Vol. 30 number 1 January 2013 The newsletter of the Ottawa PC Users' Group Calendar OPCUG General Meeting National Museum of Science and Technology 1867 St. Laurent Blvd. Second (*first) Wednesday of each month, 7:30pm Beginner SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. Linux SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. Beer BOF (Wing SIG East), after all the SIGs, at 10 p.m. Liam Maguire's, 1705 St. Laurent at Innes (formerly Hooters) Please note that unless otherwise noted, SIGs meet at 9:00 p.m. (immediately following the OPCUG General Meeting). ____________________________ Coming Up... Wednesday January 9th, 2013 Speaker: Pierre Roman, Microsoft Canada Topic: TBA Wednesday March 13th, 2013 Speaker: Doug Drouillard of KRC (Knights Refurbishing Computers) INC (to be confirmed) ____________________________ January Raffle Courtesy of McAfee Canada, we have a copy of McAfee All Access 2012. "All your devices. All your stuff. All protected." That is how McAfee describes All Access 2012. This powerhouse gives you complete anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, anti- spam, anti-bot, 2-way firewall, safe web searching, encryption, wireless network security, digital file shredding, web content filtering, URL shortening, social network monitoring, on-line activity monitoring, and more. And this one-user license will do this for all the devices you own - PCs, laptops, Android tablets, Macs, and smartphones (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or Symbian.) McAfee All Access 2012 is valued at $100. Tickets are, as always, a good deal at $1 for one, a great deal at $2 for three or the unbelievable bargain of $5 for ten! ____________________________ December Prize Winners At our general meeting of 12/12/12 the raffle prize winner, of a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, was Jocelyn Doire. Thanks to Microsoft for the prize donation and a big thanks to all who bought raffle tickets at the meeting as all of the proceeds are going to the Ottawa Food Bank. ____________________________ Product Review Keeping Passwords Safe by Alan German I normally only use one or two login passwords and so, previously, I have never bothered to check out password encryption programs. However, recently, I seem to have had to consult my "top secret" hard-copy file of web site passwords in order to access various obscure sites that I use only infrequently. While this file folder is a useful resource for storing multiple passwords, the difficulty comes when needing to locate a given password. Typically this means leafing through multiple printouts of login credentials for a wide range of web sites that aren't arranged in any kind of logical sequence. I suppose I could organize these listings in a loose-leaf binder, rather than using a simple file folder, but it is probably even more efficient to use a computer-based password manager. The essence of these software systems is an encrypted database, opened by means of a master password, that contains listings of individual web sites and their associated login credentials. Even better, most of these programs offer a way to enter a userid and password for any given site more-or-less automatically, thus expediting the login process. My password manager of choice is KeePass, primarily as it is open-source software that garners good reviews, but also because the Windows version has a Linux equivalent (KeePassX) which means that I can use the same password database on both platforms. There are both 1.x and 2.x versions of KeePass with Version 1.23 being compatible with KeePassX. Consequently, it is KeePass Version 1.23 that is reviewed here. By default, KeePass offers to store passwords for three groups of applications, namely Internet, eMail and Backup systems. I only require to store passwords for web sites and so opted to set up a new database in the Internet group. The only requirement is to select a master password with which to access the database. Optionally, one can also specify a "key file". This is an additional security measure since both the master password must be entered, and the specific key file must be present, before the password database can be opened. With the database open, a new set of login credentials can be entered by selecting "Add Entry", either by clicking on an icon, or by using the program's edit menu. The subsequent dialogue box has fields for Title, User name, Password, URL and Notes. An icon is associated with each listing and this can be selected from an available set of icons or a custom image can be used. The entry can be set to expire on a given date and time; however, by default, the expiry date is unchecked. The password that is entered (and repeated as a double check) is encrypted in the final database and is displayed as a series of asterisks. A button (three dots) lets you see the actual password string behind the asterisks (when the encrypted database is open). The "quality" (i.e. strength) of the selected password is roughly indicated by the length of a horizontal bar, and an indication of the number of bits used in the string. For the paranoid amongst us, there is a built-in password generator that will produce (presumably) incredibly secure