Monthly Archives: March 2011

IPv6 enabled sites

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Thought I’d put together a list of IPv6 enabled websites I’m aware of

I noticed that Facebook is slightly faster over IPv6 because AARNet’s links to California has latency around 30ms less than Exetel’s own links via Verizon.

I do a bit of web hosting myself. I’m advised by two of my major hosting providers, iWeb & Jumba, that native IPv6 will be coming very soon.

I operate a VPN network for my business – so that I can remotely access client networks as if I’m directly connected to it. I’ve begun using AARNet to setup IPv6 as a secondary VPN network. So that hosts on these networks aren’t exploited I’ve also implemented software firewalls at all these sites so that only my own IPv6 subnets can access most services. This seems to be a mistake most people make when connecting to IPv6, something I will have to blog about later.

The most commonly used network software these days is already IPv6 enabled. Remote Desktop & File Sharing (CIFS) work fine over IPv6 on XP, Vista & 7. Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and most other web browsers are IPv6 enabled. Only instant messaging and VNC for Windows seem to be the apps not IPv6 enabled.

Today there are some reasonable uses for IPv6, and this will only increase.

Apparently none of the embedded network devices I commonly use like ADSL routers & VoIP ATA devices are IPv6 enabled as yet. I contacted Netcomm a few weeks ago requesting information on what devices they offer will be IPv6 enabled with firmware upgrades – yet to receive a response.

Firefox 4 Released

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firefoxMozilla have officially released Firefox 4 as a final build. So far there have been 11.3 million downloads.

The new firefox features an improved layout similar to Internet Explorer 9. No longer is there a menu bar or bookmark bar by default, which was slightly annoying for the NetUsage plugin I use – as it wasn’t visible after install. However after right clicking the toolbar, enabling the menu bar, and then right clicking the toolbar again and selecting customize… I was able to drag the NetUsage plugin to somewhere more visible, and then I disabled the menu bar again.

I’ve also found that Firefox 4 performs substantially better than Firefox 3. On this machine it also loads significantly faster than Internet Explorer 9.

I’ll have to update my NSIS Auto Installer script later today to install Firefox 4.

Exetel details IPv6 deployment

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Exetel have released some small details about their IPv6 deployment in a forum post.

Exetel have stated they will have dual-stack customer connections in 6 to 12 months time. All their core routers are capable of running dual stack however their LNS routers will require memory upgrades in order to handle the additional routing.

Exetel have also stated that customers will receive a /64 subnet when their network is IPv6 enabled.

As yet the Exetel website and other related services are not using IPv6.

Exetel have claimed that only one of their upstream providers is IPv6 capable (probably Verizon) which seems strange as PipeNetworks are IPv6 capable.

So for now, broker.aarnet.net.au or another tunnel broker is the only real option to get connected to IPv6.

IEAK 9 Released

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As an update to my blog about Internet Explorer 9 being released, the Internet Explorer Administration Kit 9 has been released as production ready and is no longer a release candidate.

Yesterday I built up my own bundle for IE 9 with branding for my business.

Today I will experiment with integrating IE 9 in my Auto Installer NSIS script so that I don’t have to install it manually. There is a “Configuration Only” option that allows me to patch machines that already have IE 9 so they have my branding, so I will have to script up a few checks to see what version of Windows is being used and check if IE 9 is already installed, and then run the appropriate file.

I found that unlike Internet Explorer 8, version 9 is very easy to run as an unattended installer with the /Q flag. However this makes the machine automatically reboot so I will have to try again later today with the /NOREBOOT attribute.

Exetel launches PSTN service

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Exetel has launched a PSTN service resold via Telstra Wholesale. I think this is a great idea. As an Exetel agent I often get asked about PSTN services from ADSL signups – and this will also mean more commissions.

All existing customers received the following e-mail:

Reduce Telephone Call Costs – Get $5.00 Discount On ADSL

Exetel is pleased to announce the addition of a full service landline telephone service. The provision of traditional landline telephone services using the public switched telephone network (PSTN) has been in negotiation with our wholesale provider for some time. Further details can be found here:

http://www.exetel.com.au/v_national_call_rates.php

This is ideal for customers wanting an alternative to the higher call rates on offer from Telstra, Optus and other providers.

If you are currently using one of these providers for your telephone call service, you are likely to save somewhere between 15% and 30% per call. Here is a comparison:

Call type Telstra* Optus* iPrimus* AAPT* Iinet* Exetel % Saving
Local $0.20 $0.30 $0.18 $0.19 $0.20 $0.20 0 – 5%
Intercapital $0.20 $0.80 $0.17/$0.20 $0.20 $0.17 $0.15 12 – 25%
National $0.20 $0.80 $0.17/$0.20 $0.20 $0.17 $0.15 12 – 25%
Mobile $0.36 $0.80 $0.33 $0.35 $0.37 $0.35 5 – 10%
Flagfall $0.45 $0.45 $0.39 $0.39 $0.39 $0.35 10 – 22%

* As indicated on these companies websites – dated 15/03/2011

You may also be aware that Telstra has recently commenced billing in 60 second (one minute) increments. This has the effect of increasing the cost of calls. Here is a comparison of savings to be made on some typical calls if they were made via Telstra compared to Exetel:

Carrier Call Cost * Flag fall Total Cost of Call % Saving
For a national call of 2 minutes, 25 seconds Telstra $0.60 $0.45 $1.05
Exetel $0.36 $0.35 $0.71 32%
For a national call of 4 minutes, 45 seconds Telstra $1.00 $0.45 $1.45
Exetel $0.71 $0.35 $1.06 27%
For a call to mobile of 3 minutes, 5 seconds Telstra $1.44 $0.45 $1.89
Exetel $1.08 $0.35 $1.43 24%
For a call to mobile of 5 minutes, 55 seconds Telstra $2.16 $0.45 $2.61
Exetel $2.07 $0.35 $2.42 7%

Special Offers – Valid till 30th April 2011

Offer 1 – Save up to 30% on calls

– Add the telephone service to your current ADSL service and save up to 30% on telephone call costs.

