From Daniel's desk

2009-10-09T05:14:00.000-04:00

Obama wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

US President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Committee said he was awarded it for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".

There were a record 205 nominations for this year's prize.

The laureate - chosen by a five-member committee - wins a gold medal, a diploma and 10m Swedish kronor ($1.4m).

[The following excerpt was obtained from the BBC]

Sprint's Speedy Search for a New CEO

2007-10-10T20:04:00.000-04:00

Sprint's Speedy Search for a New CEO

Sprint's Board of Directors are in search of a new CEO.

PC World - Will Sprint's WiMax Plans Leave with CEO?

2007-10-10T20:01:00.000-04:00

PC World - Will Sprint's WiMax Plans Leave with CEO?

Interesting article on Sprint.

2007-03-29T20:22:00.000-04:00

I just finished watching "The Pursuit of Happiness" with Will Smith and his son. I nearly choked up and cried at the end, something that is hard for me to do. It's amazing that someone after so much adversity would come out on top. If it was me in my past or present state I would of given up.

For those into success stories "The Pursuit of Happiness" is a must see. One should keep a positive inspirational story in their home DVD library.

2006-09-22T15:55:00.000-04:00

planner love! : Main - Downloading Planner: "mv remember-1.9 ~/elisp/remember"

I am currently experimenting with EMACS planner.

2006-08-13T20:53:00.000-04:00

AtomFilms - Me

What can I say the girl has talent

I stumbled across a very interesting video I found on the internet today. As I was surfing around I managed to wade my way from Technorati , to Digg then YouTube. I stumbled across a work of art by a talented graphic artist by the name of Ahree Lee. Now Ahree has a very interesting project. She decided to take snap shots of herself every day starting in 2001 and ending in 2004. The graphic art film entitled "Me" is wonderful in my opinion.

This is something to make you go hmmm...

---------- QuirKy Comment --------------------------------
Hey she's not too shabby looking. Feast your eyes fellas...
----------------------------------------------------------

YouTube has a shorter version of "Me" posted by the artist herself. http://youtube.com/watch?v=55YYaJIrmzo

2006-01-26T14:59:00.000-05:00

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World News - Five Female Iraqi Prisoners Freed by U.S.

An Iraq Interior Minister Offical stated that this move could help to free Jill Carrol the American journalist being held hostage.

My question is this woman still alive?

2006-01-26T14:53:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Many Israelis despair at Hamas win - Jan 26, 2006

This is something to keep an eye on.

2006-01-20T13:36:00.000-05:00

I need to come up with a organized way of listing things to do with the dating scene. I need some sort of a central hub where I can list what's happening in terms of the night life and parties. The web sites are already out there. I need to take a stab at it. A good place to know where all the happening parties. This is just an idea brewing in my head.

Where will I put the central hub?
Would it be a blog? Web site?

2005-10-13T04:28:00.000-04:00

PODCAST V 2.0

With the arrival of the latest Apple iPods. I predict that there will be an influx of the next generation Podcast. Not only will Podcast contain audio but video as well. Podcasters have gained a new arsenal of tools to get their message to the masses (Video blogs, cartoons and you name it.)

2005-10-03T21:02:00.000-04:00

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the moment of comfort, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy - Martin Luther King, Jr.

2005-09-28T17:11:00.000-04:00

NPR - National Public Radio

NPR now has joined the ranks of interesting broadcasters that now offer Podcasts. There is a new Podcast Directory at the NPR.ORG website which is now at the Beta stage. http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory

NPR has been in my opinion the front runner on offering modern alternatives to listeners. Not only can you get Podcast but you can get Audible subscriptions as well to popular programs such as "All Things Considered."

I commend NPR for giving listeners more modern options.

We should all support NPR and offer financial contributions to keep them on the air.

2005-09-03T23:23:00.000-04:00

By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening at his home in suburban Virginia, said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.

2005-06-13T17:26:00.000-04:00

Michael Jackson is found not guilty on all 10 charges in his child molestation case.

CNN

I have a feeling he will get into trouble again. I wish him no harm. Perhaps those who testified against him wished him harm and the jury saw that.

Things to make you go hmm.

2005-06-10T20:56:00.000-04:00

Understanding Computer Forensics

Everywhere from the Scot Peterson trial to, the war on terror computer forensics is in the news. Computer related crimes or "Cyber-Crimes" as they are aptly named are on the rise. By the looks of it Cyber-Crimes are here to stay. According to a report by the National Research Council, "Computers At Risk" 1991, "The Modern thief can steal more with a computer than with a gun. Tomorrow's terrorist may be able to do more damage with a keyboard than with a bomb." It's funny how that report turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cyber-crimes are on the rise and the war on terror has reviled that our foes are using laptops and the Internet, as essential tools to their operations.

