Last week, we started making the web interaction class and did the self-signed compatibility functions as well as some setup ones. You can see all that here. Today we get into the meat and potatoes and get started on the functions that will actually send and receive the data we care about. So here we go!
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Category Archives: tutorials
PowerShell tutorial pt.1
Windows PowerShell is command-line scripting environment which uses the Microsoft .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) and the .NET Framework. But unless you have Windows Server 2008 it doesn’t ship with Windows by default. You can however download it at www.microsoft.com/powershell. You will also need the .NET framework 2.0 if you don’t already have that installed.
Windows .NET in C# Major – Web Interaction With Self Signed SSL Certs. Part 1
I am going to shift gears a bit, actually change cars entirely, and do a windows programming tutorial in Microsoft’s .NET environment using C#. Why? Because the world runs windows and in the World of Windows, the fastest method of development is through the .NET framework and the best language on that framework is, without a doubt, C#. I know. I took a poll. Stats never lie.
In this tutorial we are going to create a class to handle website interactions, giving us a simple way to post or get information from a web server, with or without an SSL cert and even a self signed one. Usually self signed certs present a problem since the cryptographic side tries to validate the authenticity of the cert, presenting problems. We will get around that.
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Windows encryption.
Whether you travel with a laptop for business, or simply want to protect your data from prying eyes or hackers, encryption is quickly becoming a must for sensitive data. Fortunately Windows XP and Vista both offer encryption for files and directories.
1. First identify the folder you wish to encrypt.
2. Right click on that folder and then choose properties.
3. To the right of “Read-only” you should see a button labeled “Advanced…”. Click this button.
4. The fourth option down on this page should read “Encrypt contents to secure data”. Click the square white box next to this option to check mark it.
5. Click OK
6. Click Apply
7. Click OK to close after it has finished encrypting that folder.
Now if you need more protection then this, then you should consider one of the many full drive encryption softwares available. My personal favorite is CompuSec which also has a linux build!
Perl on Linux – Making a Daemon
One if the nice advantages to linux is the ability to create daemons relatively quickly and get them to do your brute and routine work for you. For this example, I am going to use perl to create the daemon, since perl is the glue that holds the bricks of linux together. Its regex functionality combined with fast and easy syntax makes it almost too easy to use for quick and dirty programming in the text based realm of linux. So without further adieu, the daemon:
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Debugging On Linux – Strace & Cpanel
Last week, I went over the basics of strace and some very simple examples of it’s use. So this week I thought I would demonstrate a very useful use of strace in problematically duplicating the functions of cpanel’s WHM web interface. This will allow you to do anything WHM does through the browser via the command line or in a daemon.
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Secure Windows for free.
Here are 3 free programs that you can download from www.download.com that will go a long way to protecting your data and your computer.
Grisoft AVG free edition – This antivirus program has been around for a number of years now. Its fast and is kind to your system resources allowing you to surf the net or play solitare while it’s running in the background.
Spybot S&D – I can not say enough good things about this lightweight anti malware tool. Originally designed to kill spyware, it has expanded to also hunting trojans and rootkits. The advanced feature also provide tools for cleaning the registry, configuring your start-up programs, and securing your hosts file. The only bad thing I can say about it is that it does not scan automatically.
Comodo Pro firewall – This firewall quickly became my favorite replacement for windows firewall on both XP and Vista machines. It has a pretty intuative interface that allows you to very specifically control what network traffic travels to and from your machine. It also has a nice leaning mode that protects your system while it learns what you use and what programs need to be able to talk to locations on the internet.
These three aplications should block most malware on the internet. Of course there is no substitute for a little caution on your part, so be careful where you visit.
Debugging On Linux – Strace
A few years ago, I was taking a few classes from a very up and coming computer science university and during the course of one projects class came to discuss with the instructor the differences between the average students and those excelling. We determined the main differences to be, three in number:
- Time and dedication
- The ability to tinker and figure things out on one’s own
- The art of debugging.
The art of debugging is really quite simple, it is mostly knowing the tools available and how to use them. On the linux platform, surely one of the most powerful and certainly most thorough debugging tool one can use is strace.
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