The word “ping” is used in computer networking. It’s usually used to test and see if a machine is able to be “reached” or “talked to” over a network. The terminology reminds me of the concept of radar systems. I have a tendency to think of it as “bouncing a test” off the other machine. Most every operating system that has networking support can ping, or should be able to answer a ping request. Many times it’s used as a basic test of the ability to access the internet.
Tag: time
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New “Basics” category
I’ve added a new Computers-Basics category that will be a catchall for all sorts of “what is a” articles and hopefully very simple how-to’s (the kind of things that will have some viewers rushing for the exits, or the search boxes…) One of the things I like trying to do is explaining tech stuff in less than tech terms, or at least in an approachable way. On this site, so far, I’ve dealt with pretty technical issues and the kind of stuff that has a new user searching for an exit (probably the x in the upper right hand corner, or the back button), or maybe a translator. I hope that this series will not need extra referencing to understand. I’ll probably post to this category in spurts….
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Too little time…
I’ve just been back at appointments what – 2 days? And already I’ve got a ton of issues to detail. I usually don’t get into details of everything I run into because many times it’s rather tedious issues, memory install, fill in the blank virus removal for the nth time, etc. However I’ve already run across a few unique things that have taken some searching. One is still unresolved (time constraint.) That will get a revisit in the near future.
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USB flash drive with electronic paper display
Just saw this over at engadget. It’s a Lexar jumpdrive with “amount filled” indicator. The twist is the “amount filled” is done with electronic paper. What this means is that you can see how full the drive is without plugging it into a pc. The electronic paper doesn’t draw power to hold the display.
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Lack of working exploit does not mean Windows 98 is safe
I want to try to clarify a point. I’ve spent a couple days trying to get current exploits to work on a Windows 98 SE virtual machine. Not to prove that Windows 98 is safe, but to determine if current exploits affect Windows 98. Yesterday evening there were apocalyptic headlines saying that virus threatens every windows os shipped since 1990 which is overhyped. The current vulnerability exists in every windows operating system shipped since 1990. The current exploit for that vulnerability doesn’t seem to work on Windows 98 (you have to go a long ways to find a configuration that the current exploit works with… I haven’t yet.) This does not mean that Windows 98 is invulnerable. It simply means that this specific attack does not easily work. Tomorrow may be different, now that the problem is known, it may be just a matter of time before someone determines WHY windows 98 is not as affected and “correct” the problem.
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WMF exploit testing on Windows 98
I had hoped to get in another test of Windows 98 with yet another WMF viewer (tried Kodak imaging, and irfanview). So far I haven’t seen a way that the WMF exploits can work on Windows 98 SE. I’m running out of time before I have to run to some computer service appointments and maybe will be able to pick up again this afternoon/evening. Larry Seltzer had a post this morning that earlier versions of Windows might not be as vulnerable because they had no default WMF viewer, but with a default WMF viewer they may be susceptible. I’m still looking for a WMF viewer that makes the exploit possible on Windows 98 SE.
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Blackberry Security Hole
There’s another security warning out related to specially crafted image files. This time it’s targetted at the blackberry, which is a small portable email/pda device. Basically a corrupted TIFF may lead the user to be unable to view other image attachments. The US-CERT advisory seems to indicate that remote code execution could be possible, although there is no comment to this issue from the makers, Research in Motion.
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Virtual machine as a safe browsing environment
I mentioned this in my summary yesterday morning as a possible workaround until there are patches for the WMF vulnerability that’s been big news the last week. I notice that incidents.org has mentioned it too as a possibility today. VMware has released VMPLayer as a free way of running premade virtual machines.
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The D-Link DWL-800AP+ as a wireless repeater to extend wireless range – Part 4
Ok, so now I had to add the new D-Link’s MAC address to the list of authorized MAC’s in the Linksys WAP11 (v. 1.1) For this, I call on wap11gui. Used to (since I use linux), I would have to suffer through a Windows boot on the laptop and balance the laptop on the edge of the bed and connect through usb to the linksys… now I can just administer it from my desk. Nice… Anyway, I log into that and Visit the “security” tab and “Authorized Mac”, and add the d-Link DWL-800AP+ to the list.
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Search Engines Submission
This is what hopefully will be the begining of a series of threads on webhosting, web marketing, etc. The first topic up is search engines submission. (This may take several articles…) It’s important to get your web site up and mostly fleshed out before submitting to search engines. Why? Although many may take some time before they spider your site, it is best to make sure that there is a fair amount of content available for them to spider. Some may actually spider fairly quickly, within minutes initially.