Iron Wil

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I try to emphasize taking personal responsibility for your computer’s security. Today while cruising around the web, I came across this article from Ars Technica about securing your personal computer.

The Staff has put together a very good list of tools and utilities to secure your Win, Mac, or Lin Box. Stop by and check out the article, and don’t forget to pick up a little security.

iron wi

I admit that I have a Skype Pro account and my wife loves it! I should probably have her write this review.

I have been using Skype for a few years and I am quite happy with it. I have friends and family making calls and we are trying to get one of my grandmothers online too. I am still waiting for the phone call to make that happen. Recently we moved into a new apartment and I am dead set against paying for services we don’t really need - like a phone line. Really, why pay 60$ a month for static? Standard cell phones have all the services that we ‘need’, including 911 - if my memory serves me correctly.

The wife wanted a handset, why when she has a cell and can Bluetooth the Skype Pro account on the iMac - I don’t know. So, I convinced her that we just need to get a phone for our Skype account. I was surprised that she went for it, but at about 90$ a year for the phone number and unlimited US calling why not!

So, a few weeks later the Philips VOIP 841 arrived. I bought it through the online Skype store, since I wanted to go back to them and complain if it didn’t work. Not only does it work, the wife is very happy with it, her only complaint is that it doesn’t have all our phone numbers in it [yet]. My only complaint is that each handset runs off 2xAA batteries. They don’t seem to last more than a day or two if you are making phone calls.

They are super easy to setup and I had the main handset and base station setup in about 10 minutes. It took a few days for the second handset because I hadn’t read the directions. The second handset automatically links to the registered [Skype] account and the handsets sync through the base station, unless the account is actually managed there [which is my thinking].

Overall, the system is a buy, just remember that you don’t have 911 service and you can’t video chat.

iron wil

I love this software package a lot!!! See below for details:

HandBrake 0.9.2 incorporates many major and exciting changes—including full support for the AppleTV Take 2 and the latest iPhone/iPod Touch firmware. Mac users take note: this release is only compatible with Mac OS X Leopard, 10.5.

Download it now.

Apple fans will be delighted over:

• Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC3) sound in MP4 files, for a true DVD experience on the AppleTV and in Perian.
• Multi-track audio support for Apple devices
• iPhone-compatible anamorphic video at its full size

Power users will find:

• Variable frame rate encoding with detelecine filtering
• More flexible, “loose” anamorphic video
• MP4 optimization for progressive web downloads
• Dynamic range compression for encoding from AC3 audio
• Robust program and transport stream support

Speed freaks will squee at:

• A fresher, faster version of x264
• Tuning of FIFO sizes by processor count

And everyone should enjoy the increased stability brought by:

• Better handling of audio discontinuities
• Better handling of DVD read errors
• Work-arounds for missing end-of-cell markers
• Recovery when streams have signal loss
• Better synced chapter markers
• Better handling of B-Frames
• No more cutting off the very ends of films
• No more lost subtitles or chapter markers
• No more crashes in 2-pass encoding

As always, the complete list of changes is available on the Trac, as well as a complete timeline of 0.9.2’s development.

iron wil

Wow! Talk about an early morning surprise! Here I am working away checking on the servers and systems running on our network and I listening to the latest NetCasts and what do I hear?

My own name! I couldn’t believe it, but at the end of the latest Security Hype NetCast the gave IronWil.net a shout out for my adding them to my BlogRoll. Now do you want to know something interesting . . . when I posted last nights Security Now NetCast I was considering if I should add Security Hype to my regular NetCast reminders. Well they just pushed me over to YES!

Security Hype 8.1 - Our 2008 Predictions

They have some interesting predictions, like a BotNet war that will take down parts of the net [as fallout], OS X will see it first real malware [virus or otherwise] and IPV6 Hacks.

get yours here.

iron wil

Panda Software announced on the 25th that they have found 2 new viruses in the wild that relate to Valentine’s Day. Remember that you should not click on eMail links or open suspicious eMails. For more information on the viruses, go here.

Don’t for get to use Anti-Virus software like AVG Anti-Virus or ClamWin for Windows or ClamXav for Mac or Linux.

iron wil

On a side note, I have been running AVG and ClamWin on my WinBox for several years and they have done a really good job at keeping my system clean. One caveat, I stay off malicious websites.

I Bought a Mac recently put up a tutorial for setting up an AirPort Extreme and Express [with AirTunes]. The article is about 3 pages long and Brent does a really good job [he included screen shots - sweet!] If you are going to buy an Extreme, I would recommend using this to set yours up. I will be setting up mine with this tutorial after my upcoming move.

iron wil

I have added:

1. 7-Zip
2. Eraser
3. Filezilla
4. Free Download Manager
5. GIMP
6. Inkscape
7. Miranda
8. N|vu
9. Oubliette
10. Skype
11. SyncBack
12. TextPad
13. TrueCrypt
14. Weather Watcher

I hope you find them as useful as I do!

iron wil