- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Another Raspberry ? Contender
by rowan schischka 25 Oct '16

25 Oct '16

on indiegogo i like the picture half way down of the VoCore2 inside an ethernet wall socket. seems like a perfect disposable spy tool. It wont hurt raspberry pi sales as it does not have video, its just a really small networking toy https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/vocore2-4-coin-sized-linux-computer-with… -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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Another Raspberry π Contender
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 25 Oct '16

25 Oct '16

Came across this mention <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20161024/09194835873/daily-deal-vocore2-m…> of the “VoCore2 Mini Linux Computer”. Usually, rivals to the Raspberry π fall down either in price (e.g. anything Intel-based) or in features (e.g. the BBC Micro:Bit). But this seems, at first sight, to hold its own in both areas. And it goes one better than the π in terms of size. Thoughts?

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nexdock
by rowan schischka 25 Oct '16

25 Oct '16

>NiceGear does sell an uninterruptilble power supply hat for the Pi. The problem with that UPS is its $50, 300mah, and supplies 15minutes of power. I want to run a pi on solar power 24/7. Iv run the pi3, idle, on my 20.000mAh for about two days; which means ill probably need a 10,000mAh battery. I say about two days because i did not run the battery flat, just down to one bar. I can't use the pack I have without re-wiring it because i need to press a physical button to switch it on and it won't supply power while its charging. Do you think a realtime clock would be necessary considering i can get time off a server? I'm also considering repurposing my old phone because it already has a battery, but it doesn't have much ram and is also running a very old unsupported android. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka +64226719711

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pi-top raspberry pi laptop
by rowan schischka 24 Oct '16

24 Oct '16

here the RS link for the raspberry pi laptop http://nz.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=i/pi-top -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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AGM
by Peter Reutemann 24 Oct '16

24 Oct '16

Hi everyone The WLUG AGM will be held November 28th. The agenda, as it stands at this stage, is as follows: - President's Report - Treasurer's Report - Election of 2017 Committee - General business (eg future of WLUG library, wording in the charter with regard to advertising of jobs using the wlug mailing list, etc) - Consumption of pizza Details can be found here: http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/233952391/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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nexdock
by rowan schischka 24 Oct '16

24 Oct '16

heres the laptop without a CPU that I mentioned last night. the crowd funding is over and you can't buy them anymore. Its not too different to a dock that motorola shipped about five years ago as a phone accessory. I hope more of these to hit the market, they should be good for the raspberry pi and ubuntu phones. RS electronics does sell a lap dock for the reaspberry pi but its expensive. http://nexdock.com http://www.phonearena.com/news/Motorola-Lapdock-100-hands-on_id24191 If anyone knows of a battery bank with passthrough id appreciate if you could pass on the model, it will be really useful for a solar project I want to do over summer. Cheers -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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android on raspberry pi
by rowan schischka 23 Oct '16

23 Oct '16

So iv been trying for two days to download the raspberry pi android image without success. the best i can achieve is 20/500mb. Can someone else please try? https://github.com/Android-RPi3/android_releases_rpi3/releases -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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www wobbles
by Ian Young 23 Oct '16

23 Oct '16

Recall the web as once we knew it before the financiers and crims took over? http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/10/21/dyn_dns_ddos_explained/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/10/21/dns_devastation_as_dyn_dies_under_d… David Gibson, VP of strategy at Varonis, noted: "Like many of our aging technologies, DNS wasn’t built with security in mind… DNS is one of the aging technologies the industry is struggling to update, along with one-factor authentication and unencrypted web connections – the list is very long, and the stakes have never been higher." Craig Young, a security researcher at Tripwire, added to the general concern: "As with most software designs from the 1980s, security was generally not considered when creating DNS. Because the web is so dependent on this system, it becomes a very visible point of failure as is the case today with service provider Dyn."

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meeting monday
by rowan schischka 22 Oct '16

22 Oct '16

Regarding the android pi installation I'm currently downloading android 6 from here https://github.com/Android-RPi3/android_releases_rpi3/releases I noticed that theres also an android 7 build but I don't have enough SD cards. if someone else wants to have a go at getting android 7 running on raspberry pi it needs to be built from source: https://github.com/peyo-hd/device_brcm_rpi3/tree/nougat -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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Fwd: [NZOSS OpenChat] expanding Europe's Linux Presentation Day to New Zealand
by Peter Reutemann 21 Oct '16

21 Oct '16

Apologies for cross-posting. Cheers, Peter ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Hauke Laging <hauke.laging(a)linux-presentation-day.org> Date: Fri, Oct 21, 2016 at 3:01 PM Subject: [NZOSS OpenChat] expanding Europe's Linux Presentation Day to New Zealand To: openchat(a)groups.nzoss.org.nz ― 1 file link ― Hello, in May 2015 Berlin's Linux user group (BeLUG) has started a new type of event which has spread quickly first in Germany and then all over Europe; despite our rather tiny organizational and finacial resources: the Linux Presentation Day (LPD) 2015.1: Berlin only 2015.2: 72 cities in three countries 2016.1: 110 cities in 10 countries 2016.2: 150+ cities in 14 countries (on October, 22nd) I contact you because we intend to expand the LPD beyond Europe next year. The main aim of the LPD is to provide biannual and comprehensive information events about Linux for private users who would like to get a first impression of Linux, i.e. for people who do not plan to install Linux yet because they know too little about it to be concretely interested in giving it a try on their own system. The LPD is not headed at happy Windows users. The other important aim is to make the event so big that the non-IT media cover it regularly so that over time the public becomes more familiar with the idea of Linux being an OS for normal computer users, too. The approach is to have many small and rather simple events which can be easily organized and even without costs. The local organizers decide on their own what their event shall be like; we just make suggestions and offer support. Making hosting an event easy broadens the spectrum of potential hosting organizations and leads to more locations. In Germany most events are hosted by associations (Linux user groups and hackspaces) and adult education centers. But companies, universities, and schools are involved, too. The aim is to have 1,000 locations in Germany in a few years. You can find a longer description of the concept here: http://www.linux-presentation-day.org/idea/ Even more information is on the German web site in case anyone understands German or is willing to try a translation service: http://www.linux-presentation-day.de/ueber/ Currently there are well working national organizers only in Germany (me) and Switzerland. We have contacted nearly all the hosting organizations abroad from Germany. Obviously the effectivity of this approach is limited and it probably would not get better if we tried this with countries on the other side of the world. Thus in your case I first try to get in touch with organizations which might help in setting up the national organizing so that in the best case we do not have to search for event hosts from here. A few questions: 1) Do you already have a similar event? 2) Are you as an organization interested in supporting the LPD? In the best case that would mean that you are willing to do the national organizing. But it could also mean that you are willing to just host an LPD event or that you support other hosting organizations as a sponsor. 3) If not: I assume that you are in contact with many people who might be interested in participating. Would you be willing to ask them whether they want to participate (as local event hosts or on the national level)? 4) Can you point me at other organizations which are well networked within the Linux community and might be helpful for getting the LPD started? CU Hauke -- http://www.linux-presentation-day.org/ International phone contact for the Linux Presentation Day: tel:+49-30-55579620 (13:00–23:00, German and English) XMPP (Chat with OTR): linux-presentation-day(a)jabber.ccc.de OTR: 91626899 1C06F2BD 75EC2441 35C696CE 38F75997 ― 1 file ― 📎 (585b) http://groups.nzoss.org.nz/r/file/xwrEUCtYgg2XWjNlQFN2CqROqlU-9r-2BdOyWU/ ―― View topic http://groups.nzoss.org.nz/r/topic/HpjKQN2I1NhTGxRrASG2L Leave group mailto:openchat(a)groups.nzoss.org.nz?subject=Unsubscribe Start groups https://OnlineGroups.net -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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“Most serious” Linux privilege-escalation bug ever is under active exploit
by Peter Reutemann 20 Oct '16

20 Oct '16

'A serious vulnerability that has been present for nine years in virtually all versions of the Linux operating system is under active exploit, according to researchers who are advising users to install a patch as soon as possible. While CVE-2016-5195, as the bug is cataloged, amounts to a mere privilege-escalation vulnerability rather than a more serious code-execution vulnerability, there are several reasons many researchers are taking it extremely seriously. For one thing, it's not hard to develop exploits that work reliably. For another, the flaw is located in a section of the Linux kernel that's a part of virtually every distribution of the open-source OS released for almost a decade. What's more, researchers have discovered attack code that indicates the vulnerability is being actively and maliciously exploited in the wild.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/10/most-serious-linux-privilege-escala… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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meeting next Monday
by Peter Reutemann 19 Oct '16

19 Oct '16

Hi everyone We have a meeting coming up next Monday: "Rowan Schischka will present his Ubuntu M10 tablet and also demonstrate installing/running Android on the Raspberry Pi. The new Raspbian desktop environment PIXEL will be taken for a test drive as well." -- details: http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/233762057/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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KDE’s 20th Birthday Celebrated By Re-Releasing KDE 1
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 17 Oct '16

17 Oct '16

The KDE Restoration Project has managed to (re)build KDE 1.1.2 to run on a more current Linux system. <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=KDE-20-KDE1-Re-Release>

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MTP protocol - why needed?
by Ian Young 16 Oct '16

16 Oct '16

Alas, more thread breaking in subject line. After a bit more reading on MTP it seems there is a rationale for its existence. That said, it appears that the protocol has not won universal acclaim.Some people are very scathing about it. In part my post was a bit overwrought as I had never heard of MTP, but then I have never used an Android phone until very recently. ~ Ian Y

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why i need this in my life?
by Ian Young 15 Oct '16

15 Oct '16

Apologies for extra posting bur after reading this article, what the botheration? Any phoneware suppliers out there not utterly fith? Good grief, Utterly random selection from something they say is the internet. http://www.howtogeek.com/192732/android-usb-connections-explained-mtp-ptp-a…

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raspberry PIXEL
by rowan schischka 15 Oct '16

15 Oct '16

Rasbian now has its own desktop environment called PIXEL https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/introducing-pixel/ Considering I'm already demonstrating android on raspberry pi, we may as well have a look at this new interface if we have time. Can I ask people to bring their old, unused micro SD cards; Iv got one but its already been written to with dd a few times, and I don't know how much life is left in it. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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elementary?
by Ian Young 15 Oct '16

15 Oct '16

Not a good review from dedoimedo. " Elementary OS 0.4 has some nice goodies, but they all completely over-shadowed by a slew of big bugs, heating issues, inconsistent behavior, poor multimedia support, weak smartphone support, non-existent Samba support, a less-than-ideal responsiveness of its desktop and apps, weird graphic artefacts and glitches, poor contrast, and a few others. This is just too much for an ordinary user to commit to. I'm particularly sad because Freya had started showing promise, but it's all gone now. Then again, Xerus really killed the Ubuntu line, so it comes as no surprise." http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/elementary-0-4-loki.html Anyone know what is this MTP protocol by the way? It sounds a bit surplus to requirements. Perhaps my phone is not smart enough?

