Andrew Krone

Resetting an Android Phone

2011-07-01T15:31:00.001-07:00

To reset an Android phone, go into the “Settings” options of the phone (usually a link in the All Programs). Look for Privacy and at the bottom there is an option to Factory Data Reset. If you click this, it will confirm your selection and remind you there is no turning back after.

Creating a MySQL Time Zone Table

2011-06-09T08:29:00.001-07:00

Here is it, the perfect MySQL table for storing ALL timezones:

--
-- Table structure for table `time_zones`
--

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `time_zones` (
`ID` int(4) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`GMT` decimal(12,2) NOT NULL,
`zone` varchar(50) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`ID`),
UNIQUE KEY `timezone` (`zone`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 AUTO_INCREMENT=0 ;

--
-- Dumping data for table `time_zones`
--

INSERT INTO `time_zones` (`GMT`, `zone`) VALUES
(-12.00, '(GMT-12:00) International Date Line West'),
(-11.00, '(GMT-11:00) Midway Island, Samoa'),
(-10.00, '(GMT-10:00) Hawaii'),
(-9.00, '(GMT-09:00) Alaska'),
(-8.00, '(GMT-08:00) Tijuana, Baja California'),
(-8.00, '(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)'),
(-7.00, '(GMT-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)'),
(-7.00, '(GMT-07:00) Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlan'),
(-7.00, '(GMT-07:00) Arizona'),
(-6.00, '(GMT-06:00) Saskatchewan'),
(-6.00, '(GMT-06:00) Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey'),
(-6.00, '(GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)'),
(-6.00, '(GMT-06:00) Central America'),
(-5.00, '(GMT-05:00) Indiana (East)'),
(-5.00, '(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)'),
(-5.00, '(GMT-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito, Rio Branco'),
(-5.00, '(GMT-04:00) Santiago'),
(-4.50, '(GMT-04:30) Caracas'),
(-4.00, '(GMT-04:00) Manaus'),
(-4.00, '(GMT-04:00) La Paz'),
(-4.00, '(GMT-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada)'),
(-3.50, '(GMT-03:30) Newfoundland'),
(-3.00, '(GMT-03:00) Montevideo'),
(-3.00, '(GMT-03:00) Greenland'),
(-3.00, '(GMT-03:00) Georgetown'),
(-3.00, '(GMT-03:00) Buenos Aires'),
(-3.00, '(GMT-03:00) Brasilia'),
(-2.00, '(GMT-02:00) Mid-Atlantic'),
(-1.00, '(GMT-01:00) Cape Verde Is.'),
(-1.00, '(GMT-01:00) Azores'),
(0.00, '(GMT) Casablanca'),
(0.00, '(GMT) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lis'),
(0.00, '(GMT) Monrovia, Reykjavik'),
(1.00, '(GMT+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockho'),
(1.00, '(GMT+01:00) Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljublj'),
(1.00, '(GMT+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris'),
(1.00, '(GMT+01:00) Sarajevo, Skopje, Warsaw, Zagreb'),
(1.00, '(GMT+01:00) West Central Africa'),
(2.00, '(GMT+02:00) Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul'),
(2.00, '(GMT+02:00) Amman'),
(2.00, '(GMT+02:00) Windhoek'),
(2.00, '(GMT+02:00) Minsk'),
(2.00, '(GMT+02:00) Jerusalem'),
(2.00, '(GMT+02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, '),
(2.00, '(GMT+02:00) Harare, Pretoria'),
(2.00, '(GMT+02:00) Cairo'),
(2.00, '(GMT+02:00) Beirut'),
(3.00, '(GMT+03:00) Tbilisi'),
(3.00, '(GMT+03:00) Nairobi'),
(3.00, '(GMT+03:00) Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd'),
(3.00, '(GMT+03:00) Kuwait, Riyadh'),
(3.00, '(GMT+03:00) Baghdad'),
(3.50, '(GMT+03:30) Tehran'),
(4.00, '(GMT+04:00) Yerevan'),
(4.00, '(GMT+04:00) Port Louis'),
(4.00, '(GMT+04:00) Caucasus Standard Time'),
(4.00, '(GMT+04:00) Baku'),
(4.00, '(GMT+04:00) Abu Dhabi, Muscat'),
(4.50, '(GMT+04:30) Kabul'),
(5.00, '(GMT+05:00) Tashkent'),
(5.00, '(GMT+05:00) Islamabad, Karachi'),
(5.00, '(GMT+05:00) Ekaterinburg'),
(5.50, '(GMT+05:30) Sri Jayawardenepura'),
(5.50, '(GMT+05:30) Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi'),
(5.75, '(GMT+05:45) Kathmandu'),
(6.00, '(GMT+06:00) Almaty, Novosibirsk'),
(6.00, '(GMT+06:00) Astana, Dhaka'),
(6.50, '(GMT+06:30) Yangon (Rangoon)'),
(7.00, '(GMT+07:00) Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta'),
(7.00, '(GMT+07:00) Krasnoyarsk'),
(8.00, '(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi'),
(8.00, '(GMT+08:00) Irkutsk, Ulaan Bataar'),
(8.00, '(GMT+08:00) Kuala Lumpur, Singapore'),
(8.00, '(GMT+08:00) Perth'),
(8.00, '(GMT+08:00) Taipei'),
(9.00, '(GMT+09:00) Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo'),
(9.00, '(GMT+09:00) Seoul'),
(9.00, '(GMT+09:00) Yakutsk'),
(9.50, '(GMT+09:30) Adelaide'),
(9.50, '(GMT+09:30) Darwin'),
(10.00, '(GMT+10:00) Brisbane'),
(10.00, '(GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney'),
(10.00, '(GMT+10:00) Guam, Port Moresby'),
(10.00, '(GMT+10:00) Hobart'),
(10.00, '(GMT+10:00) Vladivostok'),
(11.00, '(GMT+11:00) Magadan, Solomon Is., New Caledonia'),
(12.00, '(GMT+12:00) Auckland, Wellington'),
(12.00, '(GMT+12:00) Fiji, Kamchatka, Marshall Is.'),
(13.00, '(GMT+13:00) Nuku''alofa');

