All Posts by Paul

Does your DNS still have flaws?

Paul

Late the week, I’ve had some concern with the DNS flaws with my ISP.  So I’ve change to another DNS.  So I went and did a test at:

Doxpara

So what does this mean when it says I might be at risk?

Very simple, your DNS provider is not randomizing the ports.  I’ll get to that in a bit.

What is DNS?

The DNS is like a big Phonebook to where you tell it who you want to call, in this case go, and it finds the numbers and takes you there.  It’s like telling a cab driver where you want to visit, just like telling the cab driver to come to my site.  When you enter http://www.paulstechtalk.com into your browser, your telling DNS to go fetch the ip and direct your connection to this site.

So how can I fix this flaw?

Simple, You will need to direct yourself to OpenDNS.  Has Fixed the flaw to help protect you.  How do you use it?  You will tell your system to direct all the DNS queries through that then your ISP DNS.

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So by using the openDNS, you will be bypassing the DNS flaws that you might of have. If you want to use that DNS server go to there website and it tells you step by step on how to do it with your own system.

The Nice thing about OpenDNS is they have so many features,  You can prevent phishing, adult sites, Domain blocking, and much more.  If you use this, you can prevent you kids from getting on the sites that you don’t want them to get on.  It lets you have control over what you want to do.  I recommend people to use OpenDNS.

What’s the DNS flaw?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_cache_poisoning

I can’t explain it but maybe this can.  If you want to diqus this in the community you can go to:

Technology Community Page


Use OpenDNS


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How to put Linux on a Vista Machine!

Paul

Putting Linux on a Vista machine isn’t hard, actually the program I like to use to do it is:

Wubi Logo

So why use it for Vista?  Here’s the answer.  When you use it for Vista you don’t have to have a seperate partition.

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As you can see you put it on one drives in a directory.  It installes it without having to have a Linux partition. It will download the ones you want:

As you can see you can install 4 different Ubuntu Distro’s without having to have a linux partition.  I’ve heard some people say, that you actually cheating Linux but I say it’s not cheating, it’s a necessary.  I have to be able to use Linux from time to time because of people use it from time to time!! It does not matter the how much you use it, it is the essence of using it.

Although this isn’t only a Vista program it actually works on Windows XP, 98, and 2000.  So go check this little program out.  Tell me what you think of it,  I actually like this little program.

Understanding your wireless Router

Paul1 Reply

Two things to understanding your wireless router is: secure your router and figure out what you router IP is. This can be difficult because a variety of routers use what they called the internal house IP’s.  Check this site out for several brands of Routers, to figure out your router IP:

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Download_Area/ATW_Library/Networking/Network__4-List_of_default_Router_Admin_Passwords_and_IP_addresses.pdf

BTW you can see the default user and password for most of them, so that tells you how important it is to change those ASAP. <VERY IMPORTANT>

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Now what are these used for? I’ll break it down for the novice users, these are used for your location router. A router monitors the network and directs traffic from the Internet to the computer needing that information. It then has to figure out which computer is asking or sending out packets. How does it know each computer, the router uses its’ own internal ip. It gives each computer a number, usually like something like this:
For Example, A Belkin Router:

  1. 192.168.1.2

  2. 192.168.1.3

  3. 192.168.1.4

  4. so on until 192.168.1.255

Although you will probably not get to the last one if you did, the router would then use  192.168.2.2, 192.168.2.3, 192.168.2.4, and so on same as the ones up there but it would add a 1 to the 2nd ip number. So what does this tell you. Each computer has it’s own internal IP for the router. Onces the router sends out the information on the net, it strips the internal ip and puts your private ip instead, this way the Internet knows where to send the requested packets or information too. Then like I said the router does what it needs to do to get your information to the right computer.

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Now why tell us about internal IP’s? It is to better understand how your router works for you to get what you need to do out of it. Now you might be asking how do I access the router directly from a browser, that’s simple.  You would just put in your internal IP, use the list that I provide you to find out your internal ip and direct your browser there.  Some routers have what I call a self DNS, that is if you put in the address bar “http://dslrouter” or “http://cablerouter” you would be taken to your routers setup page.  Althought this isn’t on all routers it however is on some of them to better make it easier for you to get to it.
Refer back to my previous post on 10 ways to keep your wireless router secure!

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Hulu’s Summer clues — Unleashed Edition 2!