passwords. My test used a 256-character string producing a password with a full horizontal bar and 535 bits. Clearly, one could use KeePass purely to store login credentials. The web sites are listed in alphabetical order so retrieving a given record is quite simple. One could then copy and paste the userid (User name) and password (having used the "three dots" button to extract the encrypted text) from the data record into the login prompts on the web page. However, as noted earlier, KeePass provides an option for the program to "fill-in the blanks" on the login screen. This process is a little non-intuitive and, in my case, required reading through a section of the web-based KeePass Help Center (Help - Help Contents - KeePass Help Center - Features - Auto-Type) a couple of times before I clued in on the technique. The first trick is to hit the drop-down "Tools" button in the lower-left corner of the data record for any given web site. With the desired web site open in the browser at the login page, one clicks on "Auto-Type: Select Target Window". Then, one uses the second drop-down menu to select the appropriate listing which in my test case was "Ottawa PC Users' Group (OPCUG) Inc. - Mozilla Firefox". The second trick is to navigate to "Tools - Options - Advanced - Auto-Type" in KeePass's main menu and enter a keyboard shortcut in the "Global auto-type hot key combination" field. I opted for Ctrl + Alt + P as the keystroke combination that would automatically populate a web site's login credential fields. Even then the process turned out to be somewhat hit and miss. For example, I couldn't get the system to work for OPCUG's web site as KeePass returned the login credentials for a different entry. And, in my DropBox account, KeePass selected the correct entry, but populated the E-mail field (effectively the userid) with my DropBox password instead of the user name! However, the auto-type process worked fine for some other web sites, e.g. National Capital Freenet. While the automatic login process appears to be fraught with difficulties, KeePass does at least let me store my infrequently-used web site login credentials in an electronic format, and provides a readily-available resource for this information when it is needed. So, no more leafing through dozens of pieces of paper for me! Bottom Line: KeePass Password Safe (Open-source) Version 1.23 Author: Dominik Reichl http://keepass.info/ ____________________________ Article Kicking a hornets' nest by Chris Taylor Oh, it is almost painful to watch... On December 4th, Microsoft, through their ?@windowsphone Twitter account, tweeted Do you have an Android malware horror story? Reply with #DroidRage with your best/worst story and we may have a get-well present for you. I am not sure it was a wise thing to do. It sparked a flurry of #WindowsRage responses along with some other pointed responses, such as; @androidcentral: Sorry. We're back. Had to reboot the PC. #tooeasy #DroidRage @William_Clare: I really wanted an underpowered phone with no apps, but I bought an android instead #droidrage @androidcentral: Whoops. Just activated another million devices today. Sorry bout that, @windowsphone. #DroidRage @NetLore: Microsoft #DroidRage campaign produced a 200% increase in windows phones sales yesterday, analysts are uncertain if that was 2 or 3 devices. @iSaifu: I tried to buy a Nexus 4 but the device is so popular to get one! I wish it was less popular like Windows Phone. #DriodRage @WindowsPhone @Phoenix_Media_: I wish my Android phone crashed more often like Windows. #DroidRage ____________________________ Article Hpy bday txt msng by Chris Taylor On December 3rd, 1992, the first text message was sent, making December 3, 2012 the 20th birthday of text messaging. The message was sent by Neil Papworth, a 22-year old British engineer who now lives in Montreal. He used a computer to send the message "Merry Christmas" over the GSM network to the phone of Vodaphone director Richard Jarvis. I guess having a full keyboard at his disposal, he did not feel the need to send the message as "mery xmas". Text messaging did not initially take the world by storm. Even though the first text message was sent Dec 3, 1992, even in 1995, GSM customers sent an average of 0.4 SMS messages per month! When texting turned 8 in the year 2000, texts were still only sent at a rate of 35 SMS messages per customer per month. But by 2011, it had grown to an astounding 8 trillion messages for the year - or over 15 million texts per minute. And to illustrate just how popular texting is, it was reported on Discovery News that a fox stole a Norwegian teenager's cell phone and managed to send a text; "jlv I øi\a0ab 34348tu åaugjoi zølbmosdji jsøg ijio sjiw." I wonder if it was any less readable than texts sent by the teenager. And the rest, they say, is hstry. ____________________________ Product Review Yumi - A Workhorse of a Different Colour by Alan German Yumi is a really neat utility program, extremely useful for those who have need of its features, but a real oddity nonetheless. The program can create a multi-boot USB drive, capable of booting any one of a number of different operating systems or disk utilities. The odd thing is that, although the resulting drive