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[Keith] Welcome to A Couple Of Admins Podcasting. I'm Keith Albright

[Rich] and I'm Rich Niemeier.

[Keith] This is Episode 12 recorded on August 14th, 2007.

Chit-Chat - What's going on with you?

[Rich]

[Ted]

[Keith]

  • Already had an iBook problem. My sisters died on her and thought it was hardware, but it turned out to be software.

Housekeeping Items

[Rich]

  • Lab Indoor Air, Risk Specialists Comment on Laser Printer Pollution Study
  • Basically no real conclusions to be drawn

Link: http://www.lbl.gov/today/2007/Aug/02-Thu/indoor-air.html

[Ted]

  • Rebuttal to Rich [Play crickets]

[Keith]

  • What did you guys think of the Special Topics episode?
-Should we continue with breaking them out?
-Listeners - What did you think? Please send some feedback to the show email (RichAndKeith? [at] gmail.com) and let us know.
-Also, if you have any topics you would like to have us cover, let us know.

Link: http://

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Listener Feedback

From listener Steve Murawski....

Hey guys,

I was listening to show #10 when you read my comment. I am the same Steve that was on Technorama. Thanks for noticing! I had a great time on Technorama and hope to become more active in the podcasting community.

In regards to a code of ethics, LOPSA has a SysAdmin?'s code of ethics which you agree to if you join. http://lopsa.org/CodeOfEthics.

Thanks for the show! Steve

[KEITH] Thanks Steve. I was not aware that LOPSA had a Code of Ethics as well. That little nugget will get rolled into our next Special Topics Episode which will revolve around this topic. Thanks for getting involved in the community and we look forward to hearing more from you. And thanks for posting a pin in the Frappr map.

Comment from Jay.....

Glad to see that you are putting your newly found free time to good productive use Keith… The site looks great. See you in a couple weeks.

[KEITH] Jay is a friend of mine and former co-worker that is now back at Rich's company. He's actually in my old position (sort of) so he's obviously jealous of my free time to be able to work on the podcast. I'll see him in a couple of weeks at his wedding which will probably be a bit of a reunion with some former co-workers as well.

[KEITH] Lastly, thanks to Dan Orth from Black Earth, WI for posting a pin on the Frappr map.

News Items
NOTE TO RICH & TED: You can add more/other stories. These were just potentials.

NJ Town Planning Beach Of The Future

This is Ocean City, NJ which is a popular shore-point destination for people here in the Philadelphia area.
"At the beach of the future, high tide will meet high tech. Visitors will wear wristbands that automatically debit their bank accounts or credit cards to pay for beach access, food and parking. Garbage cans will e-mail cleanup crews when they're ready to be emptied."
"And people won't even think about trying to sneak in: Beach checkers could scan the sands with handheld devices and instantly know who didn't pay. This southern New Jersey city plans to deliver a variety of public services and Internet access using radio-frequency identification chips and Wi-Fi wireless technology. The $3 million project is expected to be finished by next summer."
"Last year, Ocean City spent more than $282,000 to pay 170 badge checkers. "
"Even the trash cans on this beach would be high-tech. Special solar-powered units would have sensors that, when the container is three-quarters full, would automatically send an e-mail to the public works department asking a worker to come empty them."

[Keith]

A. How much revenue do they generate from beach tags to justify spending anything on 'Badge Checkers'
B. Who in the world wants to play with their laptop on the beach?
C. Beach Tags cost $20/each. Children under 12 exempt.....

[Rich]

[Ted]

Link: http://www.physorg.com/printnews.php?newsid=104562985

Dude gets Windows BSOD message tattooed on his arm

[Keith] Not sure why you would want to do this, but I've seen worse tattoos.

[Rich]

[Ted]

Link: http://modblog.bmezine.com/wp-content/uploads/200707261209-pix1.jpg

Google bidding on 700Mhz spectrum Submitted by Doug

For the FCC’s upcoming auction for the 700MHz spectrum, Google has set aside $4.6 billion (the FCC’s reserve price) to bid on it. But - only if four “principles of openess” are met to give consumers a wider choice in broadband services. The openess will also increase healthy competition between providers. The four principles Google wants the FCC to require are:

  • Open applications: consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they like;
  • Open devices: consumers should be able to utilize their handheld communications device with whichever wireless network they prefer;
  • Open services: third parties (resellers) should be able to acquire wireless services from a 700 MHz? licensee on a wholesale basis, based on reasonably nondiscriminatory commercial terms; and
  • Open networks: third parties (like ISPs?) should be able to interconnect at any technically feasible point in a 700 MHz? licensee’s wireless network.