Another significant threat to society is Industrial Espionage. Big businesses now find themselves constantly having to protect their intellectual property even more than before. Not only do corporations have to protect themselves from and their competitors and "Script Kiddies" but from foreign countries as well. The growth of the Internet has brought businesses to a global multinational arena. With tremendous power comes tremendous responsibility, its not longer business as usual.

What is Computer Forensics? We can define Computer Forensics as science of gathering evidence from an electronic crime scene while assuring its authenticity. The Computer Forensics investigator has to be able to prove, beyond "any shadow of a doubt," that the data obtained is the bona fide original as it was left in the crime scene. The evidence in digital form, should be untainted, unmodified and unaltered.

When responding to a computer crime scene, timing can be crucial. Taking action in a timely manner can make or break the investigation. Before investigating the crime scene, one should disconnect the affected workstation from the network. By no means should the computer be turned down until the computer forensics expert has examined the system. One should start with the most volatile form of memory storage to the least. Sophisticated hackers are more then likely to load their tools only in the computers RAM. Making it harder for someone to track the hacker down. Ensuring that the tools and methods used does not tamper with the evidence.

Before a forensics investigation takes place a lot of preparation and planning should be made ahead of time. One of the preparations is acquiring or building a Computer Forensics Toolkit. The toolkit usually consists of tools in the form of computer programs that allow you to extract the data without altering it or damaging its integrity. The goal is to keep the data on the computer exactly the same way the culprit left it at the time the crime was committed.

The computer forensics process can be broken down to 3 basic steps. The first step is to acquire the digital evidence from the crime scene, without altering the original. The second step is to authenticate that the evidence is directly identical to the original. The third is to analyze the data without modifying it.

The way the evidence is handled is very important, especially if you want to present the data, as evidence in a court of law. An accurate record known as the Chain of Custody is an important document in your investigation. It is designed to protect the integrity of the evidence and prevent a defense attorney to argue that the evidence was tampered with. This document states, who had collected the evidence. Who took position of the evidence, how it was stored and how was it protected in storage. Maintaining a proper chain of custody is mission critical.

As a general rule no one should utilize the tools, commands or programs contained in the compromised machine. It is possible that the suspect my have tainted the executable files housed on the computer.

Surprisingly there is a wide array of commercial, open source and public domain programs that you can add to your tool kit. Some commercial packages attempt to be the "one stop solution" for your investigative needs. The open source tools available are sophisticated enough to give some of the commercial packages a run for the money. When using open source software I recommend that you examine the MD5 hash signatures to insure that binaries have not been tampered by hackers.

Encase by Guidance Software appears to be the most widely used commercial computer investigation software. This is a Windows based program that can acquire and analyze the data. It has been designed to analyze file formats ranging from FAT, NTFS, HFS+, UFS, EXT2, EXT3, Reiser, JFS, DVDs and CD-ROMS.

SMART by ASR Data is a analysis and acquisition tool designed to operate on the Linux operating system. Which can analyze CD-ROMS, Reiser, JFS, UFS, EXT3, EXT2, NTFS and FAT partitions.

The Sleuth Kit and Autopsy are a collection of Unix based analysis tools. The Sleuth kit has over twenty command line tools. Autopsy adds a graphical user interface for the Sleuth kit. The Sleuth Kit is able to analyze data file types FAT, NTFS, UFS, EXT2, and EXT3.

NTI offers a handy utility called GetTime to have the CMOS date of the computer under forensic examination documented. Another interesting tool is one developed by security researcher, Dr. Fred Cohen, called ForensiX. Which is a bootable Linux based CDROM available to only law enforcement agencies. However, Helix is another Linux based live bootable CDROM developed for incident response.

WinHex created by Stefan Fleishman is a sophisticated hexadecimal editor. Which enables you to perform low level cloning, imaging, and disk analysis. It integrates CRC32 checksums in 128-bit or 256-bit MD5 format to assist in demonstrating the authenticity of your data. In addition WinHex enables you to examine the slack space on the hard drive under investigation. Witch can contain traces of files that were previously there.