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Ian S Was Right About DECnet Phase IV
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 14 Oct '16

14 Oct '16

Remember I said DECnet Phase IV couldn’t have been in existence in 1983? In fact, these documents <http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/decnet/phase_IV/> make it clear it was introduced in 1982.

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Security Economics Of The Internet Of Things
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 10 Oct '16

10 Oct '16

Basically, neither the buyers nor the sellers of these devices care about fixing the security problems, since the victims are usually somebody else. So the only way to solve them is via Government intervention. But this has to be done with international cooperation--no single country can do it. <https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2016/10/security_econom_1.html>

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Why Linus Torvalds Prefers x86 Over ARM
by Peter Reutemann 09 Oct '16

09 Oct '16

'Linus Torvalds answered a question about his favorite chip architecture at the Linaro Connect conference. An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes PCWorld: People are too fixated with the instruction set and the CPU core, Torvalds said. But ultimately "what matters is all the infrastructure around the instruction set, and x86 has all that infrastructure... at a lot of different levels. It's open in a way that no other architecture is... Being compatible just wasn't as big of a deal for the ARM ecosystem as it has been traditionally for the x86 ecosystem... I've been personally pretty disappointed with ARM as a hardware platform, not as an instruction set, though I've had my issues there, too. As a hardware platform, it is still not very pleasant to deal with." You can watch the whole half-hour conversation on YouTube. My favorite part is where Linus candidly acknowledges that "sometimes my grumpiness makes more news than my being nice... 99% of the time I'm a very happy manager, and I mentally pat people on the head all the time. That maybe then highlights the times when things don't work so well a bit more."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/10/09/0755231 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Persistent Memory At LinuxCon 2016
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 09 Oct '16

09 Oct '16

Seems like there is a lot of interest currently in “persistent memory” architectures (e.g. flash storage that doesn’t sit on the other side of a slow SATA interface). Quite a few different programming models and libraries are being developed to try to find the best approach to making efficient use of this resource <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Persistent-Memory-Linux-2016>. I suppose this is like the early days of disks (and drums, and tapes), when the first primitive filesystems were being developed. Anybody remember core memories? But they were never used this way...

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Looks Like Fedora 25 Will Default To Wayland
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 08 Oct '16

08 Oct '16

Wayland, the complete reworking of the antiquated X11 graphics/windowing architecture along more modern lines, has been many years in the development. Looks like it is finally ready for prime time <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Fedora-25-Wayland-Continues>.

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ISP GMX attempts the nigh impossible: PGP for the masses
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 07 Oct '16

07 Oct '16

Will this <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/10/06/pgp_email_service_gmx/> finally take secure e-mail mainstream?

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Linux is a new frontier for young developer
by Peter Reutemann 07 Oct '16

07 Oct '16

'When I was 17 years old, I started using Linux because I wanted a desktop that resembled my brother-in-law's Gentoo laptop, which used the KDE environment. Instead, I got the now-nostalgic brown and orange GNOME 2 environment because I'd installed Ubuntu. (Ubuntu has since changed its color palette.) At the time, I couldn't go back to Windows Vista and I didn't ask my in-law for help. So I hunkered down and started learning. But I was scared of other Linux distributions and felt lucky that I could even get Ubuntu on my computer. I started to learn how to make my newly installed system look and feel how I wanted it to. For a year or so, I executed shell scripts with reckless abandon, as root, which downloaded icons and possibly zero-day exploits. GNOME-Look was a staple source for me. I had fun learning about all the free software that one could get through Ubuntu's software center and Synaptic. To be frank, I only cared that it was gratis. I was a kid and could not afford much of anything. But, the fact that a lot of software was free as in beer got me thinking and made me wonder why.' -- source: https://opensource.com/life/16/10/a-linux-journey Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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could it finally be
by Ian Young 07 Oct '16

07 Oct '16

Year of Linux on the Windows desktop? Sorry, just couldn't refrain :/

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Unity 8 Desktop Session Arrives in Ubuntu 16.10
by Peter Reutemann 06 Oct '16

06 Oct '16

'Added to the Ubuntu meta package, the new Unity 8 desktop session will be available to try on all new installs and upgrades of Ubuntu 16.10, but only as an alternate login session to Unity 7. Unity 8 is not -- repeat: not -- going to be the default session in this release. Shipping it as a preview session is a great idea. It means to try Unity 8 on Ubuntu 16.10 you won't need to install a set of packages, or faff around with special set-up, or add a PPA. When at the Unity Greeter (aka the login screen) just click the session selector button, followed by 'Unity 8,' and then proceed to login as normal.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/10/06/1650200 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Google Offers Landsat & Sentinel-2 Data On Its Cloud
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 06 Oct '16

06 Oct '16

Google is now offering another way to get hold of satellite imagery from NASA’s Landsat and the ESA’s Sentinel-2 program, using its cloud service <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/10/06/google_landsat_and_sentinel2_imager…>. This should mitigate the bandwidth bottlenecks, but maybe it doesn’t make navigating the files to find what you want any easier...

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BadKernel Vulnerability Affects One In 16 Android Smartphones
by Peter Reutemann 05 Oct '16

05 Oct '16

'A security bug in Google's V8 JavaScript engine is indirectly affecting around one in 16 Android devices, impacting smartphone models from all major vendors, such as LG, Samsung, Motorola, and Huawei. Despite this bug being public for more than a year, only in August 2016 have Chinese security researchers discovered that the V8 issue also affected a whole range of Android-related products where the older V8 engine versions had been deployed. Affected products included Google Chrome Mobile, Opera Mobile, apps that use the WebView component (Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, WeChat, etc.) and apps that deploy the Tencent X5.SDK (a bunch of Chinese apps). It is estimated that around one in 16 Android devices is vulnerable to this issue, nicknamed BadKernel. The flaw leads to a RCE on Android devices, allowing attackers to take full control over one's smartphone. Despite BadKernel being discovered in August 2016, because all research was only published in Chinese, most E.U. and U.S. users have no clue they might be affected. One of the best ways to protect yourself, as noted in the report, is to keep your apps and operating system updated. You can view this list via Trustlook's website to see if your device is affected. There's also a dedicated BadKernel security scanner you can download from the Play Store to check for the vulnerability.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/10/05/033233 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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New Project Lets You Install Arch Linux In the Windows Subsystem For Linux
by Peter Reutemann 05 Oct '16

05 Oct '16

'Softpedia reports that there's a new project on GitHub, called alwsl, which promises to let you install the Arch Linux operating system on Windows 10's new WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) feature, which allows users to run native Linux command-line tools directly on the Windows operating system alongside their modern desktop and apps. For example, Canonical and Microsoft brought Bash on Ubuntu on Windows using the new WSL functionality. For now, the alwsl project, which is developed by a group of German developers that call themselves "Turbo Developers," offers a .bat file that you can use to install Arch Linux on a WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) host, but the software is in developer preview stage. The first stable release, alwsl 1.0 will be able not only to install Arch Linux on the Windows Subsystem for Linux host in Windows 10 editions that support it, but also to create and manage users and snapshots. Also, it looks like it will get rolling upgrades just like a normal Arch Linux installation gets. The final release is expected to launch on December 2016, and you can monitor its development progress on GitHub.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/10/05/1510203 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Encryption App Signal Wins Fight Against FBI Subpoena and Gag Order
by Peter Reutemann 05 Oct '16

05 Oct '16

'Signal, widely considered the gold standard of encrypted messaging apps, was put to the test earlier this year when a FBI subpoena and gag order that demanded a wide range of information on two users resulted in a federal grand jury investigation in Virginia. The makers of Signal, Open Whisper Systems, profoundly disappointed law enforcement. The app collects as little data as possible and therefore was unable to hand anything useful over to agents. "That's not because Signal chose not to provide logs of information," ACLU lawyer Brett Kaufman told the Associated Press. "It's just that it couldn't." "The Signal service was designed to minimize the data we retain," Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of Open Whisper Systems, told the New York Times. The subpoena came with a yearlong gag order that was successfully challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union. Signal's creators challenged the gag order as unconstitutional, "because it is not narrowly tailored to a compelling government interest." The challenge was successful. In addition to being popularly considered the best consumer encrypted messaging app available, Signal's technology is used by Facebook for Secret Conversations, WhatsApp for encrypted messages, and Google's Allo. Confronted with the subpoena, Marlinspike went to the ACLU for legal counsel. The ACLU responded with a letter saying that even though Signal did not have data the FBI sought, it still strenuously objected (PDF) to the fact the FBI wanted so much information.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/10/04/2144202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Apple, Google, Microsoft: We Have No Government Email Scanning Program Like Yahoo's
by Peter Reutemann 05 Oct '16