Home routers that automatically run Tor.

2011-01-03T20:11:00.001-08:00

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/26981/?a=f

Interesting Decoded Civil War Message

2011-01-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/25/civil-war-message-in-a-bottle-opened-decoded/

ASP.NET Security Hole

2010-10-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

Encrypted applications on Microsoft’s .NET framework are vulnerable without the patch.

From Microsoft website:
“An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could read data, such as the view state, which was encrypted by the server.”

Wow!

I can’t believe Microsoft was so slow to produce a patch.

Patch here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms10-070.mspx

Also, discussion about the vulnerability here:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/09/new_attack_agai_1.html

Bad Microsoft!!
Andy

How Foreclosures and Short Sales Make Banks Money

2010-09-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent video on how banks really makes the taxpayer pick up the tab with home loans. Forget loan modifications unless it's a short sale or foreclosure.

-Andy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssl5yb7FewA

Student Loan Slavery

2010-09-03T14:53:00.001-07:00

This is really good. Credit to College Scholarships dot org.

Today's Reading

2010-08-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

SF Homes Drop due to distressed Sales

Underemployment 18.4%

WSJ, America's future has changed for our kids

Contra Costa Pensions

Structured Notes Are Wall Street’s ‘Next Bubble’

The "Drobo FS" is Garbage

2010-05-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

The Drobo FS is garbage.

Note: I updated the "Drobo FS" and the Drobo software to the latest version first.

Here's why it's junk.

1). The device DOES NOT allow you to update the WORKGROUP name or the DEVICE name. If you want to setup //DROBOGROUP/ANDYSDROBO you CANNOT do this. Despite the options being there in the software utility your changes after restarting the device are not saved to the device.

2). Proprietary and unfriendly software - To maintain file share names and settings the software requires Microsoft's .NET service. You must also install the software on a PC in the same subnet (i.e. not remote administration). Good luck with a Linux Network!!!

3). The email notifications setup DOES NOT work!!!

4). Misleading - The simplicity of the device would suggest the software to manage it would also be simple (i.e https administration). Nope, you have to install the software on a local PC.

Finally, why did they call it the "FS"? I suppose for "File Sharing", but that's pretty obvious because it's a NAS device with an Ethernet cable. Who was Marketing this thing?

Saturday Morning Run - May 8, 2010

2010-05-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

Went on a grueling run this morning with the Tamalpa folks.

What a great way to start a Saturday!

I should back up a little. The run started harmless enough until I decided to run to Stinson Beach after running about 7 miles down through Muir Woods. This post is mainly to share photos. There's more info about the run at http://www.saturdaymorningrun.com/.

Here's the elevation and distance profile. According to my Garmin 305 I had 8,525 of total vertical ascent. Ouch... Although, I think it was more like 6,500.

Here's the route I took, Stinson Beach is on the left, Mill Valley is on the right. The highest peak is Mt. Tam's East Peak .