will boot various Linux systems, Yumi itself is a Windows application. Utilities, such as UNetbootin, that produce a bootable USB drive from an ISO distribution have been around for some time. Essentially, these burn an ISO image to a USB memory stick rather than to a CD. For many modern computers, that are capable of booting from an external USB drive, this provides a useful way to live-boot any given Linux distro or bootable utility system. If the resulting product doesn't suit the user's requirements, the USB drive can simply be reused rather than having to throw away yet another "coaster". Now that storage is so cheap and, in particular, that USB memory sticks are very affordable in capacities of 8, 16, or even 32 GB, using a single USB drive for an individual operating system becomes rather inefficient. Enter Yumi - with its capability to store a variety of different bootable systems on the same stick. Clearly, this can be very useful for the Linux user who wishes to maintain a live-boot version of the current distro, plus utility programs such as Gparted and Clonezilla, all while trying out various new distros. However, the product also has some application for Windows users who, for example, wish to keep a bootable version of Gparted handy to tweak their disk partition scheme, or who require a bootable antivirus rescue disk (e.g. for AVG or Kaspersky). Yumi downloads as a self-contained EXE file. Running the program produces a simple dialogue screen. To install a bootable system, one first selects the target USB memory stick using the initial drop-down menu, then the distro to be installed from the list provided in the second drop-down menu. The program now provides a link for the relevant web site where the specified distro package may be downloaded or, if this is has already been done, lets the user browse the hard disk to locate the existing ISO file. The next step is to select the ISO file itself and press the Create button. A progress report indicates the steps being taken to install the software. Finally, a message indicates "All finished, Process is Complete!" Removing any installed item is even simpler. Check the "Remove an Installed Item" box on the main dialogue box, select the desired product to be removed from the list displayed, and press the Remove button. So, there you have it, a free and extremely efficient utility to provide multi-booting capability from a USB memory stick. Bottom Line: Yumi (Open-Source) Version 0.0.5.7 Pendrivelinux http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/ ____________________________ Cybergeddon by Chris Taylor Cybergeddon is a 9-chapter movie produced for the web and released September 25, 2012, that is surprisingly well done. The 90 minute tale tells the story of FBI agent Chloe Jocelyn, played by Missy Peregrym, who is framed for "cyber treason" by cyber criminal Gustov Dobreff, played by Oliver Martinez. Chloe escapes custody and begins the hunt for Gustov, who is, of course, up to no good. Chloe breaks hacker "Rabbit" Rosen (played by Kick Gurry), out of jail where she had put him years earlier and convinces him to help her find Gustov. And the reluctant FBI agent recruited into the quest is Frank Parker, played by Manny Montana. The movie was created by some of the folks who produce the TV show CSI, in cooperation with Yahoo! Screen and Symantec. Okay, some of the action comes across as a little ... or a lot ... fake. But it is not as bad in this respect as most Hollywood movies. And let's face it, watching realistic hacking is more boring than watching paint dry! Overall, I was quite impressed with the story and the quality of the production. You will "pay" for this movie by watching a couple of 30- second ads from Symantec and Nissan between each of the 9 chapters. You can even download a Cybergeddon game for Android or iOS http://cybergeddon.yahoo.com/ ____________________________ OPCUG Free Software Guide - Part 36 Compiled by Alan German This guide features an annotated list of free computer programs. The software mentioned has not been reviewed (except where noted) nor have any tests necessarily been conducted. Consequently, no guarantees are provided that the individual programs will perform as described. Rather the list of available software is provided for the information of our members who may find one or more of the programs useful. Maxthon 3 Use a Better Browser - Get a Better Web. Maxthon 3 for Win2003/XP/Vista/Win7, brings you unsurpassed speed and easy-to-use features - including split-screen browsing - that you can't find anywhere else. Current Release: Version 3.4.2.3000 Web Site: http://www.maxthon.com/mx3/ Free YouTube Download Use this program to download videos and collection material from YouTube. Download videos in original YouTube quality or convert them to AVI, MP4, or WMV. Current Release: Version 3.1.34.825 Web Site: http://preview.tinyurl.com/3x4w5t AltDrag Move and resize your windows in a new way. After you have started AltDrag, you can simply hold down the Alt key and then click and drag any window. You can also resize, maximize, and close windows. Current Release: Version 0.9 Web Site: http://code.google.com/p/altdrag/ Comodo Firewall Manage your Internet traffic and control