Technology

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to take digital security and privacy more seriously. I can now check that one off the list as completed. Why the resolution in the first place? Where to begin…

I don’t think I’m all that different from the vast majority of people in the world and as such, I probably make most of the same mistakes. For instance, I have used the same password for four or five years straight now at all sorts of online websites and for all sorts of functions. If only one of those sites were ever compromised or even if only one of those sites’ administrators took advantage of the user credentials in their possession, I could be in a world of hurt. From bank accounts to brokerage accounts to retirement accounts, my financial life could be devastated.

I also keep a lot of financial and credential information in a text file on my various machines – one copy on my work laptop and another on the server on my home network. This file exists as a master record of most of my user names and passwords for financial sites, social security numbers, banking, routing, and credit card numbers, etc. I started it years ago to keep track of passwords and information in case I ever came down with the momentary symptoms of Alzheimer’s, but mostly it’s useful for when I want to purchase something online but don’t have my credit card handy. Just open the file and there’s my information. Anyone who has been on my home network or work laptop has had complete access to this – they just didn’t realize it.

Lastly, I’ve noticed some issues with the security on the home network over the past few years. Knowing that encrypting wireless network signals demand overhead bandwidth and thus lowers actual throughput, I opted to use only MAC address filtering: permitting only those computers I knew and trusted. Strange thing is, the Wii worked and could access the internet long before I added its MAC address and others have brought over laptops that have exhibited the same behavior. I can’t figure out why this happens with my router but in reading up on it, I learned that MAC spoofing is easy enough for a toddler to do these days so my network really isn’t secure at all. Most likely that’s why there are frequently several computers on my network for which I can’t account.

Combine all this together and you have the potential for a wardriving crook to drive by my home, jump on my wireless network, access the shared files on my server, grab all my financial information and passwords, then use that information to drain all of my accounts – all while using my freely available internet connection. Talk about rolling out the proverbial red carpet for the would be cyber criminal.

So this evening I did my homework and made some changes. I’ve adopted a new password and while I plan to use the new password at all of my current websites, at least it’s a different password than what dozens of forums and other one-time use websites have stored for me. Sure, I could adopt a unique, computer-generated password for each site I visit, but I’m not yet that paranoid. I’d like to be able to remember my password and not have to look them up for each site I visit frequently.

I also downloaded Steganos LockNote to replace my text file of important information. LockNote is a neat little self-contained program that acts as an encrypted (AES 256-bit), password-protected text file. Not only does the would be viewer need a password to access the file, the contents are encrypted with one of the highest cryptographic ciphers currently known. AES 256-bit is the only algorithm approved by the United States government (including the NSA) for use on Top Secret documents. My LockNote file is so secure, I could post it publicly on the internet and boast about it containing access to millions of dollars that are up for grabs. At the earliest, someone might crack it in 75 million years (but inflation will have effectively reduced the prize to $0 by that point). Needless to say, it’s secure.

Lastly, I tightened down the home network by removing MAC filtering and enabling WPA2. WPA2 is currently the highest grade security protocol that exists for wireless connections. Without my pre-shared key, access to the network could only be obtained through a brute force attack (in this case taking somewhere in the neighborhood of two million years). If I’m still in the neighborhood at that time, they can have access.

Found this while surfing the web today:

My wife has mentioned getting rechargeable batteries for our wii remotes at an increasing frequency lately so I, being into technology and getting things done, decided to look into it further today over lunch. I already knew that I didn’t want the wii charging station that I’ve seen and heard good things about. While I’m sure it works well, I don’t want another device sitting in the home theater stand that requires us to dock the wii remotes when not in use. Ours spend a fair amount of time in the guitar hero controllers and it would be a pain to remove them every couple of days to top off the batteries.