Tamalpa Folk:

One of many bridges:

Creek near Muir Woods:

Coastal Fire Road sign near the top of Cardiac, also by the Ranger Station:

Tamalpa Folk Running down to Muir Woods visitor center:

North West View to Pt. Reyes from the top of Cardiac:

South View near Cardiac:

Sign before heading back up from Stinson:

Totals:

Lucas Valley Mountain Climb April 24, 2010

2010-05-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

What an incredible place I live.

Ran to the top of the "Big Cat" today. Just an awesome incline run, the start of the steep hill is at about 300 ft. elevation and the top is about 1,200 feet. It's not quite a 1,000 foot climb but since my house is at 180 feet I think it's fair to say it's 1,000.

I'm looking to buy the Alterra soon, from what others have said only a barometric device can accurately give you your elevation. I'm also getting tired of charging my Garmin 305.

Super Cuul...

Here's Honey Brown and I at the top of the ridge:

Also, here's a few view from the top:

Excellent Soul Comic

2010-04-30T16:36:00.001-07:00

Originally from: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/CDO-Souls-short.PNG.png

Sorting two columns in a single table using MySQL

2010-03-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

So, someone might say that to sort two columns in a single table using MySQL the statement would look like this:

SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY column1,column2 ASC

This would ONLY sort by "column1" first and then "column2". This is hardly what we're after.

Say you had a column called "time" (that is also built using "time") and a column called "date" (that is built using "date"). If we wanted to truly sort the rows in this table by date AND time we need to do a join like this:

SELECT * FROM (

( SELECT * FROM events ORDER BY date ASC)
UNION
( SELECT * FROM events ORDER BY time ASC)

) AS WOWZER WHERE some_column='some_criteria'";

Let's break it down. First, we start a typical select statement (first line). Then we have a VERY simple join that says I want the date column and time columns joined as a column called "WOWZER". Finally we only want certain criteria for this select.

This is how to truly sort using two columns, unfortunately ORDER BY will not work correctly with just a comma between the two sorts because the items being sorted would be independent of one another.

-Andy

Outlook + Thunderbird + OpenLDAP = Fail

2009-10-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

So, I've tried to build an OpenLDAP directory that can be viewed by both Outlook and Thunderbird clients.

The idea is simple enough, but Microsoft's insistence on re-writing standardized protocols makes the task VERY difficult. This makes sense, why would Microsoft's Active Directory want to be compatible with an Open Source system that's free?

Here's the breakdown, Outlook 2007 searches for the following fields when accessing an LDAP, diregard the first line, that's the connection:

conn=521 op=1 SRCH attr=
cn
commonName
mail
roleOccupant
display-name
displayname
sn
surname
co
organizationName
o
givenName
legacyExchangeDN
objectClass
uid
mailNickname
title
company
physicalDeliveryOfficeName
telephoneNumber
homephone
Telephone-Office2
facsimileTelephoneNumber
mobile
Telephone-Assistant
pager
info

And here's Thunderbird's query:
conn=0 op=1 SRCH attr=
o
company
mail
mozillaUseHtmlMail
xmozillausehtmlmail
mozillaCustom2
custom2
mozillaHomeCountryName
ou
department
departmentnumber
orgunit
mobile
cellphone
carphone
telephoneNumber
title
mozillaCustom1
custom1
mozillaNickname
xmozillanickname
mozillaWorkUrl
workurl
fax
facsimiletelephonenumber
mozillaSecondEmail
xmozillasecondemail
mozillaCustom4
custom4
nsAIMid
nscpaimscreenname
street
streetaddress
postOfficeBox
givenName
l
locality
homePhone
mozillaHomeUrl
homeurl
mozillaHomeStreet
st
region
mozillaHomePostalCode
mozillaHomeLocalityName
mozillaCustom3
custom3
birthyear
mozillaWorkStreet2
mozillaHomeStreet2
postalCode
zip
c
countryname
pager
pagerphone
sn
surname
mozillaHomeState
description
notes
modifytimestamp
cn
commonname

The funny part is the free and open source search by Thunderbird is much more detailed and thorough. Outlook's search on the other hand defies standards. The "Company" field for Outlook is "company" in the LDAP. However this is INCORRECT. The field Outlook should put in as the company is "organizationName" or "o". A newbie reading this might think Microsoft is just being intuitive. Nope, their encouraging their proprietary systems so they cannot interact with open source systems.

As far as I know LDAP has been around a very long time and Microsoft should not ignore the basic schema and standards currently in place. At the very top (the core.schema) the organizationName (or 'o') has been there for a very long time.

Anyway, a work around is to define the 'o' for open source as the same as 'company' for the mega evil giant, Microsoft.

