Spool Dual

My friends and family support duties were again called on today. An old friends of mine Microsoft Windows 2000 professional operating system was behaving very strangely. The PC itelf was an Pentium 3 Dell optiplex 400 GXi with 256meg of ram, this previously had zipped along very well and was protected from viruses by AVG free edition but only had an anti spyware scanning utility from Adaware.

On investigation i found a rather nasty virus (see below on trend micro's site)

http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=WORM_AGOBOT.ZH&VSect=T

The virus/trojan had backdoor capabilities and could be remote controlled from an IRC backend - NASTY. You can read how the virus operates above, its a real humdinger. I manged to remove it by booting into safe mode, running sysinternals 'autoruns' and disbabling the registry entry under 'image hijack', i then deleted the file it had associated with 'spooles32.exe'. I then installed fresh copies of AVG anti virus free edition (home use pc) and the very cool 'ewido' scanner. This last stage was removing the spyware elements for 'findthewebsitesyouneed.com' browser hijack. The whole project took a few hours, of in my view wasted time. I am trying to convince my pal to either switch to Linux or at least upgraede to XP to use the Windows definder protection, either way its at least another £80 that will need to be spent on securing a 'professional' operating system - (Sick)

Glimmer of Gentoo

Ok, so i had been playing around with linux for a few years, however it had been a long time since i reverted to base. I had just changed my test pc (AMD64 CPU 3200+, 512meg Ram, 40 Gb HDU, Nvidia FX5200) to run Fedora Core 5, The OS was nice and pretty, it was easy to use and configure and i felt RC5 was basically like playing with Microsoft XP (Like SuSE 10.1 OSS), i thought... TOO BORING.

I trashed the install and and decided to try and get 'geeky', i switched to gentoo, the install was CLI based you had to perform every install task yourself. However i had complete freedom to choose the software profile and get to compile the kernel and software myself (although compiling via the gentoo emerge tool is not really manually compilation), to be frank it was a challenge that i enjoyed.

I had never actually installed, for example GRUB, manually, normally i just install SuSE or Redhat and gleefully click my mouse or move the focus in an NCURSEs gui to get the GRUB software automagically installed.

I now have a fluxbox window manager with a manually configured Xorg X windows setup, everything configured with some CLI tools and the faithfull nano text editor.

I am now a happier person, the install task involved a real sense of learning and re learning aspects of Linux, by installing the 'gentoo' way, its great way of getting back to basics and i would say to anyone starting in Linux to take this route as if you can live with Gentoo, other distros will be easier to understand as you have a behind the scenes view with your gentoo experience.

A good way of thinking about this is if linux was a comedy experience, then Gentoo is a bill hicks video rather than SuSE/Redhat being a box set of friends episodes - a dose of reality!

Protect your Kids from Net Nasties

I was asked by some friends to help them with a problem relating to the internet. I had previously setup their home for wireless networking, allowing shared internet access for 3 computers via a nice Buffalo access point and an ADSL connection from the ISP Eclipse. The home network was locked down by both encryption and MAC addressing filtering which kept their network private from casual hackers.

Their problem lies in the fact that having multiple accesses to an internet connection allows their young children of 7 & 5 to have their own PC, running Windows XP and Internet explorer. Already their child had searched for 'crazy frog' (the ringtone cartoon character) on google and had been presented with a picture of a naked Frenchman thru one of the links!

Both their kids wanted to research homework, their own interests and of course games and toys, while not being victim to unpleasant content. Could I help?

Although you can set levels in Google to limit the search content and use the content settings in Internet explorer, the parents wanted something that provided rock solid content control that they could administer and have a log of what the children had searched for or tried to access.

I found them a great solution at www.surfsafe.co.uk . The guys at surfsafe keep a ‘black list’ of unsuitable content and thus have a database of all ‘net nasties’.

To use the service you sign up via the website (£3 a month) and download and install the ‘surfsafe’ software. To setup access levels you login to the ‘surfsafe’ web site, select each Windows XP account and setup the access level based on a system similar to rating cinematic films IE U/PG/18. Also, the user, via the website can set individual users access permissions based on categories of content, so for example your child could access the category ‘Search Engines’ but not have access to sexual content they found in a search from the site. It is all very simple to configure and designed for a non technical person.

In practice, the surfsafe software automatically loads and displays an icon in the system tray when a user logs into the computer. The user can browse the net as per usual, however when unsuitable content is requested thru the browser a ‘blocked’ message is displayed, then an entry is written to the online log so the ‘parent’ knows that ‘little jimmy’ tried to access a net nasty….

