Over the past week I have been finishing up development on my Diablo 3 WASD implementation for Mac OSX. It’s been an interesting project and has had many obstacles to overcome, primarily native global keyboard hooking in Java! Now that development of the first version is done I’m happy to release it to the public! I have partnered with another developer named Jared Sigley from the diablo-iii-wasd project to bring you a cross platform implementation of WASD for Diablo 3! His program is written in Autohotkey and if you are a Windows user I highly suggest you check it out, the code has had more development time then mine and is more polished (in my opinion). That being said though work will continue on Diablo 3 WASD for OSX and feature suggestions are always welcome! Instructions for install are available here. If your interested in downloading Diablo 3 WASD please head over to the projects website!

EDIT – I’m having issues publishing version 1.01 which includes a smoothing fix on the project site, so for now here is the link to it!

EDIT – You need to enable Universal Access for the program to work, also restart your computer after you enable it to assure compatibility!

Hey there readers, so this is my first actual “Security” post in a while and I hope you guys enjoy it. Today I will be teaching you how to set up your own SSH tunnel. For those of you that don’t know what SSH is it’s a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged using a secure channel between two networked devices. Basically a way for you to secure your own data! It’s something that you really should be using if you use public wireless at all. Setting up your own SSH server at home is pretty easy if you already have a server laying around. In this guide I’m going to be using my Ubuntu 12.04 server, but it should work equally well on any Linux distribution.

Setting Up Your Own SSH Tunnel

Step 1. Telnet or log into your server!

Step 2. Run the following command to install OpenSSH “sudo apt-get install openssh-server”

Step 3. Run the following command to generate your private, and public keys “ssh-keygen -t dsa” (When generating a key you don’t need to use a password, it will simply add even more security. If your wondering how this works here is a link to the Wikipedia article on Public Key cryptography!)

Step 4. Configure your client for SSH, to do this your going to need to generate your SSH keys to do this on Mac OSX simply type “sudo ssh-keygen -t dsa” (When generating a key you don’t need to use a password, it will simply add even more security. If your wondering how this works here is a link to the Wikipedia article on Public Key cryptography!)

Step 5. Now your going to need to copy your clients public key to your server! To do this simply copy your public key to your desktop and open it with a text editor, or alternatively just open it with a text editor! (The default location for your id_dsa.pub is /Users/yourname/.ssh/id_dsa.pub)

Step 6. Now back on your server type the command “touch /youruser/.ssh/authorized_keys” (This will make the file if it currently doesn’t exist, and if it does it won’t change anything)

Step 7. Now paste your clients id_dsa.pub contents into the authorized keys file by opening it with your favorite text editor the command to do it with nano would be “sudo nano /youruser/.ssh/authorized_keys”

Step 8. Now restart your servers OpenSSH by using the command “sudo /etc/init.d/ssh reload”

Your server now has SSH running on it! (Keep reading if you want to learn how to tunnel/encrypt your web traffic!)

Step 1. Open up a terminal and type “ssh -C -D 1080 yourserversusername@yourserversipordns” (Your going to be asked for the password for the username, so type it in!)

Step 2. The terminal should just hang now, if it’s sitting there not doing anything your doing it right!

Step 3. Now simply open up your web browser and go to network settings, then proxy, go to the SOCKS option and type localhost and port 1080! You should be running through an encrypted tunnel now! (If you don’t have the server running and the proxy is still on your internet won’t work so remember to turn it on and off, or better yet script your browser to run it automatically at startup!!!!)

So thats the basics on how to set up your own SSH server and tunnel. If you have any questions regarding security or anything else feel free to leave me a comment or e-mail me at ianmarmour@gmail.com!

     I looked all over for documentation on how to install Ubuntu on the now fairly old Intel based Mac Mini, however all I saw were complex guides that involved multiple steps that were very confusing. So instead of doing all that I’m going to give you simple step by step instructions as an alternative that anyone can follow!

Tools Required

• Intel Based Mac Mini
• 1 Gigabyte or larger USB stick
• A monitor, USB keyboard, USB mouse
• Ubuntu 11.10 ISO
• rEFIt Disk Image
• Unetbootin

Now Lets Get Started

Step 1. First download the Ubuntu 11.10 ISO.

Step 2. Download/Install the rEFIt Disk Image for your Mac.

Step 3. Download/Install Unetbootin.

Step 4. Install your Ubuntu ISO to your USB stick by opening Unetbootin and near the bottom changing your option of install to ISO and browse to the file.