05 Oct '16

'Apple, Google and Microsoft -- three of the largest technology companies in the U.S. -- have each said they don't scan all incoming messages for the U.S. government, which is exactly what Yahoo does. According to Reuters, Yahoo secretly built a custom software program last year to search all of its customers' incoming emails for specific information provided by U.S. intelligence officials. The company complied with a classified U.S. government directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency or FBI. Vocativ reports: In a statement, a Microsoft spokesperson told Vocativ that "We have never engaged in the secret scanning of email traffic like what has been reported today about Yahoo." While Apple declined to give a statement on the record, a representative for the company did, in response to Vocativ's question, refer to CEO Tim Cook's official letter on consumer privacy, which reads in part: "I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will." The fact that both the companies declined further statement means it's not yet known if the NSA or FBI approached them to request they build a program like Yahoo's. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Alphabet's Google issued a statement to CNBC: "We've never received such a request, but if we did, our response would be simple: 'no way.'" [The spokesperson later clarified that the company has not received a "directive" or "order" to that effect, either, according to The Intercept.] But the question is whether or not you believe them. With Yahoo's case, only a handful of employees knew about the program. The same could be true with Apple, Google, Microsoft or any other large tech company. Edward Snowden tweeted not too long after Reuters' report surfaced: "Heads up: Any major email service not clearly, categorically denying this tomorrow -- without careful phrasing -- is as guilty as Yahoo."' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/10/04/2252242 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS Desktop Officially Released
by Peter Reutemann 05 Oct '16

05 Oct '16

'KDE will celebrate 20 years of activity on October 14, 2016, and they've just released the first LTS (Long Term Support) version of the KDE Plasma desktop environment. Prominent new features of KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS include support for desktop widgets, a new system-wide search functionality that promises to let users easily search their KDE desktops for everything they want, including apps, music, videos, files, folders, etc., a new tool to get hot new stuff for your KDE Plasma desktop, such as wallpapers, widgets, desktop effects, or window styles, and infinite customization possibilities. Moreover, KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS comes with a unified look for the default Breeze theme so that, no matter what type of application you're using (Qt4, GTK2, GTK3, or Qt5), it will look the same, mobile phone notifications, along with the ability to use your smartphone as a PC remote, transfer files or mute music during calls, all with the new KDE Connect plasmoid. There's also Right-to-Left (RTL) language support, simplified global shortcuts, improvements to many applets, and much better Wayland support. KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS will receive nine point releases until 2018. "Today KDE releases its first Long Term Support edition of its flagship desktop software, Plasma," reads the announcement. "This marks the point where the developers and designers are happy to recommend Plasma for the widest possible audience be they enterprise or non-techy home users. If you tried a KDE desktop previously and have moved away, now is the time to re-assess, Plasma is simple by default, powerful when needed."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/10/04/1941237 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Ubuntu 16.04 Available in Latest Insider Update To Windows 10
by Peter Reutemann 04 Oct '16

04 Oct '16

'The latest Windows 10 Insider preview -- build 14936 -- features Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. When a user enables the 'Bash on Ubuntu on Windows' feature for the first time, OMGUbuntu reports, Windows 10 now installs an Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial Xerus) image instead of Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr). From the report: The updated version of Ubuntu in the WSL only affects new instances, i.e., those created by running lxrun.exe /install or on the very first run of the bash.exe setup. It is possible to upgrade WSL instances from Ubuntu 14.04 to Ubuntu 16.04 manually by running the do-release-upgrade command. Other changes in the WSL in Build 14936 include support for chroot system call, epoll support for /dev/null and the ability for bash -c to redirect to a file.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/10/03/198222 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Security Design: Stop Trying To Fix The User
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 Oct '16

03 Oct '16

<https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2016/10/security_design.html>: The problem isn't the users: it's that we've designed our computer systems' security so badly that we demand the user do all of these counterintuitive things. Why can't users choose easy-to-remember passwords? Why can't they click on links in emails with wild abandon? Why can't they plug a USB stick into a computer without facing a myriad of viruses? Why are we trying to fix the user instead of solving the underlying security problem?

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Linux Should Soon Start Receiving "Make WiFi Fast" Improvements
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 Oct '16

03 Oct '16

Some improvements coming for Linux Wi-Fi code <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-Getting-Make-WiFi-Fast>. Not sure what the connection is to the Bufferbloat project: that is an attempt to reduce overall network latency by cutting down on excessively-large buffers inside various network components.

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Linux Mint Unveils New 'Mintbox Mini Pro' Desktop
by rowan schischka 02 Oct '16

02 Oct '16

Does anyone have a mintbox? I'm quite interested in these small silent devices. Iv seen some bad reviews of devices from aliexpress, there are significant reviews that complain the gigabit ethernet ports cant achieve advertised speeds. If you do have one, specifically a high power (i5/i7) one; can you please share some benchmarking results. Id like to see how CPU thermal throttling under load affects performance. Im thinking theres going to be a limit in CPU frequency, i.e. you wouldn't pay for for the high frequency, high power CPU if it throttles down to a cheaper CPU's performance -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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Multiple Linux Distributions Affected By Crippling Bug In Systemd
by Peter Reutemann 02 Oct '16

02 Oct '16

'System administrator Andrew Ayer has discovered a potentially critical bug in systemd which can bring a vulnerable Linux server to its knees with one command. "After running this command, PID 1 is hung in the pause system call. You can no longer start and stop daemons. inetd-style services no longer accept connections. You cannot cleanly reboot the system." According to the bug report, Debian, Ubuntu, and CentOS are among the distros susceptible to various levels of resource exhaustion. The bug, which has existed for more than two years, does not require root access to exploit.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/10/01/2155209 Cheers, peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Linux Mint Unveils New 'Mintbox Mini Pro' Desktop
by Peter Reutemann 01 Oct '16

01 Oct '16

'It's been 18 months since the original Mintbox Mini launched, and this week saw the release of the new Mintbox Mini Pro (which costs just $100 more). BrianFagioli quotes BetaNews: That extra money gets you a faster processor, more powerful graphics, double the storage, twice the RAM, improved Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and an additional Ethernet port... This diminutive desktop is the same size as the previously-released Mintbox... Thankfully, it retains the same cute appearance and Linux Mint branding. Their article calls it a "beautiful little computer that comes pre-loaded with Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon (64-bit)," and the Linux Mint blog promises this fanless device offers "better passive cooling thanks to an all-metal black housing" -- and comes with six different USB ports.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/10/01/0236245 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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The Arduino Split is Over, New Non-Profit Formed
by Peter Reutemann 01 Oct '16

01 Oct '16

'"Today is one of the best days in Arduino history," announced Massimo Banzi, Co-Founder of Arduino LLC, calling it "a new beginning" for Ardunio. Slashdot reader ruhri reports: Massimo Banzi and Federico Musto, co-founders of the Arduino Project, announced they have settled their differences that had resulted in the creation of Arduino LLC and Arduino SRL. A new, unified Arduino Holding and Arduino Foundation will be created. "Massimo Banzi and Federico Musto took the stage today at the New York Maker Faire to announce the good news," reports a blog post at Arudino.cc. "At the end of 2016, the newly created 'Arduino Holding' will become the single point of contact for the wholesale distribution of all current and future products... In addition, Arduino will form a not-for-profit 'Arduino Foundation' responsible for maintaining the open source Arduino desktop IDE, and continuing to foster the open source movement by providing support for a variety of scholarships, community and developer initiatives."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/10/01/1926242 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Asian Penguins turn program into a Linux success
by Peter Reutemann 30 Sep '16

30 Sep '16

"The Community School of Excellence (CSE) Asian Penguins are the world's first and only Linux user group based in a Hmong charter school. A failed Windows laptop program at the school was turned by the Asian Penguins into a Linux success." -- source: https://opensource.com/education/16/9/asian-penguins-convert-minnesota-scho… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Chromification Continues: Firefox May Use Chrome's PDF and Flash Plugins
by Peter Reutemann 30 Sep '16

30 Sep '16

'Mozilla announced today Project Mortar, an initiative to explore the possibility of deploying alternative technologies in Firefox to replace its internal implementations. The project's first two goals are to test two Chrome plugins within the Firefox codebase. These are PDFium, the Chrome plugin for viewing PDF files, and Pepper Flash, Google's custom implementation of Adobe Flash. The decision comes as Mozilla is trying to cut down development costs, after Firefox took a nose dive in market share this year. "In order to enable stronger focus on advancing the Web and to reduce the complexity and long term maintenance cost of Firefox, and as part of our strategy to remove generic plugin support, we are launching Project Mortar," said Johnny Stenback, Senior Director Of Engineering at Mozilla Corporation. "Project Mortar seeks to reduce the time Mozilla spends on technologies that are required to provide a complete web browsing experience, but are not a core piece of the Web platform," Stenback adds. "We will be looking for opportunities to replace such technologies with other existing alternatives, including implementations by other browser vendors."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/30/1524238 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Raspberry Pi Foundation Unveils New LXDE-Based Desktop For Raspbian Called PIXEL
by Peter Reutemann 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

'Until today, Raspbian shipped with the well-known and lightweight LXDE desktop environment, which looks pretty much the same as on any other Linux-based distribution out there that is built around LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment). But Simon Long, a UX engineer working for Raspberry Pi Foundation, was hired to make it better, transform it into something that's more appealing to users. So after two years of work, he managed to create a whole new desktop environment for Raspbian, the flagship operating system for Raspberry Pi single-board computers developed and distributed by Raspberry Pi Foundation. Called PIXEL, the new Raspbian desktop offers a more eye-candy design with the panel on top (not on the bottom like on a default LXDE setup), new icons, new Applications Menu, and new theme. "It's actually surprisingly easy to hack about with the LXDE desktop once you get your head around what all the bits do, and since then I've been slowly chipping away at the bits that I felt would most benefit from tweaking," reveals Simon Long. "Stuff has slowly been becoming more and more like my original concept for the desktop; with the latest changes, I think the desktop has reached the point where it's a complete product in its own right and should have its own name."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/29/1640251 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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starving journalists strike back
by Ian Young 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

As seen on theinquirer.net. While trying to read an article up came a message. 'Incisive Media publications, including INQ, are now blocking ad-blockers' One or two paragraphs are visible, the rest blurred. First time I've seen this. They want to be whitelisted.

