The technology element will move to a new website which will be launched on 31st january 2012. This will encompass a technology blog, technical and web development services.

The community element where general issues are discussed will live on under the name cooladeUK as a dedicated blog.

All websites and applications developed under the Cool-ade name will move to the new website name.

HP has always had a good track record with hardware. In fact, I would always recommend HP PCs over many of the over brands due to their quality and reliability. However, as stated in their announcement, PCs are low margin devices. With the onslaught of smart devices, PCs sales will decline over the next few years as users switch over. Also, HP doesn’t have the wow factor like Apple, so they cannot charge premium prices for their hardware in the consumer market.

HP recently purchased palm so the demise of Palm’s WebOS is tragic. I am a fan of WebOS tablets as they have some nice features. Unfortunately, WebOS has issues with the speed of the devices and they are a late entrance to the tablets market. A market that is dominated by iPads and Android tablets. While HP says WebOS will live on, I think they will have a difficult task licensing it to other companies.

What we’re seeing is the beginning of a changing market and HP are just repositioning themselves with this brave step. This is a totally necessary step that other companies will have to consider for themselves. There is RIM (Blackberry) who will have to consider the PlayBook tablet if it doesn’t gain sufficient market share. There is also Dell who will also need to evaluate their PCs market as they face the same low margins as HP. There will also be others.

So why has the looting spread? I can only conclude that it’s an expression against oppression. The oppression of Police corruption, lying, taking bribes and the corrupt media. The oppression of the government mismanagement of funds with spiralling debt resulting in cuts, closing local services, housing problems and job losses. The credit crunch leading to the recession resulting in high youth unemployment. All this while the perpetrators get bailed out and paid off. The oppression of injustice of expenses corruption with MPs be let off after repaying what they stole. The oppression of the government allowing big business to fleece staff and mass personal wealth. The oppression of failing schools and being told you’re no good.

This is not reason enough but I understand the underlining factors. The youths need to stop and think. Yes, you have your mobile devices and social networks so you can spread information and organise quickly. But you live in an environment where you’ve constantly on camera. Many of the looter are clearly visible on the footage published on the News networks. Add to this the numerous CCTV cameras which will be analysed later. There’s a good change that many will be caught. So is it’s not worth destroying your future.

It can be a struggle to achieve without help. I believe help starts with good parenting. So why are young children (13 and younger) out rampaging with the looters? Why don’t there parents know where they are?

Many questions, not enough answers. One thing I do know is that the looting will result in tighter controls for youths. It will also affect the fragile economy leading to longer austerity.

So how did this happen? Microsoft claim my username was used to access to account when the rogue campaign. I’m pretty careful with access so I believe it must have been some form of cross side script or it’s an internal hack. Microsoft are currently investigating so I’ll share the results when they get back to me.

The security of personal data is a major area of concern as we’re constantly hearing about more frequent online security breaches. Unfortunately, this will continue so you need to be more aware.

Self protection is a simple way to help mitigate lost as you have some control of where and how you enter information. Ask yourself the questions, do I trust a particular organisation to look after my personal data? Should I let a particular company hold my credit card information?

Below I have listed some simple rules for entering data on the Internet

• You can use multiple email addresses. This will allow you to have separation between the type of information received. Think about it, do you always need to use your main email address when signing up for stuff on the web?

• Use multiple passwords. Have a password for trivial stuff like this signing up to download software or newsletters. Have another password for email, social networking, etc… which you change on a regular basis. Then there are the financial institution passwords which should demand the use of additional password security (Well I hope they do).

• Do not allow your credit card information to be stored. Websites like Amazon or web applications like iTunes store your credit card to speed up purchases. I recommend deleting this information after every purchase. However, it’s all about trust, do you trust Amazon or Apple to look after this data? Corporations which have a business model which relies predominately on website sales, or financial institutions (banks, credit card companies, PayPal) will most probably do a good job.