Surfsafe works very well and as a package is very good value, a hidden benefit is that it seems to block adverts and is a valuable tool in avoiding spyware as most ‘net nasty’ content is riddled with such software. The user can granulise the access rights so children can get suitable access no matter what their age and adult users can still access the content they desire. It’s a cool service and at £3 a month it’s a snap for all parents.

Hope this helps!

Coral Reef

I like to point other web users towards web sites that i find that really hit the spot in terms of being excellent in delivering the service they were designed to provide. A point in case being the online betting site provided by coral. The website is easy to use and really makes placing a bet a trivial task. The site also has online poker, with a JAVA application which works on my mac (!), an online casino, virtual sports (which is like a championship manager game for cash prizes), online slots and many many other cash games. Check it out for some low cost betting fun, i must admit that i do love my trips to vegas and this site keeps me going until my (now) annual vegas blowout.

Groove on Google

I was granted access to the recently released google pages creator, as my first effort using the new service from google, I very quickly created a home page for myself http://tonycossey.googlepages.com. The browser based software was slick and extremely easy to use and produced a nice result – which can be seen on the previous url mentioned. I tried the google software on XP with IE and with Linux on firefox, the firefox browser seemed to stall when clicking around the facilities like linking pages and inserting external urls but was flawless (so far) on IE. The whole process of page creation was simplified and its use anywhere nature makes it an excellent tool. The service was whole lot more integrated and WYSIWYG than blogger.com blog editing interface that I use on a regular basis. I have not yet tried the software on the powerbook/OSX/safari combination that I am using for this post. I am not entirely happy with the content on the new home page but that is something I will sharpen up in the coming days, the new page is a handy place to link to my blogs and use in my private email signature.

8 meg

I recently upgraded my broadband connection over ADSL to 8 meg, it was of those upgrades that does have an immediate impact on your way of working. My previous connection speed was 2 meg and to be honest i did not think that i would need any greater downloading muscle. However i helped a friend out who had purchased an 'ebay' laptop computer but lacked the funds for an operating system. I started the download of the excellent open source kubuntu operating system's cd image, normally i sit back and get on with something else but was stunned at the rapid download speed. It sound a little sad but seeing the 'wget' progress bar in my Linux command shell race across the screen i was feeling a little smug that i upgraded. My ISP Nildram, now owned by PIPEX and formerly owned by Mr Mardlin (yes nildram is mardlin backwards) have always provided me with a good service, apart from once being down for 4 days in a row, but 4 days in 5 years of service is not bad. I hope this 8 meg service upgrade does not effect their good record.

If you are considering upgrading your internet broadband service, i would say if you do download large files then go for it, but you just need simple web browsing, email and IM then stick to 512k or 2meg. Serial Music & Movie downloaders will love the new ADSL2's speedy downloads but as I buy all my music and movies legally, as i think this shows respect to the creator, this multimedia factor does not really effect me. On the illegal downloading subject matter i employ the following theory "As the creator has enhanced your life in some way, you shold pay back the favour".

Powerbook Widget

I published this post via the new OSX Tiger dashboard widget for posting to blogger.com. I must say its very simple and slick, just what i needed to quickly post and keep my eye on other data data such as stock prices on my powerbook dashboard. This type of application really in my thoughts constitutes what a 'killer' application is all about, however i wont rave on about it until i have used the tool for a few weeks to evaluate its stability and full feature set.....for the time bein however i am very impressed.

wynn las vegas

I have just returned from a trip to las vegas, i stayed at the wynn hotel and importantly managed to win overall on my betting, my average bet was over $100 and i enjoyed the roulette, blackjack and poker the wynn offered. As an IT professional i was impressed by the wynn in room systems, the large LCD hidef tv was supplied with a wireless keyboard (with trackball) and provided me with internet access as i did not travel with my trusty 12inch powerbook. The in room systems allowed all sorts of things to be checked in relation to your account, select movies & music plus local TV access. I think these basic services could be improved by adding access to your betting trends as a 'marked' player and allow you to book the golf, spa or in house eateries. I was surprised that wireless access via wifi was not supplied but i guess security concerns are part of that issue. Overall i was impressed by the wynn, the casino was excellent, the golf course was truly in great condition and provided a real test, the in room facilities were top class and i won! You Can't argue with that.....

