Wiping your Hard Drive

It has been quite a while since I have posted on my blog.  I guess I just let my work take over my life!  I've been working on a cloud computing project that, when finished, will be offered to the world.  We are in a trial phase right now, but when done, will provide both Linux and Windows servers for people to do whatever they would like with them.

I have had several computers during my lifetime.  I can remember a Commodore Pet computer that stored data on a cassette tape!

I thought I was BMOC when I purchased a Commodore 64 with a 1541 disk drive.  Man how things have changed!  I was first in line when Compaq introduced a business-aimed computer with 64MB of RAM and a whopping huge 500MB hard drive (don't ask me what I paid for this).

I have owned several computers since the Compaq, which I recently donated to charity.  Currently I have a Dell laptop and a clone desktop machine at home.  The Dell is a screamer!  I use it all the time.

My Dell laptop has 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive.  We've come a long way baby!

Over time, when I would sell or donate an older computer to charity, I would keep the hard drive.  I, having quite a thorough security background, know that it is quite difficult to erase all the information that you store on your computer's hard drive.  Performing a simple format on the hard drive will make it so that the operating system (Windows in most cases) will not see any data on the drive, but the data is still there.

If you are using Windows, Windows will mark certain parts of the directory structure to indicate that the files are no longer there, but it does not erase the files.  Data recovery programs get their claim to fame by restoring the changes to the directory structure and presto!  All of your files are back.  There have been a few cases where I have deleted a file by mistake, or the one time I deleted a directory structure by mistake.  I am happy that there are free utilities that will easily restore this data to my very happy viewing!

So, if you are selling or giving away an older computer, how can you insure that the data on your hard drive is really gone.  Some people tell me the only true way to insure that the data is gone is to destroy the hard drive -- maybe they are right.

So the above picture would probably work.  However, besides destroying the hard drive, the laptop would be a complete loss too!

I had an unfortunate situation a little while ago when my older laptop developed a short in the power cord.  I didn't realize what was happening until my laptop rebooted one day.  I found the short and fixed the power cable, but then my laptop would not boot.  Come to find out that the shorting cased power fluctuations in my laptop that destroyed its motherboard, hard drive, etc.  It had become a brick!  So I still have that computer's hard drive.  I know the data is still on it, but the controlling circuitry is fried!

What can be done to get all of your precious data off of you old computer's hard drive?  There are two things that need to happen:

1. Need to boot the computer with an operating system other than the one on your hard drive.
2. Need to run a utility to delete the data from the hard drive.

There is a cool utility called Darik's Boot and Nuke.  This utility will do the above and do it nicely.  You can download it as an ISO file which can be opened up by any good CD burning program like Roxio.  When you burn the ISO file to a CD, it will create a bootable CD.  When you place this in the CD drive of your old computer and turn it on, the CD should boot a small operating system and allow you to select from a few different data destroying programs.  If the CD doesn't boot you will have to push F12 or whatever key your computer uses to access the BIOS, and then disable all devices from booting except the CD drive.

Once you boot the CD, it will display several options, the first of which is an algorithm used by the Department of Defense.  This program will write numeric patterns (like 0's) over the whole surface of the hard drive.  Depending on the size of your hard drive, this process could take 2-3 hours.  The program will make a minimum of  three passes over the hard drive.

At the completion of running the program, your hard drive should be in a state where you can safely sell or donate it to another party and rest assured that nobody will be able to get at your data. 

One last note, Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is not the only product out there that will securely remove data from a hard drive.  There are commercial and open source, but I talk about this one since it is free and it creates a bootable CD automatically.

Hope you have a great holiday season!

Til next time, and I hope that it is sooner than the last time,
Bill

I Can't Eat The Tomatos That I Grow?!?

My company is global so we have major offices in Denver, Florida, Japan, and South Africa just to name a few.  I spend a lot time on the phone in meetings with these various company locations.  I have to say that this diversity has provided me with the opportunity to learn how different cultures operate and how to work efficiently with my fellow employees in this cultures.  I like my job.  There are great people in my company.  Some are funny.  They make work fun.