Other tools that can be used are Ethereal, nmap, snort, necat, and cryptcat. All of which can be obtained individually or from Biatchux F.I.R.E (Forensic and Incident Response Environment). witch can be mounted on a wide variety of Operating Systems to include Win32, SPARC, Solaris and Linux.

As part of your forensic kit, you should include a mini cassette recorder, mini cassettes, digital camera, and a video camera mounted on a tri pod. The cassette recorder is for you to record any notes you may have while you conduct the investigation. The digital camera is used to take photographs of your finds and so fourth. The video camera can be used to record the investigation while in progress.

After the original copy of the evidence has been obtained, it is important that the data is verified side by side with a CRCMd5 tool. As explained earlier, this establishes the authenticity of the data. The matching values are a confirmation that the data had not been altered or compromised. The MD5 digest and CRC checksum are values produced by an algorithm that gives a unique output signature of your data. Therefore all data under forensic examination should undergo CRCMd5 verification.

In summary, Computer Forensics can be defined as a science of gathering evidence from an electronic crime scene while assuring its authenticity. In a Computer forensics investigation timing can be crucial. Proper planing and preparation should take place before the investigation is underway. The computer forensics process encompasses 3 basic steps, acquire the digital evidence from the crime scene, authenticate the evidence and analyzing the data without modifying it.

One should concentrate examining the most volatile memory to the least. The forensics investigator should authenticate all the data using a unique signature based tool such as CRCMd5. I have discussed what programs and utilities are available to construct a Computer Forensics toolkit. Last but not least, a proper chain of custody document should be maintained at all times. I have enjoyed learning about the tools available and the techniques used in a computer forensics investigation.

Bibliography

Daniel A. Morris "Tracking a Computer Hacker" May 2001

URL: http://www.cybercrime.gov/usamay2001_2.htm

"Computers at Risk" National Research Council 1991

Anton Chuvakin, and Cyrus Peikari. Security Warrior O'Reilly, January 2004

Warren G. Krusell, and Jay G. Hieser Insident Response Essentials Addison Wesley, Lucent Technologies, 2002

Brian Carrier. File System Forensic Analysis Addison Wesley Professional, March 2005

Ajay Gupta, and Scott Laliberte. Defend I.T.: Security by Example Addison Wesley. May 2004

Julie Lucas, and Brian Moeller. The Effective Inccident Response Team Addison Wesley Sept. 2003

T.J. Klevensky, Scott Laliberte, and Ajay Gupta. Hack I.T.: Security Through Penetration Testing Addison Wesley. Feb. 20

Kirk Hausman, Diane Barrett, and Martin Weiss. Security+ Exam Cram 2 (Exam SYO-101) Que. April 2003

Brad Crusey. "How to Respond to Attacks." Certification Magazine June 2005

2005-06-10T20:39:00.000-04:00

Last login: Fri Jun 10 19:13:15 on tty??
Welcome to Darwin!
quicksilver:~ dan$ MYSQL
ERROR 2002: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2)

I hate that message. I am trying to get it work on OS X Panther and so far no luck.

Test Entry

2005-03-21T07:13:00.000-05:00

2005-03-07T09:07:00.000-05:00

Well things have now changed, and perhaps for the better. At this moment in time I am now typing this entry on TextEdit the MAC OS X simple text editor. Yes, I just purchased a new 12 inch Power Book G4 and I like it. The mac world is rather simplistic and artistic. But it's a simple world.

I like this purchase!

2004-11-03T18:57:00.000-05:00

Is it me or AOL always lays somone off. Then why work for AOL in the first place? This is another thing to make you go hmm....

AOL layoffs due next month | CNET News.com

2004-11-03T18:51:00.000-05:00

Everyone Gets Offended thease days:
Hormel the makers of SPAM (the meat product) is trying to to dissasociate themselves with the term "SPAM" wich is used to describe unwanted email from advertisers. In other words, they launced a buy back campain. The word SPAM has gotten a bad rep. Who could blame them. It's Hormels trade name brand.

Spam: 'It's a meat,' Hormel insists | CNET News.com

2004-10-29T19:46:00.000-04:00

Journal of DannyLinux (826517)

I made a new slashdot account. Slashdot can be cool when it needs to. In addition I tied it to a bloglines email account, another cool site with cool features.

2004-09-26T02:16:00.000-04:00

Furby Autopsy

I find this subject to be very funny. This person has too much time on his or her hand.

2004-09-16T18:39:00.000-04:00

This is a clever way of picking / opening those Kryptonite U-Locks for the bikes. Just when you though that expensive lock was secure think again. This is a bad thing once it falls into the wrong hand's like a petty theif.

