Simon Bullen's Weblog

iPhone unlocker trades phone for a new car

A hacker who figured out how to unlock the iPhone has traded an unlocked phone for a new car.

After facing problems trying to auction the phone on eBay, George Hotz received a call from CertiCell a company that refurbishes mobile phones. "Terry Daidone, the founder of CertiCell, contacted me this morning, and offered to make a trade for the iPhone," Hotz wrote on his blog. "I traded it for a sweet Nissan 350Z and 3 8GB iPhones."

Click Here for more

Posted at 12:58AM Aug 29, 2007 by Simon Bullen in General  |  Comments[1]

Some rejected petitions to the UK Prime Minister

Petitions have long been sent to the Prime Minister by post or delivered to the Number 10 door in person. You can now both create and sign petitions on there website too, giving you the opportunity to reach a potentially wider audience and to deliver your petition directly to Downing Street.

But they go through an approval process first and the following didn't quite make it:-

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Give free houses (near a beach) to people called Mike. More details
Submitted by Mike of The Mike Corporation

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to invade France, and hence provide us with a war we can all get behind. More details
Submitted by Alex King

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Agree to allowing trolls to live under every bridge in London. More details
Submitted by Jim McKnight

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to insist that Mr. Mark Gary Banham of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, wash more frequently than once a year.
Submitted by Nicola Kaufman

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to abolish cat flaps in living room windows (like my neighbours). More details
Submitted by Chris O'Connor

And one that should have gone through:-

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to STOP SLATING OF 4X4. More details
Submitted by STUART HINCHLIFFE

Posted at 03:26PM Aug 17, 2007 by Simon Bullen in General  |  Comments[0]

Weather warning, who cares when you are in a Land Rover Defender (with a snorkel)

Last Friday was a bad day for the southern part of the UK with sustained heavy rain fall over night and the following day. The Met office had issued a severe weather warning so it should have not been a surprise for any one, but it seems that some people either fail to read the paper, watch the news or surf the web because the chaos around where I live was incredible.

I was heading out to a local supermarket to get lunch at midday, the route takes you under a railway bridge which has always been prone to flooding but had been substantially better since they cleared the ditches out.
The water under the bridge was already quite high about 18" deep and flowing fast, as I rounded the corner I came across two cars that were abandoned in the middle of the road, the first was a Merc A class and the owner was still about. He took up my offer of a tow but as we were heading out off a van broke down in the middle of the road boxing me in, the only solution was to push the van out while still towing the A class, interestingly the Defender did this on tick over. Having pushed and pulled both vehicles onto dry road I went off to the supermarket.

This was the view from the Merc, you can just see the van I was pushing:-



4 Hours later I went out to check the roads to let the wife know what route to come to get home, I came across the same Merc A class that was still waiting for a tow truck. The driver David Currums decided that it was the battery that was dead, so out came the jump leads and we got the car started, it did run a bit rough for a while but soon settled down.

Unfortunately the Merc A-class didn't last long, on Saturday it decided to leave most of the engine on the road !



So just a word to all the environmentalists out there who slag of 4x4's, when they need rescuing they will have to produce a written apology first for making my taxes go up.

Posted at 12:29PM Jul 30, 2007 by Simon Bullen in General  |  Comments[0]

Can an Apple iphone kill a Cisco network ?

Well the short answer is yes it can !

The problem started a week ago (Friday 13th believe it or not)at Duke university when IT staff found out that they were getting up to 30,000 ARP requests per second knocking out up to 30 wireless access points for between 10 and 15 minutes. The requests are for what is, at least for Duke’s network, an invalid router address.
Devices use the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) to request the MAC address of the destination node, for which it already has the IP address.The problem is when the iphone does not get an answer it just keeps asking.

The "misbehaving" iPhones flood the access points with up to 18,000 address requests per second, nearly 10Mbps of bandwidth, which monopolises the AP’s airtime.

Kevin Miller, assistant director, communications infrastructure, with Duke’s Office of Information Technology stated “I don’t believe it’s a Cisco problem in any way, shape, or form,”

Whoops ! Bad call Kevin.

