Daily Cup of Tech

The Asimo robot is one of the more amazing developments in the robotic industry. It has gone through a number of incarnations and they keep getting better.

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The gang at TwistedTechTV check to see which web browser is truly fastest.

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One of the best ways to test a new product is to let it loose on the people who are going to use it so that they can find it’s flaws. One of the best ways to test a new security product is to let it loose on the people who are going to hack the system so that they can find the flaws.

This is the theory behind WIBU System’s latest challenge. According to an eWeek article, Company Throws Down Gauntlet for Hackers, if you are the first one who can find and demonstrate a security flaw in their CodeMeter product between 6 p.m. EST Jan. 31 and 5:59 p.m. EST March 14, they will pay you a $40,000 prize.

So, if any of you “security specialists” out there are interested in $40,000 and you have the skillz to pull this off, this may be a good opportunity for you. Also, this could potentially land you a job with the company. Who knows?

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I was once talking with a friend of mine about wireless networking and I indicated that my company had no plans to deploy it within the company. He looked me square in the eye and said a sentence that chilled me to the bone:

“Either prepare to deploy this technology for your company’s employees or they will deploy it for you!”

The truth of the matter is that he is right, and not just about wireless networking. There is a history of technologies gaining popularity out side the enterprise and then creeping into the corporation. A good example is e-mail.

This is why it is so important to not only know and understand new technology but be in control of it in your enterprise. Arguably, the most critical component to this is the sandbox. According to Wikipedia, a sandbox is:

… a testing (or virtual) environment that isolates untested code changes and outright experimentation from the production environment or repository, in the context of software development including web development and revision control, and by extension in web-based editing environments including wikis.

Nemertes Research has written an excellent article entitled Build an Open Source and Web 2.0 Sandbox. It talks about the importance of the sandbox as part of your testing and control management process along with some important considerations when setting up a sandbox.

I believe that it is important for every company, regardless of how small it is, to have access to a sandbox. This can be something as small as an old desktop no longer in use or as large as an entire server room running several virtual servers. Regardless of the size, make sure that you are segregating the sanctioned from the unsanctioned to protect your company’s IT assets.

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I’ve always been impressed by people who know enough about the Linux operating system to build their own distribution or LiveCD. I have been struggling through building Linux from scratch but I haven’t had the time to work on it as of late. I think it would be cool to have your own customized distribution or at least version of a Linux distribution.

Well, I just happened to stumble upon Reconstructor today. It give you the ability to create a custom distribution of Ubuntu so that it runs the way you want it to out of the box.

From their website:

Reconstructor is a Live CD creator for Ubuntu Linux.

It uses the Ubuntu Linux Live CD as a base, and then allows customization of boot screens (usplash), gnome settings, and software (you can also use the chroot environment to make other changes before creating the live cd).

Reconstructor uses the solid Ubuntu foundation, and allows for extensive customization. For example, create a custom Live CD with blender, inkscape, etc. included for a friend in graphics, or simply use econstructor to re-brand your environment (wallpaper, fonts).

It’s a pretty simple program to use. The screenshots tell you exactly what to expect.

The current version of Reconstructor is 2.1-1 and there are several modules available for it.

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