Category Archives: IT Discussions

General IT discussions, could be on almost anything from security to the Internet.

Linux Mint 15

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As you may have guessed I do rather like Linux Mint and indeed I have now been running it for about 3 years on two different netbooks. Well as much as I like Mint 13 XFCE  (see the review here), the latest version Mint 15 Olivia has been described as “ not merely the best Linux desktop, it’s the best desktop operating system of all.” by  over at ZDNet. He argues that for power users the user interface is perfect and worryingly for Microsoft that Mint is more user friendly than Metro in Windows 8. Especially for those who may be familiar with XP/7 but who as yet have never used Linux.

Linux is horses for courses really. In my view it is nowhere near as polished as Mac OS X and struggles with certain graphics cards. It is generally very stable but again Max OS X is (provided you never install a virus scanner) consistently more stable. That said Linux offers bags of free software all of which are perfectly good for home and some business users. Sure for the most part they are not as nice to look at as the paid for options but more often than not they do exactly what you need. Also Linux is often more secure than Windows and Mac OS X even if this is sometimes down to accident rather than design.

Feel free to try out Mint 15 which is the latest version or if you want something I can vouch for you can download the small, fast and light Mint 13 XFCE (64 bit) or the 32 bit version.

 

Twitt

Geekville: ASCII Celebrates it’s 50th Birthday

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Image Source: Wikipedia. ASCII chart circa. 1972.

For those of us who have had a computer for slightly too long ASCII is perhaps something of a childhood friend. In the days when computer graphics were somewhat basic, the standard  ASCII character set was often used as a way to distract us from the lack of colours, resolution and quite often both. ASCII or American Standard Code for Information Interchange basically assigns a number to a specific character for example 53 is “S”.  The ASCII character set was devised by the American Standards Association and not entirely unexpectedly it does not support many non-English characters. For that we now have Unicode. In addition to basic letters and numbers it also supports control characters in order to allow the easy sending and receiving of text. So on June 17th light a 67 65 78 68 76 69. Well you can do if you are from Big Bang Theory…..

More memorable moments from the history and use of ASCII are emoticons, those little charming things we use in emails etc and which I still manage to never quite get right or some stunning computer games (see below) and perhaps the saddest thing of all ASCII porn – I can’t even bring myself to Google it.

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt

 

For more information please check out The Economist which has a longer article the exciting world of ASCII.

Twitt

The US is now the World’s STASI

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The blanket spying (or wiretapping) on communications data in the USA predominantly  applies to non-US nationals according to the BBC (US security services seem to acknowledge this with some pride). As I reported in an earlier article on cloud computing the US in fact has a law which automatically gives them the right to snoop on all data carried on their networks which originates from non-US nationals. This means anything you post on Google, Dropbox, Mediafire or simply Skype can be logged and used for their own ends. Apparently this snooping is perfectly acceptable as  non-US nationals don’t matter. Interestingly though the snoopers charter can apply when one of the people involved is not from the US.

Mr Clapper said the communications-collection programme was “designed to facilitate the acquisition of foreign intelligence information concerning non-US persons located outside the United States”. (Source: BBC News)

It should be noted though that the current scandal also seems to suggest that US nationals have also been spied on however if what I read is correct then the law was only ever designed to target foreign nationals. Furthermore, worrying for everyone is the use of the term “private” with respect to data as apparently information stored on a telecom network is for the most part not deemed private anymore as the company has access to it. This also means the US authorities do not need a court order in order to obtain data on anyone – regardless of nationality. All of this falls under the PRISM programme which the Guardian reports basically circumvents any previous safeguards.

China and Saudi Arabia often get cited as a places which snoop on Internet communications but the PRISM programme basically allows the US authorities access to any data they wish and as the Guardian notes essentially allows them direct access in real time to any data. In effect this makes the US on the same level as Saudi Arabia and most likely many other similar regimes across the globe. It has always been my view that the Internet was by far the best spying platform available to any state, it seems sadly that view is not far off the mark. Not scared yet? Well the British based Indepedent Newspaper suggests claims that:

“According to the report, the intelligence agencies have access to the central servers of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple.”