After some extensive research into batteries and the various types out there, I realized that NiHM is the best way to go as LiIon are not available in AA sizes generally and all other battery types are older. The biggest downside to NiHM batteries is that they have a high self discharge rate – meaning that left alone, they lose their charge quickly. Some sources said loses of 10% a day weren’t uncommon. Hmm.. that won’t work well for devices like wii remotes where they are used seldomly and a battery (at least the alkalines we currently use) can last months. Then I happened upon a newer version of NiHM that some manufacturers are producing that have a very low self discharge rate, on the order of 10% a year. The downside is a slightly limited capacity. Existing NiHM batteries typically have a 2500 mAh versus these newer ones that have 2000 mAh. That seems a fair trade-off though given the purpose of these batteries.

I should mention too that I also didn’t want to go with the wii charging station because it’s proprietary.. meaning that we’re only going rechargeable for the wii remotes and don’t have the ability to do so with ANY AA or AAA device we use. I’m also betting that the batteries in the wii charging station are the older type of NiHM, which is why (like portable phones and other household rechargeables) they should be docked when not in use – to keep the charge levels up due to self discharge otherwise.

So to wrap this up, I went with the Vanson V-6988, a 10 cell charger for AA or AAA batteries. It’s a slow charger which seems to do less recharge damage to the batteries than a fast charger but given the 10 cell capacity, charging overnight is not an issue. You can check it out here: http://www.greenbatteries.com/10celanimbat.html. I also picked up 16 Duracell ULSD (ultra low self discharge) AA batteries. Looking forward to having this setup last for quite a long while.

I flew on one of the Steelcase corporate jets today and absolutely loved the experience – no lines, no waiting, no customs, and a spacious interior are some of the perks of flying corporate versus commercial. The plane is a Falcon 900EX and doing a little research on them, I found a neat video included below.

Not a bad plane for twenty-five to thirty million!

I decided to gamble on using the new automatic upgrade feature of WordPress to go from 2.7 to version 2.8 released today. Looks like it took out part of the style of the blog. I’ll try to fix this weekend. For those of you reading in an RSS reader… ignore this post. :)

So I totally gave up waiting on MSI to release their Wind 100 Plus, 110 Eco, or 115 Hybrid. I really wanted one of those machines because they feature the new Intel Atom N280 processor and are very battery friendly. In doing a little research last week, I happened upon the Asus Eee PC 1000HE which had just been released a little over a month ago. To my surprise, this model had everything on it the upcoming Winds will have.. so why wait? I went ahead and ordered one and so did my wife.

Mine arrived last night and I spent several hours after class playing with it and setting it up. I’m very impressed thus far… it’s zippy and very friendly to use. Here are a few points worth mentioning:

1. The LED screen is awesome! I had heard that LED backlit LCD panels were not ready for prime time yet but this seems to defy that stereotype. Not only is it crystal clear, evenly lit, and very colorful.. it’s also very bright. So bright in fact that I run it about 1/5 full brightness. While being easier on my eyes, it also saves on battery usage.

2. Fn keys are very nicely integrated. Each of the Fn keys provides on-screen pop ups that let you know what you are changing and what mode the laptop is in. There are buttons for sleep, wireless and Bluetooth, screen brightness, touchpad enabled, led backlight off, task manager, hybrid power mode, and a bunch others that I’m leaving out. Each is easy to use and I’m glad there are easy shortcuts to each.

3. Built in webcam and mic array work well. I loaded up gchat web client and installed the talk applet that lets you do video conferences. A quick test with Derek proved that video chats are something to look forward to in the future. It adds a new dimension to a phone call and it’s nice to have it all packaged into a small, ultra portable laptop.

4. Battery life and power usage is awesome. I had the unit plugged into my P3 Kill-A-Watt all last night and noted the maximum draw is 40 watts. This happens when the battery is severely drained (as the battery comes in the package) and the unit is also running. With the unit off, about 28 watts are used. Once the battery is charged up, the real computer usage is very low. I averaged 10 to 11 watts with wifi and camera enabled, bluetooth disabled, and screen brightness at 2/5ths. Unpluged, a full battery clocked just short of 10 hours according to windows. I used the netbook for two hours this morning and drained the battery down to 79% so that sounds pretty accurate.