-Andy

Running

2009-07-10T18:36:00.001-07:00

Housing....

2009-07-08T10:07:00.001-07:00

The Great American Bubble Machine:

2009-07-06T14:15:00.001-07:00

The Great American Bubble Machine:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/28816321/the_great_american_bubble_machine

Peter Schiff

2009-06-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/06/peter-schiff-on-tds/

One Command: "sudo apt-get install ndisgtk"

2009-05-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

Ugh, the online forums are such a waist of time!!! IF you want to install a wireless PCI card on Ubuntu run the above command and download the "inf" driver from the vendor's webpage.

The above command can also help if your Ubuntu system freezes after installing a PCI card. The key is to use the intended driver for any card AND install the driver using NDIS wrappers before installing the PCI card. The generic Linux drivers are just too generic, Windows can't even keep a list of reliable drivers and the hardware manufacturers builf their equipment for Linux!!!!

-Andy

Edicts to Live By

2009-04-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world

1. What is fragile should break early while it is still small. Nothing should ever become too big to fail.

2. No socialisation of losses and privatisation of gains. Whatever may need to be bailed out should be nationalised; whatever does not need a bail-out should be free, small and risk-bearing. We have managed to combine the worst of capitalism and socialism.

3. People who were driving a school bus blindfolded (and crashed it) should never be given a new bus. The economics establishment (universities, regulators, central bankers, government officials, various organisations staffed with economists) lost its legitimacy with the failure of the system.

4. Do not let someone making an “incentive” bonus manage a nuclear plant – or your financial risks. Odds are he would cut every corner on safety to show “profits” while claiming to be “conservative”.

5. Counter-balance complexity with simplicity. The complex economy is already a form of leverage: the leverage of efficiency.

6. Do not give children sticks of dynamite, even if they come with a warning.

7. Only Ponzi schemes should depend on confidence. Governments should never need to “restore confidence”. Be robust in the face of them.

8. Do not give an addict more drugs if he has withdrawal pains. Using leverage to cure the problems of too much leverage is denial.

9. Economic life should be definancialised. Citizens should not depend on financial assets or fallible “expert” advice for their retirement.

10. Make an omelette with the broken eggs. We need to rebuild the hull with new (stronger) materials; we will have to remake the system before it does so itself.

Bank REO Websites

2009-04-15T11:55:00.001-07:00

IndyMac Bank REO:
http://apps.indymacbank.com/individuals/realestate/search.asp

Ocwen Financial REO:
http://www.ocwen.com/reo/home.cfm

JP Morgan Chase Bank REO:
http://mortgage.chase.com/pages/other/co_properties_landing.jsp

M&T Bank REO:
http://services.mandtbank.com/personal/bank_owned_prop.cfm

Wells Fargo REO:
https://www.pasreo.com/reo/

Washington Mutual REO (WAMU):
http://www.wamuproperties.com

American Home Mortgage REO:
They aren't taking mortgage applications anymore but they are selling real estate, go figure. ;)
http://www.ahmhomes.com

Wachovia REO:
http://reo.wachovia.com/

Washington Mutual REO:
I could not locate any information about their REO.

Deutsche Bank REO:
No information is available online.

SunTrust REO:
SunTrust Mortgage, Inc website claims that all REO is listed with local real estate agents. Below is a link to their REO practices.
http://www.suntrustmortgage.com/reo.asp

First Niagra Bank REO:
The First Niagra website states that REO listings are not currently available but they do list contact information.
http://www.fnfg.com/personal_banking/mortgages/real_estate_owned_sale.asp

Key Bank REO:
No Key Bank REO information is availabe at this time.

Compass Bank REO:
https://www.compassbank.com/appforms/properties/index.jsp

Fannie Mae REO:
http://www.mortgagecontent.net/reoSearchApplication/fanniemae/

Freddie Mac REO:
http://www.homesteps.com/hm01_1featuresearch.htm

HUD REO:
http://www.hud.gov/homes/index.cfm

HomeSales.gov also offers properties offered for sale by the government.

Coldwell Banker REO Division
Coldwell Banker REO Division

Regions Bank Properties
http://realestate.regions.com/servlet/Ore/ForeclosedPropertySearch.jsp

Citibank REO
http://www.citimortgage.com/Mortgage/Oreo/SearchListing.do

SBA Properties
http://app1.sba.gov/pfsales/dsp_search.html

FDIC Real Estate Owned
http://www4.fdic.gov/DRRORE/

Sallie Mae Financial Services Properties
http://www.grpcapital.com/properties/index.html

BB&T REO (Branch Bank and Trust)
http://www.bbt.com/applications/specialassets/search.asp

Beal Bank Commercial REO
http://www.bealbank.com/Content.aspx?ID=13

GRP Financial Services Properties
http://www.grpcapital.com/properties/index.php

Fifth Third Bank REO:
No information is available online.