[Keith]

[Rich]

[Ted]

Link: http://www.ministryoftech.com/2007/07/20/google-to-bid-46-billion-on-700-mhz-spectrum/ ==

Novell wins rights to Unix copyrights

'+SCO also owes Novell for licensing revenue paid by Sun and Microsoft+'

Author:Nancy Gohring
Source:Computer World
  • This article descibes how this should be good news for the Linux community. As well as
that SCO loses money's it thought it had won.
*Novell winns so does this mean Linus wins
*How does that work you get sued and the complaining party pys out?
*I don't know though Novell has aligned itself with Microsoft?
* What does this mean to SCO Unix, will they be damaged to the point they will be bought out or closed?
*

[Keith]

[Rich]

[Ted]

Link: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9030298&intsrc=hm_list

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Rich's Topics

  • Stolen I-Pods - What can we do?
Chris Hansen Hidden report
I listened to this o the radio as I was driving. But wow with all that technology why can't we track stolen electronics.
Is it because absolute power corrupts absolutely? By that I mean if we give someone the ability to track where our stolen electronics are doesn't it also allow them to use this information for other purposes?
Is it because there is a cost associated with this? Would it cost Apple more to manage the recovery process? Or wouldn't most consumers actually pay more to be able to know they has abetter chance than about 1% of getting back a handheld device that many store information they find personally valuable.
-Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20078671/
  • OLPC Update
Tells why Intel and OLPC made-up
Will Intel Play fair after getting technology that OLPC ceated?
-Link: http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/27/technology/fastforward_negroponte.fortune/index.htm?section=money_fastforward
  • More OLPC Info

Article:Will This Laptop Change the World? Author:Jim Rapoza Date: August 9, 2007 How many ways can the OLPC project show up traditional manufactors? --Security "All XOs? are shipped in an inactive and nonfunctioning state. When they arrive at their final destination, a trusted person on-site activates the laptops using a special USB key. If a system is subsequently stolen or lost, it can be remotely deactivated and rendered nonfunctional.

The XO also uses a system called Bitfrost that implements many security best practices to limit the access rights of applications, files and users. "

Hey, Apple did you see this? Make your I-PODS do this and I don't think people will find them as atractive to steel. I know they will develope hawks to enable them agian. But it seems like steeling is a casual sport right now.

There at this point seesm to be technology that and inovation that the main manufactors can learn from. But in the spirit of good global citizenship, maybe they could donate to the OLPC based on a percentage like 1% or even .5% of any product that they deemed improved by the inovation developed by this project. I mean this would appear more like a partnership than a short term donation.

Source Link:http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2168763,00.asp OLPC - where is it's support structure? Title:"Perspective: Is the $199 PC doomed to fail?" Author:By Stephen Dukker Source:MSN Tech and Gadgets this article does put out a simple question. Where is the "IT EcoSystem?"? Exact who will fix these PC's and there components? I know they are designed not to break very easily. But they will break, so who will fix them? Link:http://tech.msn.com/products/articlecnet.aspx?cp-documentid=5218102

-I know that I use the KiXtart? scripting language, I have printed out the manual which is very detailed. This quick referencs I find covers most of the primary commands I use.
-Link: http://tiger.la.asu.edu/Quick_Ref/KiXtart_QuickRef.pdf
  • ''Story about manure used to produce natural gas"

Title:"Manure power goes live in Texas" Author:By Michael Kanellos, Staff Writer, Source CNET News.com Link:http://tech.msn.com/guides/green/articlecnet.aspx?cp-documentid=4594657

On MSN Tech and Gadgets I was readin through a blog titled are "Are Dell computers bad to buy?" I was suprised at how many people had no idea how to distinguish between what was a manufactor related problem and software related.

AMBEJL says "I bought one my freshman year of college, and by the time my sophomore year rolled around it was, basically, on its last legs. It would shut off randomly, move incredibly slow, and the cd drive didn't work anymore. Luckily, my brother is amazing and somehow fixed it, " It sounds to me like he had some well know problems and was not updating OS.

English man In spain said"They used to be called Digital and I remember working on the PDP 11, so they have a bit of history, and in general know what they are doing." Is this true I though Digital went belly up and was a Canadian company?

MySpace? - bent Twisted"The issues of hardware failure are universal, and not limited to one manufacturer. The same can be said for software and Operating Systems. As long as they exist, there will be failures, viruses, and software/hardware incompatibilities. That's why there is Tech Support for all the larger builders." Yes but the quality of the tech support is a valid way to assess the company.

