December 2009 - skunkworks - Skunkworks Site

Delay of Larrabee graphics processor is a setback for the Linux community
by aki 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

David Coursey David Coursey – Mon Dec 7, 1:58 pm ET Intel's decision to indefinitely delay its Larrabee graphics processor is a setback for the Linux community, delaying improved performance for users of open source operating systems. Competitors Nvidia and AMD, however, saw their share prices rise<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/pcworld/tc_pcworld/storytext/larrabeeintel…>following the news. To the Windows and Mac world, the end of Larrabee may not matter. They have plenty of advanced graphics options. That's not true for Linux users, who rely upon Intel's integrated graphics for the vast majority of their needs. Larrabee, which was Intel's program to compete with standalone graphics processor unit (GPU) chips from Nvidia and AMD, was expected to include Intel's usual support for open source operating systems. That would have made Larrabee the choice for desktop Linux users, especially those working against virtualized servers. Alas, it was not meant to be. Yesterday, Intel said the project was being discontinued, having earlier indicated that Larrabee was behind schedule. My colleague, Tony Bradley, has suggested the chip was really the victim of legal issues<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/pcworld/tc_pcworld/storytext/larrabeeintel…>that Intel was unable to resolve. In late September, Intel demonstrated the processor<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/pcworld/tc_pcworld/storytext/larrabeeintel…>to a mixed reception at its developer's forum. If not as a processor, Larrabee lives on as a software development platform for use inside Intel and externally, an Intel spokesman said. Back in September, an Intel executive also indicated that Larrabee technology would find its way into an Intel CPU, which still appears likely. On the stock markets early Monday, Reuters reported<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/pcworld/tc_pcworld/storytext/larrabeeintel…>that shares of AMD rose 7.9 percent to $8.50 on the New York Stock Exchange while Nvidia rocketed nearly 14 percent to $16.25 on the NASDAQ, and Intel fell 0.5 percent to $20.35.

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MIT wins Pentagon prize in social networking contest
by aki 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) has won a 40,000-dollar prize for using social networking tools to identify the locations of 10 large weather balloons in a contest sponsored by the Pentagon's research agency. The MIT Red Balloon Challenge Team needed fewer than nine hours to identify where the eight-foot (2.43-meter) red balloons were tethered across the United States. The "Network Challenge" contest was sponsored by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to mark the 40th anniversary of ARPANet, the pre-cursor to what today is known as the Internet. ARPANet took its name from the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), which was established in 1958 following the launch a year earlier of Sputnik by what was then the Soviet Union. ARPA was the original name of DARPA, the Pentagon's central research and development organization. "DARPA salutes the MIT team for successfully completing this complex task less than nine hours after balloon launch," DARPA director Regina Dugan said in a statement after the Boston-based university won Saturday's contest. DARPA did not say how the MIT won the competition. According to The Washington Post, the MIT team allotted 4,000 dollars to each balloon. The first person to spot a balloon would be awarded 2,000 dollars, the Post said, with smaller amounts going to other informants. According to DARPA, the goal of the Network Challenge was to explore how "broad-scope problems can be tackled using social networking tools." It said it aimed to look at such issues as mobilization, collaboration, and trust in diverse social networking constructs.

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my.co.ke inaccessible
by simiyu mse 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

hey. www.my.co.ke has gone mteja or something? who has its charger? -- i dislike capital letters +254 722 278 106

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Port 445
by Gakuru Alex 07 Dec '09

07 Dec '09

Port 445 Name: microsoft-ds Purpose: Microsoft Directory Services Description: This port replaces the notorious Windows NetBIOS trio (ports 137-139), for all versions of Windows after NT, as the preferred port for carrying Windows file sharing and numerous other services. Related Ports: 137, 138, 139 Background and Additional Information: While ports 137-139 were known technically as "NBT over IP", port 445 is "SMB over IP". (SMB is known as "Samba" and stands for "Server Message Blocks".) After all of the trouble the personal computer industry has had with Microsoft's original Windows NetBIOS ports 137 through 139, it is difficult to imagine or believe that Microsoft could have actually made things significantly worse with their replacement port 445 . . . but they did. Whereas the great vulnerability originally created by Windows file sharing was that hackers could perhaps gain remote access to the contents of hard disk directories or drives, the default exposure of the Internet server Microsoft silently installed into every Windows 2000 system (where port 445 first appeared), allows malicious hackers to remotely log onto the computers of unsuspecting users — across the Internet — and more recently, though the use of some clever and readily available freeware tools (PsExec from SysInternals) to silently upload and run (in the remote user's computer) any programs of their choosing without the computer's owners ever being aware. As you might imagine, malicious hackers have been having a field day scanning for port 445, then easily and remotely commandeering Windows machines. Even several hackers I have spoken with are unnerved by the glaring insecurities created by port 445. One chilling consequence of port 445 has been the relatively silent appearance of NetBIOS worms. These worms slowly but methodically scan the Internet for instances of port 445, use tools like PsExec to transfer themselves into the new victim computer, then redouble their scanning efforts. Through this mechanism, massive, remotely controlled Denial of Service "Bot Armies", containing tens of thousands of NetBIOS worm compromised machines, have been assembled and now inhabit the Internet. Dealing with Port 445 Needless to say, you do NOT want port 445 exposed to the Internet. Like Windows port 135 (which is a whole different problem) port 445 is deeply embedded in Windows and can be difficult or impossible to safely close. While its closure is possible, other dependent services such as DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol) which is frequently used for automatically obtaining an IP address from the DHCP servers used by many corporations and ISPs, will stop functioning. For the security reasons described above, port 445 has been causing so many problems that many ISPs are taking security matters into their own hands and blocking this port on behalf of their users. If our port checking shows your port 445 as "stealth" while you are not being otherwise protected by a NAT router or personal firewall, your ISP is probably preventing port 445 traffic from reaching you. If you really want 445 closed Any NAT router or personal firewall should be able to block port 445 from the outside world without trouble. <http://www.grc.com/port_445.htm>