Step 5. Reboot your Mac… Twice. (For some reason Unetbootin requires 2 reboots)

Step 6. On the second reboot hold down the option key (alt key) and select USB Linux from the two boot options.

Step 7. Run the Ubuntu installer, during the install selected use all space and there you go you now have a fully installed version of Ubuntu on your Mac Mini.

Step 8. To get Ubuntu working properly your going to need Wi-Fi and graphics drivers. To get those simply plug your Mac Mini into a tethered Ethernet connection and go to System Settings in Ubuntu and click on Additional Drivers and install them!

Conclusion

     I hope those 8 steps didn’t intimidate you too much, because running Ubuntu on my Mac Mini is like getting a new computer! Between the sluggishness of OSX, and the amount of files I had on my hard drive it had been running extremely poorly. I plan on turning the Mac Mini into a headless server soon. If you have any more questions regarding Linux or installing it on OSX feel free to leave me a comment or e-mail me at ianmarmour@gmail.com.

A general misconception is that the OSX operating system cannot be infected with malware or viruses, in fact this is not true. There have been various large outbreaks of malware on OSX the most recent being Mac-Defender. Mac-Defender was a virus that once installed would require you to pay to remove the “viruses” from your infected Mac. Just like virus progression on Microsoft Windows the viruses affecting OSX will become more and more powerful. By powerful I don’t necessarily mean damaging though, a viruses power might be in it’s subtlety, or in it’s ability to accurately log keystrokes.  Right now there have only been a few cases and the majority of them were easy to contain, however I believe that once advance malware programmers turn there gaze to OSX the damage will be devastating.

Why OSX is Vulnerable to Attack

• Unix User/File Permissions (Ironic)
• Applescript
• User Friendliness
• Lack of Security Consciousness

All of these reasons can be considered double edged swords. Unix user and file permissions are considered some of the best in computing land, however the implementation that apple uses is interesting/insecure. An obvious example of this is a users ability to add files to Login Items without authentication. Applescript is a great tool for programmers and developers, however it is also a great tool for malicious hackers. Applescript allows easy automation of tasks on your Mac, which makes it faster and more efficient for malware writers to use it to code in then using a programming language such as C++, C#, or Python. I imagine Applescript attacks mimicking early batch viruses/worms. The user friendliness of OSX makes it a great choice for new users, however it also makes it easier for attackers to mask their attacks because there is no where for a user to view the changes the virus/malware is making. Now I come to the most glaringly obvious problem for security on OSX, no security consciousness. One of the highlights of buying  a Mac is that you don’t have to worry about “viruses” like you do on Windows, too bad thats not true and just lulls people into a false sense of security. If your not looking for potential attacks your threat of being attack is much higher. If you have any questions regarding implementation of security techniques or OSX please feel free to email me at ianmarmour@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

     There are plenty of top 10 lists for Mac OSX however I am hoping that this will give you some good choices that you haven’t seen before. These are not only my top 10 applications for Mac OSX but also my most used and enjoyed, so I hope you find something new to enjoy!

1. Transmission BitTorrent Client – Is hands down the best BitTorrent client for OSX. Development on Transmission started in 2005 and is still being developed actively. It has native Mac, GTK+, and QT Gui clients. Transmission can also be run as a deamon (background process) so you can start downloads from anywhere by logging into your computer using a web client. It also sports Local Peer Discovery and Full Disc encryption. It’s very very resource light and should run on most computers. – Transmission BitTorrent

2. Evernote – A wonderful GTD style application that is completely cross platform. It always for simple note taking and scheduling of tasks. If you are interested in more information about Evernote and how you can use it please check out my previous application review. – Evernote

3. Reeder - Reeder is a RSS reading client for Mac OSX and one of the most beautiful applications available on the Mac App Store right now. Reeder is also available for iPhone and iPad and I would highly recommend checking any of it’s versions out. Reeder sets itself out from the competition with awesome social media integration and offline syncing. It’s easy to use and relatively cheap to pick up at $9.99 in the Mac App Store. – Reeder

4. CodeRunner – CodeRunner is a great tool for anyone interested in programming and on a Mac. It’s price makes it easy for almost any developer to get ahold of and get there feet wet in some programming. It has support for AppleScript, C, C++, Java, JavaScript (Node.js), Lua, Objective-C, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, Shell, however it also allows you to write your own support in for other languages. It has a gorgeous interface that allows you to focus purely on your code without much distraction and the code is color coated for simplicity. CodeRunner allows for huge amounts of customization and is a must have for any dev. It is available for 9.99$ – CodeRunner