Interestingly telcos and other providers are also not allowed to confirm if they are taking part in the scheme as this apparently would also be a breach of national security. While I am sympathetic to the needs of the US post 9-11 I do think that this kind of behaviour will  only further undermine the support the receive from people such as myself. Indeed as it stands the current law seems to take the view that all foreign nationals are potential terrorists  - which I find totally unacceptable.

Twitt

LiveCity Workshop on Smart and Pervasive Communications for Enhanced Communities

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The LiveCity project are hosting a workshop at SaCoNet  2013 in Paris on:

LiveCity Workshop on Smart and Pervasive Communications for Enhanced Communities

You can join us on the 17th June and more information can be found at: http://www.lissi.fr/saconet2013/livecity

 

Twitt

Review: Mega Cloud Service

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The charming Kim Dotcom set up a new could service after his somewhat dodgy megaupload.com was shut down by the equally lovely US law enforcement authorities. Being the kind of chap he is he set up mega.co.nz which although still in beta offers many features you can find on other cloud services. I tried this out briefly today and have to say even the free accounts offer excellent upload and download speeds typically hitting 3-5MBps, which compares with a fraction of that for Dropbox, Google and Mediafire. Also the download speeds are equally impressive, typically in the 5MB plus category. So far this is by far the fastest “free” cloud service I have come across.

In terms of usability the website is a doddle and registering to use it is quick and simple. All the features are readily available with a mouse click and are easy to find and understand. As Mega uses a different security model to other platforms novice users may find the idea of encryption keys and link sharing with keys with other a little daunting. However, security is really the strong point of this platform. You can also upload entire directories quickly and easily.

My main worry about this site is who is behind it. For example would you trust a man who has an extradition warrant out against him in the US and is wanted there for various crimes? I am not sure if I really do but Mega does go out of it’s way to say that all data can only be decrypted and hence seen by it’s owner. That aside though, my main worry is whether they will be around in a year or two if law enforcement manages to catch up with Kim.

Mega is still in beta but there are a few Android clients available, otherwise you need to stick the Chrome browser. One word of warning if you forget your password you can kiss good bye to your data. Also like Mediafire there is no syncing of folders option. It is not a perfect service but you do get 50GB of space for free so who can complain at that? Upgrading to more storage and bandwidth is also surprisingly cheap with a 500GB plan along with 1TB of data per month being just €99.Also it is simple and above all fast and apparently secure.

Twitt

Review: Mediafire

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Updated: June 7th 2013.

Are you looking for an alternative to Dropbox or Google Drive? If so perhaps Mediafire is the answer.

To give you some background I have had enough of spending a lot on new computers when there are lots of good cloud storage and application solutions. Two obvious ones are Dropbox, which offers basic file storage and syncing across computers and Google Drive which offers storage, syncing and applications. Mediafire is slightly different and sits between these two as it does not sync files across computers, you basically upload them and share folders or files and download them if you or someone else wishes and like Google it also also comes with a range of office applications. Here is a quick summary of Mediafire and its relative advantages and disadvantages. Please note that the review is based on a paid pro subscription to Mediafire.