A week later and Duke’s chief information officer is saying:-

“Cisco has provided a fix that has been applied to Duke’s network and there have been no recurrences of the problem since, We are working to fully characterize the issue and will have additional information as soon as possible.”

“Earlier reports that this was a problem with the iPhone in particular have proved to be inaccurate,”

Earlier on Friday, July 20, a Cisco PR spokeswoman via a two-sentence e-mail message said that the networking problem experienced at Duke was “caused by a Cisco-based network issue.” When more details were requested, the spokeswoman replied in e-mail, “this is all we are disclosing at this time.”

Posted at 08:29AM Jul 23, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Networking  |  Comments[0]

Windows Vista ReadyBoost

For those that are not aware of this feature you can use non-volatile flash memory, such as that on a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive, to improve performance without having to add additional memory "under the hood."

The flash memory device serves as an additional memory cache—that is, memory that the computer can access much more quickly than it can access data on the hard drive. Windows ReadyBoost relies on the intelligent memory management of Windows SuperFetch and can significantly improve system responsiveness.

Having had some issues getting ready boost to work with my USB flash drive and Vista I did some digging on the web and found this Q and A posting from Matt Ayers who owns the ready boost feature for Microsoft.
It turns out that my flash drive is too slow.

Q: What perf do you need on your device?
A: 2.5MB/sec throughput for 4K random reads and 1.75MB/sec throughput for 512K random writes

Q: My device says 12MB/sec (or 133x or something else) on the package but windows says that it isn't fast enough to use as a ReadyBoost device... why?
A: Two possible reasons:
1. The numbers measure sequential performance and we measure random. We've seen devices that have great sequential perf, but horrible random
2. The performance isn't consistantly fast across the entire device. Some devices have 128M of lightning fast flash and the rest of the device is really slow. This is fine for some applications but not ReadyBoost.

Q: What's the largest amount of flash that I can use for ReadyBoost?
A: You can use up to 4GB of flash for ReadyBoost (which turns out to be 8GB of cache w/ the compression)

Q: Why can't I use more than 4GB of flash?
A: The FAT32 filesystem limits our ReadyBoost.sfcache file to 4GB

Q: What's the smallest ReadyBoost cache that I can use
A: The smallest cache is 256MB (well, 250 after formatting). Post beta2, we may drop it another 10 MB or so.

Q: Ok... 256M-4GB is a pretty big range... any recommendations?
A: Yes. We recommend a 1:1 ratio of flash to system memory at the low end and as high as 2.5:1 flash to system memory. Higher than that and you won't see much benefit.

Q: Isn't this just putting the paging file onto a flash disk?
A: Not really - the file is still backed on disk. This is a cache - if the data is not found in the ReadyBoost cache, we fall back to the HDD.

Q: Aren't Hard Disks faster than flash? My HDD has 80MB/sec throughput.
A: Hard drives are great for large sequential I/O. For those situations, ReadyBoost gets out of the way. We concentrate on improving the performance of small, random I/Os, like paging to and from disk.

Q: What happens when you remove the drive?
A: When a surprise remove event occurs and we can't find the drive, we fall back to disk. Again, all pages on the device are backed by a page on disk. No exceptions. This isn't a separate page file store, but rather a cache to speed up access to frequently used data.

Q: Isn't user data on a removable device a security risk?
A: This was one of our first concerns and to mitigate this risk, we use AES-128 to encrypt everything that we write to the device.

Q: Won't this wear out the drive?
A: Nope. We're aware of the lifecycle issues with flash drives and are smart about how and when we do our writes to the device. Our research shows that we will get at least 10+ years out of flash devices that we support.

Q: Can use use multiple devices for EMDs?
A: Nope. We've limited Vista to one ReadyBoost per machine

Q: Why just one device?
A: Time and quality. Since this is the first revision of the feature, we decided to focus on making the single device exceptional, without the difficulties of managing multiple caches. We like the idea, though, and it's under consideration for future versions.

Q: Do you support SD/CF/memory stick/MMC/etc.?
A: Mostly. In beta2, we added support for a small number of SD/CF cards on internal USB2 & PCIe busses. RC1 has a much broader support range.