Paul17 Replies

So we just got the new hints for July 21-25.  Just a little reminder, I might be woefully wrong but these are just my thoughts on what will come.   Now here’s the clues:

  • Monday –  “Shermer”

  • Tuesday – “M6-117”

  • Wednesday -“Folkestone”

  • Thursday – “NorBAC”

  • Friday – “Oakdale” New Clue “Serengeti” (Which is

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Now Those are the clues and I did my research for each.   So Lets see where we go with this:

As you can see, I said who have the rights to the movie or shows.  I also linked that to Hulu’s Company page.  If you can come up with other ideas let me know!!

So these are my guesses.  I could be wrong but I suspect these are the ones.  If you feel you have a better idea of what will come out by all means leave a comment or go to the Disqus community page and leave a comment there!! You can also email me and tell me your thoughts, just go to the About Me page and let me know!!

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I will update this as needed!!  Just for those people who want to keep checking!!

Update:

For Monday : Like I said I could be woefully wrong on this, I Sure Was.  It’s not Dogma.  I thought they were trying to be indirect.  The Hulu TV show is Wierd Science 1985 Seasons 1 thru 2 is the connection.  I never like the show that much!! 😉

For Tuesday: They must have problems with the system because on the main page it says Pitch black and Summer page it says the Office.  Are they changing it for a reason?  I am guessing they had a system error or something like that and it is the wrong one!!

For Wensday: Yes I know, I am going to be wrong on the flintstones so after due consideration I changed it to to what it might be thanks to the help of a commenter on Disqus.  You should all join and talk about this if you want to help others figure out what it is!!  The more that talk about these clues the more chance on getting them right!!

For Friday: Yes they took that hint off for Friday.  They probably had a problem with it and had it fall through!  It’s an imaginary location in Texas where the dog lives!!  Oakdale, Texas, I’m certain it was that!!  So we will see!!!

*UPDATE* Friday: It seems they might keep the idea of a PBS release.  I am guessing it is going to be a documentary a National Geographic Release!

*Update* Friday: They finally released the awaited clue and it was something I didn’t know they had any affiliation with.  I’m bound to be wrong half the time!! These clues are not the best sometimes!!

*UPDATE #2 For Thursday* They seemed to have published the program details a little to soon.  If you go to the recently added page you will see ReGensis is already on it.  So I was right!!  I already updated the link for it, have fun!!  They Seemed to of hidden that I should of got a screen cap of that!! Oh well, maybe next time!!  The Link won’t work until after 12am PST/3amEST!!

10 ways to keep your wireless router secure!!

Paul2 Replies

I have been doing quite a few router reworks. I’ve got a wireless G router from my DSL provider and Have had problems with someone in my neighborhood trying to get onto my router. They were trying everything. I wanted to give you some suggestions that would help you keep your secure and have some piece of mind!!

  1. Turn off Signal Identification (What your router name is)– By turning of the signal so no one can see the broadcast name will greatly make it harder for anyone to get onto your router.

  2. Change your router identification – Creating a unique router identification will also make it harder for anyone to guess router identification. Keep the identification something that is unidentifiable to the location where you live.

  3. USE WPA and not WEP – WEP has been cracked so if at all possible use WPA encryption and that too will make it harder for an unwanted guest.

  4. Use a Random Password Generator (Roboform an generate secure random passwords) [“Use one these promo codes to get it cheaper”] – By using a random password you prevent hackers from guessing the Network password of your WPA key.

  5. Change your Admin name account, if you can. – Some Admin accounts can be change to something else. The default admin is the most widely used one.  Change it to something ONLY you will know. You will increase your security also that way.
  6. Change the default password and Use the Random Password Generator (Roboform) [“Use one these promo codes to get it cheaper”]– Same as tip 4 but the is a must every time I get a new router or have to reset my router.

  7. If your not expecting to have a lot of laptops on the network turn on Media Access Control filter – Preventing unauthorized computers from connecting to the wireless router helps you lock down the router!!

  8. Update your BIOS – If you have a flash bios on the router update that. There may be know vulnerabilities of old routers that hackers can use to gain access.

  9. Turn Router Firewall to Medium – They say having a hardware firewall is harder for any viruses and Trojans to get in or out. It also helps to prevent hackers from gaining access to the router.

  10. Back up your configuration – Some routers let you back up your current configurations in case you need to restore the configuration if you have to reset the router. This will make it easier to restore the router to your preferred specifications.

This isn’t all you need to do but this will get your going on the right track.  If you want to check out the routers firewall.  Go to GRC Shields up and do a battery of tests on y our connection.  The more prepared you are the harder it is for a hacker/unwanted guests to get on your network.  If you have any suggestions that you want to throw my way just post a comment or go to my About me page and email me!!