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Government IT Contract Lock-In?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

The UK Government has an IT policy which says that no single contract should be worth more than £100 million. The idea is to try to break up cosy mega-contracts that favour large incumbent companies, in order to allow a wider range of suppliers to get a look in. This article <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/28/government_20bn_it_contract_lock_in…> is a result of a bunch of FOIA requests to different departments, to try to get an idea of how well this policy is being implemented. As you might expect, the results are somewhat mixed. Anybody know anything about the NZ situation?

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Quote Of The Week
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

>From <http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/containing/2986543>: It is almost as if ½bits do not understand that the purpose of a GUI is so you can see all the terminal emulators for a task at the same time, and switch to different virtual desktops when you are doing multiple unrelated tasks.

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Design For Design’s Sake
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

Nice commentary <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/28/open_source_insider_peak_web/> on what constitutes “good” or “bad” design: ... open source software might be the best designed software in existence. After all, FOSS software is everywhere. ... No one forced anyone to use it for all those things. ... Open source was simply, presumably, the best designed tool for the job. And today every where you turn open source software is there, which is pretty impressive for something that's supposedly very poorly designed. ... On the other hand the world is increasingly awash in software that looks very "modern" and "well designed" but is inevitably a functional step backwards from the previous version. ... I increasingly turn to FOSS software that helps me route around this damage.

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Open-Source Digital Radio On A Raspberry π
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 28 Sep '16

28 Sep '16

It is possible to run a DAB radio station on a Raspberry π with a full open-source software stack <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/27/ofcom_blesses_linuxpowered_open_sou…>. The idea has even received regulatory approval in the UK.

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Geek’s Guide To Britain: Cambridge University
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 26 Sep '16

26 Sep '16

Worth mentioning this installment in the semi-regular series on The Register because of its high computing content: Turing, Sinclair, and of course Acorn <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/26/geeks_guide_to_britain_walking_tour/>. Worth watching is “Micro Men”, a dramatization of the heyday of Sinclair and Acorn, and the rivalry between them. There is one nice sequence where Hermann Hauser, from a wealthy Austrian wine-making family, is asked why he wanted to get into the computing business and invest in Acorn. His reply: “Have you ever tasted Austrian wine?”

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Krebs On Security Back Online
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 26 Sep '16

26 Sep '16

The “Krebs On Security” blog was knocked offline recently by a massive DDoS attack. Akamai stepped in to shield it for awhile, until the malicious traffic grew too much for it to bear. So Brian Krebs had to take his blog offline. But now it is back, courtesy of Google taking over the shield. <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/26/google_shields_krebs/>

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Fwd: [NZLUG] Linux.Conf.Au 2017: Miniconfs announced; Sysadmin Miniconf CFP
by Peter Reutemann 26 Sep '16

26 Sep '16

Apologies for cross-posting, but I thought some of you might be interested in this. Cheers, Peter ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ewen McNeill Date: Tue, Sep 27, 2016 at 10:12 AM Subject: [NZLUG] Linux.Conf.Au 2017: Miniconfs announced; Sysadmin Miniconf CFP To: nzlug(a)lists.nzoss.org.nz Linux.Conf.Au 2017, being held in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, in January 2017, has announced the Miniconfs selected for the first two days of the conference: https://linux.conf.au/about/news/announcing-miniconfs/ https://linux.conf.au/schedule/miniconfs/list/ The Systems Administration Miniconf is pleased to have been selected again for LCA2017 -- our eleventh year at Linux.Conf.Au. Our Call for Presentations at the LCA2017 Sysadmin Miniconf is now open: https://sysadmin.miniconf.org/cfp17.html (A copy of the CFP text is included below for your convenience.) Please forward this CFP to your colleagues, peers, social networks, and other relevant mailing lists. Please help by encouraging submissions from people you would like to hear present at this Miniconf. This is our 11th Sysadmin Miniconf at Linux.conf.au. Previous presentations can be found at the website: https://sysadmin.miniconf.org/ -=+ Presentation Topics +=- We welcome talks on best current practice, new developments in Systems Administration, cutting edge techniques and technologies, and ways to better manage Linux environments large and small. Topics for presentations could include (but are not limited to): * Systems Administration Best Practice * Virtualisation and Cloud Computing * Containers and orchestration * Sysadmin Administration in a "serverless" environment (FAAS) * TLS everywhere * Monitoring and metrics: Collection, storage and presentation * Infrastructure/Platform/Software as a Service (IAAS, PAAS, SAAS) * Networkng: IPv6, SDN (Software Defined Networking), performance * DevOps, Configuration Management and provisioning * Bootstrapping systems, Lifecycle Management * Dealing with BYOD * Backups in a virtual/distributed world * Troubleshooting techniques * Buying Decisions * Web and Email management * Keeping legacy systems functioning * War stories from the "Real World" Presentations should be of a technical nature and speakers should assume that members of the audience have at least a couple of years experience in Unix/Linux administration. -=+ Format of Presentations +=- We are now seeking proposals for presentations at the mini-conference. We have openings for: 15-25 minute short presentations 5-10 minute "lightning talks" Please note, due to the single day available (and whole-LCA keynote before morning tea), we expect the majority of available timeslots to be 20 minutes or less, with possibly 1-2 slightly longer talks if there is space in the schdule. We have a general policy of accepting a high proportion of proposals but handing out relatively short timeslots. Please see previous years Miniconf schedules for examples of how the programme is organised. -=+ Submitting talks +=- Please note that in order to give a presentation or attend the Miniconf you must be registered (and paid up by the time the conference happens) for the main linux.conf.au conference. Presenting at the Miniconf does not entitle you to discounted or free registration at the main conference nor to priority with registration. Unfortunately the Miniconf has no budget for sponsorship of speakers. To submit a talk to the LCA2017 Sysadmin Miniconf, create an account on the LCA2017 website: https://linux.conf.au/dashboard create a speaker profile, and then select "New Proposal" and "System Administration Miniconf Presentation", or while logged into the LCA2017 site, go directly to: https://linux.conf.au/proposals/submit/sysadmin-miniconf/ If you have a preferred length of your Short Presentation (15/20/25 minutes) or Lightning Talk (5/10 minutes) please use the Private Abstract field to describe what would work best for your talk. Otherwise we will pick a length that best suits the gaps in the programme as we put the final programme together. In some cases we maybe able to add a few extra minutes to a few Short Presentations if there is any spare time left in the programme. -=+ Dates and Deadlines +=- To encourage early submissions, priority (both of inclusion and scheduling) will be given to presentations submitted by 23:59 UTC on the 23rd of October 2016. If you have a good presentation idea, please let us know early, even if you need time to finalise the presentation abstract. Please indicate if you need an early confirmation to aid you in arranging time off work or travel; we will do our best to assist. 2016-10-23 - Deadline for early submissions 2016-11-01 - Early submissions confirmation 2016-11-21 - Deadline for submissions 2016-11-30 - Confirmation of all presentations 2016-12-07 - Miniconf programme published 2017-01-16 - Sysadmin Miniconf held -=+ Contact and Questions +=- Please see our website at https://sysadmin.miniconf.org for more information on the miniconf, past presentations and presenting at it. If you have any questions please feel free to email the organisers at: lca2017 @ sysadmin.miniconf.org Ewen McNeill and Simon Lyall LCA2017 Sysadmin Miniconf Conveeners _______________________________________________ NZLUG mailing list NZLUG(a)lists.nzoss.org.nz http://lists.nzoss.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/nzlug -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Permanent job in Tokyo, Japan
by James Tobin 25 Sep '16

25 Sep '16

Hello, I’m working with an employer that is looking to hire someone to fulfil a permanent DevOps-type position at their office in Tokyo. Japanese language is not required; only English. Consequently I had hoped that some members of this LUG may like to discuss further; off-list. I can be reached using "JamesBTobin (at) Gmail (dot) Com". Kind regards, James

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free and open internet -- includes politics in the USA
by Ian Young 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

I always wanted to be an entity, albeit a tiny one. What about 'We the people'? http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-icann-ted-cruz-20160923-sna… But the federal government hasn’t run IANA for years. Instead, it hired the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to do that, with a minimum of supervision. ICANN was formed to make sure the entities with the largest stakes in the Internet — telecommunications companies, online service providers, researchers, equipment makers and, yes, governments — would jointly have a say in the creation and management of domains.

