Windows Fork Bomb (and Linux too)

 Lifestyle  No Responses »
Sep 292010
 

Just something fun for your week. Here’s how to crash your system (or at least make it hang there).

Open up a command prompt and type the below.
[sourcecode language="bash"]
C:>copy con a.bat
%0|%0
^Z //Ctrl + Z and hit enter
C:>a.bat
[/sourcecode]

Or to make it crash even faster -
[sourcecode language="bash"]
C:>copy con a.bat
:s
start %0
goto :s
^Z //Ctrl + Z and hit enter
C:>a.bat
[/sourcecode]

And of course for Linux machines, you can do the following in a bash terminal.
[sourcecode language="bash"]
: ( ) { : | : & } ; :
[/sourcecode]

To find out more about Fork Bombs, check out Wikipedia.

Lenovo’s Lewis Hamilton Tea Session

 Personal, Technology  1 Response »
Sep 272010
 

I was invited by Lenovo to meet up with Lewis Hamilton for Tea on the 1st day of the Formula One racing competition in Singapore, and check out some of the Lenovo’s newest laptops, netbooks and desktops.

This photo is probably the best of Lewis Hamilton looking directly at my camera. It’s just brilliant.

Here are all the photos I took.

Nexus One Manual Update to Froyo 2.2.1

 CodeAndroid, Technology  No Responses »
Sep 262010
 

The update got pushed out a few days ago, but for those who haven’t gotten the update (like myself), here are the instructions to update your Nexus One. This update is mainly bug fixes.

Update instructions are as follows:

  • Download the Android 2.2.1 firmware for the Nexus One Here (FRF91 to FRG83 update)
  • Rename the file update.zip and copy it to your microSD card via USB. [Note: make sure the file is named update.zip and not update.zip.zip.]
  • Power down your Nexus One
  • Hold down the “Volume Down” button as you power the phone back on.
  • A screen should appear showing your phone’s system searching for various files. Scroll down to “recovery” and press the “Power” button.
  • When you see the triangle with an exclamation point symbol, press the “Power” and “Volume Up” buttons at the same time.
  • From the menu that appears, select “Apply sdcard:update.zip.”
  • When the screen displays “Install from sdcard complete” select “reboot system now” and wait for the phone to power back up. (this will take some time)

F# in Education Workshop

 Languages  No Responses »
Sep 222010
 

For those living near or in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., there’s an F# in Education Workshop happening there on the 5th November 2010. The workshop will investigate F# as a possible teaching language, as well as its use in industry. A highlight will be developments in cross-platform issues. The venue is Microsoft’s vibrant New England Research and Development Centre on the scenic Charles River within reach of MIT, Harvard and Boston Universities. Register now.

 Posted by at 09:30  Tagged with:

ASP.NET Security Vulnerability Exploit

 Security, Web Development  No Responses »
Sep 212010
 

Since I’ve posted about the flaw and how to fix it, here’s how to actually exploit it. The exploit is called “Padding Oracle Exploit Tool” if you want to do a search on it.

You can download the POET script at http://netifera.com/research/. Apparently this exploit works for Apache MyFaces too as seen below.

Remember, exploit responsibly. Have fun!

ASP.NET Security Vulnerability

 Web Development  1 Response »
Sep 202010
 

Recently, a newly uncovered ASP.NET security vulnerability was presented and distributed at a hacker conference last weekend. The gist is that the encryption can be compromised by examining the error codes from the server. This means your sensitive information can be compromised if you are using the ViewState to store them, or your web.config file.

Fix? Set the customErrors in your web.config file to show a common error file as described in the Microsoft Security Advisory (2416728) to limit the discovery of error codes from the server.

For more information regarding this hack, you can read a post by Microsoft Security Research and Defense on Understanding the ASP.NET Vulnerability and Scott Guthrie’s Blog on Important: ASP.NET Security Vulnerability.

IE9 Beta Release on 15th September

 Technology, Web Development  No Responses »
Sep 142010
 


The wait is over for the newest beta version of Microsoft’s browser, Internet Explorer 9. Starting on September 15, 2010 (PDT), users will be invited to download this newest test version. Internet Explorer 9 offers substantial improvements the current version including: a streamlined interface, full hardware-accelerated HTML5, modern SVG and native JavaScript integration, support for the Web Open Font Format as well as faster overall performance. The new Internet Explorer 9 Beta provides a more secure, stable and fast browsing experience.

Internet Explorer 9 Beta is compatible with Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7 PCs. It is not available for earlier versions of Windows Vista or with PCs running Windows XP.

Find out download details and more at beautyoftheweb.com.

I’m still alive…

 Personal  No Responses »
Sep 082010
 

Sorry I’ve been really busy with work for the past 2 weeks. I’ll be back blogging again soon. There are lots of backlog articles I’ve yet to write, so look out for it. Hope to see you guys soon. Cheers!

- Justin