.

There were party hats and other fun stuff in the boxes. We were almost glad we "made" the reservation (which of course we din't). Anyway, we started to dig in. Now Swiss Garden is really famous for their pasties. There were so many of them at the buffet. Here are some of them:

And of course, how can we miss out the Turkey!

We had a fun and full meal and we proceed to ChinaTown to basically buy some cheap stuff, enjoy the view and made a short trip to the book store (and bought nothing). We were dead tired by the time all that is over because we had a long day getting there... So it was a good and sound sleep on the first night.

(To be Continued...)

Microsoft to patch 22 bugs, 3 zero-days today!

Yes, Microsoft will be doing some major patching. And 3 of them are 0days!
Be prepared to grab and reboot your systems tonight.
Read more on:
Microsoft to patch 22 bugs, 3 zero-days next week

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9208038/Microsoft_to_patch_22_bugs_3_zero_days_next_week?taxonomyId=17

Last Block of IPv4 Allocated

Yes, just had just been allocated... As predicted from a previous post.
Read more from:
http://isc.sans.edu/diary.html?storyid=10342

BullGuard 10 Released

The Internet Security Suite based on BitDefender Engine had been upgraded to v10.
Here are the improvements list:
www.bullguard.com/why/bullguard-internet-security.aspx

The most significant change is the addition of a new module : Inspector. Basically this is a vulnerability check (based on version) for applications installed on the system. If there are vulnerabilities found with these application, it will be flag and you will be informed to make a upgrade. While it doesn't seems much, it is a good addition, without additional cost.

Malware Stats Screensaver

I am going to introduce 2 pretty cool screensavers you can install to display updated stats of malware around the global.These are NOT AV scanners and does not provide any form of protection. It just act as a stats board and make your dull boring corp PC looks cool.

The first is from Kaspersky. It is call Irida. There is not much information on it, except than being linked from a blog post:
http://www.securelist.com/en/blog/370/The_smart_screensaver

The look and feel is fantastic, but I find it just very confusing as well, like in a SyFy movie. However, it look damn cool.

You can download it via:
http://irida.kasperskyclub.com/scr.zip

Next, there is one from Symantec. Full details here:
http://go.symantec.com/screensaver

This provide a rather more static view. Less 3D but more scrolling text. However, I find the purple a bit gay, so I went for the Kaspersky one instead.

You can download the PC version from:
http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/downloads/win_symantec_threat_monitor_setup.zip
and the Mac version from:
http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/downloads/mac_symantec_threat_monitor_setup.zip

The first virus Brain is now 25 years old!

Remember the good old days...
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002087.html

IPv4 may be fully exhausted on 11 Feb 2011...

According to this calculation anyway...
http://www.potaroo.net/tools/ipv4/index.html

Better grab it while you can... I see 2% IANA left, I bet you its less when you see it now.

THC Hydra 6.0 Released

http://freeworld.thc.org/thc-hydra/


CHANGELOG for 6.0 (development and new features)
================================================

• Added GPL exception clause to license to allow linking to OpenSSL - debian people need this
• IPv6 support finally added. Note: sip and socks5 modules do not support IPv6 yet
• Bugfix for SIP module, thanks to yori(at)counterhackchallenges(dot)com
• Compile fixes for systems without OpenSSL or old OpenSSL installations
• Eliminated compile time warnings
• xhydra updates to support the new features (david@)
• Added CRAM-MD5, DIGEST-MD5 auth mechanism to the smtp-auth module (david@)
• Added LOGIN, PLAIN, CRAM-(MD5,SHA1,SHA256) and DIGEST-MD5 auth mechanisms to the imap and pop3 modules (david@)
• Added APOP auth to POP3 module (david@)
• Added NTLM and DIGEST-MD5 to http-auth module and DIGEST-MD5 to http-proxy module (david@)
• Fixed VNC module for None and VLC auth (david@)
• Fixes for LDAP module (david@)
• Bugfix Telnet module linemode option negotiation using win7 (david@)
• Bugfix SSH module when max auth connection is reached (david@)

Geohot release PS3 Test Homebrew

From : http://geohot.com/
There is a sample homebrew created as a real signed SELF.

Download the SELF :
http://www.fileserve.com/file/4QTEugw

PS3 Tools from fail0verflow

Team fail0verflow release some tools for packing / unpacking PUP and PKG files. It also enable you to sign / unsign SELF which is essential what people are using to patch Grand Turismo 5 etc. You can download a copy of the tools from my mirror below:


Linux : http://www.fileserve.com/file/mkRkupZ
Windows : http://www.fileserve.com/file/F98bEaA


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Which OS Poll Results

I had been running this for quite a while and this is the final result before I put it offline:

10 Ways to (Get Hacked By) Getting the Most Out of Technology

Reference:
10 Ways to Get the Most Out of Technology
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/technology/personaltech/30basics.html?_r=1

This is my first angry post of the year. The above article is probably the most retarded advice someone (who claim he is technical) can give (to someone who probably know nothing much about technology). People can hacked everyday, you know why? Because they listen to dumb advice like these!

