Dominic White

Viruses using the autorun.inf file of removable media such as flash sticks and iPods to automatically execute and install themselves whenever they are plugged into a machine can now be thwarted by Ariad. This is a big vector at the moment.

It's a file system filter (I didn't know about these, they're cool) that blocks access to autorun.inf and effectively stops windows from automatically installing viruses for you (aka a design flaw). Group Policy should allow you to do the same thing, but if you have either incompetent domain admins, some inheritance complexity of multiple policy applications have self-imploded, or a family member who uses their USB without protection, this can help fill the gap.

Courtesy DiderStevens - Ariad

Dider asked me to add that at the time of writing this is beta software, so test it first.

Posted by Dominic White

As part of my ongoing attempt to not use Windows this year, I have been struggling to find a way to get OCS/LCS working in Linux. Due to some recent work on the SIPE/SIPLCS Pidgin plugin, it is now working.

Continue reading "Connecting to a Microsoft Office Communicator or Live Office Communicator Server in Ubuntu"

Posted by Dominic White

Sorry for the server instability. There appear to have been some problems with the kernel, which I think are now sorted. We'll see.

Posted by Dominic White

Not only does BASH cure cancer, but it can stop you from wasting time on the intertubes. While lying on the grass today I realised that I have a few 'jumping off' sites for non-work meanders; gateway drugs of sorts. By blocking these sites, I can stop myself from getting sidetracked most of the time and prevent Work Avoidance Behaviour (WABbing). If you're one of those people who can stick to a schedule, you could even cron it. Read the crufty-4am-produced shell script yourself, or the English below.

Continue reading "WorkTime Script to Prevent Innapropriate Web Surfing"

Posted by Dominic White

A discussion with haroon yesterday revived some of my interest in my MSc thesis topic. Then serendipity brought Eric Schultze commentary/apology on the MS09-001 patch to my attention.

Continue reading "Why Patch Management will Remain Hard"

Posted by Dominic White