So I was doing some research on hypervisors for a cloud system (if I wrote this blog about that subject matter, I bet none of you would read it) when I came across a news item about a Judge in Wisconsin.  Hmmm Wisconsin.  I took a cross-country trip with a good friend a few years back to see an Elton John concert.  I remember stopping to have my picture taken by one huge cow!

By the way, the Elton John concert was great!  I was able to get an autograph on my original vinyl double album of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road!

In fact, I have a framed picture my friend took of the concert in my Den along with the signed album, framed.  But I am getting off subject here.  Yes Elton is great, but back to the Wisconsin Judge.

So this Judge, made a very bizarre ruling, that is, that American citizens do not have a "fundamental right to produce or consume foods of their choice."  Wow!  I don't have the right to go to the store and buy the food that I like and then eat it? 

This case involved people who owned cows and sought to board them at a farm.  The following was noted in the case, "Although the commercial relationship between the owner of the cow and owner of the land gives cause for the state to intervene, Fiedler (the Judge) took his ruling into a more personal and troubling direction."

Apparently the plaintiffs in the case argued that their right to privacy allowed them to decline medical treatment, allow abortion, view pornography, and engage in consensual sex should translate into their right to consume food of his or her own choice.

Judge Fiedler remained unconvinced claiming that the constitutionality of food rights is wholly without merit.  He also added that bringing Roe vs Wade into the picture does not explain why a woman's right to have an abortion  translates to a right to consume unpasteurized milk.

The judge went on to clarify his ruling further:

• "no. Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to own and use a diary cow or a dairy herd;
• "no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;
• "no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to board their cow at the farm of a farmer;
• "no, the Plaintiffs' private contract does not fall outside the scope of the State's police power;
• "no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the foods of their choice."

A quote from the website Foolocracy goes as follows: "A person growing a tomato plant in his or her home and choosing to eat that tomato would seem to have that right as clearly as a person choosing a partner for sex in a private home."

Prison Planet has the following to say about this, "You have to wonder if maybe even the regulators are getting a tad uncomfortable with the rulings coming from the nation’s judiciary on food rights. Many of these individuals, biased as they are against raw milk, dabble in farming to some extent, or grew up on farms. This judge has gone way beyond what many of them have come to assume — that everyone has the right to own a cow and consume its milk. Even in places that ban raw milk sales, there’s nearly always a provision in state law that anyone who owns a cow has the right to consume its milk."

So are we to assume that the Judge believes that food consumption is one of those rights that are not God-given but rather granted by the state?  Granted, every year the government gets more involved in the production and distribution of food.  A lot of this, in my humble opinion, is needed for our safety.

Now we have Judge Fiedler's ruling which opens the door for the need for "police" to enforce restrictions on the personal use and growing of vegetables.  (Now I know why I didn't plant a personal vegetable garden this year, it wasn't because of the short growing season...)

I believe there is a place for government in our lives, but too much or too big government causes more pain than benefit.  When what the government is doing infringes on our guarantees as outlined in the constitution, then the line has been stepped over and something needs to be done.  With the Presidential and other  elections coming up, make wise choices so that we will have a solid government that will make wise choices.

And btw, if you get a chance to see Elton in concert, you'll love it!


Till next time,
Bill
P.S. The link to the article I read is here.

When Your Daughter Thinks You Are Dumber Than A .... pile of rotten peaches?

I've been thinking a lot lately -- lots of thinking, about how to deal with my daughter that thinks that I am dumber than a pile of rotten peaches.  Why do I say a pile of rotten peaches?  Mostly because we have a small orchard and just finished picking all of our peaches.  We have them in our basement in several boxes.  Since we have lot of them, some start to rot before we can use them.  I do damage control periodically and take the rotten peaches out back to a compost pile.  Hence the rotten peaches.

My daughter lives by her mobile phone, as I am sure all of your daughters do.  She texts day and night.  She occasionally makes a voice call or gets one.  When this obsession with the mobile phone started to invade her homework time, I realized that something had to be done.  So I made some rules with which my daughter needed to obey in order to keep her mobile phone privileges.  We agreed on these rules and she signed a printed copy.

Some of these rules were like the following:

• Allow me to look at her phone anytime without putting up a fuss.
• Stop texting when eating dinner and other family activities.
• Stop using her phone at 8pm on school nights.
• etc.