Ok, maybe I am being a bit extreme since the article said nothing about security... It is PURELY just do it (and I do not care if you get hacked). So. let me explain to you WTF is wrong with the article.

GET A SMARTPHONE
Yes, it is almost like a fucking invitation to get hacked. Mobile hacking usually relies on technology too. Phone that cannot run applications has lower risk. Phone that doesn't even have bluetooth cannot received files from other people. And this article is telling people who is probably not too highly technical judging from the tone. Highly technical people probably already know what they are doing with a smartphone. Let me introduce you to Mobile Spy:
http://www.mobile-spy.com/
This is a commercial spyware that can be use to trace SMS logs, GPS location, call details whatever. And it works on all smartphones. Yeah. Now we know why mobile phone (amateur) porn is on the rise.


STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER
Yes, wise ass. It is still ok when they ask people to switch to Google, which has issue with privacy since it tracks you, but thats another (long) story altogether. But guess what? They have to introduce FireFox to replace IE. Now, tell me how many high or critical vulnerabilities were fixed in 2010? You don't know. Neither do I cos I had lose count. There are tons each update. In my opinion, Firefox has lost is somewhere although they started off trying to make security right. Now, they are just another poorly written open source cheese for the taking. Ok, this may be personal, but at least IE bugs get fixed.


UPLOAD PHOTOS TO THE CLOUD
Yes, and get it circulated around. Once anything goes onto the cloud, it is out of your control. And you wonder how leaked (nude) photos works. While it is good to have it off site, just randomly choosing a cloud provider and post all your personal photos there is one fucking way to invite trouble. For a start, there may be fine prints that clearly indicate that any photo uploaded is copyright by the provider (and no longer yours). This was and probably still is the case with Facebook. So if they choose to use your half naked holiday photo to be the cover for PlayGirl, don't come crying at your lawyer. Consider using a local HDD to backup and pass it to your parents. The old fashion way is probably better unless your folks has the habit of showing off your photos to their neighbors etc.


GET MUSIC OFF YOUR COMPUTER
Similar issue as above. And to make it 1000% more fucking retarded, they choose to use Apple as the example. Just WTF is wrong with them? Doesn't they know what Apple is one of the most selfish device even invented? You CANNOT copy files off your iPod / iPhone because they are broken into chunks and stored in a real confusing way due to something they call DRM. The main purpose is to prevent you from playing and copying the music out? What is the talk about freeing the imprisoned music? Go get yourself a fucking made-in-(South)Korea player that is too cheap to support DRM and we are talking freedom then. Oh yes, don't forget they even ask you to install a REMOTE APP to control you Apple device! Yeah, save me the fucking trouble to install a rootkit on your Apple! 


BACK UP YOUR DATA
Oh, this type of advice could never go wrong. Unless they advice you to backup your data with another 3rd party online in the cloud again. Not only is the whole procedure dangerous (especially if its not using HTTPS since its slow and most provider just can't fucking afford a SSL cert). If a hacker is able to tap into any part of the network in between the backup server and the user, its like doing a fucking backup straight to the hacker's hard disk. Now isn't that cool (for the hacker)? Again, I am not slamming online backup, but do ensure it is a trusted one and they take the business of protecting your data seriously. The recommended sosbackup.com (FREE) uses the most fucking safe way to do your backup possible. Wait, let me quote this:
"Backup through FTP (File Transfer Protocol)"
http://sosbackup.com/sos-free.asp
and yes, this too:
"Control by e-mail"
Even my grandma can hack this (if she is still alive anyway).


GET FREE ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
Normally, this is so awesome. FREE Antivirus software. And for once, the recommended one is not as bad. Avast. Well, at least they did not try to sell Rising (China AV company that also created spyware - No, I did not typo. Its SPYWARE, not ANTI-SPYWARE) which had a good headlines:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=288773
But again, if the article is used to educate not so technical people, at least give them good warning that almost 90% of the so call FREE Antivirus are truly Viruses themselves. Ya, that includes all the Super Antivirus 2011, Total Win 7 Security, PC-Clean Pro and whatever fuck they can come up with. See this list for a good start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rogue_security_software
Although I do not work for Microsoft, I will add that I would recommend Windows Security Essential as well:
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/


SET UP A FILE-SHARING SERVICE
Again, online security and privacy cannot be stressed. Most of the leaked information come from some sort of share service. Its online 24x7 and can be accessed anywhere in the world with the right credentials. So can the hacker once he managed to guess your password, which I know is usually sent by email at some point of time and is likely the same password for your Yahoo or Google account etc. Application errors and faults also often gives you access to other people's data sometimes, intentionally or not. I remembered I used to have a link to (open) my ex-college's Lotus emails due to a gitch. No, don't email me and ask me how I did it. I won't tell.


