James'Techblog

Firefox 63 marks a big turning point for Firefox, not only will it see a new Content blocking feature implemented which will automatically allow users to block all kinds of tracking scripts and cookies(even slow ones) which will improve performance as well as security, but they are also working on a potential option to help secure users’ DNS traffic within the browser as well. This will use DoH or DNS over Https which will encrypt DNS data. The feature is in Nightly versions now and is not enabled by default, but users who wish to try it out can do so. Also, as with Google Chrome Canary, the browser is also trying to eliminate its future use of Symantec certificates. In the past, malicious apps and sites have used signed certificates from trusted websites such as Verisign and even Symantec. The Symantec certs will no longer be valid in Firefox and Chrome after the nightly/Canary versions become stable. Meanwhile, the browser is also undergoing minor UI and backend change...

A week ago, it was revealed that Ubuntu and its derivatives would be releasing patches to the Linux kernel to try and prevent a critical flaw with the L1TF or a flaw directly affecting memory cache found in L1 of an intel cpu core which was exposed to malicious code running in the background which would steal personal information and reveal it to attackers. This was patched previously, however, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu didn’t actually fix everything. There was an apology released by Canonical for in fact mucking some things up with their previous patch. It was revealed that there would be another patch to the kernel which came through about a week or so ago, however, this didn’t fix everything either. Intel Microcode is CPU instruction code which is updated by the CPU vendor to add security patches and new instructions to the CPU. Intel aren’t as forthcoming as some might like for them to be about their company’s updates to their CPU firmware. Intel has in th...

Debian, the operating system that really started it all, is now turning 25. To kick off this feat, many are celebrating by explaining things about the history of the project, such as this article from Itsfoss: here. Debian is one of the oldest operating systems that is still being developed. It is the forefather of many offshoots such as Ubuntu which is closely tied to its stable branch with emphasis on security updates and newer software packages. Ubuntu takes a modest, yet modern approach with comparison to Debian’s more cautious approach with chooses stability over anything else. It is also a grandparent to Linux Mint, the second most popular distribution in the Linux world for modern desktops and laptops. Linux Mint again allows users a choice, but prefers stability and usability over anything else, however, it does add features that are not in neither in Ubuntu or Debian. Debian was around before the advent of AOL and the internet, with that age, it has progressed...

In the spirit of the bash scripting tutorials I am working on, this is one tool that can be quite useful when automating certain tasks. Systemd utilizes files in detail describing each unit. These unit files give the name and path of the unit to be ran and act more like .desktop files in way of their format. Systemd can not run a unit without a file such as this. Systemd timers follow the system clock to perform an action. To list timers on a system, running the command systemctl list-timers (--all) will respectively display each timer active on a system with the all flag showing inactive ones too. To create your own timers/services you can use the following format: [UNIT] Description=”Aptly names or describes what the unit/script will do” CONFLICTS=”Makes sure the timer stops when the service starts” [SERVICE] Type=”Simple usually works for a service unless you just want it to run once then oneshot works” ExecStart= path to file or service to be ran ...

While loops or Do While loops are loops that, based on a condition, will loop through a list of data. While loops are good for listing several names at once or continually running an application through a loop to gather complete user input and data in order to store that information in variables for later use. While loops are common in Bash, Python and all kinds of programming languages, and unlike Until loops, they can run indefinitely. While loops are discernible from For loops in how they operate, however, sometimes scenarios can be skewed where both might seem to fill a need. It can often be confusing at times for beginners to programming. However, While loops are more flexible and can handle boolean values really well. A couple of examples of while loops are as follows: while TRUE do command FALSE done n=0 while [ $n -lt 7 ]; do command n=$n+1 sleep 1 done while [ $? -eq 0 ]; do command1 command2 command3 break done As you can...

Apparently, the newer Linux kernel is now including an NSA encryption tool. The find was recently covered by itsfoss and others. Needless to say, if you’re a Linux user, you’re probably not alone to be unhappy with this move. Someone from Google reworked the code for the tool and placed it inside the Kernel. No one knows for sure if this will last, no one knows if this was intended by Linus Torvalds, but so far, he has yet to comment one way or the other. The module isn’t enabled by default in Ubuntu, however, it does appear to be enabled in Arch-based systems (This is kind of strange as Arch users are the ones making the biggest protest). The reason this is considered such a big deal is not that it has anything to do with opening a door for NSA people to spy on Linux users, this is a big deal because it is the idea of taking untrusted third-party code from someone outside the Linux community and placing it into the Linux kernel, an open source piece of software, without ask...

I generally steer clear of this platform as a rule. I neither use, nor cover news about Microsoft heavy topics these days. I am mostly a Linux person, however, when dealing with technology, it’s hard to miss such a big elephant in the room. From phones, to tablets, to desktop pc’s, Microsoft has a big hand in deep pockets. Last year, Germany’s leading officials had planned, with very little foresight, to launch a campaign in which they would all scrap Microsoft Windows for Linux and other open source software. This did not go so well as the local tech experts had trouble understanding and or maintenancing Linux machines. Due to a lack of research, appropriate tech personnel, use of aging hardware and a number of other incorporating factors, Germany decided to ditch Linux to revert back to Windows, but in doing so, they costed taxpayers Millions and opted for newer and better machines in the process. It boggles the mind how many people still rely on this dated and increasingl...