Observations of a geek.

Cheap Homebrew Home Theater Projector

Posted Mon, 2005-08-29 11:15 by geekwisdom
I recently discovered an article over at Invent Geek about building your own home theater projector for around $200. I can't wait to try this. Apparently they've been overwhelmed with fan mail over this project that they put up an additional post explaining the details on choosing a projector panel.

Automated Backups of Filemaker Server 6.0 running on Linux

Posted Sat, 2005-08-27 22:43 by geekwisdom

When running Filemaker Server 5.5/6.0 on Linux one looses the nice automated backup features which exist in the Windows and Mac versions of the software. It turns out backups can be automated pretty simply by using the PAUSE and RESUME options for fmserverd. I don't claim to be a super bash scripter but here's an example script to get you going (keep in mind that this script lacks error handling, use it at your own risk). NOTE: If anyone would like to add error handling and other nifty features please login and post a comment with your suggestions.

AOL techie jailed for selling email database to spammers

Posted Thu, 2005-08-18 11:12 by geekwisdom
AOL techie jailed for selling email database to spammers, it just goes to show that all the encryption, security policies, and peer reviewed code in the world won't help you if you're people can be bought.

Hide your wireless network in plain sight

Posted Wed, 2005-08-03 21:01 by geekwisdom
Imagine that wardrivers are casing your neighborhood. You've suppressed your SSID, you have WEP enabled and you've placed your wireless access point in a DMZ. You limit access to your wireless network by MAC address, block all most all traffic from the DMZ and require all your wireless clients to log into the real network via VPN in order to do anything. Sounds pretty good so far. The fact is that a hacker parked in your neighbor's driveway can still cause problems. How about making his life a little more difficult. What if when he turns on NetStumbler he sees 53,000 access points? Where would he start to look for yours? Enter Black Alchemy's Fake AP. FakeAP makes your Linux or *BSD machine look like thousands of wireless access points by broadcasting thousands of counterfeit beacon frames. This alone won't solve your wireless security issues but combined with the ideas mentioned above it might serve to confuse any miscreants looking to cause trouble. At least you won't be a soft target. References

Running Filemaker Server 5.5/6.0 on SuSE 9.3

Posted Tue, 2005-08-02 23:05 by geekwisdom
I have recently configured Filemaker Server v5.5/6.0 to run on SuSE 9.3 using the techniques outlined in the How To "HowTo run Filemaker Server 5.5 on Redhat Linux 7.3, Redhat Linux 9.0 and Redhat Fedora Core 1" authored by Christof Baumgärtner. The key ends up being the compat-glibc-6.2-2.1.3.2.i386.rpm (glib 2.1 compatibility) libraries. Filemaker Server on Linux is a good alternative to server proliferation. Now I can consoludate Filemaker services onto our existing Linux infrastructure without having to buy yet anoth

Does MasterCard's SecureCode Protect Cardholders or Merchants?

Posted Wed, 2005-07-20 11:42 by geekwisdom

The basic idea behind MasterCard's SecureCode program is that a cardholder can attach a personal message and a password (the SecureCode) to their credit card. When the cardholder attempts to make a purchase using the card at a merchant that supports SecureCode the payment processor--not the merchant--presents their personal message and asks them to enter their SecureCode. After authenticating the SecureCode the payment processor completes the transaction and the cardholder goes on their merry way. If authentication fails the charge is declined and the transaction is cancelled. Bottom line, SecureCode is a way for the card processor to authenticate the cardholder.