| Tools/Utils | Tips |
| Humor | Misc |
Security Tools
  • Spyware/adware removal: Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D
  • Spyware prevention: SpywareBlaster, SpywareGuard, IE-SpyAd
  • Jason's Toolbox: Browser security, OpenPorts
  • SwatIt - remove trojans and bots
  • AVG Antivirus free edition from GRISoft
  • Symantec's, TrendMicro's online scans
  • Reticulated Toys - startup and security tools
  • Hijack This tutorial
  • eicar - a benign "virus" to test antivirus software
  • Symantec's Trace a Potential Attack
  • MS Baseline Security Analyzer for Win2k/XP only - has come under question though
  • Secure webserver test: IDServe - read info
  • Firewall test: LeakTest - read info
  • Security tools and articles at GRC.com
  • Port scanner tool: SuperScan
  • Foundstone's free tools
    Internet Tools
  • What's my WAN IP address?
  • Mail relay testing - see if your mail server is relaying spam
  • Win32 sFTP client
  • Win32 SSH client PuTTy
  • Tracreoute.org for BGP info. "Looking Glass" and BGP Route Servers to get detailed info about traces - take the Autonomous System (AS) number and look it up on the ARIN site to find the AS provider.
  • Internet Traffic Report site 3D Traceroute
  • "what's that site running?"
  • MX Record lookup
  • DNStools and other DNSStuff
  • Ports lists: portsdb.org, the IANA's list, Hackerwhacker's
  • Root/gTLD DNS performance plots
  • ad hoc IP tools
  • Some root DNS servers: 4.2.2.2 to 4.2.2.9
  • AnalogX NetStat Live - verify IP address, throughput speed, etc.
  • tcpview (graphical netstat command)
  • tdimon (TCP and UDP activity in real time on the system that is being scanned)
  • Download Accelerator Plus
  • Broadband tweaking: Speedguide.net and Navas Cable Modem/DSL Tuning Guide
  • Dial-up speed tweaking: PurePerformance's packet size tweak or TweakDUN
  • TCP/IP stuff from TSTC's CNS TCP/IP class
    Windows Tools
  • Windows XP Home services
  • Windows startup processes
  • Microsoft's scripts page
  • BootVis.exe - troubleshoot slow boot speeds in WinXP
  • msconfig.exe - for Windows 2000 since it came without (put into c:\winnt\system32 folder)
  • File extensions list
  • Windows memory diagnostic
  • Belarc Advisor for PC inventory
  • Systemcoder's Integrity Checker for system files
  • KeyLaunch helps quickly find documents - other stuff there at xFX Jumpstart
  • Windows tweaking: Tweak3d or X-setup
    Misc Tools
  • Kiwi Syslog - forward network syslog alerts to Windows workstations
  • Arpwatch monitors Ethernet activity and keeps a database of Ethernet/IP address pairings. For 'NIX machines.
  • MAC address vendor database
  • FFmpeg - for recording, converting, and streaming audio and video files on Windows or Linux
  • Weblog management tools
  • Slick 3D Finder for Mac OS X
  • Opt Out of pop-up ads - gets some anyway
  • SimpleServer:WWW - simple webserver
  • Spam Punisher - read info

    Tips - back to top

  • Firewall and Proxy Server How-To
  • Firewall recommended practices
  • Cisco's Internetworking Handbook
  • Rebuild the TCP/IP stack in WinXP by opening a command prompt and typing netsh int ip reset filename where the filename is a new log file you created that will detail which Registry keys were modified.
  • Transparent Screen Lock provides unauthorized input by password protection for WinNT/2K/XP but still allows you to see what's on the screen.
  • Use an SSH go-between to connect two firewalled Macs
  • Windows 98 Professional Reference
  • Email error codes
  • Hacking TiVo - includes installing a NIC in the TiVo box and telnetting to it!
  • "Simulating an Airport Software Base Station"
  • "How to Set up Restricted SMTP Relay for Apple Mail Server"
  • Evidently there's a DNS quirk in Win2k and XP. IE caches even failed http requests, so when the request is re-sent and should normally come back successful, it still shows as failed! And clicking "Refresh" does not work! There are ways to clear this up, of course. You can reboot (clears all cached items), type the command "ipconfig /flushdns", turn off the DNS Client service altogether (not recommended), or hack the Registry. A script that does this is on The Screensavers' site. (Scroll about two-thirds of the way down.)
  • Search for news articles on Google.com at news.google.com
  • Download sections of websites to browse offline later thru shareware at tucows.com and Webwhacker - WinXP might have this built in
  • Change Windows settings sans reboot
  • Apache Web serving with Mac OS X, More
  • Set up free dynamic DNS service with Zone Edit
  • Good security sites with tools: Foundstone, Sysinternals.com, and SamSpade.com
  • While searching the Web for something using www.Google.com and you want a specific file type only, type in the search box "filetype:", the file's extension, a space, then the thing you're looking for. For example, to look for history-related things only in Adobe Acrobat's PDF format, type (without quotation marks) "filetype:pdf history". Other file extension examples would be "mp3", "exe", and "doc".
  • Hardwarehell.com has a section for computer help on all subjects
  • HTML colors
  • 'Computer Experts'
  • Make your own webpage!
  • Computer parts: Pricewatch.com or Cyberguys.com
  • A small computer and Internet terms glossary I put together