I can’t remember different passwords you say. Consumer users tend not to set strong passwords. They also tend the use the same password for multiple websites. Unfortunately, password separation between general web, email, social networking & financial logons is essential.

Consider the Sony incident. The breached information includes your credit card, email address and password (because the password wasn’t encrypted). Now imagine if you had used the same password for your email, social networking, etc… Now can you see why password separation is important.

This is not new information, I’ve just related it to the Sony security incident. Unfortunately there will be more incidents  so it worth taking a minute to consider this simple method the protect your personal information.

Social engineering is currently the best way to circumvent security. It works on deception and the gullibility of users. This is clearly seen with the mobile phone voicemail hacking case currently heading the UK news.

Gaining access to someone’s voicemail is very simple as long as you have their mobile number. You call a central number and key in their mobile phone number. To gain access you’ll need their four-digit personal identification number (PIN). This can be easy to guess as it may still be set with the default PIN. Or, it is set with a very simple number like 1234, 4321, etc.

The same is true for accessing someone’s work place voicemail. Many PINs are set with their own extension number.

If the PIN cannot be guessed, the attacker may attempt to trick the network provider into releasing the PIN or change the PIN.

I’m not sure what the exact details of the current mobile phone voicemail hacking case are. I do know that users need to take more responsibility for their own security. The operators will improve their procedures, so users need to do their bit too.

Apple have detailed the fix in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4100. A fix is also listed at http://www.afp548.com/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=26509.

Follow the steps below to force the creation of the Kerberos TGT on initial login. The is taken from the Apple Knowledgebase:-

1. Make a backup copy of the authorization file with this Terminal command:

   sudo cp /etc/authorization /etc/authorization.bak

2. Open the /etc/authorization file in a text editor or plist editing application.
3. Locate this key:

   <key>system.login.console</key>

4. Under mechanisms, add the string:

   <string>builtin:krb5store,privileged</string>

5. Save the file to /etc

Basically, I needed it to allow Active Directory domain users to logon via the Podcast Producer website or logon directly to Mac OS X Server running the Podcast Composer.

The following steps are taken from http://podcastproducer.org/article.php/20100429001851465.

Step 1 - Install your Mac OS X 10.6 Server for the install DVD
Setup your IP and use your active directory domain as your search base, i.e myorganization.org.
DO NOT setup either a bind to Active Directory  or to setup Open Directory as a master server.
Click custom setup and uncheck binding to Active Directory  or setting up an Open Directory master server. Instead, just select “Manually Setup Users and Groups”. Finally, run Software Update and apply all available patches.

Step 2 - Make sure you have the DNS record is correct by running

sudo changeip -checkhostname 

You should see something similar to the following:

podcast (192.168.1.2)

Primary address = 192.168.1.2

Current HostName = podcast.myorganization.org

DNS HostName = podcast.myorganization.org

The names match. There is nothing to change.
dirserv:success = "success"

Fix any errors before proceeding.

Step 3 - Bind to AD.
Next, in the Terminal run following command to enable sign-sign on.

sudo dsconfigad -enablesso

Next, run the command to allows clear text authentication to Active Directory . This is done because of a limitation in the authentication of Podcast Producer 2 to Active Directory (It’s a good idea to login to the server with your an Active Directory account)

serveradmin settings teams:enableClearTextAuth = yes

Step 4 - Enable the require server services.
You will need NFS, Open Directory, Podcast Producer 2 and XGrid.

Step 5 - Setup Open Directory.
Set it up as a Open Directory master while connected to Active Directory
Set your LDAP admin name to be the same as your local Admin account.
The LDAP search base is the AD record of the machine i.e. – dc=podcast,dc=myorganization, dc=edu
Once setup, ensure that Kerberos is not running. It shouldn’t be running because it is using Active Directory Kerberos realm.