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SolidRun x86 Braswell MicroSoM Runs Linux and Full
by rowan schischka 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

I'm afraid this embedded machine will not be competing with raspberry at a total price of $157 (I'm assuming thats USD). something to compare it to in the x86 space: ASUS N3050I-C Motherboard, Mini-ITX retails for around $100NZD; comes with CPU soldered; does not come with PSU, ram, HDD, case. but altogether much more practical considering you're getting a real computer for the price. power consumption is around 6W. i guess its not as small considering it needs an ATX power supply, http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?itemID=433649 -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

1 0

Computer Security And The Ford Pinto Formula
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

With security breaches of company data happening so often nowadays, why aren’t these companies taking more effort to defend themselves? Could it be because the cost of doing so outweighs the cost of simply putting up with these breaches? <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/23/if_your_company_has_terrible_it_sec…>

2 2

double commander
by Peter Reutemann 23 Sep '16

23 Sep '16

Hi everyone Since I'm quite often dealing with 100s of thousands of files in single directories, I've always been on the lookout for a file manager that can handle that properly. The Midnight Commander, which is cross-platform, works perfectly. However, if your users aren't well accustomed to file manager that runs within a terminal, then you might want to give "Double Commander" a whirl: http://doublecmd.sourceforge.net/ Don't mind the slightly dated looking website. The file manager is where they spend their time on! ;-) Not as fast as the Midnight Commander, but when you turn off some eye candy (namely icons), you get pretty close. It also offers multiple tabs for each half of the dual pane setup, which is quite nice. And it beats Nautilus, Caja and Sunflower FM in performance by a few magnitudes. But wait! What about Gnome Commander? Well, it doesn't integrate that nicely into MATE (I'm running Linux Mint/MATE). Double Commander does a much better job at this. You can install the Commander's GTK interface like this on a Debian/Ubuntu system: sudo apt-get install doublecmd-gtk Or, if you prefer the QT interface: sudo apt-get install doublecmd-qt Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

SolidRun x86 Braswell MicroSoM Runs Linux and Full Windows 10, Destroys Raspberry Pi
by Peter Reutemann 23 Sep '16

23 Sep '16

'BetaNews has a report today about a company called SolidRun, which has announced an Intel Braswell-based MicroSoM. Unlike the ARM-powered Raspberry Pi, this is x86 compatible, meaning it can run full Windows 10. Plus, if you install a Linux distro, there will be far more packages available, such as Google Chrome, which is not available for Pi. Heck, it can probably serve as a secondary desktop, Brian with the site writes. From the report: At 53mm by 40mm, these new MicroSoMs provide unheard of design flexibility while also eliminating the headache of having to design complicated power-delivery subsystems thanks to its single power input rail design. SolidRun's Braswell MicroSoM also offers flexibility in RAM options, ranging from 1GB to 8GB configurations, and offers on-board support of eMMC storage up to 128GB. Its robust design and unsurpassed HD Edge surveillance, event detection, and statistical data-extraction capabilities makes it the platform of choice for mission-critical applications requiring guaranteed reliability," says Solidrun. It starts at $117, the website has more details on specifications.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/09/22/2044237 It's also a bit pricier... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 2

Yahoo Confirms Massive Data Breach, 500 Million Users Impacted [Updated]
by Peter Reutemann 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

'Update: 09/22 18:47 GMT by M :Yahoo has confirmed the data breach, adding that about 500 million users are impacted. Yahoo said "a copy of certain user account information was stolen from the company's network in late 2014 by what it believes is a state-sponsored actor." As Business Insider reports, this could be the largest data breach of all time. In a blog post, the company said: Yahoo is notifying potentially affected users and has taken steps to secure their accounts. These steps include invalidating unencrypted security questions and answers so that they cannot be used to access an account and asking potentially affected users to change their passwords. Yahoo is also recommending that users who haven't changed their passwords since 2014 do so. The Intercept reporter Sam Biddle commented, "It took Yahoo two years to announce that info on half a billion user accounts was stolen." Amid its talks with Verizon for a possible acquisition -- which did happen -- Yahoo knew about the attack, but didn't inform Verizon about it, Business Insider reports. Original story, from earlier today, follows. Last month, it was reported that a hacker was selling account details of at least 200 million Yahoo users. The company's service had apparently been hacked, putting several hundred million users accounts at risk. Since then Yahoo has remained tight-lipped on the matter, but that could change very soon. Kara Swisher of Recode is reporting that Yahoo is poised to confirm that massive data breach of its service. >From the report: While sources were unspecific about the extent of the incursion, since there is the likelihood of government investigations and legal action related to the breach, they noted that it is widespread and serious. Earlier this summer, Yahoo said it was investigating a data breach in which hackers claimed to have access to 200 million user accounts and was selling them online. "It's as bad as that," said one source. "Worse, really." The announcement, which is expected to come this week, also possible larger implications on the $4.8 billion sale of Yahoo's core business -- which is at the core of this hack -- to Verizon. The scale of the liability could be large and bring untold headaches to the new owners. Shareholders are likely to worry that it could lead to an adjustment in the price of the transaction.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/16/09/22/095255 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Some Lenovo laptops won't install Linux it seems
by Ian Young 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

Maybe don't buy that shiny laptop from Lenovo just yet .... http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37431299

2 1

The Wheel Of Reincarnation Spins Again
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

This article <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/22/the_evolution_of_moores_law_suggest…> says that the end of Moore’s Law has not meant a let-up in improving hardware performance. Instead, the high-performance hardware is becoming ever more specialized, the example offered being Apple’s particular flavours of ARM processors. This oscillation between general-purpose versus special-purpose hardware is not a new phenomenon: it was observed as long ago as 1968 <http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-of-reincarnation.html> (you can read the original paper here <http://cva.stanford.edu/classes/cs99s/papers/myer-sutherland-design-of-disp…>). But is this the end of the cycles, now that Moore’s Law has hit its limits? Time will tell...

1 0

GNOME 3.22 Desktop Environment Officially Released
by Peter Reutemann 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

'Today, September 21, is a big day for Linux users, especially those who love the GNOME desktop environment, as the next major release is now officially available. Yes, that's right, we're talking about GNOME 3.22, dubbed Karlsruhe after the German host city of the annual GUADEC (GNOME Users And Developers European Conference) event, which took place last month between August 12-14, 2016. Prominent features of the GNOME 3.22 desktop environment include batch rename functionality and support for integration of compressed files built directly into the Nautilus file manager, a new Week View, support for alarms, and the ability to drag and drop events to the GNOME Calendar, as well as an updated GNOME Music app that supports handling of music libraries with thousands of tracks. There are lots of improvements for the GNOME Games app as well, as it now offers support for numerous retro gaming consoles. Among other improvements, we can mention Flatpak integration, photo sharing, revamped GNOME Software app with support for firmware updates, redesigned keyboard settings and a brand new GNOME Control Center panel, and a redesigned dconf Editor. A video overview of the new features of GNOME 3.22 is available on the official website.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/21/1726230 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Lenovo Denies Claims It Plotted With Microsoft To Block Linux Installs
by Peter Reutemann 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

'Several users noted certain new Lenovo machines' SSDs are locked in a RAID mode, with AHCI removed from the BIOS. Windows is able to see the SSD while in RAID mode due to a proprietary driver, but the SSD is hidden from Linux installations -- for which such a driver is unavailable. Speaking to The Register today, a Lenovo spokesperson claimed the Chinese giant "does not intentionally block customers using other operating systems on its devices and is fully committed to providing Linux certifications and installation guidance on a wide range of products." Complaints on Lenovo's forums suggest that users have been unable to install GNU/Linux operating systems on models from the Yoga 900S to the Ideapad 710S, with one 19-page thread going into detail about the BIOS issue and users' attempts to work around it.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/21/1838252 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Inkscape/sozi/scribus talk Monday
by William Mckee 21 Sep '16

21 Sep '16

Hello, I'm doing a talk on Monday on creating slide deck with Inkscape/Sozi and book design with Scribus. Slides for my talk can be found at http://artctrl.me/sozi.svg It will be great meeting for any art/design people to attend, if you know any let them know. The meeting details: https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/233952289/ Cheers, William.

1 0

Emacs 25.1 Released With Tons Of New Features
by rowan schischka 20 Sep '16

20 Sep '16

Can someone demonstrate the web/youtube viewing capabilities of emacs at the next meeting? i guess its true when people say emacs is my favourite operating system -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

1 0

Emacs 25.1 Released With Tons Of New Features
by Peter Reutemann 19 Sep '16

19 Sep '16

'After four years of development there's a major new release of Emacs, the 40-year-old libre text editor with over 2,000 built-in commands. An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: Emacs 25.1 now lets you embed GTK+ user interface widgets, including WebKitGTK+, "a full-featured WebKit port that can allow you to browse the internet and watch YouTube inside Emacs." And it can also load shared/dynamic modules, meaning it can import the extra functionality seen in Emacs Lisp programs. This version also includes enhanced the network security, experimental support for Cairo drawing, and a new "switch-to-buffer-in-dedicated-window" mode. Emacs 25.1 is available at the GNU FTP server, and since it's the 40th anniversary of Emacs, maybe it's a good time for a discussion about text editors in general. So leave your best tips in the comments -- along with your favorite stories about Emacs, Vim, or the text editor of your choice. What comes to your mind on the 40th anniversary of Emacs?' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/18/1715251 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Vim 8.0 Is Released After 10 Years
by Peter Reutemann 18 Sep '16

18 Sep '16

New Features in Vim 8.0 - Jobs - Asynchronous I/O support, channels, JSON - Timers - Supports partials, lambdas, and closures - Enables new style testing - Viminfo merged by timestamp - Supports GTK+3 - Support for MS-Windows DirectX You can install it through an unofficial ppa with just a few commandlines. -- source: http://www.tecmint.com/vim-8-0-install-in-ubuntu-linux-systems/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 2

IPv6 Support Across NZ ISPs
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 18 Sep '16

18 Sep '16

Came across this document from last year <http://www.ipv6.org.nz/2015/01/27/ipv6-support-across-nz-isps-january-2015/>, which shows two ISPs doing IPv6 on a “trial” basis and three saying “yes” for full support, albeit one of them only for business customers, not residential ones.

