Extreme Media Server - I want one too

http://extrememediaservers.blogspot.com/2009/11/streaming-media-extreme-style.html

Have fun :)

Hardware Hackers, Illuminato X Machina, Open Source Hardware Bank and Von Neumann's bottleneck

Even if you're not a hardware hacker, this should be a fine piece of reading.
Check it out:

http://www.smoothblog.co.uk/2009/08/23/hardware-hackers-create-a-modular-motherboard/

The horrors of Microsoft or how to force an install of Microsoft Office 2008 from command line

Ahhh, I was so happy when I got my Macbook Pro and finally switched
to mac(which is up to now the perfect combination for me at least between flexibility and advanced commands aka. unix style with all it's hardcore commands and ease of use aka. windows style). I must say Mac OS X takes a little to get used with it but
it's waay better than Windows.

Still... I need Microsoft Word 2008 on my newly upgraded Snow Leopard. No wonder that I had problems when installing it because the guys at Microsoft, even though made the package Intel-based only, they made the installation PPC binary, and that means Rosetta(which I have installed already) kicks in and does it's job.(check here http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=775727).

The only thing is that the installation doesn't work properly and after some more searching on the net, and studying the mpkg format I found out that I have to force somehow the installation.

After searching Google for "how to run mpkg from command line" I found this link:
http://www.commandlinefu.com/commands/view/2031/install-an-mpkg-from-the-command-line-on-osx
which tells me I should run this command:
sudo installer -pkg /Volumes/someapp/someapp.mpkg -target /

so I become root with:
sudo su -
then go to the place where the dmg file is mounted, which in my case is:
/Volumes/Microsoft Office 2008
and I find this directory
Office Installer.mpkg

Then I run the following command:
installer -pkg Office\ Installer.mpkg -target /

note the escaped spaces, an alternative would be like this
installer -pkg "Office Installer.mpkg" -target /

The installer starts without asking me anything and after a while(5 mins)
it finishes without any error and when I check the Applications directory,
the directory "Microsoft Office 2008" is present and all the applications
are nicely installed.

Here's the output of the installer program:
installer -pkg Office\ Installer.mpkg -target /
2009-09-14 17:55:12.064 installer[856:3007] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/PPD_Installer_RICOH.pkg
2009-09-14 17:55:12.257 installer[856:3007] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/QuickTime Component for Everio.pkg
installer: Package name is Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac
installer: Installing at base path /
2009-09-14 17:55:16.018 installer[856:4c07] Package /Volumes/Microsoft Office 2008/Office Installer.mpkg/Contents/Packages/Office2008_en_word.pkg uses a deprecated pre-10.2 format (or uses a newer format but is invalid).
2009-09-14 17:55:16.538 installer[856:4c07] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/PPD_Installer_RICOH.pkg
2009-09-14 17:55:16.540 installer[856:4c07] PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/QuickTime Component for Everio.pkg
installer: The install was successful.


After all this hassle I realized that I just lost at least half an hour but
I installed Microsoft Office from the command line. Take that Bill!

Cell phone radiation levels

Just found this nice site that shows cell phone radiation levels and found out
about my mighty iPhone that it's not bad at all. Actually every model Apple
made is well beyond the 1.5W/kg limit or 2.0W/kg limit in Europe.

Check it out here:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6602_7-6258775-11.html?tag=rb_content;rb_mtx

Apple Keyboards Keylogged?

Wow now I must say that some hackers really are bored or just very very good and inventive. I mean who in the world could think that one can insert a keylogger inside a keyboard?! Yes, you heard it right, it is possible to insert code in the chip of a keyboard and save all the keys one presses at the computer.

More info here:
http://www.smoothblog.co.uk/2009/08/04/hacking-apple-keyboards-vulnerable-to-firmware-hack/

Free Wireless everywhere

Have you ever been in an airport and wanted to go on the internet just to find out that there are no free wireless networks available? Or you've been in a restaurant that has a wireless but when you ask for the password they say it's only for their pda's?

Well if your network allows icmp packets to go through(ping echo request/response) then you're in luck! All you need is a previously setup linux machine somewhere on the internet and a program called ICMPTX on your laptop, with either linux or windows.

On that page you'll find links to other various methods of wireless firewall piercing, so it's a nice read if you're interested in the subject.

Good luck, and happy free browsing :)

Very informative article about spam from Google(technical)

While reading the Google enterprise blog I found out this very cool and informative report about what's been happening in the spam war and if you're curious like me, read it, it's a good read:

http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2009/07/q2-2009-spam-trends.html