For comparison:
My work laptop, 42 watts idle, 53 watts playing L4D.
My home PC, 140 watts idle, 200 watts playing L4D.
My home PC monitor, 80-100 watts.

That was a big reason for moving to netbooks.. to conserve electricity. There’s no reason to be burning 240-280 watts just surfing the internet for a few hours. I’ve got some other plans for the desktop computer that I’ll write about later.

The bulb in our Toshiba 57HM167 blew last week Wednesday with a loud pop as Kellie and I were settling down to watch the latest from Netflix. Careful inspection indicated a deceased bulb.. so we ordered a new one. The new bulb arrived today and I installed it easily. Accessing the service menu, I noted that the previous bulb had only 847 hours on it (Low Power 226 and High Power 621). It had been turned on 539 times. That was somewhat depressing as the bulbs are supposed to be rated for 6000-8000 hours. We didn’t even make a thousand. Then again, the bulbs are also rated for two to three years and we bought the TV in late April/early May of 2007. Doing some quick math, that means we’ve used the TV on average just over an hour a day – and given the 539 power on times, an average of an hour and a half each time. We’ll see how long the next bulb lasts.

While surfing the net today, I happened about a newly released PC that’s absolutely perfect for my parents: The MSI All-in-One Touch PC. It’s slim, energy-efficient, and simple to use! Check out this beauty.

It features an Intel Atom 1.6Ghz processor, 1 or 2GB RAM, 160 or 250GB Disk Drive, an 18.5″ 16:9 touchscreen, built-in DVD drive + wireless + speakers + mic + webcam + media card readers. What more could you want?

To top it all off? It consumes 40-60 watts of power and is virtually silent. It’s perfect for the kitchen or a small desk as it has such a small footprint… plus it’s pretty. And the price? Around $429.. shipped!

Now, if MSI would just release their Wind U115 Hybrid.. that’s the perfect PC for me.

My Dynamic RunAbout 7 arrived today via UPS truck and a friendly UPS delivery man! I ordered the bike on Monday – yes, only three days ago – and it’s here already with all the accessories and such included. I purchased the RunAbout 7 in silver with fenders, rear carrier, bike computer, lighting system, and a grease gun for yearly maintenance. Ordering was simple and I can’t be more pleased with the company thus far.

My bike arrived in a nice, compact box.

Upon opening, the instructions were prominently positioned and I used those to begin assembling the bike.

First, everything comes out of the box. Everything included? Check.

Start building by putting the handles into the frame (yes – the vast majority of this bike is pre-assembled with only some major pieces to put together).

Next I put the front wheel on and started tightening down all bolts (with the included tools!).

Finished with the seat and checking that everything was tightened down.

Then I took it out for a spin! My first thoughts were that this is very different from my road bike. I sit in a more upright position and the handlebar grips and seat are soft. Yes! The seat is very soft and I can ride it very comfortably wearing khakis or jeans. Plus there is no crank gear to get pant legs caught on!

Pedaling is very smooth – as are the gear shifts. I wouldn’t even know that I’m shifting gears if it weren’t for the added pedaling difficulty in the higher gears. At this point, I’m smiling like a little kid having just rode his bike for the first time without training wheels. I feel free!

Alright, so here’s a few shots of the (mostly) finished product. I did a little more work after this like adjusting the seat and attempting to attach the rear carrier. It’s a beautiful bike all-in-all as these shots hopefully capture. Needless to say, I’m very impressed by the paint job and fit and finish of this bicycle.

My only complaint at this time is the difficulty of installing the rear carrier. I don’t know if I’m just stupid or what, but it doesn’t look like the universal carrier that shipped with this bike will fit without some modification or extra customizing. I gave up after working with it for an hour or two and decided to bring it to a local bike shop for assistance tomorrow. I also need to pick up a nice bike lock so I can start pedaling to work, the grocery store, the movies, Lowes, out to dinner, to my parents…. ahh… I’m lost in excitement already.

Here’s the happy owner with his new bicycle!