5. Twitter – Twitter is just my social network of choice. If all my acquaintances and friends used Twitter I would probably completely drop Facebook. If you don’t know what Twitter is somehow, it’s basically a micro-blogging service that allows you to express yourself in 140 characters. The Mac application for Twitter is a beautiful example of the social network and how it can work using a desktop client. It’s inspired many other applications in it’s interface design and best of all it’s free! – Twitter

6. Coda - Coda is a development application developed by “Panic!”, a company that has developed many beautiful applications for Mac OSX. Coda allows for far more languages to be used then CodeRunner and is also has way more integration for online syncing etc. Coda’s interface is beautiful, it allows for split screen development, simple previewing in-app, and easy CSS development. Coda really is the must have for any web-developer on OSX, it is completely competitive with Adobe’s Dreamweaver CS5 and in my opinion surpasses it in many ways, one of the most notable being it’s under half the price of Dreamweaver weighing in at only $99. – Coda

7. Google Chrome – Google Chrome is one of the most well advertised pieces of software on the Internet today. If you haven’t heard or seen Google Chrome already then go check it out! It’s really is a web browser just like any other but it has features that I believe are better then it’s competitors. Though it enables your discrete GPU on Macbook’s which drains battery unlike Apple’s Safari. – Google Chrome

8. Sparrow – I am new to using Sparrow as my default mail client. However in the little time that I have been using it I’ve fallin in love. It’s interface reminds me of the Twitter client on Mac OSX which I absolutely love. Sparrow is faster then using the default G-Mail client in my opinion and has great support for multiple accounts and G-Mail’s labeling system. Sparrow also has a very quick development cycle which means new features are being added all the time. Sparrow’s Light version is available on the Mac App Store for free, however I believe that it’s worth splurging and picking up the Pro version if you have the money. – Sparrow

9. Spotify – I previously wrote a review on Spotify and did a Youtube video. For those of you that haven’t checked those out though Spotify is a iTunes replacement that allows for unlimited free streaming of music, and if you pay for the Premium account you can also download your tracks. Spotify is completely cross-compatible and is something that I couldn’t live without! - Spotify

10. Starcraft 2 – Starcraft 2 is a game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It is also known as the national sport of Korea. Starcraft 2 is an RTS type game that is similar to Command & Conquer. If you are interested in RTS games or are looking to start playing them Starcraft 2 is a great option for you! – Starcraft 2 

Socket’s 101

The basics of sockets would be to import the socket library to python and set up a simple socket.

from socket import * #This line imports socket.
serversock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM) #Sets up a new socket known as serversock

Now if you want to bind the socket and use it as a server you need to add a few things to what we wrote above!

from socket import * #This line imports socket.
HOST = 'localhost' #Your computers name/IP
PORT = 50000 #The port your servers on.
BUFSIZ = 1024 #The size of the server's buffer.
ADDR = (HOST, PORT) #Sets a variable with both HOST and PORT.
serversock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM) #Sets up a socket known as serversock
serversock.bind #Binds your socket to your HOST and PORT.
serversock.listen(5) #Listens for 5 simultaneous connections.

Allright now that you understand the basics of how these sockets work etc I’m just going to dump the full server code below if you have any more questions feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianmarmour@gmail.com.

Full Source Link

Setting up Dual Monitors

So the process isn’t really that hard it’s just pretty poorly documented. To set up dual monitors in Arch Linux your going to need a tool called xrandr, which you should already have installed!

Step 1. Run xrandr -q it will list your displays, in my case my displays are DVI-0 and DVI-1 yours my be different.

Step 2. Test your displays using this command xrandr --output DVI-0 --auto --output DVI-1 --auto --right-of DVI-0

Step 3. The command above can be modified to fit your situation you should get the idea it’s pretty self explanatory.

Step 4. If the command turned out successful all you need to do is open up your “XFCE Settings Manager” and go to “Session and Startup” then click on “Application Autostart” and add the command to your autostart so every-time you boot your displays will adjust.

Setting up HDMI Audio Output

Linux kernel version 3.0 disabled HDMI audio output by default so your going to have to edit your grub boot menu’s kernel line.

Step 1. Use your favorite text editor to open your menu.lst using one of the below commands sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst

Step 2. Locate your boot line which should be the name of your Linux distribution in my case Arch Linux.

Step 3. Find the line that starts with kernel and go to the end it should say ro

Step 4. Add radeon.audio=1 to the end of the line.