Like phrase I learned years ago - Hackers Rule: Anything can be hacked it's only a matter of time.

Your brand new U-Lock is not safe!

2004-08-16T17:03:00.000-04:00

Get Creative

This is an interesting licencing concept. This is what makes the internet so great. This should go well with the open source community.

2004-07-06T11:57:00.000-04:00

This is a test blog that I am entering/tapping on my Palm Tungsten E. It's neat that I can do this on my palm PDA. However, it feels combersome without a keayboard

2004-06-28T04:04:00.000-04:00

Coca-Cola C2Coke C2

I had my first taste of Coca-Colas Coke C2, not bad at all. I noticed the taste was very simmliar to Coke classic. With a light hint of a new taste, wich is very undetectable. Kinda like an ever so slightly watered down Coke thats been sitting in ice for a few minutes.

Better than Diet coke, that stuff is nasty. For coke-a-holics needing less sugar and calories i recomend it. Less sugar, does that mean it's good for kids?

2004-05-12T09:28:00.000-04:00

Cicada - Everyone seems to be going "gaga" over them. I myself on the other hand am not. I first encountered these critters or a different species of cicadas when I was at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn in 1994. Those insects are ugly indeed. In addition, one of those ugly critter's got on my uniform. Then I encountered them in South Korea in Camp Colbern. When they get indoors they make so much noise.

2004-05-12T09:22:00.000-04:00

In D.C. Area, It's the Day Of the Cicada (washingtonpost.com): "As it was then, so it will be in 2004: The females will begin to deposit their eggs -- each female cicada carries an estimated 400 to 600 -- after scratching incisions into pencil-thin tree branches. (This activity sometimes results in damage to young trees, and gardeners may want to protect trees by wrapping them in fine netting.) "

2004-05-12T09:21:00.001-04:00

In D.C. Area, It's the Day Of the Cicada (washingtonpost.com): "'Predatory Satiation'

Some insects are endowed with elaborate defense mechanisms -- such as moths, whose bodies course with toxins -- that ensure they are left pretty well alone. Not periodical cicadas. There are simply too many of them to be wiped out by predators. Their sheer volume is a survival tactic scientists call 'predatory satiation.' "

2004-05-12T09:21:00.000-04:00

In D.C. Area, It's the Day Of the Cicada (washingtonpost.com): "Prepare to welcome Brood X (that's 10), as a federal bureaucrat named this batch of 17-year cicadas. Periodical cicadas last appeared in the Washington area in 1996, when Brood II came topside. That emergence, while sparser overall, affected Virginia more heavily than will X, which will largely sidestep the Old Dominion. "

2004-04-09T05:14:00.000-04:00

Friday, April 09, 2004

Personal Contract With Myself

On my honor I will do everything in my power to better myself. I will take steps to make improvements on how I will manage my time. I will be honest with myself and make feasible gradual goals and meet them. However I will take every measure to make sure that my gradual steps of improvement can be made and yet challenge me as well. I will strive to be a man of my word when it comes to commitments both personal and business.

I need to be honest with myself and acknowledge that I am at war with my old bad habits. I will be more diligent in monitoring my time. I will be punctual. I will be reliable. I will live in a neat and comfortable living environment.

My time is precious. My calendar will reflect that.
My calendar will reflect on what I value most.

On this day Friday, April 9th, the year 2004, this document will hereby become my personal policy, my directive. By signing this directive I will treat this document as the law.

X ___________________

This directive can be added to but not taken away. If for any reason this document will be amended, there has to be a justifiable reason listed in writing. (One that will enhance, but not diminish, the principal intent of the personal directive.)

2002-12-25T03:13:00.000-05:00

Well it's Christmas and I am here at work at the Network Operations center taking a break. One thing I don't know any more is how to handle people. I mean I have been trained on how to deal with people all through my life. But its like after my experience in the Army, I get aggressive. As soon as I detect someone trying to get over, I get on the defensive. I am one of the most kind hearted on earth. However if you try to take advantage of my kindness, heaven help you. I use to like the way I was self-controlled. Now, I am afraid, I can't control my anger.

I admit I am blessed with a good paying job, but I don't know how much more of life at the NOC I can handle. I envy those with their Monday through Friday 9 to 5 jobs. Not needed to work on holidays. Some times working the graveyard shift makes you feel like a social out cast. You need to interact with others. I admit my commute is only 20 minutes, compared to the day shift workers who average 2 hours.

