How to Store Other Stuffs on Flickr

As soon as Flickr announced the free space upgraded to 1TB,  people start to think what else we can store on Flick, in which I already mentioned that in my earlier post:
http://outdatedpenanguncle.blogspot.com/2013/05/flickr-is-now-1tb.html


Within 1 or 2 days, Reddit user rlaw68 posted the method that we can use on Windows, which is to hide any file behind a picture. Read about the detail at Reddit link below:
http://redd.it/1et454

That method is something similar that I used to transfer files across the pacific ocean. Since each sftp has it's cap speed, so I split a 1GB file into smaller chunks and transfer it with 10 xterms, there are a lot of manual works, but it is so much better to wait for an hour plus. With my method, I can transfers the 1GB from Penang to California within 10 to 15 minutes. Sometimes I have a dir with many more sub-dirs that is also more than 1GB, what I did was tar it, zip it and split it. After the files has been sftp to another side, just use cat to combine back the file, unzip and untar. Everything can be done within 20 minutes. Some other engineers didn't know this method, so they always ended up waiting one whole day just to transfer a 1GB tar file from Penang to California. If they have one week to complete the work, they used up 20% just to transfer file (1 week is 5 working days).

Back to this storing other files on Flickr, I tried it with hiding behind a gif file and also tried on jpg, both has been flag as error b Flickr. After a few times of trial and errors, I realized that maybe Windows is the problem. (Win7 64bit btw).

Since I have cygwin (a linux command prompt on Windows), so I switch to use cygwin, using the same method, but now is on cygwin, not Windows' command prompt. With just one attempt, it works! Flickr recognized it as the gif file and downloading it back prove that the file still can be use. There was another post on the wild wild web which was for MacOS. I would think MacOs would work, because MacOS is based on linux anyway.

So here is the method:

1. Install cygwin if you don't have it on your Windows. [It will be a long and painful process, download the setup file and run the setup file, wait for the setup file to download more file, but it was worth the waiting because I can run many file processing scripts on my Windows the way I wanted to on linux. ]
www.cygwin.com

2. Open cygwin, cd to the dir you want to hide the file behind the gif or jpg.

3. Do this command:
$ cat cover.gif Testing.zip > Testing.gif

4. Upload it to Flickr, and Flickr is happily show it as a picture file.

Done.

When you want to retrieve the file, click on the picture, choose to download original size of this photo. After the file is downloaded, open it with 7zip or WinRAR. WinZip will not works, which is why I have been using 7zip so many years that 7zip is the first software to install on every new Windows. To be exact, I don't install it, I just copied it from back up because it is portable!

Good luck!

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source: I wrote this!

Best of Hacks 2012

XDA TV present, Best of Hacks 2012. See if you would want to try out another of the hacks on your Android smartphone/tablet/phablet.

Warning: you might void the warranty of your Android by doing any hack. I am not responsible of any of the problem if you want to try any of these hacks.





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source: XDA

How to Downgrade to Gingerbread for Samsung Galaxy Note

I said this too many times, but I still want to say this, XDA members are wonderful and talented people. This time XDA member thehackersz posted the guide on how to downgrade to Gingerbread from ICS on Samsung Galaxy Note.

Why do we want to downgrade when we supposedly upgrade the OS? Sometime it might be loosing the root, sometime it might be buggier than we thought, and some might don't like the new OS. For whatever reason, downgrade sometime is the only option.

So here is the method:
- download any GB custom rom, copy to your sdcard
- download jBroid Kernel Cleaning, copy to yout sdcard
- download AbyssNote v4.2 kernel, copy to your sdcard
- download CF LPY kernel, EXTRACT zImage and copy to you sdcard.
- Mobile Odin, flash zImage
- reboot to CWM recovery
- flash jBroid Kernel Cleaning
- flash AbyssNote v4.2 kernel
- reboot recovery
- flash new GB custom rom
- flash new kernel (if you prefer other than AbyssNote kernel)
- FULL WIPE
- REBOOT

For the full thread, go to this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1654721

Warning: for International Samsung Galaxy Note only
Warning: you might brick your Samsung Galaxy Note in the process, be careful and I am not responsible if anything bad happen to your Samsung Galaxy Note.