Step 5. Reboot your Arch Linux or Linux install after saving.

Step 6. Find out what your audio device is by typing aplay -l

Step 7. Then use the command aplay -D plughw:1,3 /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav to test to see if your audio output works.

Step 8. If it works simply configure pulse audio to use it as your default output. On Arch Linux you will have to install paprefs and pavucontrol by using the command sudo pacman -S papprefs pavucontrol to be able to configure Pulse Audio.

Disclaimer: I’m going to take a moral step back in this article, anything written in this post is going to be un-ethical but thats part of becoming a good liar.

Lying 101: The Basics

Lying conceptually is pretty simple, you tell somebody something thats not true. However in practice lying can get very messy very quickly. Before you tell a lie you should gage the consequences, a lie no matter how small will have consequences and it’s your job to decide if lyings worth it. I’m going to assume you choose to lie, because everyone reading this is a liar anyways. Now that you choose to lie here are some important things you should remember when deciding and committing your lie,

1. Remember your lie – If you can’t even remember your own lie nobody is going to believe you.
2. Gage your opponent – If somebody has video footage of you stealing don’t expect to be able to lie your way out of it, always gage your opponents ability to spot your deceptions.
3. Base your lie’s on facts – If there is some part of truth in your lie your chances of being found it will be reduced dramatically.
4. If your questioned ask yourself why – If your questioned there had to have been something to arouse suspicion. Think about that before you decide to construct a falsehood.
5. Keep on lying – If somehow you manage to get caught stick to your story! Generally people will push for information they don’t actually have to make you give up factual evidence. Truth will out? Not if you obey this.
6. Calm down – I can’t stress this enough if you exhibit the qualities of somebody lying you only arouse more suspicion towards yourself, just stay relaxed and you will be fine.
7. Don’t lie – I know this sounds ironic but if the situation is bad enough to be life or death don’t lie. If you do lie be prepared to get caught. When things get serious so do the people involved.

Lying 202: Intermediate Lying Techniques

At this point i’m guessing you have mastered the basics. You might have even pulled off a few successful lies and are feeling confident in your abilities. Thats great however your not done learning yet. There’s always areas to be improved on and here are some of the things that can trip the intermediate liar up.

1. Parties involved – The more parties involved the more chance you have of getting caught period. Nobody cares about you as much as you do! I was tempted to throw this into basic lying but I think this is more of a prevalent problem with Intermediate Liars.
2. Circumstantial evidence – If you can bring back solid proof that proves your story to be ligament you will re-enforce faith in your lie.
3. The emotional plea – Play off other peoples emotions and experiences. Say you want people to believe you had a bad experience in a city, get other people who have had a bad experience in the city to back you up.
4. Watch out – This kind of goes under parties involved however I believe it to be a separate topic. Make sure to look out for non-involved third parties that may be used as testimonies against you. If 3 adults back up a story against you and your a kid chances are you will lose your credibility and be found out.
5. Don’t over provide – This is sort of a lifestyle change but don’t talk so much. The less you talk the less information people will expect from you , which will lower your chances of being discovered.

Lying 303: Lying Kung Fu

Okay you might have told some big fibs and some little lies now. You think your a pro and that you can lie your way through anything, sadly though your not quite there yet. There’s a  long way for you to go to before you become an expert liar. Here are some problems you might encounter on your quest to become the ultimate liar and some tips to evade them.

1. Eye Contact – The more eye contact you have with somebody the more likely they are to trust you. This has been scientifically proven, however if you look into someones eye’s to much it is a dead giveaway that somethings up. Try to be natural with the person your talking to.
2. Behavioral Changes – You need to start observing your behavior in a non stressful situation and be able to replicate that without question no matter the amount of stress your under mentally or physiologically.
3. Paranoia – A common side effect of lying is paranoia. Your brain feels like you miss something and that will be caught. To be honest you probably did miss something, however the trick is being able to use your paranoia to your advantage but be effected by it emotionally. If you take your paranoia to seriously people will start to think there is something wrong with you and then you will be found out.
4. Predisposition – If somebody hates you their going to think of you in a negative manor. They will probably expect the worst from you and that will cause them to assume your lying.
5. Don’t lie to much –  This is self evident but you need to be thought of as somebody respectable that wouldn’t lie. If you’re responsible and tell the truth 99% of the time nobody is going to suspect you of lying.

Last tip: If your going to lie don’t let your emotions or morals get involved. Try to think of what your doing in only a intellectual fashion and calculate all your moves before you make them. Remember this is real life not a game.