Keith's Topics

  • PCI Is Security Simplicity, Not Complexity
-Payment card industry data security: the standard that makes people stupid
->-by Ben Rothke
-There is something odd about the payment card industry (PCI) standard that seems to make relatively smart people instantly dim-witted and complain about its so-called complexity. The irony is that PCI, as the standard is called, is one of the best things to happen to the security of consumer data, yet many think it is as complex as rocket science.
-A quick review of these 12 items reveals a textbook outline of the fundamentals of information security. They reflect attention to detail and risk management. One can sum up PCI in a single word: pragmatic. It takes a realistic approach to the problems of consumer credit data and applies a common sense set of security solutions. PCI takes a narrow focus on what it attempts to solve, as opposed to Sarbanes-Oxley, which lacks any form of specific detail. PCI is a godsend for the protection of consumer credit card data.
-Michael Mathews, chief operating and technology officer at security-services company CynergisTek? states The issue really is that these merchants have created their networks with little to no thought to security and privacy. They have placed minimal controls on their users, given no direction to their application developers, nor documented required procedures for their administrators on how the network should be managed. Merchants are not noncompliant due to PCI DSS; they are noncompliant because they never developed their security programs in the first place.
-He also contends that the costs of meeting the requirements do nothing to boost a retail company’s bottom line, with no direct return on investment. Recent events demonstrate otherwise. Had TJX Companies better developed its security posture, it would likely not be facing myriad law suits.
-Rather than making excuses about how difficult or costly PCI is, companies need to step up to the plate and start taking security seriously. They need to get a clear roadmap of their priorities and ensure they are accomplished to meet the minimal security requirements.
-I agree with Ben on everything in theory, but....
-My question to Ben is, "Have you ever managed a project to bring a single system into compliance and what were the circumstances?"
-Why don't you go back to BBN, the W3C?, and IETF and tell them they didn't design their networks and protocols with the ultimate in security in mind. Of course they didn't and neither did companies with CC processing networks. It was a different world back then. The challenge then was to make it work at all, not the security aspect for which threats didn't even exist. I'm not making excuses, I'm just telling you how it was.
-Why yes, Mr. Ford it certainly is a nice vehicle you designed there. Model A you call it? But, where are the seat belts, air bags, and anti-lock brakes.
-Also, most companies are reliant on their software vendors to bring them into compliance and the process was delayed until these vendors ironed out their issues.
-Also, not every system can be updated to meet the requirements. Technical challenges (database and encryption for example), vendors out of business, etc. It may be cost prohibitive to replace the software vs. not taking cards. Try living in the real world and you'll see that these things happen.
-Not only that, there was a lot of confusion (in my experience) as to what level you fell into for compliance requirements. The PCI alliance took years to tell my former company which level they met for compliance efforts. We had things under way prior to that, but until we got a clear direction, the bean-counters wouldn't commit the money.
-Link: http://www.cio.com/article/127555?source=nlt_cioenterprise
  • Symantec SMTP Security giving me more problems.
-Anyone out there use this package?
-It really is becoming a thorn in my side. Now the services are suddenly stopping on me. I research on the KnowledgeBase? and get nothing.
-The reporting is horrible compared to the old version (which wasn't BrightMail?).
-I'm mostly venting, but this was a forced upgrade and I don't feel I've upgraded anything more than the amount of time I have to spend managing this product.
-Link: http://
-Security update for the .NET 2.0 Framework. Failed on two servers through WSUS and couldn't install it manually.
-Wound up having to download/install the MS Installer Clean-Up utility and yank .NET 2.0
-Then reload .NET 2.0 and all subsequent security patches.
-I researched it online and found other issues with the patch, but not exactly what I was experiencing.
  • Audit use of USB devices on the PC's in your network
-DeviceLok - which sells a software package that lets you block users from connecting certain types of devices to their computer via USB also offers a free Auditor package.
-Lets you scan a subnet, OU, or pretty much any list of computers or IP addresses and it gives you a list of the USB devices that have been plugged in and whether they are active.
-While I don't have too much of a need to lock this down, the utility was nice to do a scan and find out who uses the devices. I as surprised to find some users who I never thought would use a USB thumb drive, did so.
-Link: http://www.protect-me.com/devicelock_plug_and_play_auditor.html
  • Wi-Spy Spectrum Analayzer
-Not sure if I mentioned this device before, but it rocks. I picked up the first generation for $99. It looks like the second generation one supports .11n and has a removable antenna for $399. You can still get the original for $199. It's still a bargain if you do a lot of wireless installations or troubleshooting and you compare to what other wireless spectrum analyzers cost.
-There is a new version of the software which you can use to put the devices out like a remote sensor network and attach to the servers remotely.
-Would be nice for remote locations if they don't have the ability to interpret the results, you can do it remotely.
-Even if you don't have the device, you can download the software and they have recorded scans of different scenarious like a microwave oven and a device on Channel 1. Pretty neat to see how it works.
-Link: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/9558/
-Link: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/80ce/
-Link: http://metageek.net/Home/

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Website Picks

Rich - VBS.TV? Strange online Tv replacement, But the following link is why I found it. I really can't explain just visit it. http://www.vbs.tv/player.php?bctid=769728171&bccl=QkFMTFNfX0VUQw==

Ted - http://

Keith - http://http://npa.rmlabs.net/ Ever get a phone call and only have the phone number from the CallerID and you have no idea where it's from? use this little utility to find out geographically where the call came from. I used to keep a printed area code map on the wall at my desk to cross-reference the caller ID when I got a call from an unrecognized number. That map hasn't been updated in a while, so this site would work better. It's not good with most cell numbers, but if you work with people around the country this comes in handy. NPA = Number Planning Area

Last Call

Anyone....Anyone....Buehler.....Buehler....

Closing

All right, well that is it for the show. For listener feedback; you can email us at RichandKeith? [at] gmail.com or you can post a comment on the main site at ACoupleOfAdmins.com or, if you use iTunes, write a review. Lastly, you can drop any show ideas or topic requests on the wiki. There is a link to the wiki on the main show site. If you would like to participate in the show; either through an interview, a segment contribution, or any other way, please let us know.

Thanks everyone.