2 1

Windows 10 Haters: Try Linux On Kaby Lake Chips With Dell's New XPS 13
by Peter Reutemann 16 Sep '16

16 Sep '16

'Attention Linux enthusiasts. Your OS of your choice can finally work on laptops with Intel's Kaby Lake chips. Dell is releasing three new models of slick XPS 13 Developer Edition that will be available with Ubuntu OS and 7th Generation Core processors in the U.S. and Canada starting on Oct. 10, reports PCWorld. From the article: Prices for XPS 13 DE will start at $949. Dell also announced the XPS 13 model with Kaby Lake and Windows 10, which will ship on Oct. 4 starting at $799. Dell didn't share details on what version of Ubuntu desktop OS will be preloaded. It officially supports Ubuntu 14.04 in existing laptops, but could pre-load version 16.04 on the new XPS 13 DE. Dell has remained committed to Linux while major PC vendors shift to Windows 10 on PCs. Intel made a major commitment to supporting Windows 10 with its new Kaby Lake chips but hasn't talked much about Linux support. XPS 13 DE is perhaps the sexiest and thinnest Linux laptop available, with an edge-to-edge screen being a stand-out feature. It is the latest in Dell's Project Sputnik line of laptops, and it is targeted at computer enthusiasts who want a Windows or Mac alternative. A knock against Linux is that the OS has lagged behind Windows on driver development and on supporting the latest technologies like USB-C ports, 4K screens, and Thunderbolt. Project Sputnik started four years ago as an effort between Dell and the open-source community to bridge that gap, and since then, the resulting laptops have achieved cult status among Linux enthusiasts. A Dell XPS 13 with a Core i5 chip will have a full HD screen, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. Another configuration will have a 3200 x 1800-pixel screen, Core i5, and a 256GB SSD. A fully loaded model will have a Core i7 chip, a 512GB SSD, 16GB of RAM, and a 3200 x 1800-pixel screen.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/09/16/1838202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Xiaomi Can Silently Install Any App On Your Android Phone Using A Backdoor
by Peter Reutemann 16 Sep '16

16 Sep '16

'Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer many refer to as the "Apple of China," can silently install any app on your device, according to a Computer Science student and security enthusiast from the Netherlands. Thijs Broenink started investigating a mysterious pre-installed app, dubbed AnalyticsCore.apk, that constantly runs in the background and reappears even if you try and delete it. The Hacker News reports: After asking about the purpose of the AnalyticsCore app on the company's support forum and getting no response, Thijs Broenink reverse engineered the code and found that the app checks for a new update from the company's official server every 24 hours. While making these requests, the app sends device identification information with it, including the phone's IMEI, Model, MAC address, Nonce, Package name as well as signature. If there is an updated app available on the server with the filename "Analytics.apk," it will automatically get downloaded and installed in the background without user interaction. Broenink found that there is no validation at all to check which APK is getting installed to a user's phone, which means there is a way for hackers to exploit this loophole. This also means Xiaomi can remotely and silently install any application on your device just by renaming it to "Analytics.apk" and hosting it on the server. Ironically, the device connects and receives updates over HTTP connection, exposing the whole process to Man-in-the-Middle attacks." ' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/15/1923220 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Fwd: BREAKING: The Link Tax is Officially on its Way
by Roderick Aldridge 15 Sep '16

15 Sep '16

Its understandable that the publishing establishment want to protect their content from those who would use it without contributing to generating it, but they should be promoting links which send viewers to their content.This measure would stifle the free flow of information and ideas. I invite members to take part. Should WLUG or NZLUG or NZOSS take part officially? Your thoughts. Rod ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ruth Coustick-Deal -OpenMedia <contact(a)openmedia.org> Date: 15 September 2016 at 04:22 Subject: BREAKING: The Link Tax is Officially on its Way To: rod.aldridge1(a)gmail.com *It’s official, Roderick.* The EU Commission has officially released some of the worst copyright laws in the world, including unprecedented new Link Tax powers for publishing giants.1, 2 Earlier today, the Commission presented these new rules to the world. Over the past few weeks, leaks suggested the rules were worse than originally feared,3 and today’s announcement proved it. *We have to stop this now. * Despite opposition from over 100,000 Internet users and dozens of other advocacy groups, the EU Commission has charged ahead with its wrong-headed plan. *This will affect Internet users around the world.* But we can fight back and win.* Share these hard-hitting social media images on Twitter and Facebook today!* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=I0bSQvl4iPegV0aFW8SXE%2BCKfLkJB…> *Share on Twitter* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=j6PCUhX2tFXXO2W1lh%2Bb9eCKfLkJB…>* | **Share on Facebook* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=r4eiWVxKXvGtgMwx1UtMaOCKfLkJBGne> <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=w%2B8TZO3T1iKYWWuTMT7lg320JAhxO…> *Share on Twitter* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2BhLRxVqNmLtJB0mgky1v2uCKfLkJB…>* | **Share on Facebook* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=fqFY%2F7FFxDHeBHW4aYs1X%2BCKfLk…> This comes on the heels of a major court ruling that undermined our right to use hyperlinks.4 This means it’s more important than ever that EU decision-makers do what they can to stop this dangerous #LinkTax plan.5 The link tax could *make some of your favourite content virtually disappear* from search engines.6 Users all over the world will be impacted. Join us now <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=bKmMmxqTfKTzkNMenSUp%2FuCKfLkJB…> to give decision-makers a clear resounding ‘no to the link tax’. We’re only weeks away from releasing a hard-hitting new tool that will let you send pro-Internet messages to Members of the European Parliament to stop this reckless proposal dead in its tracks. That’s where we’re taking the fight next. But in the meantime, let’s raise hell on Twitter <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ZqFXncANqbo%2BCSLN6EF1NeCKfLkJB…> and Facebook <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=LMTErnjJVWARnEEo%2Fdx86OCKfLkJB…> and shame the Commission for ignoring our concerns and pushing on with this reckless plan. –Ruth Coustick-Deal, for OpenMedia *P.S. **Donate now* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4E4oSrg34LjNM9l9gYkkZeCKfLkJBGne>* so we can reach as many people as possible at this crucial moment. Every single bit helps.* *Footnotes* [1] Official announcement of EU DSM Copyright. Source: State of the Union address <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=IkS3990M7tGYWWuTMT7lg320JAhxOp3c> . [2] EU Commission formally proposes Link Tax to European Parliament as part of new Copyright Directive. Source: OpenMedia <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=hYnF54%2BemHlc1mI21KHvkeCKfLkJB…> . [3] Google snippet tax, geoblocking, other copyright reform shunned in EU plan. Source: Ars Technica UK <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=XyWhLZD6wxBOt8UV7WGhguCKfLkJBGne> . [4] Disappointing ruling by EU’s highest court sets worrying global precedent for how we share and access information online. Source: OpenMedia <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=3xPQS6KkwjKgyS6tYhlnkOCKfLkJBGne> . [5] Europeans deserve a better copyright reform Source: Communia <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=pt2xXcNSqTH0cDuMUNQxIOCKfLkJBGne> [6] Google stops displaying news snippets from German publishers that sued it. Source: ZDNet <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=IrdzBK7a8BI%2F2n1MlsljVuCKfLkJB…> . [image: OpenMedia] <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=PVymJXXIdSTuq3CVpUMwvuCKfLkJBGne> We are an award-winning network of people and organizations working to safeguard the possibilities of the open Internet. We work toward informed and participatory digital policy. You can follow us on *Twitter* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=fgGjhtXZm736Zqri8dbigOCKfLkJBGne>, and like us on *Facebook* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=v9tsIAW9sL7tgsYNavkPxeCKfLkJBGne> . You have received this message, because you have subscribed to OpenMedia's list with the email address rod.aldridge1(a)gmail.com. You can manage your email preferences. <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=tQXg5wXHn5CRpt9McM9OGHeIRo%2Fv1…> If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click here <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=1wdSq2cc3QOaQczdMsEN8%2BCKfLkJB…> to unsubscribe.

1 0

Android Users Need To Delete Google Maps and Google Play If They Don't Want Their Locations Tracked
by Peter Reutemann 13 Sep '16

13 Sep '16

'Google, it seems, is very, very interested in knowing where you are at all times. Users have reported battery life issues with the latest Android build, with many pointing the finger at Google Play -- Google's app store -- and its persistent, almost obsessive need to check where you are. Amid complaints that Google Play is always switching on GPS, it appears Google has made it impossible to prevent the app store from tracking your whereabouts unless you completely kill off location tracking for all applications. You can try to deny Google Play access to your handheld's location by opening the Settings app and digging through Apps -> Google Play Store -> Permissions, and flipping the switch for "location." But you'll be told you can't just shut out Google Play services: you have to switch off location services for all apps if you want to block the store from knowing your whereabouts. It's all or nothing, which isn't particularly nice. This is because Google Play services pass on your location to installed apps via an API. The store also sends your whereabouts to Google to process. Google doesn't want you to turn this off.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/09/13/1634237 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Re: [wlug] Building Your Own Laptop
by Ian Stewart 13 Sep '16

13 Sep '16

Hi William, Thanks for your ideas... > I would add the Raspberry Pi 7 inch touch screen. This is a 800 x 480 pixels resolution screen. The RPi is meant to be capable of 1080 vertical lines per frame. With a 16:9 aspect ratio then this is a monitor of 1920x1080 pixels. This seems to be a common pixel ratio with HDTV's. Thus I suspect that due to mass production rates to fill the digital TV market, the price of these monitors should be dropping the fastest. So I would like to see a RPi with a 1920x1080 pixel monitor. I see that these monitors are commonly available in 21.5 and 24 inch. It looks like the 21.5 inch seems to be less popular and prices have dropped below $200. However getting one of these monitors with touchscreen seems to be a bit expensive at the moment. I see there is a company called gechic. They make some touch screen 1920x1080 monitors at 15.6inch. Models include the On-Lap2501H and On-Lap 1502. If you look at... http://www.gechic.com/product_help_en.asp?s=14 ...then there is a photo of a RPi connected to one of these gechic touch-screens. So, maybe it won't be too long before there will be good-sized 1080p touch-screen monitors suitable for RPi at a low price. > Use power banks (super cheap from China). No power in classroom is needed. While it would be nice to be rid of all cables, I think that power banks may be a bit messy to manage. You'd need to put 28 of them onto chargers each night, then hope they lasted the 6+ hours of a school day. If they only produce +5V for the RPi, then you need to also get +5V monitors. Plus their life-span of delivering to specification may not be very long. So I figure having an AC to DC regulator for each row would be more simple and then having DC cabling distributing the power down the row. cheers Ian.