Advantages

  • Office suite is comparable to Google Docs in terms of basic features.
  • Avoids problem of auto syncing files which are very large, especially when on a slow network.
  • Files uploaded via the website are scanned for viruses, Dropbox does not offer this function.
  • Paid accounts support up to 10GB file sizes, free accounts limited to 200MB. Google also supports 10GB file sizes. Dropbox only limits file sizes to 300mb when they are uploaded via a web browser.
  • Free accounts have 10GB space as standard, paid accounts 100GB, plus you earn more for signing up more users.
  • 1TB of downloads per month with pro accounts, this can be rolled over. Great if you need to host files for use on your website or blog which may eat up bandwidth or space. Dropbox limits downloads per web link to 20GB per link per day for free accounts and 200GB per link per day for paid accounts.
  • Sharing files is very easy and the other party does not require an account or client in order to view them.
  • You can share files with others via Facebook and Twitter.
  • Files can be shared once via the one time download feature, with a set expiry date.
  • SSL upload encryption available.
  • Document collaboration is easy and other people do not need to sign up to  collaborate.
  • Client available for all major platforms including Android and Linux
  • You can provide an upload link to others or on your website so that people can easily send you files.
  • Reasonably fast download rate (update: as of June 2013 it seems to have improved quite a bit).
  • You can share files via a link or share them using a password, the latter is a very nice feature and avoid the need to force people to sign up for services.
  • The file uploading tool is generally easy to use and supports multiple uploads at once. You and other can also upload to your account via the web.
  • Pricing is comparable to Google, with the basic 100GB plan on both services costing €4.99 per month, this is half the price of Dropbox.
  • Fast and helpful customer support.
  • Other people can upload to a designated folder without them needing an account.

Disadvantages

  • Adverts and captchas are used on free accounts, although if the person hosting the account has paid then these are not displayed.
  • Very small file size limits for free accounts.
  • Slow upload rate, often around a 200KBPS on connections with much higher upload rates, which is far less than other services. If I am paying I expect far more than this quality of service.
  • No FTP upload
  • Except for the office suite this is not a collaboration environment, so unlike Dropbox people cannot edit the files you share with them then auto sync.
  • It is perceived as less trustworthy by many people as it is essentially a file sharing site with extra features. However, it has been used by many major companies.
  • Free accounts DO NOT offer long term storage so do not use them as a backup solution. Paid accounts do offer long term storage but again are not recommended as a backup solution.
  • Mac client doesn’t seem to work on all Intel Macs (well not mine anyway).
  • Office environment lacks integration with other third party applications.
  • Their website feels slower than Google or Dropbox.
  • The office applications do not seem to be very well integrated into the rest of the file storage options. For example I tried using images already stored on Mediafire inside a document and this was not possible; instead I had to upload them again or forage around for the url for the file on Mediafire.
  • It lacks basic file handling features when sharing with others, for example you cannot password protect then share a directory. Instead you can only password protect and share files.
  • You cannot create an archive of lots of files online then simply put the file immediately online without downloading it. This is annoying.
  • If people want to upload  files set in a specific  folder structure, this is not possible without you setting up the folder structure first then sending them individual links to each folder.

The biggest annoyance that I have come across so far is that you cannot password protect folders. This is a serious issue if like me you want to use it to share lots of large files but only with a select group of people. For this you must manually share a link for each file and set up a password. This means Mediafire in view is not a good medium for sharing lots of files in an ordered way, it is however good for sharing large single files.

In summary Mediafire is really just a file sharing site with an added office suite. It lacks the breadth and depth of features that you find with Google and does not automatically sync files. The latter is an advantage and disadvantage. If however you want a quick and easy way to send large files without forcing people to sign up to anything then it is a good choice. For sheer integration with other products and services Google is the clear winner. If however you you simply want a way to share large files without the privacy concerns attached to Google then Mediafire is a good option.

 

Twitt

Cryptoparty at Konrad (Luxembourg) this Thursday

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Having never been to one I am not sure exactly what it is and sadly I can’t go as I am out of the country. However, if you are interested in cryptography and digital privacy why not attend the party this week in Luxembourg. Some info from their email is below:

CryptoParty Lux 3, the third CryptoParty held in the Grand Duchy,will take place on Thursday, April 11th at 18:00 at Konrad Cafe, 7 Rue du Nord, Luxembourg.

“*CryptoParties* are a global movement in the interests of educating and
empowering people to protect their privacy in the digital domain.”

Link to website: Cryptoparty

Normally I go to Konrad for it’s rather nice atmosphere and cheesecake.

Twitt

Bitcoin Gains Popularity in Russia

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Bitcoin Logo

According to statistics produced by Google and published in the Daily Telegraph Russians are the people who are searching for “Bitcoin” the most. Much of the speculation as to why stems from the recent collapse of the Cypriot banks which apparently could see Russian depositors loose upto €19bn. Unlike official currencies Bitcoins sit on your computer and you do not need a place to deposit them such as a bank. Such a currency is of course of interest to those who wish to not be traced but increasingly Bitcoins are being used for online shopping and are becoming a more acceptable currency. For example at the end of last year Bitcoin in Europe started registering with European authorities.

