The eyeballing game

I am amazed on how popular this little game has come to be. Basically you are given a series of geometries and have to adjust them to make them accurate. The game is broken down into 7 different tasks and 3 rounds. You are scored on an accuracy point scale. The goal is to have the lowest score possible. The game keeps a top ten record of the last five-hundred games, and your personal best scores.

Give it a try – my best score is 1.6 for all three rounds. What can you beat that?

http://woodgears.ca/eyeball/

My only advise is to pay careful attention to the instructions.

Changes

Sorry for no recent updates. NETRATnation is in the process of transferring the blog to its new home NETRATnation.com. Be sure to stay tuned for new updates in the coming week.

How fast can you type?

I was wondering the other day how many words per minute I can type. By typing in WPM in my google search bar this was the first link that came up. http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php . I realized that I really wasn’t as quick as I thought. You can test with words, numbers, or words and numbers. Simply hit the start clock button and start typing the paragraph.

Copying a whole paragraph that is in front of me really isn’t my cup of tea. I found this speed test to be a little more enjoyable. It just throws some random words at you and you simple write the word in bold print. http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/

Good luck.

Windows SteadyState

Windows steadystate is a utility which keeps your Genuine copy of Microsoft Windows in pristine condition. Basically it doesn’t allow people to change settings or install content. This is very useful in places such as retail stores, libraries, classrooms, and Internet Cafes. You can pretty much set up your own group policy. Restrict access to computer resources such as control panel, network settings and other sensitive areas. You can even set time limits for users. No more weird downloads, or spyware. Each time user logs in the system is restored to the exact condition as it was initially configured. Because of this, external storage may be required.  This is a free download from Microsoft. For additional information and/or download click HERE.

*Be sure to clean, defrag, clear temporary files / cache, install, uninstall, virus scan everything before installing this program. You need to tune the computer to the exact operating condition as desired.

Hak5.org has a video explaining Windows Steadystate in further detail. Episode 411 – Jump to 14:16.

Essential Recovery Utilities

When in times of  [computer] trouble there are a few prized possessions that you can never take for granted. This is my Essential list; stuff that I always have on hand when on the go.

1. Firstly, find yourself a copy of a UBCD4Win (Ultimate Boot CD for Windows) – This disk you can never take for granted. It slip it into your CD-ROM bay and tell bios to boot from your disk drive. The disk loads a “live” operating system that contains a bundle of utilities ranging from spyware detection to recovery tactics. Make use of the file explorer to back-up files on a corrupt hard drive. My favorite application is “Ghost32″. Use it to make an exact copy of your computer, save it away, and re-image your hard drive when spyware or viruses get the best of you. Alternatively, you can also wipe your hard drive to DoD standards. More on this later. FREE! – http://www.ubcd4win.com/
2. USB flashdrive – These little guys are great and have come along way. I picked up a 16gig Cruzer from woot.com for 20 some odd dollars. It has proved to be the best companion. It has enough space to hold onto all my docs, some music, a few Linux distros and some essential applications. Another great use is to make it a bootable drive; Puppy linux or BackTrack would be something to look into.
3. External Harddrive- So a 16gig flash drive will hold a lot but probably not your entire desktop computer. As with flashdrives, space is a lot cheaper now a days. You can find a 1 Terabyte (1000 Gigabytes) harddrive for around $100. It is a great investment. Use that Ghost Utility from the UBCD to copy your entire computer uncompressed. Many have auto-backup software built in to secure your information behind the scenes.
4. External DVD-CD-RW drive – Okay this is not always necessary but definitely a good thing to have around. You could get a heavyduty plug-in one but I recommend a slimline laptop style drive paired with an external enclosure. The advantage of this is there is no need for external power; it draws all it needs from your USB ports. It complements a Live OS nicely when backing up files. They are very laptop friendly. Drive ~$70, Enclosure ~$15
5. Ethernet Cord – You never know when you need one of these. Serves many purposes beyond recovery. Use to get an internet connection, access/evaluate ethernet resources or move items to and fro your home server. WIFI is another alternative but proven to be unreliable and not always secure. I would get a 20ft or longer Cat5e cable. ~$10
6. Harddrive adapter / screwdriver – If your computer can not even get as far as turning on your only option is to take the hard drive out and connect it to another computer. They are not to expensive and can be a life saver. Why pay someone at a shop to do when you can do it yourself?  You can scan the drive for spyware and viruses and once again back-up your files to that external drive. ~$20
   
7. A copy of your native operating system – When you see your hard drive is irreversibly wacked (happens way to often), your best bet is to back-up what you can and cut your loses. Follow the same process as booting a UBCD and follow on screen instructions. If you happen to be a licensed Windows customer refer to the serial on the COA sticker to complete installation.
8. Netbook – These things are great! For those of you unfamiliar, a Netbook is a small, low power laptop. There are literally dozens on the market right now, many under $300. It provides a great lifeline on the go. If these interest you and are considering purchasing one, I recommend Asus, MSI, or Acer. HP also makes a great product too.
9. A Targus notebook backpack – These are great protection for your valuables and a techy fashion statement too. They come in many shapes and sizes with enough pockets and compartments to hold everything on this list. ~$50

Well thats my Essentials. Being prepared is the best defense against data loss. Always backup important documents and keep them in a secure location. What items would you put in your essential tech bag?