    Humor - back to top

  • "Not every IT guru is a whiz at using word processing software." -- This needs to be drilled into the heads of users.
  • One of the funniest things you will ever see in the computer field!
  • HomeStarRunner: The system is down
  • eWeek magazine's wrap-up of their OpenHack lab in their December 2, 2002 issue also said that Waco was one of the largest attack points with over 4500 separate attacks!
  • Frustrated By Microsoft, Companies Shocked To Learn Alternatives Exist. - dated 08.08.02
  • Bill Gates' memo on Trustworthy Computing (supposedly)
  • Austin, TX-based company lays claim to JPEG format - dated 07.23.02
  • Hacking competition gets totally screwed up - dated 06.03.02
  • Tech Support humor site
  • Interviewed some folk for our intern position last week. I asked most everyone (forgot sometimes) a last question: Someone says they can't connect and I'm not there, so what do you try to fix the problem? I tell them first about the network setup and who our ISP is. This one dude says, "Make sure all the settings are right," and I say, "Ok, what settings exactly?" He sits there and then basically repeats himself but in different words. I give up on getting him to elaborate and ask, "Say the computer's settings are right, then what?" He sits there a minute and says, "Call (the ISP) and ask what the problem is." Wow, quite a jump.
  • Blue Screen of Death page
  • Bill Gates getting hit by a pie in Brussels a few years ago
  • Geek Prom in Duluth, MN in Spring 2002
  • Geek Quiz
  • Microsoft and Unisys started an anti-Unix campaign complete with its own website (ironically initially powered by FreeBSD Unix and Apache), but all of a sudden, the site was dark. It was later back up running on Win2000 and IIS. The Unix community's response: "We Have the Way In"
  • Top five signs that you operate in "Internet Time"
  • IT Ninja game
  • "Top Five Things You Can Do on a PC, But Not on a Mac"
  • errorwear.com - a few computer t-shirts
  • Homer started an Internet company called Compuglobalhypermeganet (never specifying what exactly it did) and Comic Book Guy approached him about a faster connection. He said, "I'm interested in upgrading my 28.8 kilobaud Internet connection to a 1.5 megabit fiber optic T1 line. Will you be able to provide an IP router that's compatible with my Token Ring Ethernet LAN configuration?" Homer stares blankly, then says, "Can I have some money now?" Of course, "kilobaud" isn't quite right and there's no such thing as "Token Ring Ethernet", but it's still cool they take the time! Also, Homer advertises himself as the "Internet King". A few years back, a guy in Arizona called himself the "Spam King" and was profiled in Wired magazine. Not coincidentally, Homer's reading a Wired magazine issue during the episode.
  • Did you know that holding a floppy disk upside-down could make data literally fall off the disk, forever losing it? Click here for more info!
  • Download the whole Internet!!
  • My first HTML-constructed table and image map

    Misc - back to top

  • MIT course material: Data Communications and Networks, Computer Networks, Network and Computer Security
  • A local Linux users group
  • Baylor students repeatedly attempted to hack school servers - dated 03.18.03
  • WLANs could soon be everywhere - dated 03.18.03
  • Yet another hypothetical security scenario - this one's about wireless security.
  • "Forty-two percent of the new PCs shipped in 2006 will not have a legacy floppy drive." - dated 03.06.03
  • Microsoft's idea for 'brain backup' - dated 03.03.03
  • Another hypotethical security story about a hacked Web server
  • The insides of a Dell laptop!
  • "Protecting yourself from the worms of the future" - dated 07.17.02
  • Hypothetical security scenario about a hacked FTP server
  • "Is Wi-Fi ready to roam?" - dated 09.11.02
  • Apple Keeps x86 Torch Lit with 'Marklar' - dated 08.30.02
  • The Grid replacing the Internet? - dated 07.22.02
  • Article explaining Microsoft's Palladium - dated 07.02.02
  • A little info on Microsoft's new OS code-named Longhorn due in 2006
  • Cool maps of the Internet
  • "Training the cyberwar troops" - the government is conducting hands-on security training - dated 04.26.02
  • Suggestion that Microsoft scrap Windows altogether and start over and a response - dated April 2002
  • Making the Macintosh
  • "Inktomi to stop viruses at Web pages" dated 04.11.02
  • "Why Web services will kill HTTP--eventually" dated 04.12.02
  • Wireless technology: installation, practical guide, war driving, 802.1X = authentication, sniffer tool story, in schools
  • What Maya for the Mac can do for video editing - in the "Animator's Best Friend" box, click "large" under either image
  • Bell Labs broke the data speed record with 2.56 Tbps over 2500 miles - dated 04.01.02
  • "All-in-one firewall/DSL modem planned" - dated 03.20.02
  • "Think DSL's fast? Watch VDSL" Fifty Mbps downloads... - dated 03.11.02
  • "Do we really need an IP upgrade?" (to IPv6 from 30-year-old IPv4) - dated 03.08.02
  • Tim Berners-Lee's 1989 proposal for the Web
  • 1960s Univac mainframe computer
  • Report that Microsoft's Security Toolkit actually creates holes!! - dated 02.14.02
  • CERT warns of SNMP vulnerability that affects most network devices. - dated 02.12.02
  • A British company sues to prove it invented hyperlinks - dated 12.18.00
  • A PC guy tried a Mac for a month and it "nearly made (him) switch careers." - dated 01.25.02
  • Read about the Megahertz Myth. A higher-MHz computer doesn't necessarily mean faster performance.
  • My essay on Firewalls and Proxy Servers for school