Pool Playing

As some of you out there may know i am keen UK 8 ball pool player, i am the captain of the Cue ball bakers pool team who are current champions of a local Essex league, the blog is here at http://bakerspool.blogspot.com

I would advise any player to read this book as its great for the mind game involved with pool in all variations of the game

I am off to pool practice now with a few team mates, i bet 'how' i practice tonight is different from them after reading the book.

More tools, More Joy

Check these tools out,

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2006/PL2006SYSTEMUTILITIES.php

if you ever have to recover a Window$ XP machine after spyware or virus activity these tools are great. Also the startup monitors are cool for trimming down the 300 icons in the windows system tray.

The tools from sysinternals are absolute tiny and full of great features, Filemon, Regmon, Process Explorer and Autoruns are recommended above, copy on to your usb / stick memory. Regmon is ideal for spotting hijacks as it displays registry activity in real time.

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities.html

Ideal for friends and family support

great tool

Just a quck blog entry, check out this great tool for XP from sysinternals, AUTORUNS, download and evaluate it for yourself, i only started using this a couple of days ago after a contact of mine put its url my way. The tool provides information and methods of altering the behaviour of startup programs in XP.

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/autoruns.html

Autostart locations displayed by Autoruns include logon entries, Explorer add-ons, Internet Explorer add-ons including Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), Appinit DLLs, image hijacks, boot execute images, Winlogon notification DLLs, Windows Services and Winsock Layered Service Providers. The interface is structured so you can switch tabs to view autostarts from different categories. Very nice utility for friends and family support after xmas :-)

Xmas desktop environments

After a very nice xmas gift (thanks gookster) of a brand new Apple 12" powerbook G4 i spent most of Christmas playing with my new toys IE Itunes,iphoto etc etc. In fact it leaves me in a nice position to compare the differing user experiences of the following environments i now have to hand at home.

1. OSX Tiger via the new powerbook
2. SuSE 10.0 (KDE 3.4) OSS version on my normal desktop PC
3. SuSE 9.2 (Gnome) on the 64bit AMD development PC
4. Windows XP SP2 on my old fujitsu-siemens lap (top, this dual boots with SuSE 9.2.
5. Solaris 10 for X86, (when my Dell poweredge servers DVD drive is replaced after xmas)

On other matters, I will after the xmas holidays start to publish my thoughts on RubyonRails, as that is the latest platform i am taking a look at.

New Poker Date

Due clashes of diaries for this Friday (21/10/05) i am suggesting that we move the Poker Night to the following Friday 28/10/05. The main reason being diary clash but also i have not been able to confirm the next host, Mr Adams, as he is in Las Vegas with Mr Hall.....lucky boys.

After the success of the upminster poker tournament and the blog updates, i am suggesting another poker night.

1. New suggested date - Friday 21st of October Starting @8pm, same rules.

We can either run the night at my flat once more or we need someone else to host, we seem to have all the kit we need apart from the host needing a 8 person table.

2. Texas Hold'em Software - If anyone in the group wants to play each other over the internet via the computer, Check out www.ddpoker.com the $30 software allows person-2-person play from any 'java enabled' computer (windows/mac/linux) you need broadband/adsl internet at home for it to work properly when playing each other. The software also allows you to practice texas hold'em against computer controlled opponents. We could using this play any night......might be a laugh.

3. if you want to play for money over the net you can join one of the poker rooms online, Richard i know uses littlewoods poker online http://www.littlewoodspoker.com, i have never played online but there is a review of the online rooms here;

http://www.pokerlistings.com/online-poker-rooms

Poker Evening Event Report

The initial poker night was a roaring success, the 3 games played were all competitive and more importantly fun, i think the noise levels were boosted by laughing rather than the drunken roar associated with our normal gatherings.

A late rush of entrants (and blowouts - Mr taylor) meant that 7 players sat down at the table;

Tony Cossey, Peter Kempster, Dale Bennett, Richard Thomas, Steve Watts, Chris Adams, Stuart McClemments (and Girlfriend Izzy). My Dad Ernie kindly took on the marathon job of designated dealer.

game one: The final pair were Richard and Steve, Richard overcoming a massive chip debt to nail the £175 prize (7 x £25 buy in). Both finalists once through the initial stages played the percentages, the cards falling very well for Richard in his winning run.

game two: The final pair ended up being myself and Dale, this time Dale skillfully playing the short stack position to beat me in a tight finish (boo hoo). Again the prize fund Dale collected was £175. I thought i had cracked this game until i misread strong position from dale as a bluff, however both of us played aggresively when down to the final shootout, Dale, i think, playing with more skill generally, all of which added to the excitement.

game three: It was decided to have a game at the end of the evening with a £10 x 8 prize fund. This being boosted by the late addition of Denis Sheriden who visited the game after his football competition had finished. The final pair were again Steve and Richard, the longest final pair duel of the match took place with Richard edging Steve out again after a run of strong pre flop cards.