I recall when I was younger, my parents would take my car driving privileges away from me when I disobeyed them.  (That happened a lot and hurt.)  Over time the pain became so great that I became a textbook example of obedience!  So, the consequence of my daughter disobeying the contract she signed was to lose her phone for a week.

The next evening, I was up in my sons room feeding the fish at 9pm when I hear my daughter talking on her cell phone in her room.  I casually walk over and knock on the door.  I hear a hurried, "I've got to go, bye."  Then nothing.  I open the door and she has pulled her covers over he head and ignores my asking her if she is awake.

The next morning I present her will the information of the last night and she denies it.  I tell her to stop lying and to let me have her phone.  So a week without her phone starts.  Now you see where the title to this blog comes from.

My daughter and I have since had several situations like the one mentioned above.  She still seems to think that I am as stupid as a pile of rotten peaches, but maybe one day (sooner than later) she will get it.  She has lost her phone several times for breaking rules of the contract, but she is getting better.  Maybe she will eventually believe that I am kinda smart in what I am teaching and telling her.

Till Next Time,

Bill

Send $1 to...

I can't believe what has happened to summer.  Especially since we really didn't have a spring this year.  It basically went from snow to 100-degree summer heat!  However, fall is probably my favorite time of the year.  I spent a significant part of my life in San Diego California, where I had 72-degree perfect weather year around!  So, having that kind of weather in the fall is quite nice!

When I graduated from college, I took my first job at General Dynamics in San Diego.  I lived in a very nice suburb called Poway.  I can remember playing tennis in December, spending a lot of time on the beach, and even trying my hand at wind surfing.

However, when the hi-tech boom hit, I left General Dynamics to join a promising start-up that had a lot going for it.  I had kept in touch with a lot of my Electrical Engineering friends after graduating from college.  One of them hired on with a company called WordPerfect in Utah.  He basically rode the wave at WordPerfect.  I remember him telling me that after about a year with them, his bonus on each paycheck was equal to his base salary! 

I have another friend who went to work for Adobe and yet another to Lotus.  The friend who went to Adobe is doing very, very well.  The friend that went to Lotus is at another company doing OK.  He has had to sell his big beautiful mansion, now living in a respectable family-sized home.

I also have another friend that used to live a few houses down from me.  He helped found an Internet hosting company that was very successful.  I remember him driving fancy cars and having outdoor movie parties in his back yard.  When his company faulted, he moved to Washington to work for Microsoft for a while.  Now his is back close to where I live.  He works for a struggling Internet company and lives in a decent home.

After leaving General Dynamics, the technology company I went to treated me very well for quite a few years until they had some serious competition.  Eventually they outsourced my products to India and I was laid off.  I went to a progressive start-up company that had a vision for a world-changing product.  However they ran out of investment money and were unable to market their products successfully.  I do not live in a mansion, but the company I work for has some great technology and we are make the world a better place.

So this brings me back to the title of my blog, "Send $1 to..."  I have always wondered what I could do on the Internet that would make me tons of money.  I had a friend tell me a while back, all you need to do is setup a website and ask for each person that visits it to send you one dollar.  Now I have never done this, but I'm guessing that if you solicited the money for charity and stated that you would send a certain portion of it to charity, then you would be able to keep a portion for "administrative costs."

But what if you just asked for everyone who visited your website to send in one dollar for no reason at all?  What would happen?

Till next time,
Bill

A Funny or Joke By Any Other Name

I haven't put too many jokes or funny things in my blog, but today I ran across this story and loved it!  Kudos to the person who created it, since there is no author listed.

A successful rancher died and left everything to his devoted wife. She was determined to keep the ranch, but knew very little about ranching, so she placed an ad in the newspaper for a ranch hand.

 Two cowboys applied for the job. One was gay and the other a drunk.

She thought long and hard about it, and when no one else applied she decided to hire the gay guy, figuring it would be safer to have him around the house than the drunk.

He proved to be a hard worker who put in long hours every day and knew a lot about ranching. For weeks the two of them worked hard and the ranch was doing very well.