all the connections to your machine. Only this free firewall software has access to Comodo's extensive safe-list of PC-friendly applications - the key to "Default Deny Protection". Current Release: Version 5.10.228257.2253 Web Site: http://preview.tinyurl.com/9tmyhbw Freemake Video Converter Convert video files with support for more than 200 file formats, including AVI, MP4, WMV, MKV, MPEG, and 3GP. Optimize videos for mobile devices, DVD's or Blu-ray players. Current Release: Version 3.1.1 Web Site: http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/ FlightGear Flight Simulator This open-source flight simulator features a multi-player environment, and includes more than 400 aircraft, a world- wide scenery database, and multiple display support. Current Release: Version 2.8 Web Site: http://www.flightgear.org/ Rightload Use this FTP client to quickly upload files directly from a Windows folder to your server. Instead of using complicated software to upload a few pictures, just right-click on the files, select the server and target folder, and Rightload will do the rest for you. Current Release: Version 2.0.1 Web Site: http://rightload.org/ ____________________________ OTTAWA PC NEWS Ottawa PC News is the newsletter of the Ottawa PC Users' Group (OPCUG), and is published monthly except in July and August. The opinions expressed in this newsletter may not necessarily represent the views of the club or its members. Member participation is encouraged! If you would like to contribute an article to Ottawa PC News, please submit it to the newsletter editor (contact info below). Deadline for submissions is three Saturdays before the General Meeting. Group meetings OPCUG normally meets on the second Wednesday in the month, except in July and August, at the National Museum of Science and Technology, 1867 St. Laurent Blvd, Ottawa. Meetings are 7:30-9:00 p.m. and Special Interest Groups go until 10 p.m. Fees: OPCUG annual membership: $25 per year. Mailing address: 3 Thatcher St., Nepean, Ontario, K2G 1S6 Web address: http://opcug.ca/ Bulletin Board - PUB II (BBS): http://opcug.ca/default.htm Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/opcug President and System Administrator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Meeting Coordinator: (Mr.) Jocelyn Doire, Jocelyn.Doire@@opcug.ca Treasurer: Alan German, alan.german@@opcug.ca Secretary: Gail Eagen, gail.Eagen@@opcug.ca Membership Chairman: Mark Cayer, Mark.Cayer@@opcug.ca, 613 823-0354 Newsletter: Brigitte Lord, Brigittelord@@opcug.ca Email: (Mr.) Jocelyn Doire, Jocelyn.Doire@@opcug.ca Public Relations: Morris Turpin, PR@@opcug.ca, 613 729-6955 Facilities: Bob Walker, 613 489-2084 Webmaster: Brigitte Lord, opcug-webmaster2@@opcug.ca Privacy Director: Wayne Houston, privacy2@@opcug.ca Special Events Coordinator: Bob Gowan, bob.gowan@@opcug.ca Beginners' SIG Coordinator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Linux / Open-Source software SIG: (vacant) Note: We added an extra "@" to the emails to reduce spam. (c) OPCUG 2013. Reprints permission is granted* to non- profit organizations, provided credits is given to the author and The Ottawa PC News. OPCUG request a copy of the newsletter in which reprints appear. *Permission is granted only for articles written by OPCUG members, and not copyrighted by the author. ____________________________ Newsletter by email: To receive the newsletter by e-mail, send a message to listserve@@opcug.ca with the plain text "subscribe NewsletterTXT" or "subscribe NewsletterPDF" (without quotes) in the body of the message. No subject line is required. To cancel e-mailing, send a message to listserve@@opcug.ca with the plain text "unsubscribe NewsletterTXT" or "unsubscribe NewsletterPDF" (without quotes). To change your e-mail address, cancel using the old e-mail address and re-subscribe using your new e-mail address. Cancelling the Paper Newsletter: You can help the environment and save us some costs by sending an email to Mark.Cayer@@opcug.ca asking to cancel the delivery of the paper version of the newsletter (or ask him in person - Mark is usually at the back of the auditorium at General Meetings). Announcements Mailing List: To subscribe to the Announcements List send an email to listserve@@opcug.ca, leave the subject blank and in the body of the message put "subscribe announcements" (without the quotes). Within a couple of minutes you will receive a confirmation message from the list server. OPCUG clock/calendar/calculator and mug: Check out the clock/calendar/calculator and thermal coffee mug sporting our club logo at the back of the auditorium at General Meetings! OPCUG insulated mugs are $15 and OPCUG clocks are $20. Reuse, recycle: Bring your old computer books, software, hardware, and paraphernalia you want to GIVE AWAY to the general meetings, and leave them at the table near the auditorium's entrance. Please limit your magazines to publication dates of less than two years old. If you don't bring something, you may want to TAKE AWAY something of interest, so look in on this area. Please note: If you bring anything for the recycle table, you are responsible to check on your way out and if the items you brought are still there, you must take them home with you.