GET A BETTER DEAL FROM YOUR CABLE, PHONE AND NET PROVIDER
OK, I do not even want to debate on this one. Maybe they got this one right. But always bare in mind that usually they over promise. And be careful of what they give you, especially free service for a limited amount of trial period. Forget to cancel it and you pay for more than you asked for.


CALIBRATE YOUR HDTV
Yes, its probably a good idea. But seriously, do you need to even to mention this? Who doesn't tune their TV when they first got it? And calibrating it is never a right or wrong, it all depends on what you like.


BUY A LOT OF CHARGING CABLES
Yes, this is probably a good idea, until they suggest you get some cheap oem ones. These are one way tickets to burn down the house, especially if you decided to charge stuff over night when you sleep. Charging heats up the cables and put it to stress test. If they are of poor quality, they may melt and catch fire.  Well, maybe you can afford to leave these in office and use it in day time. Always get good reliable cables when you are doing it in the night. 


Well, it feels a lot better to get that off my mind. The above article had been published in so many places that I am sure misleads quite a big bunch. Sorry if I had to slam some providers here, but face it, if you are not up to it, then you are not. 


Last piece of advice, DO NOT TRUST EVERYTHING you read from the internet. Yes, maybe not even this article I wrote because I wrote it and food to me may fucking be poison to others. Thats especially true when it comes to Browsers etc. I hate Firefox, but you don't need to (but you can).

PS3 MD5 PSHasher v0.1

Features: 

1. Show you the MD5 of the .pup file you chose. 
2. Show you which firmware is in the .pup file. 
3. Tell you if the firmware is Jailbreakable or downgradeable. 
4. Built-in updater. 

http://www.fileserve.com/file/UXms5q5

PS3 Device ID Key Generator

We all know that the PS3 is now broken into and the Master is know. Here is a small program which uses the Master Key and with a given Device ID (0x????), will generator the Device ID Key.

This is the linux version, so just untar zxvf to extract and run the ELF binary.
http://www.fileserve.com/file/E7Ek2nK

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Uninstall Apple Crapware

At some point of time, I must be mad to install that Apple iTunes which is 300MB... Then I decided to remove it. And the crap it left haunts me till today. Every so and then, Apply Software Update still pops up, trying to connect to the Internet which my firewall had blocked. Why is there still Apple Update when Quicktime, iTunes and all other crap from Apple had been removed? Are they sending some information to Apple or downloading some adware to my PC. Its up to your imagination. To me, it is a total nuisance.

It does not pops up all the time shows that it is a scheduled task. Opening Scheduler will reveal a whole tab for Apple. Well, its simple enough to disable it here. But for my case, I want it out and clean from my PC. So, you should go look at the Program Features and locate the 2 Apple crapware. Use the search with "Apple" and you will find it. One of them is the Apple Software Update obviously and other Apple Support . Both should go to trash immediate (without passing recycled bin or collecting $100). 

Some more unfortunate people I heard had problem removing them because the uninstallation of Apple iTunes or Quicktime had screwed up and left the installation in a unclean state. In that case, we can always try Microsoft Windows Installer Cleanup at:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

You should double check on your Scheduler to see if the Apple task had been removed. 

Autocomplete in Windows 7

It is sometimes so often that we forgotten the good stuff in Windows 7. UNTIL some other application decided to cripple it. Among those are the antivirus and the privacy tools. One of the very useful feature, well at least for a home PC, is the autocomplete. It certainly save time and typing to locate files and avoid typos.

Recently, I had one of my machine locked down to the state that this feature is actually gone. You won't miss it until you no longer have it. So poking around, I found a solution to re-enable it.

Simply open regedit (UAC prompt) and do this:

1. Goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > AutoComplete
2. On the right, you will see 2 obvious options. But here is the explanation anyway...

• Append Completion set to “yes” will automatically append or complete the file name as you type, if there is a file that match.
• AutoSuggest set to “yes” will automatically suggest a list of files in the folder that match what you had typed so far in Save As Dialog box.

Simple enable one or both of the option to turn Autocomplete back on.