Krogoth's Technical Reviews (Software and Hardware)

Friday, July 13, 2007

Windows-Linux Things YOU NEED NOW! Or maybe you don't- July 2007

As I find them, I will try to share them with you, my wonderful net friends!............Krogoth

Defcon- Everyone Dies the game
http://www.everyone-dies.com/
Rating of 1-100 is 92 MULTIPLATFORM
Introversion Software has done what I considered practically the impossible. They have created a game that is not only fun to play and cheap to buy, but get this- IT RUNS ON WINDOWS and MAC, and hold on tight to your britches, LINUX! It's a nuclear war simulation similar to the graphics seen in the movie WARGAMES(1983) which I was 17 when it came out. It was the coolest movie about computers of it's time although campy as well. Defcon the game is EASILY the best game ever created for the Linux platform. I have not had a chance to test it on Macintosh, but on Linux and Windows it works excellent. Don't be fooled by the games beginning simplicity and graphics, it's addictive. Multi player and soon to be released dedicated server make this what I think is the first true cross multi platform game ever created. It's constantly being upgraded and fixed so the developers are right on top of it. The boss key is also a great feature. Hit twice and game minimizes for those people who like to get paid to go to work and play games secretly. And really, whats better than some shit corporation PAYING you to secretly play games on their time? Not much.

Downside- Hard to knock them because I am really impressed with them, but can be a little buggy with timeouts in multi player, has some continuous bugs with game play but are addressed rather quickly, and player names can be changed easily, so if someone is being a total douche and you don't want to play them again, they can change their name easily in multi player and douche you again.

WIRESHARK
http://www.wireshark.org/
Rating from 1-100 is 100 MULTIPLATFORM
Wireshark is a free network protocol analyzer. It runs on all major platforms and it's open source software. When I think of this product I see Network General, Wildpackets and other commercial sniffer companies salespeople shitting their pants. A FREE protocol analyzer? OK so maybe the commercial products have some different or possibly better features, but Wireshark is free. Go price some sniffer products and see how quickly you will learn Wireshark. Besides the Queen of Packets and Sniffing things, Laura Chappell, loves it and teaches it. If she loves it that means its vitamin enriched and good for you.
Downside- None- Support is fantastic and abundant. Training for it is available. Software is stable and looks as if the upgrade and development path is safe.

Airsnare-
http://home.comcast.net/~jay.deboer/airsnare/index.html
Rating of 1-100 is 95 WINDOWS
AirSnare monitors network traffic (wired and wireless) for unfriendly MAC addresses and alerts you when a MAC address is found that isn't on the friendly list. AirSnare also monitor DHCP requests from clients. Now, why do you need it? You need it to see who's on your wireless network if it's insecure or has limited security. Easy to set up, use and fun to configure. YOU SHOULD DONATE MONEY TO THEM if you use this tool. They have a link for this. It's a great little program.
Downside- Support will need to come from the NET in the forums with other users experiences, but overall pretty stable. Undecided upgrade or fix schedule considering it's beggerware.

TrueCrypt-
http://www.truecrypt.org/
Rating of 1-100 is 89 MULTIPLATFORM
Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows Vista/XP/2000 and Linux - I know what your thinking. Open source for my encryption? My secure business files? My valuable date? Yes it's open source. Yes it works great. Yes it's secure and Yes its free. TrueCrypt volumes can be encrypted using the following algorithms: AES LRW Serpent Twofish AES-Twofish AES-Twofish-Serpent Serpent-AES Serpent-Twofish-AES Twofish-Serpent
Downside- Support and opensource means it probably wont be accepted commercially

BackTrack2 ISO Live CD-
http://www.remote-exploit.org/backtrack.html
Rating of 1-100 is 90 Linux Live CD
The latest and greatest Linux Live CD for penetration testing and overall Wireless and general security. Based on a Slackware linux, BackTrack is the result of merging the two free, innovative penetration testing live linux distributions, Auditor and WhaxBackTrack. BackTrack2 onsists of more than 300 different tools on 1 CD (That's right CD, not DVD) in a bootable format. Check it out without destroying your Windows or Linux box because it safely loads up on its own. It is the de facto standard currently for anyone in the know with security and security professionals.
Downside- Slackware Linux (I would rather see it supported on a more popular distro). Tons of research needed to understand and use tools if a beginner in security. Utility support may be dicey or non-existent. Loader and multi-boot setup needs work and is flaky unless you know LILO. Needs alot of trial and error to get things going (typical Linux).