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Port 445
by Gakuru Alex 07 Dec '09

07 Dec '09

Port 445 Name: microsoft-ds Purpose: Microsoft Directory Services Description: This port replaces the notorious Windows NetBIOS trio (ports 137-139), for all versions of Windows after NT, as the preferred port for carrying Windows file sharing and numerous other services. Related Ports: 137, 138, 139 Background and Additional Information: While ports 137-139 were known technically as "NBT over IP", port 445 is "SMB over IP". (SMB is known as "Samba" and stands for "Server Message Blocks".) After all of the trouble the personal computer industry has had with Microsoft's original Windows NetBIOS ports 137 through 139, it is difficult to imagine or believe that Microsoft could have actually made things significantly worse with their replacement port 445 . . . but they did. Whereas the great vulnerability originally created by Windows file sharing was that hackers could perhaps gain remote access to the contents of hard disk directories or drives, the default exposure of the Internet server Microsoft silently installed into every Windows 2000 system (where port 445 first appeared), allows malicious hackers to remotely log onto the computers of unsuspecting users — across the Internet — and more recently, though the use of some clever and readily available freeware tools (PsExec from SysInternals) to silently upload and run (in the remote user's computer) any programs of their choosing without the computer's owners ever being aware. As you might imagine, malicious hackers have been having a field day scanning for port 445, then easily and remotely commandeering Windows machines. Even several hackers I have spoken with are unnerved by the glaring insecurities created by port 445. One chilling consequence of port 445 has been the relatively silent appearance of NetBIOS worms. These worms slowly but methodically scan the Internet for instances of port 445, use tools like PsExec to transfer themselves into the new victim computer, then redouble their scanning efforts. Through this mechanism, massive, remotely controlled Denial of Service "Bot Armies", containing tens of thousands of NetBIOS worm compromised machines, have been assembled and now inhabit the Internet. Dealing with Port 445 Needless to say, you do NOT want port 445 exposed to the Internet. Like Windows port 135 (which is a whole different problem) port 445 is deeply embedded in Windows and can be difficult or impossible to safely close. While its closure is possible, other dependent services such as DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol) which is frequently used for automatically obtaining an IP address from the DHCP servers used by many corporations and ISPs, will stop functioning. For the security reasons described above, port 445 has been causing so many problems that many ISPs are taking security matters into their own hands and blocking this port on behalf of their users. If our port checking shows your port 445 as "stealth" while you are not being otherwise protected by a NAT router or personal firewall, your ISP is probably preventing port 445 traffic from reaching you. If you really want 445 closed Any NAT router or personal firewall should be able to block port 445 from the outside world without trouble. <http://www.grc.com/port_445.htm>

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Off -topic = Looking For Disco Lights for End Year Party
by Dominic Munyi 07 Dec '09

07 Dec '09

Anyone? (Plus quote of course) Thanks. -- Warm regards, Dominic Munyi Kariithi Nyavu Solutions

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IT Attachement
by maina 07 Dec '09

07 Dec '09

Hi all. My friend is looking for IT attachment, if you have a vacancy or you know someone who has, kindly get in touch with me offlist. His CV is available on request. ----------- David Maina. P. O. Box 8310-00200, NAIROBI, KENYA.. Cell:+254-721-950073. Registered Linux User #407239. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "By golly, I'm beginning to think Linux really *is* the best thing since sliced bread."

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Test
by Thuo Wilson 07 Dec '09

07 Dec '09

Hey there!

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Telecom consultancy opportunity
by Mbugua Njihia 07 Dec '09

07 Dec '09

Opportunity in Uganda, details on www.mbuguanjihia.com

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BD : Landlords slow down pace of internet reach?
by aki 07 Dec '09

07 Dec '09

The article by BD is interestingly. Sharing me thots. - Building owners cannot stop tenants from aquiring internet access or other services that they cannot provide in the first place. - Some building owners are providing free internet access. Without a valid license from CCK, they cannot provide any telco services even if they are free. The freeness is covered under value added services that the building owners are commercially using to enhance services to its tenants. Thus, are the services managed ? Secondly, the issue of using an ISP to distribute services into buildings can lead to exclusivity problems. Does it mean that an ISP can lock out a competitor in the said presmises? - CCK need do a survey of all the connected buildings. This affair is not a commercial issue. The telecom bad business practises by building owners will lead to a severe lack of investments into infrastructure. If a building if found to be delivering internet services ( unless through ISP, and also the ISP cannot have an exclusive deal with building owners ), they are in breach of internet service provisions. Over to you, CCK. - Wananchi to offer Triple play for Kshs 1,000/- per month? Anyone know more about this?

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