February 8th, 2010
I just managed to sell my computer on eBay and want to make sure that I wipe the hard disk clean before I ship the machine. Is it enough to just delete my files?
It’s always a good idea to wipe clean your hard disk before you pass it on to someone. Can you just imagine the harm that someone could do if they got their hands on all your data? And this is even more the case if you’re passing it on to a complete stranger.
So, how do you get down to it? Deleting your files is a start; but it may surprise you to know that when you delete a file, your computer doesn’t actually delete it; it just deletes a pointer to it and marks the space as available. There are a number of tools on the market that let you undelete files; so you really need something a bit more aggressive; something that permanently wipes the data by overwriting it with garbage. One such product is Drivescrubber, a specialised product that overwrites your data up to 100 times. No way anyone can retrieve your data after that. Drivescrubber is currently on sale for around $10. That’s not a high price to be paying for securing your data.
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February 8th, 2010
I just managed to sell my computer on eBay and want to make sure that I wipe the hard disk clean before I ship the machine. Is it enough to just delete my files?
It’s always a good idea to wipe clean your hard disk before you pass it on to someone. Can you just imagine the harm that someone could do if they got their hands on all your data? And this is even more the case if you’re passing it on to a complete stranger.
So, how do you get down to it? Deleting your files is a start; but it may surprise you to know that when you delete a file, your computer doesn’t actually delete it; it just deletes a pointer to it and marks the space as available. There are a number of tools on the market that let you undelete files; so you really need something a bit more aggressive; something that permanently wipes the data by overwriting it with garbage. One such product is Drivescrubber, a specialised product that overwrites your data up to 100 times. No way anyone can retrieve your data after that. Drivescrubber is currently on sale for around $10. That’s not a high price to be paying for securing your data.
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February 7th, 2010
Tags: honeypot
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February 6th, 2010
I use Firefox extensively, but recently it has been crashing. A “Crash screen” gives the opportunity to send a report to Mozilla, but I’ve never had a response. Is it worth sending the report in?
It is rare to receive a direct report from an error submission report. There is a trend recently, to try and suggest ways the issue can be rectified, but not many packages do this (Windows being a notable exception). You may get an automated response back, which can help you resolve your issue; so it’s worth sending in your report.
Your report actually does go back to the developers; whether it’s Microsoft or an Orange County computer support firm, though it is usually aggregated with the reports from other users. computers are complicated things, and the more clues developers get to fix problems, the easier it gets for them. It does help the company diagnose and repair the problem. You may not get an immediate response from the company; but your problem may be fixed in the next release.
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February 5th, 2010
Interesting post on the New York Times by Dick Brass who used to be a Vice President at Microsoft. He talks about what he believes is one of the downfalls of the company; that it stifles innovation when instead it should be nurturing it. He describes a number of cases where great ideas were sacrificed for personal ambitions; a symptom of an organisation that is politically motivated. This sort of organisational behaviour can be detrimental in the long run and it’s up to the company in question to solve these problems.
Innovation has driven a large part of our life. Without the advances in technology we take for granted today we wouldn’t have fibre optics, or high speed satellite internet. Heck, we wouldn’t even have a wii or Playstation to play on! Who knows what life would be like today if innovation was stifled everywhere?
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February 5th, 2010
It’s been hard getting a good night out ever since the twins were born. They’re 4 months old now and it’s been quite a journey. Every minute of it has been great; it’s been fun watching them develop and learn new skills, Aristea has mastered the fine art of blowing bubbles, while Alexander is learning to be spoon fed. The one thing that’s been the hardest though has been finding the opportunity for a good night out.
Don’t get me wrong, we had our fair share of good nights out. And the great thing about them is that they tend to stick in your mind and you draw on those memories. Like a couple of years ago, when we went to Finland for Christmas. We had a great time, though Arthur was a bit too young to remember too much of it. Then there was the time we went to Paris, visited the Eiffel tower and went to EuroDisney. That was only last summer, so it’s still quite fresh in our memory. But before Arthur was even around, we spent some time living outside London and we do have some great memories from that period too.
The great thing about living in Staines was that we were only one train ride away from London. One particular evening that sticks in my mind was just the two of us heading into London; we went to Chinatown and stopped at a Chinese buffet. We then found an arcade in the corner called Quicksilver Games and spent the whole evening playing on slot machines. It was a great evening, and I don’t think we’ve ever hit the slots again in the same way; but it’s the sort of thing you carry around with you. It was an evening to remember and I’d recommend a visit to anyone looking for a good night out; … in the meantime .. there’s a baby crying upstairs …
Tags: honeypot
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