1 0

meeting suggestions
by Peter Reutemann 13 Sep '16

13 Sep '16

Rowan posted the following meeting suggestion (http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/233762057/) "regarding presenting the ubuntu m10 tablet; due to university i wont be available in september. its possible i could present in october; if not i will def be available in november. i could also demonstrate android on raspberry pi if it works (havnt found time to try it yet). or we could run through installing it together?" I'd suggest to have this meeting in November. As for September, how about we do a roundup of multi-media tools and giving them a quick spin. Here are some that I can think of (feel free to demo your own favorite tool!): - Gimp - Inkscape - Dia - OpenShot - Blender Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

3 9

Ubuntu Torrent Removed From Google Due To DMCA Complaint
by Peter Reutemann 13 Sep '16

13 Sep '16

"Cited in a DMCA takedown request filed against Google on behalf of Paramount Pictures is an innocuous link to a 32-bit alternate install image Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS. The takedown request seeks to remove links to a number of torrent URLS that are alleged to infringe on Paramount movie Transformers: Age of Extinction. Ubuntu clearly doesn't. All it takes is a quick glance at the URL in question to see that. It's very much a stock ISO of an old Ubuntu release. And yet Google has complied with the request and scrubbed the link to the page in question from its search index." -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/09/12/1515229 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

3 3

Building Your Own Laptop
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 13 Sep '16

13 Sep '16

This article <http://www.computershopper.com/feature/build-your-own-laptop> originated several years ago, but says it was updated last year. I am pleasantly surprised to discover there are such things as “barebones” laptops, albeit they still come with somewhat more than you get with a “barebones” desktop box. While there are a range of such laptops available from different vendors, certain components (wi-fi cards and MXM graphics cards) may not be so easy to get. The total price for the build is quoted as USD1352, while “comparable systems with GeForce 8600M graphics were typically running about $250 to $300 more than our build”. Wonder if that included the Windows licence. Also, regardless of the revised article date, it still mentions installing Windows Vista...

6 13

Self-Driving Cars Can Learn a Lot by Playing Grand Theft Auto
by Eric Light 12 Sep '16

12 Sep '16

Self-Driving Cars Can Learna Lot by Playing Grand Theft Auto Technology Review (09/12/16) Will Knight Several research groups are using the "Grand Theft Auto" video game to educate algorithms with potential application to self-driving vehicle navigation. The researchers say the game's scenic elements are extremely realistic, and can be used to produce data on a par with that generated using real-world imagery. A team from Intel Labs and Germany's Darmstadt University created a software layer positioned between the game and a computer's hardware, automatically classifying different objects in the game's road scenes. [...] "We showed that this synthetic data is almost as good, or sometimes even better, than using real data for training," Shafaei says. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602317/self-driving-cars-can-learn-a-lot… -- Securely sent with Tutanota. It's good, you should try it: https://tutanota.com

1 0

Microsoft Fixes Bugs in Skype for Linux
by Peter Reutemann 12 Sep '16

12 Sep '16

'After neglecting Linux's Skype client for years, Microsoft released a new app of Skype for Linux in July, giving comfort to millions of users. The app, however, had a fair share of bugs. Microsoft today has updated the app to iron out those bugs, and introduced a handful of interesting options. An anonymous reader writes: There were plenty of users who complained that Skype for Linux was reconnecting automatically when not using the app for a certain amount of time and Microsoft has already acknowledged the bug. This new version fixes the problem, so everything should work correctly after updating. Additionally, Skype for Linux 1.7 introduces a new grid layout of the group calls, but also fixes the standard behavior of unread messages. According to Microsoft, this means that "when opening chat with unread messages, the view will focus on the first unread message and as you scroll, messages will be marked as read."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/12/1414222 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

On a similar DYI theme
by rowan schischka 12 Sep '16

12 Sep '16

>28 x wireless keyboards and mice You definitely should not use so many wireless mice in the same room. keyboards are ok but the interference and drops on the mice are frustrating. We used them in a room of about 16 poeple and we had to convert to wired. Also you might want to check if r pis bluetooth has drivers yet. >For each row have a wireless ethernet router pretty sure a hub/switch is cheaper, you can get 10/100 for under $20 -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

3 2

IoT Devices With Default Telnet Passwords Used As Botnet
by Peter Reutemann 12 Sep '16

12 Sep '16

'IoT devices, like DVR recorders or webcams, which are running Linux with open telnet access and have no passwords or default passwords are currently a target of attacks which try to install malware which then makes the devices a node of a botnet for DDoS attacks. As the malware, called Linux/Mirai, only resides in memory, once the attack has been successful, revealing if your device got captured isn't so easy, and also analyzing the malware is difficult, as it will vanish on reboot. Plus the malware lays low at first, though "it is obvious that the main purpose is still for a DDoS botnet," according to MalwareMustDie, and it's designed to spread rapidly to other IoT devices using a telnet scanner. "According to the experts, several attacks have been detected in the wild," according to the article, which warns that many antivirus solutions are still unable to detect the malware, and "If you have an IoT device, please make sure you have no telnet service open and running."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/16/09/11/1155202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Ubuntu-Based Elementary OS 0.4 'Loki' Achieves Stable Release
by Peter Reutemann 12 Sep '16

12 Sep '16

'"Today, Elementary 0.4 (code-named 'Loki'), achieves stable status," BetaNews reported Friday, applauding the "clean and functional" app tiles in its software center. Elementary OS (stylized as elementary OS) isn't the most popular Linux distro, and it certainly isn't the best. However, this Ubuntu-based operating system is focusing on something that some competitors do not -- user interface, which ultimately contributes to the overall user experience. It is because of this that Elementary is so important to the Linux community -- it matters. Developers focused on internationalization for this release, part of an effort to "grow the market" for open-souce software, according to the elementary blog, which proudly points out that 73% of the 1.2 million downloads for their "design-oriented" OS came from closed-source operating systems.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/11/1912231 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Linux Kernel 3.14 Series Has Reached End of Life
by Peter Reutemann 11 Sep '16

11 Sep '16

"it looks like the Linux kernel maintainers decided that there's no need to maintain the Linux kernel 3.14 LTS series anymore, so earlier today, September 11, 2016, they decided to release that last maintenance update, version 3.14.79, and mark the series as EOL (End of Life). Famous Linux kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman was the one to make the big announcement, and he's urging users who want to still run a long-term supported kernel version to move to the Linux 4.4 LTS series, which is currently the most advanced LTS branch, or use the latest stable release, Linux kernel 4.7.3... Linux kernel 3.14.79 is a very small update that changes a total of 12 files, with 45 insertions and 17 deletions, thus fixing a bug in the EXT4 file system, a networking issue related to the Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) protocol, and updating a few HID, s390, SCSI, networking drivers." -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/11/2258223 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

mail servers
by rowan schischka 10 Sep '16

10 Sep '16

can someone please recommend a lightweight open source mail server. I'm looking at connecting up my old android phone to a solar charger and running services from it, so whatever i use needs to be small. the phone i have to work with that has 512mb ram. android itself uses around 220-230mb of ram, thats before i go silly on rooting it and removing stuff, not that theres much to remove. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

3 2

LinuxScreenshots.org Closes. All Screenshot Tours Released For Downloading
by Peter Reutemann 10 Sep '16

10 Sep '16

"LinuxScreenshots.org is closed. An archive of all screenshot tours from this site has been made freely available to the community, which consists of 2300 releases from 580 distributions. You may download this archive for fun, or to start your own Linux screenshots website. Please help seed torrents. " -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/10/1856227 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

10 Million Raspberry πs Sold
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 09 Sep '16

09 Sep '16

The π is definitely now the most successful British computer ever <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/08/rasberry_pi_sells_its_ten_millionth…>.

3 4

meeting suggestions
by rowan schischka 08 Sep '16

08 Sep '16

>I've scheduled the meeting now for October 24 - you're OK with that? I can do October 24th -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

2 1

How Windows Handles Pathnames
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 08 Sep '16

08 Sep '16

A Google engineer has published a detailed exposé on how Microsoft Windows handles file and directory pathnames (as opposed to how it is documented to handle them) <http://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-definitive-guide-on-win32…> (found from <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/01/windows_path_hacks/>). Most of it, it could be argued, makes some sort of sense from a backward-compatibility rationale. Except for the reserved device names (PRN, NUL, CON etc): Now if just specifying these paths explicitly was all that this process handled it would be annoying but not the end of the world. However it’s much worse. The conversion process actively tries to convert any path with the device name last, even if the path is a Drive Absolute path. To make matters even worse the device name can have arbitrary trailing characters as long the trailing characters are separated from the device by a dot or a colon. The name can then also have trailing spaces. ... Why it does the check is beyond me as it seems to serve no actual purpose. Also note the removal of trailing suffixes, which can come in handy if something is actively trying to guard against this behavior. For example, if an application was mindful and was checking for a filename that matched one of the reserved names you can just bypass that check by appending an arbitrary suffix.