Honorable Mentions-
Pitaschio- Makes 2000 / XP / Vista Windows so much fun
http://pitaschio.ara3.net/index.htm
Snap a window to other windows when moving and resizing, Restrict window position to inside of the screen, Minimize window to system tray, Use small icons in the desktop, Disable Caps Lock key, Windows key, Insert key, Alt key, etc. Disable mouse or keyboard while you are cleaning them, Statistics about mouse and keyboard operations and Calculate the Moon's age.
Downside- Website needs a logo for the software (I really hate software with no logo's). Study it before you do something to make you crazy with Windows grief.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Widespread Ubuntu or Linux acceptance depends on these 6 factors

A Lively 7-12-2007

I have been using Linux personally and professionally for over 12 years. Maybe you have just dipped into Linux with Ubuntu or some other flavor of Linux for the first time. Or maybe you are a Vista or XP user and want to try that Linux thing for yourself. Or your a seasoned Linux user probably administering a network somewhere and thrilling your supervisors with your in depth knowledge of a complex Linux cluster. Regardless, this is what it takes to makes Linux acceptable, well actually Ubuntu for this story because it's the top flavor right now and this is subject to change next month. More accepted means more of a market share and finally bring Linux to the masses. We need to do a Google or a Firefox with Linux, meaning an underdog rising up to claim it's place. Here's how.

(1) Eye Candy- The more eye candy Linux has, the better. Eye Candy is what made Microsoft, and to them its more important than functionality and stability it seems. Hopefully Ubuntu can continue to make it's releases as ascetically pleasing as possible as well as other Linux flavors.

(2) Gaming- OK, this is a real sore spot between hardcore Linux users and XP or Mac users. It's simple so read this out loud. Gaming makes a system more flexible and fun. Linux is a server not a desktop, so strip out all the server code and make it a desktop system. Then, a Linux company with deep pockets works with a gaming company to exclusively develop a few killer games that work only on Linux. Remember Halo for the XBOX? I know the hardcore Linux users always say Linux is not a gaming system, but gaming brings tons of development into the Linux arena. I am not talking about simple games, I am talking about awesome and complicated games not under some sort of lame emulation. With so many game platforms out there running today I don't see why this is so difficult for Linux. Currently Defcon is about the only cool game for Linux without emulation. Emulation is slow and stupid for games.

(3) Driver and related development creation and support- This is the Achilles heel of Linux. Why? Because depending on your hardware you may spend a day trying to get your video drivers going. This is unacceptable. The general public is not patient or willing to do this. Here is an example. For an experiment I let my 16 year old cousin, who is very game savvy and XP skilled for his age, load Ubuntu and goof around with it on a spare PC I had. He loaded it just fine, only needing help with the partition area. Once it was loaded he spent time with the simple games available like Sudoku, then checked out Open Office and Firefox. Then I loaded up all the cool new 3-D effect's for him which was a pain because I had to load ATI drivers for the video. If you like to load Linux over and over, be sure to have an ATI card because you will usually see the famous White cube of death as soon as 3-d stuff is enabled. I know Linux and what to do to get my ATI Radeon going correctly so my Cousin got to enjoy the 3-d stuff which he thought was awesome. Then he went to my other PC, fired up Windows XP and played Supreme Commander for over 3 hours. Now I can actually hear the hardcore Linux users yelling "Linux is not a gaming system" as I write this. My point is this. Most people have 1, maybe 2 PC's in the home. That means everyone in the family may be using the same PC for everything. Why is it so hard for someone or some company to develop a DirectX competing software for Linux? Who can do this? ATI/AMD and NVIDIA can do this. Will they? Probably not. Maybe Google can do it. They seem to be doing everything else.