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source: XDA forum

Overclock for Samsung Galaxy S 2

XDA is just a wonderful place. You can find all sorts of apps for your smartphone (they even have a section for certain dump phones), all for free! So to overclock your Samsung Galaxy S2, read more after the jump......

Flatbed scanner becomes multitouch panel

Someone from hackaday.com demonstrated his creation of multitouch panel by using components from old flatbed scanner. See the video after the jump.

hack and access any webcam?

Can we hack and access any webcam that is hook up to internet? Well, according to this guy he claim that he can, see the video after the jump:

Hacking video screens in Times Square

It is very expensive to advertise at Times Square, NY, or any other metropolitan, so someone come out any idea to hack or override the signal feeding into the big screen.

TweakUI for Windows 7 (and Vista)

Microsoft never and will not release TweakUI (so far) for Windows 7. So if you don't find it comfortable to edit the registry of Windows 7 and Windows Vista, there a freeware tool out there for you to use.

How to change boring Office Communicator to not so boring

Do you use MS Office Communicator? Many companies actually allow Office Communicator, but block Windows Live Messenger (WLM) at the office. But communicator is very boring, super boring.

Keep emails and attachments on Storage Card for PPC

Free up your PPC device/internal memory by storing emails and attachments on storage card. The default setting on PPC is to store emails and attachment on internal memory, this create problem when you have a lot of emails and big attachments, it will eventually used up all the internal memory on your PPC.
As we know for PPC, the internal memory is limited to 64M(older PPC)/128M/256M(newer PPC), even you have 512M internal memory, it is still limited (sharing with other programs/files as well).
Okay, for PPC with build-in extended memory like Omnia, you should be fine, but I am not sure the default setting on Omnia is to store emails/attachments on device memory or extended memory (Too bad my brother sold his Omnia few month back, else I can check, if you know, please share with me :) )

Here are the steps:
1. Using the file manager in activesync or PPC (like Total Commander), create the following folders on your Storage Card.

\MAPI
\MAPI\ATTACHMENTS

Or you can name them whatever you want, "Inbox" or "Emails" for example.

2. Now browse to \Windows\Messaging (SmartPhone) or \Windows\MAPI (PocketPC)

Do this step only if you want to save all of your existing mail, move everything in this directory to the new ones on your Storage Card. I sync my emails from PC to PPC, so I don't need to keep them (I skip this step).

3. Now use your registry editor (again, Total Commander can do this job) and navigate to the following registry:

For WM5 Phones: [ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MAPI ]
For WM6 Phones: [ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Inbox\Settings ]

Then create the following STRING VALUES. Remember to use the paths you created in Step1, if you named them other than MAPI.

Name: AttachPath
String: \Storage Card\MAPI\Attachments

Name: PropertyPath
String: \Storage Card\MAPI

4. Reboot/soft reset your PPC. For WM5, do wait for a while before you soft reset because the system need some time to save the registry. WM6 don't have this problem, you can soft reset immediately.
You should able to see your emails and attachments. If not, double check the string and path your added in registry are match the dir you created in Step1.

Enjoy!

p/s: I just perform these steps few days back after I hard reset my HTC Touch Elfin on Apr25, 2010. So I proved this is working for WM6.1!

also visit all the post related to HTC Touch on this blog:
http://outdatedpenanguncle.blogspot.com/search/label/HTC%20touch
also visit all the post related to tips on this blog:
http://outdatedpenanguncle.blogspot.com/search/label/tips
also visit all the post related to WinMo on this blog:
http://outdatedpenanguncle.blogspot.com/search/label/WinMo


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Windows or Macs, it still could be attack by hacker!

Just please careful, either on Windows or Macs. Read the news below:

Security Lessons Learned from Pwn2Own Contest

The CanSecWest security conference is going on this week in Vancouver. Part of the CanSecWest conference is the annual Pwn2Own contest where security researchers show off their hacking expertise and compete to exploit and compromise fully-patched systems--a challenge the security researchers seem to overcome with surprising ease year after year.