1 1

Sony Wins Battle Over Preinstalled Windows in Europe's Top Court
by Peter Reutemann 07 Sep '16

07 Sep '16

'The sale of a computer equipped with pre-installed software isn't an unfair commercial practice because most customers prefer to buy a laptop they can use straight away, Europe's top court has ruled in a victory for Sony. "Failure to indicate the price of each item of pre-installed software" isn't misleading, the Court of Justice of the European Union added in its ruling on Wednesday. The CJEU was asked to intervene after French citizen Vincent Deroo-Blanquart took Sony to court for failing to reimburse the cost of pre-installed software -- Windows Vista Home Premium operating system -- that he did not wish to use on a laptop. Sony refused and instead offered to cancel the sale altogether. ' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/09/07/1411229 Bummer... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Fujitsu’s Upcoming 64-Bit-ARM-Based Super
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 07 Sep '16

07 Sep '16

Some discussion about why Fujitsu chose ARM over SPARC or x86 for its “Post-K” machine: <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/23/fujitsu_arm_post_k/>. Basically, it offers a much more customizable platform. Goes without saying it will be running Linux...

1 1

DNF Versus Zypper
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

Unlike the uniform dpkg+apt system in the Debian world, RPM-based distros have adopted a variety of approaches to add automatic management of dependencies on top of the basic functionality of the rpm tool itself: Red Hat originally developed Yum, which they have replaced with DNF; SuSE created Zypper, but before these, Mandrake had urpmi. Now Mageia (the successor to Mandrake) has also adopted Red Hat’s DNF <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Megia-6-To-Have-DNF-Yum> as an alternative to urpmi. There are some interesting comments in the associated discussion by a Mageia developer with the handle “King InuYasha”, who did an evaluation of DNF versus Zypper before deciding to adopt the former.

1 0

OpenBSD 6.0 Released
by Peter Reutemann 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

"Version 6.0 of the free operating system OpenBSD has just been released. This release features much improved hardware and armv7 support, a new tool called proot for building software ports in an isolated chroot environment, W^X that is now strictly enforced by default, and removal of official support for Linux emulation, usermount, and systrace." -- source: https://bsd.slashdot.org/story/16/09/01/2147233 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 4

mike Wolfe authors alliance
by William Mckee 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

Hi, Mike Wolfe is going to be in Hamilton to talk TPP and copyright http://creativecommons.org.nz/2016/09/mike-wolfe-of-the-authors-alliance-is… Cheers, William

1 0

SoftBank Completes $31 Billion Acquisition of ARM
by Peter Reutemann 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

'Roughly two months later, SoftBank announced today that it has completed its $31 billion acquisition of British chip designer ARM Holdings. The Verge reports: "SoftBank's purchase of ARM is the latest in a line of acquisitions in recent years for the Japanese company, including the $20 billion Sprint acquisition, and a $15 billion investment in Vodafone's Japanese division. ARM is well known for designing chips and licensing them to companies like Apple and Samsung, and ARM-designed chips dominate mobile computing in phones and tablets. 15 billion ARM-designed chips shipped last year alone, and around half of those were in mobile devices. SoftBank is expected to use the ARM deal to bolster its Internet of Things plans." ' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/05/2215217 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Adobe Resurrects Flash Player On Linux
by Peter Reutemann 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

'Four years ago, Adobe made a decision to stop updating the Flash Player package (NPAPI) on Linux, aside from delivering security patches. It has made an about turn on this decision in the last week and has said that it will keep it in sync with the modern release branch going forward. In its announcement, Adobe wrote: "In the past, we communicated that NPAPI Linux releases would stop in 2017. This is no longer the case and once we have performed sufficient testing and received community feedback, we will release both NPAPI and PPAPi Linux builds with their major version numbers in sync and on a regular basis." Although this is great news for Linux users who don't want to struggle to watch Flash content online, there also a few drawbacks. Adobe writes: "Because this change is primarily a security initiative, some features (like GPU 3D acceleration and premium video DRM) will not be fully implemented. If you require this functionality we recommend that you use the PPAPI version of Flash Player." ' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/05/2052256 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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When Smart TVs Hit Their IQ Limits...
by rowan schischka 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

“The symptoms being experienced are not a failure of the TV, but are as a result of specification changes made by YouTube that exceed the capability of the TV’s hardware.” Youtube's API terms state they will give 6 months warning before rolling out changes that affect compatibility of older devices; but I can't find any announcement on the youtube developer site. I'm wondering what this change is. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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When Smart TVs Hit Their IQ Limits...
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 05 Sep '16

05 Sep '16

If you bought a 2012-vintage Sony Bravia smart TV, it is going to lose its ability to play YouTube videos. “The symptoms being experienced are not a failure of the TV, but are as a result of specification changes made by YouTube that exceed the capability of the TV’s hardware.” “As a result, Sony have decided to remove the YouTube icon for the 2012 Bravia TVs on 30th September 2016.” <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/05/youtube_breaks_sony_bravias/>

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OpenOffice Could Shut Down
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 02 Sep '16

02 Sep '16

<http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/09/openoffice-after-year…> Does anybody still care? Use LibreOffice instead.

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New Intel and AMD Chips Will Only Support Windows 10
by Peter Reutemann 02 Sep '16

02 Sep '16

'Buried in the announcement of the new Kaby Lake (seventh-generation) processors and a rash of incoming notebooks set to use them is the confirmation that they will have a Windows 10 future. Microsoft has been warning people for ages that Kaby Lake will not run on anything older than Windows 10, and it looks like AMD's upcoming Zen chip will be going the same way. Microsoft said, "As new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support. This enables us to focus on deep integration between Windows and the silicon, while maintaining maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon." "We are committed to working with Microsoft and our ecosystem partners to help ensure a smooth transition given these changes to Microsoft's Windows support policy," an Intel spokesperson said. "No, Intel will not be updating Win 7/8 drivers for 7th Gen Intel Core [Kaby Lake] per Microsoft's support policy change." An AMD representative was equally neutral. "AMD's processor roadmap is fully aligned with Microsoft's software strategy," AMD chief technical officer Mark Papermaster said, via a company spokeswoman.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/09/01/2031247 Or just use a Linux distro flavor of your choice... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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ubuntu: unattended-upgrades
by Peter Reutemann 02 Sep '16

02 Sep '16

Finally came across a commandline way for configuring unattended upgrades: http://askubuntu.com/questions/9/how-do-i-enable-automatic-updates/204#204 Here are the commands: sudo apt-get install unattended-upgrades sudo dpkg-reconfigure unattended-upgrades Very useful for servers... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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ubuntu devices
by rowan schischka 01 Sep '16

01 Sep '16

this recent social media post by canonical indicates new ubuntu phones/tablets coming out soon. it would explain the phones out of stock for the last three months. Am I right? https://plus.google.com/+Ubuntu/posts/iXKQoj4k7QZ -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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New cloud attack takes full control of virtual machines with little effort
by Peter Reutemann 31 Aug '16

31 Aug '16

'The world has seen the most unsettling attack yet resulting from the so-called Rowhammer exploit, which flips individual bits in computer memory. It's a technique that's so surgical and controlled that it allows one machine to effectively steal the cryptographic keys of another machine hosted in the same cloud environment. Cutting-edge hack gives super user status by exploiting DRAM weakness Until now, Rowhammer has been a somewhat clumsy and unpredictable attack tool because it was hard to control exactly where data-corrupting bit flips happened. While previous research demonstrated that it could be used to elevate user privileges and break security sandboxes, most people studying Rowhammer said there was little immediate danger of it being exploited maliciously to hijack the security of computers that use vulnerable chips. The odds of crucial data being stored in a susceptible memory location made such hacks largely a matter of chance that was stacked against the attacker. In effect, Rowhammer was more a glitch than an exploit. Now, computer scientists have developed a significantly more refined Rowhammer technique they call Flip Feng Shui. It manipulates deduplication operations that many cloud hosts use to save memory resources by sharing identical chunks of data used by two or more virtual machines. Just as traditional Feng Shui aims to create alignment or harmony in a home or office, Flip Feng Shui can massage physical memory in a way that causes crypto keys and other sensitive data to be stored in locations known to be susceptible to Rowhammer.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/08/new-attack-steals-private-crypto-ke… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Building a new Tor that can resist next-generation state surveillance
by Peter Reutemann 31 Aug '16

31 Aug '16

'Since Edward Snowden stepped into the limelight from a hotel room in Hong Kong three years ago, use of the Tor anonymity network has grown massively. Journalists and activists have embraced the anonymity the network provides as a way to evade the mass surveillance under which we all now live, while citizens in countries with restrictive Internet censorship, like Turkey or Saudi Arabia, have turned to Tor in order to circumvent national firewalls. Law enforcement has been less enthusiastic, worrying that online anonymity also enables criminal activity. Tor's growth in users has not gone unnoticed, and today the network first dubbed "The Onion Router" is under constant strain from those wishing to identify anonymous Web users. The NSA and GCHQ have been studying Tor for a decade, looking for ways to penetrate online anonymity, at least according to these Snowden docs. In 2014, the US government paid Carnegie Mellon University to run a series of poisoned Tor relays to de-anonymise Tor users. A 2015 research paper outlined an attack effective, under certain circumstances, at decloaking Tor hidden services (now rebranded as "onion services"). Most recently, 110 poisoned Tor hidden service directories were discovered probing .onion sites for vulnerabilities, most likely in an attempt to de-anonymise both the servers and their visitors.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/08/building-a-new-tor-that-withstands-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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