For those not familiar with Bitcoin it is a virtual currency which is generated on your computer using a complex algorithm. However, unlike currencies such as the Euro there is a fixed number that can be created (21m apparently).  The process is relatively complex, takes time and requires significant computing power and electricity. However, it is not all perfect, a recent hack took many services and exchanges offline leading to a small drop in the value of the currency although it has since recovered.

The first time I checked you could buy a bit coin for a few dollars, now they are trading at around $138 each.  I only wish I had bought some coins. There are some concerns growing that the current price is just a bubble which could soon go pop. However, with many European banks in trouble Bitcoin could be one of the safer options for the more risk tolerant investor.

More information on Bitcoin can be found here.

Twitt

Google Keep vs Evernote : Quick First Impressions

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For information how to to get Evernote working on Linux click here.

Everyone I work with has probably been subjected to my recommendation of Evernote many times, but the reality is that it is a good way to keep an archive of pretty much anything. I use it for a whole range of things from keeping a record of things at work through to grabbing pictures of things I want to buy in shops (and adding notes) through to storing bills etc. However, as predicted by many Google has now released a similar tool called Keep, although it has to be said it is not quite as similar as some of the press would have us think. Indeed Google Keep is little more than a note taking application for Android.

User Interface

Google Keep like all their products looks nice, is user friendly and easy to use. Evernote has more features so is quite simply more complex and to be honest does not look as nice. However, once you get into it Evernote is easy to use but just feels slightly more clunky overall.

Audio Note Taking

Google Keep has a nice audio feature which lets you dictate notes then it will transcribe them into text for you – even if this is not 100% accurate. Evernote does not seem to offer this feature out of the box. Also Evernote only lets you record quite low quality notes which probably makes good speech to text conversion problematic. In general Google Keep easily wins this point.

Normal Note Taking

For text based notes Evernote is miles in front, its organisation (via notebooks) and tagging features are miles in front of what keep offers. You can also send notes directly to yourself via email. The tagging and notebook features in Evernote also make it a very good place to archive more than just casual notes.

Space

Google Keep uses your existing Drive storage which means you don’t need to fork out for extra space (like Evernote). Evernote provides 60mb free per month, after that it costs around €40 per year for 1GB of uploads per month.

Integration with other Apps

Evernote integrates quite nicely with other apps such as Hellofax and offers a range of additional third party apps that can be connected to it. However, if all your date is already on Google Drive and you are using a range of other services in the longer term I suspect that Keep will provide a more integrated platform.

Supported Platforms

This is where Evernote Wins as it runs on almost anything from iOS through to Android via Windows and Mac. You can also run the Windows client on Linux without too many problems via WINE. There is also an Evernote extension for Chrome. Sadly from what I can see Keep is only available on Android.

Conclusion

Right now Keep is good if your demands are basic and it integrates nicely into the Google stable. However, Evernote is streets ahead in almost every other respect from supported platforms through to archiving data in a more coherent way.

Twitt

Dropbox Alternatives

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Image from Wikipedia.

Image from Wikipedia.

Dropbox gives cloud computing a good name and is an excellent way to store media and make it available across devices quickly and easily. However, beyond storage it does little else except perhaps allowing picturing syncing. Also if you start collaborating with others on a document and use the free account then you quickly get to the point where documents become conflicted. Also more recently I have noticed syncing issues which although this happens rarely it is quite infuriating. Also the amount of free space you get either immediately (2GB) or after introducing people is by today’s standards quite limited. Also the next category of paid service is $100 per year for 100gb; which is quite expensive. There is no file size limit except when uploading via the Web and of course the total size cannot exceed your account limit. So what are the alternatives?