I don't feel comfortable in this job. The company is good and stable. I don’t feel I fit in. If push came to shove my manager will get rid of me. I don't stand in the top of my class or excel my peers. Hmm… now that’s some thing to think about.

2002-12-10T19:10:00.000-05:00

This is a W.BLOGER test

3:10 PM

Well I have deviated from making entires this journal. I think its essential to tap in my thoughts. But I have so many tools to choose from.

I have several B logs:

http://dangomez.blogger.com
http://dangomez.pitas.com

The open source alternative
http://www.ujournal.org/users/dangomez/

2002-12-08T03:46:00.000-05:00

I noticed that the W3C has some interesting tutorial and technical information in regards to learning HTML. Http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/
In addition to technical information you can still sift through the site and get begginer information. Also www.w3schools.com offer some free CBT type courses.

2002-11-17T02:21:00.000-05:00

I have the fear that I will not become a writer. Not only that, I fear, that I will be unknown. An idea came into my head. "Why not publish my book on Blogger?" But if I do, what if I publish it and then, someone mimics the idea? What can be done?

2002-11-17T02:10:00.000-05:00

I guess I struggle with myself a lot lately. Its as if I was in this mode to have hopes and dreams and then, with a hard dose of reality. I struggle with what have I accomplished so far. Where is my masterpiece? Where is my success? Where will I leave my mark? Do I have something to contribute as a writer? I am a Telecommunications technician, by trade. But I am a dreamer at heart.

2002-11-15T14:04:00.000-05:00

I am so mad I ran across a Bloger newletter site and I lost the URL. :-(
I don remember, what the heck it was.

2002-11-11T05:58:00.000-05:00

I came across an ariticle on blogs in CNN. Interesting.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/05/09/blog/

I also signed up for pitas www.pitas.com

2002-11-11T04:27:00.000-05:00

I hope that one day someday I would invent something. I want to do some thing where I will leave my mark in society. Something that is acceptable and not illegal. To be an innovator, like the inventors of old.

I would like to go hiking one day. I went to the brigade quarter master web site and I was able to look at some interesting items. I would like to have one of those Spec Ops / RTO back packs. However they are expensive.

Things that would be great to have.
Canteen, canteen cover
Pistol belt
Sleeping bag
stove
hiking boots
first aid kit

2002-11-11T03:45:00.000-05:00

I went to the Drupal websit. I am puzzeld as to the usefulness of that site. www.drupal.com

2002-11-09T15:40:00.000-05:00

SHIFT TURN OVER
Daniel Gomez

MIDSHIFT
Shift Hours: 02:45 to 10:45 GMT
Shift Manager: Author Capers
Shift Lead Technician: Doug Fletcher
Element assigned: 5ESS and DACS

At approximately 03:11 GMT I arrived at the NNOC.

03:11 GMT I received the 5ESS and DACS shift turn over. I was informed of the current network alert in SCAL-A

NETWORK ALERT/UPDATE/SCAL-A/GTS: AS OF 1950 GMT IT IS DETERMINED THAT POWER CARDS FOR MCTSI 0 ON SM 12 WILL HAVE TO BE REPLACED TONIGHT DURING THE MAINTENANCE WINDOW. CHANGE CONTROL TICKET # 40004 WAS OPENED FOR THIS ISSUE. NEXT UPDATE WILL BE CHANGE OF STATUS DURING THE MAINTENANCE WINDOW. THERE IS NO CUSTOMER IMPACT DUE TO REDUNDANCY. CLARIFY TICKET # 558725. INCIDENT DURATION: 1 HOUR. JLM/NNOC

06:34 GMT John Talyor of the NTS support group informed me that “they still have not fixed it yey…” “The technician is in route to Mira Loma to pick up a circuit card.”

09:18 GMT I began health checks for CHIC-A

09:19 GMT Health checks completed for CHIC-B, SYSTEM NORMAL.

09:32 GMT I completed health checks for CHIC-B. I had to research an alarm on SM 2. There is currently a clarify case out on SM 2, 479143.

09:34 GMT Began health checks for DETR-A.

09:36 GMT Completed health checks for DETR-A.

09:36 GMT Began health checks for FLOR-A.

09:38 GMT Completed health checks for FLOR-A.

09:40 GMT Began Health checks for SCAL-A.

09:41 GMT Completed health checks for SCAL-B.

09:43 GMT Completed health checks for SCAL-B.

10:45 I gave Hanni the shift turn overs.

2002-11-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

This is a test...

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog, and then had a beer . :-)