Keyboard monument

Woostecollective is a blog devoted to maintaining a collection of street art. I saw this one the other day and thought it was kind of neat. It is titled “Monument to the keyboard” taken in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

from the source:

The Wooster Collective was founded in 2001. This site is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world.

What is tinyURL?

URL *

Computers.

1.	Uniform Resource Locator: a protocol for specifying addresses on the Internet.

2.	an address that identifies a particular file on the Internet, usually consisting of the protocol, as http, followed by the domain name.

If you have ever been suring the net and run across a link to an external webpage prefixing with “tinyURL” you might have been skeptic to what it was. Well having seen it many times before I have never clicked on a tinyURL link. Not because of fear, but more likely because I had no desire to venture elsewhere.

Until recently I have finally figured out what it is all about. On my regular trot through twitter I noticed so many people referencing child websites of tinyURL.com. I thought it would be an outstanding coincidence that all my fellow tweeters were really into this site. So i clicked… well actually Iperformed a rightclick->open link in new tab …and didn’t think to check it until my primary attention span had elasped. At first I thought I somehow deleted the tab, so I clicked another tinyurl link and investigated a little more thoroughly. Come to my amazmnent,  tinyURL is a website that takes long obnoxious urls and compacts them in tiny more simple ones. For example: http://tinyurl.com/dmsfm is the equivlent of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TinyURL.  There is also a great feature that allows for a preview of the destination url;  just append “preview.” to the fore of the string – http://preview.tinyurl.com/dmsfm . This is a nice feature to have as it may stop you from visiting a website littered with boobies and pop-up ads.  Wikipedia might not be the most useful of examples as it is easily memorable, but something like http://tinyurl.com/iphonerecov (did I mention that URL are customizable?) could be a little more convenient than typing in http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/01/29/iphone-101-put-iphone-recovery-mode/ .

There are many great benfits to using tinyurls

• they never expire
• won’t break in email postings
• allow for more whitespace
• easy to remember or duplicate
• customizable

On the other hand there are a few downsides to them as well

• conceal the destination
• exploit browser vunerabilities
• Use in spam to by-pass internet blacklists
• *Many websites ban the use of tinyurls

Tinyurl is not one-of- a- kind website. There is a german reproduction petitlien.com, or should I say http://tinyurl.com/d5y4gt . Or maybe http://petitlien.com/3f or… http://preview.tinyurl.com/d49h2n … ok this is getting a little confusing. but do you get the point? It is kind of nifty, especially in time critical situations. Go ahead, try it out, just dont abuse it Be sure to check out the available browser plug-ins for fast easy tinyurl access.

Enter a long URL to make tiny:

OpenPandora – Device can play some games

handheld

OpenPandora has come a long way. the soon to be released device is being debuted as the “Ultimate OpenSource handheld device”. Derived from the input of many online users. It packs a slim design fully web enabled with 3d graphics best of all it fits in your pocket. Here is a little video showing off what you can do with the graphics engine. cough [quake2]cough cough…

http://www.viddler.com/player/d07ec04e/

t.y.p.o.r.g.a.n.i.s.m

Have you ever seen images that are composed of random letters and symbols? Well now you can make one yourself. I dont know how they do it but this is pretty neat! Just go HERE , upload a photo (50×60 pixels!). and generate your ascii picture. The website even helps you out and generates html for you.

Here is my rendition (I am sure wordpress will ruin the formatting):