First-up Google Drive is an excellent choice and if you stick to using the Google apps that support spreadsheets, word processor files etc then the problem with collaboration is solved. Indeed you can share and edit documents in realtime which is a nice feature. Also added to that the tight integration with other Google apps such as Gmail, Picasa (for photos) or third party apps such as Hellofax and you quickly come to realise that Drive is much more than just storage space it is more of a complete cloud platform. I have now more or less replaced using other office suites for personal documents etc. This has a number of advantages firstly the files created using Drive tools do not count towards my free storage, I can access end edit my files anywhere I can login via a web browser so I have the same fools available on Linux, Mac, iOS, Windows and Android; this is important as I use all of them on a daily basis. Although it is worth noting that there is no official file sync candidate for Linux so everything has to be done via the browser. The only downside again is that Google scans you documents and files in order to provide you with relevant advertising and that the initial free space is quite limited. There is no storage bonus for inviting new users to the service as is the case with Dropbox and Mediafire. However, Google does offer affordable upgrade packages starting at $2.49 per month for 25GB of storage space. The maximum filesize for all non-Google docs type files is 10GB, there are also a few other restrictions that you can find here, also depending on whether you are a Google+ user or not image and movie size limits vary. In general I have found Google Drive to be reliable, an excellent service and user friendly. Due to how Google uses your data it is probably not a good choice for storing highly sensitive information. However, Google do offer corporate packages in which they claim not to scan your data.

Another option is MediaFire which I have only just downloaded and will review more thoroughly over the coming months. MediaFire offers 10GB free space when you sign up plus bonus space for each person you sign up and for installing their client on your desktop and mobile devices. Also the maximum free space you can get is 50GB, substantially more than the 18GB max free under Dropbox. It also offers double the space of Google Drive for free too. MediaFire seems to sit somewhere between Dropbox and Google Drive in terms of features. For example there are collaborative tools such as a word processor and spreadsheet but these seem a little more basic than those provided by Google. File upload is generally fast, however unlike dropbox it does not sync your folders in a subfolder, rather you drag and drop files to the client or upload them via the web. However, it seems that all files are automatically set to being visible to the public. In order to avoid this you need to make the private. This is rather annoying as usually I prefer it to be the other way round. Also the Linux client application is currently only in beta. Upgrading is affordable too with a 100GB plan costing just $4.99 per month. If you use the free service then be warned this is an advertising supported service and I am not sure if they scan your files in order to decide what adverts to sell you. The company had a bit of an interesting reputation in the past as it was essentially a file sharing service but it now seems to be trying to put on a cleaner more reputable image.

Last but by no means least is Mega the new secure service from the charming and much loved in the USA Kim Dotcom. I have not tried out this service yet but it offers 50GB of free space. In general the press seem to be neutral to mildly positive about it. The features I am told are basic and currently it only offers upload and download via web browsers. In addition to the excellent amount of free space available it offers one key feature that is that they claim that you and only you can see the content of your files as all data between you and their servers is encrypted using a key. This of course is tempting but comes at a price. If you lose your key then you will never again be able to access your date. Also if your key becomes compromised anyone with it will be able to access your files and you will be unable to stop them from doing so. In general their paid plans are also good value for money and include massive amounts of data for a comparatively low cost. This service sounds tempting but I am not sure if I trust the people in charge with my data given their past history. Also it is worth noting that this is still a beta service.

In short each has it’s advantages, for simplicity and reliability then Dropbox is a good choice although the free space is limited and extra packages are expensive. MediaFire in this respect is a good compromise but it’s online tools and integration with Apps is not anywhere near as good as those provided by Google. Google though does not offer much free space. In contrast Mega offers a lot of free space but there are concerns over who is behind it and the problems if your encryption key is suddenly lost or stolen. Finally check out Box which I have not had time to explore or if you are after a platform to archive information or notes in a more structured way Evernote is a good choice.

If you have found this review useful and want to signup to MediaFire feel free to give me the 1GB referrer bonus. To sign up click here.

Also if you decide to go with Dropbox which I still also like feel free to be referred here. Again you will be giving me a signup bonus.

 

Twitt