Q: Why don't you support SD on my USB2.0 external card reader?
A: We unfortunately don't support external card readers - there were some technical hurdles that we didn't have time to address. In general, if a card reader shows a drive without media in it (like a floppy drive or CD ROM does), we can't use it for ReadyBoost.

Q: Will it support all USB drives, regardless of how they are ID'd to the OS ("hard disk drive" or "Device with Removable Storage")?
A: We have no way to tell what is on the other end of a USB cable so we do some basic size checks (since no one has a 200GB flash device ;-) ) and then perform our speed tests. HDD will not, however, pass our speed tests, and there is no benefit to using a USB HDD for ReadyBoost.

Q: Can you use an mp3 player to speed up your system?
A: Not currently. MP3 players use the 'plays for sure' interfaces to expose themselves to Windows. We require that the device appear as a disk volume. These aren't currently compatible.

Q: How much of a speed increase are we talking about?
A: Well, that depends. On average, a RANDOM 4K read from flash is about 10x faster than from HDD. Now, how does that translate to end-user perf? Under memory pressure and heavy disk activity, the system is much more responsive; on a 4GB machine with few applications running, the ReadyBoost effect is much less noticable.

Q: I can't get my device to work with ReadyBoost... can I lower the perf requirements?
A: Unfortunately, no. We've set the perf requirements to the lowest possible throughput that still makes your system faster. If we lowered the perf requirements, then there wouldn't be a noticeable benefit to using ReadyBoost. Remember, we're not adding memory, we're improving disk access.

Q: Which manufacturers support ReadyBoost?
A: Well, I hope that all of them do, eventually. Right now, we're working with manufacturers to create a program that will allow them to identify ReadyBoost capable devices on their packaging.

Posted at 01:03PM Jul 18, 2007 by Simon Bullen in General  |  Comments[0]

Petition the Prime Minister to Abolish The Import Duty On Bicycles Made Outside the EU

Almost all bicycles sold in the UK are manufactured in the Far East. UK manufacturing on any large scale ended some time ago. Bicycles are subject to an import duty of 14% which, when compared to consumer electronics rates of near zero, is bonkers. We have childhood obesity issues, congestion, global warming and an ageing population that needs exercise- the bicycle has a role to play in the resolution of all these issues. It seems crazy that the tax regime encourages a kid to sit in front of a bicycle extreme sports computer game rather than go out and ride his bike. The petition is to raise awareness of this anomaly and to encourage politicians at the highest level to start the necessary trade talks to abolish duty on a product that improves the health of the nation, helps lower emissions and is an all round benefit to society.

Click here sign the petition

Posted at 11:04AM Jul 13, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Cycling  |  Comments[1]

Israel-Based Voltaire Plans IPO

Israel-Based Voltaire Plans Initial Public Offering of 7.7 Million Shares

BILLERICA, Mass. (AP) -- Voltaire Ltd., an Israeli developer of server and storage switching products, said Tuesday it plans an initial public offering of 7.7 million ordinary shares. Voltaire expects to offer 5.8 million of the shares. A group of shareholders plan to sell the remaining 1.9 million shares.

In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday, Voltaire said it anticipates the shares will price between $12 and $14 per share. Based on an offering price of $13, the value of the deal would total $100 million.

Also assuming an offering price of $13 per share, Voltaire expects to raise $67.5 million from its portion of the IPO, after expenses.

Voltaire plans to use the net proceeds to fund research and development, as well as business development and marketing. The company also plans use $5 million of the net proceeds to repay a loan in full.

For the three months ended March 31, Voltaire reported losses of $4.2 million, after paying preferred dividends, on sales of $8.6 million. Voltaire's top three customers - International Business Machines Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. - accounted for 67 percent of the company's sales during the quarter.

Voltaire expects to have 20.5 million shares outstanding after the offering.

Click Here for more

Posted at 10:03AM Jul 11, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Networking  |  Comments[0]

whats the cost of web 2.0 ?

With all the websites out there showing meaningless content such as flickr and You tube, has anyone calculated the cost to business from staff surfing this content ?