Step 6 - Setup NFS
Share Library/PodcastProducer - (This directory does not exist until you click on the podcast producer service, then click configure. Doing this will create the directory. Do not do anything more than merely start the config process to invoke the creation of the directory)
- Hit share
- Enable Automount
- Use LDAP domain
- Share over NFS
- Map to Shared Library folder (use the LDAP admin account to bind)
- Protocol options – Make sure afp, smb and ftp are off.
- NFS on: Select Export this item to a virtual interface/NIC
- Export to a particular subnet that what to have access.
- Map root to root
Start NFS

Step 7 - Configure XGrid
Run setup assistant
Host a grid
Bind with an AD account. This should be a regular domain account with no special privileges.

Step 8 - Setup the Podcast Producer service.
DO NOT click Configure Podcast Producer . Instead, click on Settings and change Podcast Library to /Library/PodcastProducer/Shared
Use the Standard Domain user as the Xgrid username. This should be the same as the one used in the XGrid section of this document.
Change Admin shortname to the short name of your admin account
Start the Podcast Producer Service

Trouble Shooting - Podcast Producer 2 is highly dependent on XGrid. XGrid seems to be the Achilles Heel of Podcast Producer. If you are submitting jobs successfully and find that that XGrid is failing, you can try deleting the following file and then restarting the Podcast Producer server.

/var/pcast/serve/krb_cc

Getting back to the upgrade. The aim was to un-install CS3 and then install CS4 with updates silently. After many hours I conceded as it isn’t possible to do all of this. Using the Adobe CS4 deployment guide I was able to un-install CS3 and create a customised CS4 install and do updates silently. However, it all falls apart with Acrobat. Acrobat requires user interaction with administrator access to complete the install. Also, Acrobat updates will not install silently.

There are various works around for update Acrobat, but I couldn’t get any of them to work successfully.  For this project I had to live with this problem.  Basically the command (see below) will always ask for user interaction when updating Acrobat in contrast to what Adobe say in there technote.

PATH - /Acrobat\ 910\ Pro\ Patch.app/Contents/MacOS/Acrobat\ 9\ Pro\ Patch --mode=silent

Moving on, the final part of the install was to remove the old CS3 dock icons and all the CS4 dock icons for all users on each Mac. This was achieved using a great utility called dockutil.

dockutil --add '/Applications/Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro/Acrobat Distiller.app' --allhomes
dockutil --remove 'Adobe Illustrator CS3' --allhomes

The only thing it doesn’t do is update the default dock.

You’ve most probably read loads about the iPod/iPhone/iPad so I won’t waste your time. My main problem with the iPhone/iPad is the price. At the current price, I wouldn’t buy one. I also wouldn’t buy a new Apple MacBook when I can get a Dell laptop for half the price. But saying that I have a Macbook provided by where I work and I own a secondhand G4 PowerBook.

As many people can testify, the price is irrelevant, it about what you get and how it works. It about the usability experience, the apps, music, eBooks, games, etc… Yes, there are new smart phone and tablet devices that are cheaper. Some have more features but they haven’t got the infrastructure and they lack the usability factor. The Apple devices are about being trendy and simplicity. They are so easy to use. I’ve seen people who struggled with a basic Nokia at ease on iPhone.

Lets face it, Apple entered the mobile in 2007 and they now have 28 percent of the smart phone market share. Many commentators rubbished Apple aims but look at them now. I guess that this market share will peak at about 30ish%. The Android OS will also grow to a similar level taking market share from Symbian OS and Windows Mobile OS.

Many commentators have also rubbished the iPad for it lack of features. This hasn’t stopped it selling. My other gripe with the iPad is the lack of Flash. Apple need to resolve their problems with Adobe fast because it will effect sales. I would definitely buy one if Flash is sorted and I could justify the cost. I would have many uses for it. For example, general Internet browsing at home, remote control my main PC or Mac for more serious tacks, reading eBooks, music, games, remote controlling digital mixing consoles (Sound Engineering – my other job), etc…

My Nokia smart phone is up for renewal new month and I’ll most probably get an Android OS phone. I just can’t justify £40+ a month for a iPhone 4. But it doesn’t matter because I’ve got access to one.