Two security researchers succeeded in exploiting a fully-updated iPhone 3GS in a matter of seconds--the first time the iPhone 2.0 has been hacked . Charlie Miller, famous for compromising a fully-patched Macbook the past two years, succeeded once again in hacking the Macbook to take the Pwn2Own prize. Another researcher bypassed Microsoft security controls like ASLR and DEP to compromise a 64-bit Windows 7 system.

There are two lessons for businesses to learn about security here, right off the bat. First, using Apple hardware and software is not an adequate defense, in and of itself. Despite the common perception that the Mac OS X operating system is just inherently more secure than Windows, the reality is that the primary reason Macs aren't attacked and compromised more often is that the platform with 92 percent market share promises malware developers a significantly higher return on investment than the platform with 5 percent market share.

Ironically, while there are admittedly no real malware threats circulating in the wild for the Mac OS X platform, the perception of inherent security makes Mac users more vulnerable in other ways. Many Mac users are so sure that the platform is impervious that they are oblivious to security concerns at all. Unfortunately for them, phishing attacks and identity theft are a function of social engineering more than security technology, and the lack of awareness makes Mac users more gullible.

The second lesson from Pwn2Own is that the browser is the new Achilles heel of security regardless of the hardware or software platform. The iPhone hack leveraged an unknown vulnerability in the Safari mobile Web browser. The Macbook attack by Charlie Miller also went through the Safari Web browser to get to the operating system. And, the 64-bit Windows 7 compromise relied on an exploit of Internet Explorer 8.

Contrary to the mantra to abandon Internet Explorer for "more secure" Web browsers, though, a recent study actually showed Internet Explorer 8 to perform significantly better than other browsers in defending against socially-engineered attacks. The operating system platform the browser is running on also has a significant impact on the security of the browser.

The number one lesson to take away from the Pwn2Own contest, though, isn't about which platform is more secure, or which browser was hacked the fastest. The important lesson to learn is that all platforms and browsers are vulnerable to an attacker with sufficient dedication and resources.

There is a common misperception that the targets of the Operation Aurora attacks earlier this year in China could have avoided being exploited and compromised had they just used a Web browser other than Internet Explorer.

This perception assumes that the attackers discovered a security hole in Internet Explorer, developed an exploit for it, and then sought out targets that use Internet Explorer as the default Web browser to attack and compromise. This logic seems reasonable because it fits--more or less--with the traditional model for malware attacks.

However, a targeted attack takes the opposite approach. A targeted attack identifies a target, researches what operating system, applications, and Web browser are used by the target, and then examines those products to find security vulnerabilities and develops exploits specifically aimed at compromising that specific target.

Using Mac OS X instead of Windows 7, or using Google Chrome instead of Microsoft Internet Explorer will not prevent a dedicated attacker from mounting a targeted attack.

I am not suggesting that you give up and simply abandon security. However, I am stressing that you not view anything as a security "silver bullet". It's not about choosing the right operating system, or the right Web browser, or even the right city.

Regardless of those choices, awareness and common sense are still the deciding factors in remaining secure. The Pwn2Own exploits against the iPhone and the Macbook both relied on luring the user to a malicious Web page to execute the attack. If users are aware of security risks, and have the common sense not to click on unknown or shady links, attacks such as these would not succeed.

Maybe Apple should go ahead and approve that Opera Mini Web browser for the iPhone so users have another, possibly more secure option than Safari, though. Just in case.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/192419/security_lessons_learned_from_pwn2own_contest.html

Still using Windows XP r?

Yes. There are a lot of people still using Windows XP, especially those corporate users still using Windows XP because it is much much more stable than Windows Vista. And why do you need to upgrade to Windows7 if all your stuffs working in Windows XP? If using existing hardware to upgrade to Windows7, most of the time you will suffer, a lot! For small and medium companies, where got money to do these sort of crazy thing? So for Windows XP user out there, something for you to play with Windows XP setting. WARNING: for expert user only. Do not blame me if your computer/laptop/desktop/Windows XP corrupted or suffer some errors after try the stuffs below! :P

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx

10 cool things you can do with TweakUI:
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=1203