First Charter REO:
No information is available online.

People's Bank REO
http://www.peoples.com/im/cda/multi_elements/0,,1355,00.html

State Street REO:
No information is available online.

National City Mortgage REO
http://www.ncmcreo.com/

Taylor Bean REO
http://www.taylorbeanhomes.com/

Downey Savings & Loan
http://www.downeysavings.com/bank-owned-properties

Pure Genius

2009-03-20T13:41:00.001-07:00

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

IMG00115.jpg

2008-12-11T13:16:00.000-08:00

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

OpenVPN

2008-12-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

A few more great things about OpenVPN:

1). The whole setup below can be duplicated on a separate server in less than an hour should a server crash

2). The second server does not require additional licensing

3). The UDP protocol can easily be switched to TCP 443 to get through pesky firewalls

4). Vista 64-bit works with the latest OpenVPN GUI

5). Log Files easily show all access by username

Two Factor Authentication for Free

2008-12-11T12:32:00.000-08:00

RSA is a ripoff, they're following in the footsteps of Microsoft and unfortunately many companies believe RSA is the only way to secure their network.

They're wrong, and here's why:

OpenVPN + Server Cert/Key + Pam Authentication Module = FREE two factor authentication.

First, let's define two factor authentication: It's nothing more than two requirements when you logon, tunnel or gain access to a network. For example you have a "pincode" or "password" that never changes. In addition you might have a key chain "token" that is constantly changing. Access requires both, and because the key chain token is always changing it becomes very difficult for the wrong person to gain access.

Little background on industry: The Citrix Access Gateway is probably the industry standard at providing a single factor authentication gateway for a small company. I'm guessing most companies concerned with security have something very similar. The gateway or "CAG" sits behind the companies firewall and accepts authentication requests. That's the first factor, the second is generally a token like system requiring users to carry around a silly key chain. Why? If a user has a private certificate of authority AND a username/password access is still two factor.

What absolutely amazes me is that there are open source applications that can provide 2 factor authentication for FREE.

Here's what a working OpenVPN server config looks like using PAM:

proto udp
;proto tcp
port 1194
dev tap
tls-server
dh /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/dh1024.pem
ca /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/ca.crt
cert /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/server.crt
key /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/server.key
duplicate-cn
#Define the ip address for the tap0 virtual device
server 10.8.0.0 255.255.255.0
ifconfig-pool-persist /etc/openvpn/ipp.txt
#route to be established on the server
route-up "route delete -net 10.8.0.0/24"
route-up "route add -net 10.8.0.0/24 tap0"

#Allow Clients to talk to one another
client-to-client

#Push the same ping to the server....
push "ping 10"
push "ping-restart 60"
push "route 172.16.4.0 255.255.255.0" #route to another subnet
push "route 172.16.5.0 255.255.255.0" #route to another
push "route 172.16.51.0 255.255.255.0" #route to one more
push "route 172.16.8.0 255.255.255.0" #route to and another
push "route 172.16.81.0 255.255.255.0" #route to some place
push "route 172.16.70.0 255.255.255.0" #route to northern US
push "route 172.16.33.0 255.255.255.0" #route to more north
push "dhcp-option DOMAIN companyname.com" #push the DNS domain suffix

comp-lzo
status-version 2
status /var/log/openvpn-status.log
verb 5
# Keep tunnel open with ping every 10 Seconds, restart ever 120 Seconds
keepalive 10 120

plugin /usr/share/openvpn/plugin/lib/openvpn-auth-pam.so login
client-cert-not-required

I'm going to skip a whole bunch of steps to get this working (see openvpn.org) but if the server is running with the above configuration (with no errors) you'll have a two factor authentication: 1). Using the signed Certificate of Authority and 2). The username/password on the Linux box access by the openvpn-auth-pam.so module above.

Win XP/Vista/32bit/64bit Client Setup:

1). Install OpenVPN GUI v1.0.3
2). Load the ca.crt and client.opvn file.

Here's an example of the client.ovpn file:

client
dev tap

;proto tcp
proto udp
remote 1.2.3.4 1194 (1.2.3.4 should be the public ip of the server)
resolv-retry infinite
nobind
persist-key
persist-tun
ca ca.crt
comp-lzo
verb 3
mute 20
auth-user-pass

Save yourself $10k or $20k, learn OpenVPN.

-Andy