(4) Adobe, Adobe, Adobe- If Adobe ports all their major products to Linux, exactly like they did from Apple to Windows years ago, Linux will be so popular Microsoft will be a word to describe
Erectile Dysfunction for a badly endowed male. Maybe Pfizer can buy the name and make a new drug. Adobe flagship products running under Linux is CRITICAL for success.

(5) Apple is truly a Phoenix- Apple is a great company and has cool products. Expensive but cool products. Love it or hate it, it has it's place. This is a company that was in the toilet just some years ago and actually got millions from Microsoft when it was in trouble. These companies were bitter enemies. So what's this got to do with Linux you ask? Well its a lesson for the big Linux players out there and anyone who wants to break the grip of consumers only having certain choices. OSX was a COMPLETE departure from the older MAC OS. Based on a flavor of UNIX, it radically changed the entire company's direction. Adobe and other major players followed. Then ITUNES, IPOD and now the IPHONE. Seems to me that with the right direction and capital, plus cooperation within certain companies and anything is possible.

(6) Linux people not being so snooty- I read alot of online blogs, webistes and such dedicated to Linux and constantly see uber Linux users cutting down newbies and driving them back to Microsoft or Apple land. Listen to me all you think you know it all types. On one hand you are complaining about how you hate Microsoft, then you say how great Linux is and how it does everything but make love to you, then you berate newer users when they post questions about Linux that you think are stupid or simple. Not everyone spends the entire day writing Pearl scripts for fun or trying to recompile kernels. HELP THESE PEOPLE! They are trying something new! You were there once too when you began using computers. Explain to them where to get help, new user groups or what to use to replace Microsoft products in Linux. This will get more people into it. Explain dual booting so they can try both but please do something besides making them feel bad for trying to figure out Linux. It is NOT a simple system for the casual user.

These 6 topics are CRITICAL for Ubuntu, or any other Linux company to really succeed and gain respectful market share. Maybe with all the stuff Google is doing (who I think should just buy SUN, Novell and Silicon Graphics and develop a kickass Software/Hardware system *kidding*) Ubuntu, Adobe, ATI, NVIDIA, Intel, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, can team up to create compatibility under Linux. I know, I know it's a long shot, but look what happened with Apple?

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Arkon POWERED PDA MOUNT Dell Axim

Arkon's Powered PDA Mount family of products your Pocket PC or Palm PDA. They are the premier solution for use with Bluetooth GPS receivers and even include a 3' bluetooth charging cable that allows you to power your Bluetooth Receiver from the Powered PDA Mount. They can also be used with the serial GPS receivers commonly referred to as "mouse-style" GPS.

kRoGoTh Review- This thing is so cool- Power for your PDA, little amplified speaker inside (don't know why but its cool. I guess if you want to power your Axim to a little bit bigger speaker more power to ya). They also have mounts for just about every PDA out there. These are very rugged mounts and your PDA is more than secure in it. I drive around in the sun and it has never come off once. Fantastic Product! Runs about $49.95 msrp bare. Look around it can be cheaper on Amazon. The manufactures website has a bunch of different things to do with it as well.

http://www.arkon.com/bluetoothgps.html

Cool stuff for the X51 V Dell Axim

Iriver Mobile FM Transmitter AFT-100-The iriver Mobile FM Transmitter broadcasts a powerful signal allowing you to listen to your iriver player or other portable audio device through your car stereo. It transmits to any FM frequency making it easy to listen to your music on any FM signal you choose. Features Blue LCD display Plugs into any standard car power socket No batteries needed Transmits to any FM station (88.1MHz - 107.9MHz) Works with any audio device (plugs into the headphone jack of your player)

kRoGoTh REVIEW- Simply put, after having a few other FM transmitters, this one blows them all away. Minor to 0 distortion, presets for any FM range and a nifty Blue screen for tuning it. Its MSRP is 49.95 but I found it for 39.95 on Amazon.com- Only drawback- Don't put this device into a multiple 12v Lighter adapter or you will get MAJOR distortion if its not shielded correctly. Other than that, a fine buy.