JDPFu.com 2025

According to an Ubuntu Developer on the Ubuntu Forums Canonical will make falling back to gnome2 easy in Ubuntu 12.04. He says it is almost exactly gnome2, not a watered down version. His words, not mine. Here’s how:

$ sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback

Now if we could only prevent all the other pre-installed bloat that is Ubuntu desktop. I guess that’s what Xubuntu and Lubuntu are all about, so we’re covered.

Lubuntu 12.04 Not an LTS

I also saw on the formus that Lubuntu 12.04 will not be under LTS. It will still have the normal 3 year desktop support. That is fine for most home desktop users. It just means that corporate users will probably skip Lubuntu for a different alternative.

GoDaddy and the US Secret Service are at it again, according to Ars. They took another web service domain down.

Here’s what that article says:

• JotForm had their DNS records redirected to NS1.SUSPENDED-FOR.SPAM-AND-ABUSE.COM – GoDaddy did this.

  the site had been suspended as part of an ongoing investigation

• US Secret Service was too busy to work with JotForm to resolve the issue – WHATEVER THE ISSUE WAS. JotForm contacted the agent in charger and offered:

  this is a matter of urgency, and we are ready to cooperate fully.

• US Secret Service is not saying whether a court order was involved. According to GoDaddy, they sometimes takes action to prevent further harm being caused by a website hosted on our servers without a court order.
• JotForm customers have decided to move their services to internal servers. Many have made nasty public comments, since their customer care/service apps were broken due to this action.

Since their domain was not working, JotForm created a new domain and send an email to all their customer to redirect to the new domain where everything worked. This is why DNS is not the appropriate level for SOPA and similar anti-piracy efforts to work. Creating a new domain and redirecting traffic is relatively easy, just a hassle for the people and business involved.

Later the DNS record was restored by GoDaddy. Nobody, not the US-SS or GoDaddy, contacted JotForm to let them know.

The Secret Service has also launched an internal review to “make sure all our policies and procedures were followed” in the matter.

I wonder how many customers and potential customers JotForm has lost due to this heavy handed action? A mulit-million USD Canadian company said:

“They have been very reliable. However because of what has happened now we will have to implement an internally hosted solution to guarantee this will not happen again and ensure we will not loose [sic] our data. I will now have to question purchasing any more services from US internet related providers.”

Nice move US-Government.

As most readers know, I’m not a fan of 3rd party hosted web services.

• Concerns with Software As A Service
• Centralized vs Federated Computer Services
• Computer Information Lawyers Need to Know
• Cloud Computing is Careless Computing
• Top 5 Clever Uses for the Cloud
• Understanding Software As A Service

Most of my prior articles do not point out that governments and Domain Registrars could collude to destroy a business too. I guess that’s a new risk.

Updated: June 2021

Transitioning from Windows or OSX to Linux can be difficult because the OSes have different philosophies. The idea that there needs to be a single app that does x+y+z+a+b+c isn’t how Linux/UNIX apps have been built historically. But that is the way that MS-Windows apps are built, so confusion reigns for recent converts.

In UNIX, tools are generally built to do 1 thing really well, then you chain those tools together do accomplish your desired, final, goal. That requires a thought shift and a tiny bit of mental exercise.

Another good article about how Linux is not Windows. Much to learn and many thought shifts are needed.

Today I needed to change my very long and complex gmail password connected to my Android tablet to something easier to type in. I intended to change the password for 10 minutes, then change it back. I needed it to be simple just long enough to get the android tablet connected to gmail, download a few apps, especially KeePassX for Android.

Don’t you just love reading about governments making stupid assumptions about people? No? Me neither.

It seems many people may be terrorists by doing things that are

• perfectly legal
• required due to other stupid government laws
• necessary to ensure privacy

Here’s the news article to provide some background on the FBI and DoJ thoughts.

It has been many months, so I figured an update could be helpful.
I ended up not following the original plan for media center deployment.

Here are the highlights:

• Already had a KVM virtual server running on Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS x64
• Created a virtual machine to hold Windows7 x32 ultimate thanks MS for the free Ultimate license
  • Created a 40GB OS/apps HDD (virtual); it barely fit
  • Created a 50GB Data/TV HDD (virtual); this is a 2nd HDD container; easily resized
• Bought and installed the networked HD-Homerun HDHR3 (dual ClearQAM tuner); actually had this about 6 months earlier
• Switched to Limited Basic CableTV ($26/month); No CNN, TVGuide, FoxNews, ESPN, etc. That happened in 2010.

As I watch someone else using a shell on Linux or OSX, I’m amazed that they haven’t customized the most important command, ls, in any way. ls seems like a pretty easy command, but there are subtle things that you can ask it to do which will provide much more useful information for zero extra work.

Here are the Short Instructions

• Go here
• Download the file from whichever download site works – root-3.2.1-V3.7z was the name I saw. Yes, I’m scared to do this from some unknown place on the internet.
• Unzip the root-3.2.1-V3.7z file on your PC. Yes, I’m scared, but did this inside Linux (definitely did not use Adobe Acrobat)
• Read the Readme.pdf file and follow the instructions.

If you want to start from the beginning, the XDA-Dev thread is here. To me it didn’t really add any useful explanations. The README has everything.

Is This Very Bright?

No, it is really dumb. I want to root my Acer Android tablet to run a Debian Linux. Root is required to accomplish this.

FBI Warning for Megaupload

It was fun to see Megaupload’s download site redirected to an ICE and FBI warning. This file is completely legal. Anyone who wants to root their Android device is allowed to do it in the USA. Our tax dollars at work. Nice.

A few months ago, I purchased Quicken 2012 Home & Business with the intent of upgrading my Quicken 2008 version which runs pretty well under Linux in WINE. I finally got around to trying to get it working. I’m sad to report that after over 8 hours of attempts, I was unable to get Quicken 2012 to startup and stay running for more than 10 seconds before crashing under WINE. Sorry.

There are instructions over at the WineHQ to get Quicken 2012 running. These did not work for me.

For most readers, that is enough to move along.

Shmoocon is a security/hacker conference where security people show how to hack and how to protect against hacks for personal and corporate needs. If you know how to hack someone else, then you are better equipped to prevent those same attacks against yourself, your clients, and your company.

At Shmoocon, a presenter showed how to use those convenient RFID payment chips inside Debit and credit cards for fraud

Just because something is easy, doesn’t make it a good idea. Look for the full video link later in the comments.