Offer 2 – $5 monthly discount.

– Recontract your current ADSL service and add the telephone service and save $5 per month as well as up to 30% on telephone call costs.

Offer 3 – $10 or $15 monthly discount.

– Recontract your ADSL service and buy a Cap19 mobile plan and save $10 per month or

– Recontract your ADSL service and buy a Cap35 mobile plan and save $15 per month.

Offer 4 – $15 or $20 monthly discount.

– Recontract your ADSL service, select to include the Telephone Service and buy a Cap19 mobile plan and save $15 per month or

– Recontract your ADSL service, select to include the Telephone Service and buy a Cap35 mobile plan and save $20 per month.

Note 1:For customers adding the telephone service, there is a $30.00 monthly line rental fee payable.

Note 2:Offers 2, 3 and 4 require you to recontract your ADSL service on a new 12 month contract.

To accept any of these offers,simply log into your Exetel members facility and from the left side menubar select:

‘Order Services’, then select ‘Telephone’.

For enquiries on these offers, please email residentailsales@exetel.com.au or call

1300 EXE TEL (1300 393 835).

Microsoft shuts down Rustock botnet, Forbes lists Microsoft as ethical company

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Microsoft and federal agents in the United States have conducted raids on hosting providers at 6 locations targetting “command and control” machines for the Rustock botnet in an effort to decapitate the botnet which is believed to have 1 million drone machines.

Employees of Microsoft’s digital crimes unit accompanied US Marshalls in the raids seizing computers and hard drives and is building a lawsuit against 11 unknown individuals believed to be responsible for the botnet.

"We think this has been 100% effective," said Richard Boscovich, senior attorney in Microsoft’s digital crimes unit.

Microsoft has conducted these raids because the spam generated by the Rustock botnet taxes resources on their Hotmail servers and impacts the Internet experience of users of Microsoft’s Office and Windows products. Its also likely Microsoft have conducted these raids for financial compensation.

Several days earlier Microsoft were added to Forbes World’s Most Ethical Companies list which is published yearly, although Forbes do not specify their reasoning in listing a company. It is however interesting that the likes of Apple, Intel or AMD are not on the list. I was surprised that Westpac and ANZ banks retained listing despite my experiences of bad customer service from ANZ and Westpac’s history of closing down branches in favour of ATMs.

Creative Syndrome

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In my job I often deal with people who are in a small way or believe they are involved in the film or audio production industries. They are all unknown and likely will never be widely known. They often come to me for help with spyware removal or advise on software for their productions. From dealing with these people I have noted a few issues with their personality which I am now going to call “creative syndrome”. I understand everyone has a hobby but some people just take it too far.

Symptoms include:

  • The belief they’re an artist even when they’re modifying copyrighted works to an extend that doesn’t justify a new copyright and in fact counts as copyright infringement
  • The belief that some day they will be famous
  • The belief that anybody famous is famous because they’re rich
  • The belief they are better than everyone
  • The belief they know better than everyone
  • Obsession with "quality" which translates to shipping lossless audio to people who don’t want it or spending tens of thousand of dollars on renting super high definition cameras and their film even though their film will only ever be seen widely on YouTube
  • Calls themself a producer, director, artist, photographer, actor or other titles even though professionally they operate a cash register at the nearest supermarket
  • Getting offended when your real profession is pointed out to highlight your fictious title is fictious

Internet Explorer 9 Released

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Internet_Explorer_9Microsoft have released Windows Internet Explorer 9 today. It will be available via Windows Updates shortly, however for now it must be downloaded from the Microsoft website. IE9 has been released for Vista, 7 and 2008 Server machines. XP and earlier editions cannot run IE 9.

The IEAK is still in Release Candidate phase, I do believe it will be a production release as IE9 is released on Windows Updates.

I’m yet to benchmark IE9, however so far there are a string of reviews that don’t give a clear picture of how IE9 performs – as some say its faster, and some say its slower.

The most significant change has been the interface – the menu, address & navigation bars are now much smaller. Additionally there is now a “do not track” option which reportedly makes it easy for users to keep their browsing habits private from advertising networks.

In other news Adobe has advised of a vulnerability in Flash that affects Reader & Acrobat as well. The vulnerability could cause a crash and potentially allow the attacker to take control of the affected system. Adobe plans on releasing a fix next week. Great work on revealing a vulnerability with no fix, guys.

Cracking Windows 7 Service Pack 1

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Well I finally got my Windows 7 Ultimate machine cracked. I ran into some trouble because I had previously used RemoveWAT and Chew-WGA and the WGA files had been modified. But it was easy to fix these, it was actually harder to track down how to fix these.

  • I installed Service Pack 1
  • I ran WGA Fix. This rebooted my computer after running for 5 minutes or so.
  • I installed Windows Loader 1.9.7 by Daz with the ASUS SLIC, ASUS Certificate, ASUS Serial & Ignore SLIC option set. I used all the ASUS options as I have an ASUS mainboard. Daz tends to recommend to use the default Acer SLIC, Certificate & Serial. Windows Loader rebooted my computer after less than a minute.
  • I validated my computer on the Microsoft website in Internet Explorer. It passed.
  • I right clicked on the desktop, selected personalize, and picked out the Windows 7 Aero Theme to repair the theme damage caused by the not genuine notices