Blogs I can understand, most of the technical inquiries I do now end up pointing to a worthwhile blog posting, but do I really need to look at someone's birthday party or other meaningless videos ?

Soon companies will block the URLs to these sites and for good reason if you ask me, back to work then...............

Posted at 12:00PM Jun 18, 2007 by Simon Bullen in General  |  Comments[0]

Do We Really Need a Security Industry?

Bruce Schneier has written an interesting blog article and in my opinion some of the statements are both accurate:-

"The primary reason the IT security industry exists is because IT products and services aren't naturally secure "

Then a bit windows orientated:-

"If computers were already secure against viruses, there wouldn't be any need for antivirus products"

I haven't renewed my Solaris or Mac anti virus for some years now

Back to accurate again:-

" If bad network traffic couldn't be used to attack computers, no one would bother buying a firewall. If there were no more buffer overflows, no one would have to buy products to protect against their effects."

To:-

"If the IT products we purchased were secure out of the box............"

That would be Solaris then ?

Click Here for more information

Posted at 02:37PM May 04, 2007 by Simon Bullen in General  |  Comments[2]

Success, I think so

Now after commuting to work by cycle for over 12 months I am pleased to say that in our office there are now more people than ever getting to work (granted some only a few days a week) via cycle than there is driving in by car .
To make it better, those that are currently driving are looking at cycling as an option for some days of the week.
What really make it great is the current weather being warm and dry, this makes an early morning and evening cycle so pleasurable.
Our office PA, Sue has the longest cycle of 12 miles each way and she is a Grandma ! So words such as too old or too far fall on deaf ears as far as I am concerned.

So come on give it a go, you may even enjoy it !!

Posted at 02:12PM May 04, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Cycling  |  Comments[1]

VoIP not mature enough !!

Vodafone has finally provided an explanation for the removal of VoIP features from the Nokia N95, and apparently it's all for our own good. A Vodafone statement says the mobile operator doesn't offer its own VoIP service because it doesn't believe it's a mature technology.

It goes on to say it require "in-depth testing, a solid end-to-end customer experience, billing integration and customer service support which is not currently available".

The statement goes on to explain: "There is a misleading perception that VoIP services are 'free'. This is, however, not the case when it comes to using VoIP over mobile where customers will need to use data connectivity to establish a service and may incur further charges."

Of course, Vodafone does offer a Data Unlimited tariff, but the details are hard to come by and it's expensive compared to the competition.

"Vodafone feels responsible that customers should not incur unnecessary charges when competitive mobile rates are a cost-effective choice for customers."

So using VoIP is no more expensive than normal mobile calls, and it would only confuse us if we had it, so better Vodafone takes it away.

However, the mobile operator says it's not reducing choice: "Lastly, it's important to note that customers can download VoIP applications if they choose to do so or can use VoIP services via a laptop and data card."

Stand-alone applications such as Fring continue to work fine on the N95 from Orange or Vodafone, but they don't offer near as compelling a user experience as the integrated solutions from the likes of Truphone.

http://www.theregister.co.uk

Posted at 11:35AM May 02, 2007 by Simon Bullen in General  |  Comments[0]

No excuses this time, just stupid riding !

Building....



Completed....



Crashed....



But still smiling....

Posted at 04:00PM Apr 20, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Cycling  |  Comments[0]

How to crash a KMX trike

After crashing the road bike, then progressing to the mountain bike for a crash, I thought that three wheels would add some stability and safety into my life, well no.... not when you try to pull a "stoppy" and one tyre is under inflated !



Mr Muffett has the full story and more pictures on his blog:-

www.crypticide.com

Posted at 09:19AM Apr 20, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Cycling  |  Comments[2]

Presta? Schrader? Woods? Get to know your bicycle valves

I found some interesting videos on YouTube that go into basic bike maintenance.

Worth a look.......

watch video

Posted at 01:40PM Apr 18, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Cycling  |  Comments[0]

Networking tip of the week

When designing networks "think outside of the box" there is more to life than Cisco products and some of them are quite good and they might just be a better fit for your solution requirements !

Posted at 03:51PM Apr 17, 2007 by Simon Bullen in Tip of the Week  |  Comments[3]