DBNBhs===++<<<<(((((~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(((((<<<++===szDDhhD DBBBzs==++<<<<((((~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(((((<<<+====szhBDDD DBBBz====+<<((((~~~~~~~-~~~~~~~~~~--~~~~((((((<<++===sshBDDD DBBBz===++<<<((((~~~~~------~---~---~~~~~~((((<<++==s=szDDBB DBBBz===++<<<(((((((~~~~~--------~~~~((((((((<<<<+==ssszhhBN DBBDs=s=s=++==sss==+<(((~~-----~~((<<+==========+==sssszhhBB DBBDsszzhhhhhhhhzzss=+<<(~~~~~~~(<++=sszhhhhhhzzzhhzzsszhDBB DBBDzzhDDDDDDDhhhhzzs===<(~~~~~(<+==szhhhhhhhhhhDDDDhzszhDNN hDBDzzhzszssszhzzzhzhss=<<((~~(<+===szhhDhhhhDhzzhhhDhzzhDBN DDBhssss==========ssszs+<<(((~(<+===sssss=====+++==szzzzhDBN DBBh====++======+=ss====+<<((((<<++===+=+<++====+++==sszzDBN DBDh=+++++=szs<(+szzs=+=++<(~~(<<++++++++<=zzzs==++++==szhBB hDDz=+<<<=zz=<~~<zzz=<<+=+<(~~(<+++++<((-~=hDhzzs+++++=zzhBB hDhz=+<(<+===+(~<sss+(+<++<(~~(<++<<<<~-'(zDhs=sz=+<<<=zzhDB sDhz++<<(<+===+<<+++<<+<++<((((<++<(<<(~-(=zs====+<<<<+szhDB =Dhs++<<(<<++++++<<(<(<+++<((((<++<((<<<<<+====++<<(<<+zzhDB +zzs=+<<<<<<<<((<<((<<<+++<((((<<++<((<<<+++++++<<<<<<+szhBB =hhs=+<<<<<<<(((((((<<++++<((((<<++<<(((<<<<<<<<<<<<<<+szhDD shhs=++<<<<<(((((((<<<+++<<(((((<+++<<(((((((<<<<<<<+++szhBD hDhs=++<<<<(((((((((<<<+<<<(((<<<+++<<(((((((((<<<<<++=szhDD DDhz=++<<<(((((((((((<<+<<<((<<<++++<<(((((((((<<<<<++=szhDD DDhz=++<<<<((((((((((<<++<<<<<<<++++<<(((((((((((<<<++=szhDh DBDz=+<<<<<((((((((((<<+++<<<<<<++++<<((~((((((((<<<+=szzhDz DDDzs+<<<<<<<<(((((((<++=+<<<<<<+==+<((~~~~(((((<<<++=szzhDz DDDzs+<<<<<<<(((((((<++=++<<(((<<==++<(~~~~~((((<<+++=szzDzz DDDzs++<<<<<<(((~~((<++=+<<(((((<+==+<(~~~~~((((<<+++=szshsz DDDzs++<<<<((((((~((<++=+<((~~((<+===<(~~~~~~(((<<+++=szzhsh DDDhs=++<<<(((((((((<++++<(~-~((<+===<((~~~~((((<<+++=szzh=D DDDhs=+<<<<(((((((((<++++<(~-~~(<++=+<((~~~(((((<<+++=szzhsB DBDDz=+<<<<((((((~((<++++<<(~~((<++++<((((((((((<<+++=szzhhN BBBDz=++<<<(((((((((<+++++<<(((<+++++<((((((((((<<+++=szhhDN DBBDzs++<<<(((((((((<<++==+<<<<+=++=+<((((((((((<<+++=szDDNN BDBBzs=++<<<(<(((((<<<<+++++++=+++++<<<(((((((((<++++=szBBNN BBBBhs=+++<<<<<(<<<<<<+++++++++<++++<<<(((((<(((<++++=szBBNN BBBBDs=+++<<<<<<<<<++++++<<<<<<<+++++<<<(((<<((<<++++=shBNNN BBBDDz=++++<<<<<<<<<<<<++<<<((<<++++++<<<<<<<((<<++++=sDNNNN DDDDDzs+=++<<<++<<<<<<<<(((((<((<<++<<<<<<<<<<<<<=+++=zDNNNN DDDDDhs+==+<<<<<<<++++<<(((((((((<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<+=+++=hBNNNN DDDDDD====++<<<<+==ss==+++<((((<<++++=+++<<<<<<<+=+++sDNNNNN DDDDDD=s===+<<<<<+=s==<(+++++=++====ssss++<<<<<+==++=sDNNNNN DDDDBD<z===+<<(((<<=s=+(---~~~~~~~<=sss=+<<<((<+=+++shNNNNNN DDDDDD(zss=+<<(((<<+===<~~------(<=ss==+<<((((<+=++=zhBBNNBB DDDDDD~zhs==+<(((<<+=====+<((<++==ss==++(((((<+=++=shDDDDDBD DhDDDD~shzss+<<((<<+++====++++++===++++<(((<(<+===szhz+<<+=s hhDDDh(szhzs=+<<((<+++++<<++++<<<++++<<<((<<<<+==szhzs(~~((( hhhDDh<sshhzs+<<((<<<<+<<<<<<<<<<<+++<<<((<<<++==szzz=~-~~~~ hhhhhs<sszhzz=++<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<(<<<<+==szzss=~~---~ hhhz=(~=sszhzs=+<<<<+<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<(<<<+=sszzz=s+~~~~~~ Dhz+(-~+ssszzzs+<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<(<<<+=sssss=sz+~(~~~~ hz+(~~~+ssszzhz+<<<<<<<<<<<<+<<<<<<<<<<(<<<+=sssss=sz+((~~~~

OpenSource software for your MAC

Got that brand new macbook? Didn’t have enough money to score some good appz to go with it? well fear not, there is always the open-source alternative. Checkout www.opensourcemac.org.

My favorites include:

• Firefox - Web browsing
• Thunderbird - Email
• Transmission - torrents
• VLC - ***best video application ever *** NETRATnation award of excellence
• Handbrake - DVD ripper
• OpenOffice - Just like Micro$oft Office..only free
• GIMP - Photo editing
• Cyberduck - FTP
• Kismac - WIFI scanner

All of these are on my essentials list.

More information on Open-source and the Free Software Foundation

For Opensource software for your windows machine check out Http://www.opensourcewindows.org