Then one day, the rancher’s widow said "You have done a really good job, and the ranch looks great. You should go into town and kick up your heels."  The hired hand readily agreed and went into town on Saturday night.

He returned around 2:30 am, and upon entering the room, he found the rancher’s widow sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, waiting for him.  She quietly called him over to her.

"Unbutton my blouse and take it off," she said.

Trembling, he did as she directed.

"Now take off my boots."  He did as she asked, ever so slowly.

"Now take off my socks."  He removed each gently and placed them neatly by her boots.

"Now take off my skirt."  He slowly unbuttoned it, constantly watching her eyes in the fire light.

"Now take off my bra."  Again, with trembling hands, did as he was told and dropped it to the floor.

Then she looked at him and said: ‘If you ever wear my clothes into town again, you’re fired!’

Now that’s funny … I don’t care who you are!!!!

Till Next Time,

Bill

List Men vs Free Flow Men

At my current job, we have an Information Technology (IT) person who is tasked with setting up computers when we need an updated computer, or when a new hire starts to work.  He is also charged with tearing down computers of people who leave the company.

Our IT person does a good job until somebody interacts with him and messes up his list.  You see, his manager puts together a daily list for this IT guy and the IT guy takes the list, starts at the top and works his way down the list.  1. Setup computer system for Bill in Accounting.  2. Remove computer from Sally in Sales who left the company, etc.

Recently we had a programmer leave, who spent some time with us going over what he had been working on, what he had checked in, and what he had not.  We realized that we needed to keep his computers until we were able to get all the information we needed off of them.

A few days later, our faithful IT guru came by and started to remove these computers.  Concerned, we let him know that he could not take these computers until we were done with them.  He grumbled, called us some non-repeatable names and left.  I called up my Director and got his approval to keep the machines as is until we were done.

In the ensuing weeks, our IT guru came by and attempted to take these computers.  Each and every time we told him that our Director had said we could keep the machines as long as we needed them.  And since we were very busy, that was going to be a very long time.  Our IT guy grumbled and disappeared.

Just last week our legendary IT guy came by and started to disassemble the computers yet again.  (I am sure that not being able to check this item off of his list had been tormenting him for ages.)  We reminded him to keep his hands off of those machines or we would call up the Director.  However, this time my co-worker asked if maybe we should get the information off of the computers and allow the IT guy to come and take them away.  We did that and let the IT guy know we would be done with them that evening.  The next morning when we came into work, those two computers and three monitors were gone!  Needless to say, it didn't surprise me!

So, were my co-worker and I nice to let the IT guy take the computers?  Of course.  Was the IT guy in line to not want us to keep the computers?  Of course not!  It would not have hurt anyone to let us keep and use those two computers, especially since they will sit in a closet until a new hire comes on board.

OK, let's compare this with the IT guy at the first company I worked for out of college.  He liked to come around and chat with us on a regular basis.  He basically would do anything for us that we needed.  We had a similar situation where a programmer left the company.  We asked our IT guy if we could keep the programmer's computers.  He said sure.  We setup a location where we could use the computers until we were absolutely sure that the information we needed was on our computers.  When were done, we contacted the IT guy and let him know he could come and get the computers back.  He responded by asking us if we were sure we were done with them and wouldn't want to keep them a little bit longer.  When we told our IT guy that we were definitely done, he came and took them away.

To wrap things up for today, obliviously, if an employee of a company has their blinders on so tight that what they are doing is hurting the company, they better remove their blinders and see the bigger picture.  Lists can be good.  They can make sure that you get the items done that you need to get done.  However, don't run you complete corporate life with a list, never wavering.  Be cooperative.  Make friends with your fellow employees.  You will find yourself enjoying your job and those people you work with.

Til Next Time,
Bill

Dangers of Credit Cards in the High Tech Age

I used to work for a Hi Tech company that has a product that conducts financial transactions and guarantees a 99.99% success rate.  How do they do it?  Through many layers of security and ingenuity.  While thinking about the lengths this company scales to provide an excellent product, I was thinking about the security of my own credit cards.  I'm guessing that most of you carry at least one credit card and a debit card.  My bank has strongly urged me to use my debit card only as a credit card -- mainly because the protection offered through credit cards is much more solid than debit cards directly tied to a checking account.