The whole evening finished at 03:15am which showed i feel how much everyone enjoyed the event and the challenge, it was agreed the event would be a monthly social gathering until we got sick and tired of Texas hold'em poker.

Special thanks to Ernie who looked like he had run the marathon by the time the event closed, not bad for an old age pensioner...WELL DONE ERN!

Gooky Chips in

many thanks to Chris 'gooky' Adams who tonight let me borrow his very flash 500 chip poker set from the original home of gambling, Las Vegas, it weighs a tonne but the chips are full casino grade 11.5g.

Demon Dealer

Another poker update; We now have a designated dealer, my dad Ernie, cross him at your peril :-)

Upminster Poker Evening

Quick Update on the final list of players for Friday the 23rd @ 8pm;

Final List of players and form guide

Tony Cossey - Newbie and unfortunately stupid.
Richard Thomas - Online poker player thus porn expert as well as poker expert
Dale Bennett - All round card sharp, 'the jock beater'
Mo Bennett - Older all round card sharp, 'the silvertown kid'
Stuart McClemments - Long standing card player but not a poker regular (but a jock)
Peter Kempster - Plank
John Taylor - Dark horse, however early 90's clubbing icon.
Steve Watts - To my knowledge a 3 card brag expert in the late 80's

Donated kit;
Peter = 1 x pack of original las vegas casino playing cards
Rich = 1 x world series poker electric card shuffler
Tony = 2 x playing tables (forming 1 big table), 4 x new chairs, 400 poker chips + baize

Suggested Changes to Rules;
In addition to the rules i distrubuted, i am now suggestting we now operate an 'Ante' for each hand from all players replacing 'big and small blinds', as players drop out after losing their chips, the 'ante' increases to add difficulty as players are eliminated.

Poker Update

Hers is the latest Update for Friday 23rd's Texas Hold'em Game @my flat. The poker chips, cards and caddy were purchased today, we have 400 chips, if we have 9 players we will need 100 more chips so please confirm to me ASAP. The chips feel like cheap plastic but i am sure that won't bother anyone, the 400 chips and cards cost £20 which was the cheapest i could find. The supplier who came to the rescue were Debenhams on Ashley's advice, NICE ONE ASH.

Players Confirmed
Tony Cossey
Richard Thomas
Dale Bennett
Mo Bennett
Stuart McClemments
Peter Kempster
John Taylor
Steve Watts

Players who Cant make it
Ashley Bennett - Unavailable
Andy Hall - Unavailable
Steve 'Yon' Thomson - Unavailable
Mitchell Dawson - Unavailble

Others
Gordon Cull - Unconfirmed
Chris 'gooky' Adams - Unconfirmed
Mark Reynolds - Unconfirmed
Dave Balding - Unconfirmed
Denis 'Baby' Sheriden - Unconfirmed

Texas hold'em

Myself and some friends have decided to start our own texas hold'em poker evening, there is some great stuff on the net which gives us a guide to making the event fun and competitive, the players range from experienced players, online players and newbies, like myself. The current uk TV coverage sponsored by partypoker hasramped up the interest (and my recent visits to vegas)

Current players invited are listed here for our first evening on 23rd of september 2005;

Tony Cossey - Confirmed
Richard Thomas - Confirmed
Dale Bennett
Ashley Bennett - Confirmed
Mo Bennett
Steve 'yon' Thomson
Gordon Cull
Peter Kempster
Chris 'gooky' Adams
Stuart McClemments
Andy Hall
Mark Reynolds
Dave Balding
Denis 'Baby' Sheriden
Mitchel Dawson

I am currently purchasing the 'kit' needed and have been surprised by the variation in poker chip sets, without research i could have easily spent £100 on a 500 chip set when better quality products can be found on ebay for a saving of over 60%.

Useful links
http://ontilt.co.uk
http://www.homepoker.com
http://www.casino-shop.co.uk
search for poker chips on www.ebay.co.uk