While working at that company, we used to spend time researching types of attacks and fraud that was leveraged against supposedly secure networks and databases.  Look on the Internet and it is easy to find headlines such as, "Email error disclosed 3,000 contractors' pay rates to 800 contractors working for Royal Bank of Scotland" and  "Log-in credentials and personal information for 20,000 people acquired by hacker and exposed online."  So we know there are people out there that want to steal your credit information.  What are some of the ways that they do it?

One way I will call the switcheroo.  MSN describes this with a toy store scenario.  Sally, Simon  and Bud walk into a toy store.  Sally and Simon roam the aisles, while Bud waits in line to check out.  When Bud is at the register, Simon comes running up to the clerk, screaming that his wife has fainted.  As Sally and Simon distract the sales clerk, Bud switches the credit card reader at the register with a modified one of his own.  For the next week or so, the salesclerk unwittingly collects credit card data on the modified reader until the trio returns, takes back the modified reader and restores the original terminal.

Another situation can occur at a restaurant or basically any situation where you give your credit card to an employee and they take it out of sight.  At the end of your yummy meal at Bill's Diner, you give your waitress your credit card to pay the bill.  She takes your card to a back room and runs it through the restaurants register and then she pulls a small golf ball sized device from her apron and runs your card through it too.  This device is known as a skimmer.  It can store information from many credit cards.

You have probably seen this next scam in the headlines of national news.  A person goes to a gas station and places a special kind of skimmer either over  a credit card reader on a gas pump, or they open up the pump with a special key and replace the reader with a skimmer.  Lots of gas stations now have seals placed on the front of pumps to give some since of security if they are not broken, however, these seals do not prevent the over the existing credit card reader skimmer.  The skimmer then communicates with a nearby laptop using Bluetooth.

The last two forms of thievery include hacking and phishing.  If you are like me, you at one time had a manager who loved to fill your email in box with all kinds of get rich quick schemes, photo essays and do this or else your will receive an Inca Dinosaur curse.  With the hacker, they try to get you to install malware on your computer by compromising a popular website.  When you visit that website, a small program is installed on your computer.  This program can capture keystrokes or search your hard drive for sensitive information.  Particularity are public computers in libraries and Internet cafes.

Phishing is similar to hacking except the small program is sent to you via email.  "Look at this adorable picture of kittens," says one e-mail.  Or they talk about looking at the weekly performance report.  Regardless, don't click on that attachment!  Once you are infected, you will not know.  These programs hide and only relay information to the "home base."  So all you need to do is make an online purchase, give your credit card number, and the number also gets sent to our devious hacker.

So what can you do to minimize or prevent these kinds of things from happening to you?  Quoting from Janna Herron on MSN.com:

1. Set up mobile alerts for your phone if your financial institution provides the feature.  That way, you can be aware of unusual activity as quickly as possible.
2. Regularly monitor your accounts online, so you can identify fraudulent transactions faster.
3. Avoid public computers.  Don't log on to your email if your bank corresponds with you there.  It might be wise to set up a separate email account just for your finances and checking it from safe locations only.
4. Avoid doing business with unfamiliar online vendors.  Stick to established merchants and websites.
5. If your information has been compromised, notify your financial institutions and local law enforcement, which will contact the Secret Service if necessary.  Also make sure you notify any of the three major credit card reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, to setup a fraud alert on your credit reports.

According to the government and financial institutions, every minute, 20 people are subjected to identity and credit card theft.  In 2009, they reported that more than 11 million people nationwide were victims of credit and debit card scams that resulted in unauthorized charges of $54 billion.

I have had my credit card company call me up on a few occasions when they thought a purchase looked fraudulent.  Thankfully they were not, but it is nice to have a bank looking out for you.  Also, one time our Bank contacted my wife and said they were going to send her a new card since her current one had been compromised.  We both didn't know what had happened, but were glad to be covered.

Til next time,
Bill 

Trust

I was sent an email today that had a quote that hit me with a ton of bricks, "Trust one who has gone through it."  This is a quote by Virgil, who is remembered as one of Rome's greatest poets.  However, I have to think that he was part psychiatrist.  With deep sayings like the above, he must be much more than what is on the surface.

I was thinking about trust the other day so it was in the back of my head when I saw this quote.  I recall reading John Huntsman Sr's book, "Winners Never Cheat."  In a nutshell, this book discusses how he made billions by striking deals with a handshake.  That's all it took.  Millions and billions of dollar deals with a single handshake.  He discusses shaking on one deal, and before the deal was finalized, the stock of the company he was buying shot skyward on news of the acquisition.  Now John had a deal at a set price, and the seller wanted to renege on the deal, but John stood firm.  What he actually ended up doing was paying a premium for the company, but this illustrates the trust that John Huntsman Sr used in his business dealings.  (I would highly recommend reading his book if you get the chance.)

In today's world, trust is not what it used to be.  Today, most business deals cannot be completed with a simple handshake, rather they entail boatloads of lawyers, business analysts, and months to make happen.  I have seen it in industry.  A good friend was working on a project for a customer.  He was a part of a small team that was trying to keep it that way.  The customer trusted this team to complete their project.  They were trying to keep it away for the myriads of executives within this consulting company.  However, the executives found out about it and they all jumped in skyrocketing this project to unheard of complexity.  The original manager of the project quit in favor of another company.  The project continues, growing out of control.  However, the customer is hanging in there, wanting to receive the final product.

Trust can be a simple as two boys at a swimming pool.  The first jumps in and finds that he can stand on the bottom with his head above water.  He asks the second boy to jump in -- that he will be OK.  The second boy jumps in and trusts the first that he will be OK.

After college, I started my work career at a large computer company.  I spent over 10 years there.  After leaving, I spent a few years at various companies, having to leave each due to financial problems, bad management, and loosing contracts.  In a lot of the cases of moving from one company to another, I engaged a recruiter, an expert in finding me a new job.  I had to place blind trust in this recruiter to represent me and to get me interviews with various companies.  I also had to trust that when I didn't get a job I interviewed for, that the feedback I received would be valuable.  However, in most cases, the feedback was worthless.

In my personal dealings, I have tried to exhibit trust with my fellow man.  In some cases it works well, in other cases I end up on the short end of the deal by trusting someone.  Maybe you can have a better chance of trusting someone by looking their facial expressions.

Is it possible to know if a person is trustworthy by looking at their face?  Granted, each and every one of us have a built-in ability to know right from wrong.  I had a friend, and I say had since this person is no longer my friend.  This friend came to me one day and promised me the world if I would only invest with his friend who owned this fabulous company.  He promised me an unreal amount of return on my money.  And since I knew for a fact that this friend had made a killing in the stock market, and happened to be worth a good sum, I took his word and trusted him.  I gave him a portion of my retirement money to invest.  Fast-forward a few years, after receiving a few dividend payments, I stopped receiving monthly statements and other promissed paperwork.

I called my friend up, but all I got was his voice-mail.  A little while later I read about a Ponzi scheme, where they were investigating my friend's friend.  A little but later, my friend's friend was arrested.  Needless to say, I lost all the money I had invested.  I also lost a good childhood friend, a friend who, himself, may be headed to prison.

Today I keep my retirement in as reputable places as I can find.  Hopefully bad things don't happen here, but I have to trust them, since one business has been in business for over 20 years and has done my taxes for half that time.

So how can you build a circle of trust around you both in your personal life and that of your career?  How can you know that you can trust the politicians that you chose to vote for?  I live in a small suburb of a larger city.  A few years ago a few spots in our city council were up for re-election.  One of the incumbents (that I trusted) decided not to re-run.  So, that opened up the reality of a new member of the council.  Several candidates went door to door to expound their virtues.  One gentlemen came by, looking rather hip and with the "in crowd."  As I chatted with him, I thought, "How would I be able to ever trust this man?"  But I did some research, discovered he was well educated and had quite a resume in business and technology.  I took a gamble and voted for him.  I even campaigned for him.  I trusted him!  Lucky for me he has be a great asset to my city's government.

So is the safe thing to do to not trust anyone?  I hope not.  We just need to have a little faith in our decisions to trust, but that is for another post.

Til next time,
Bill