Brian H. Madsen - .Net Powered by Caffeine : Freaky stories

Banks using not-so-best-practises…

Brian Madsen — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:45:37 GMT

One of the idiosyncrasies today with banks is that they “claim” to be securely holding your funds and are normally very strict on giving out personal information.

If you call a bank up to report a lots credit card, or have any queries at all, you get put through a string of questions, regarding your personal information so that they can verify that you are who you claim to be.

I’m all for that – but what happens when the “bank” calls you up?

Well, before they’ll even entertain the idea of letting you know who they are and where they’re from, they again want to put you through a string of questions, to verify that you are who you claim to be.

Now, am i the only one who’s read countless books on social engineering? or am i the only one getting spam mail sent contain bank detail hoaxes?

Do i then normally reply with all my personal details, banking details (account numbers, pin codes, passwords etc) straight away because they ask for it?

no – that’s the short answer – i don’t – and neither should you.

So what makes a bank think that i’ll simply just take their word for it that they are who they claim to be? And god forbid that i should tell them that i’m NOT going to verify who i am by giving you all my details over the phone before i can verify who you are…

Last time it happened for me was when my banks fraud squad had found some “suspect” transactions against my credit card and called me up…i told them the person on the phone that i had absolutely no intentions of giving him/her my banking details, nor any of my personal details – they should know these already if they’re calling me.

Obviously i must be one of the very few that has any problems with this set of practises – seeing as banks are continuing to use this approach. Oh, it’s great for them as they can verify who i am, but i’ve no way at all to verify who they are.

Either people are too trusting or banks sees this as “the best practise” approach…

Basically, if a bank – or hell, any other organisation or corporation – wants to know who i am, they can give me means to verify who they are. Why don’t they call me up and ask me to call a specific number (which should be preordained via my banking details) together with a RSA SecurityID code? Or, why don’t banks give me details that enables me to verify the caller? such as a password for them to say, or other details they can verify?

I think it’s just about being lazy and i dont’ think i can' count how many bank calls i’ve hung up on because they refused to let me, in any way or form, verify who they are.

Does anybody else have any problems with these practises?

Need to find cheap Virtual Private Server host...

Brian Madsen — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:53:00 GMT

I'm trying to locate a cheap VPS hosting provider for an extra-curricular project that a couple of colleagues and myself are working on.

It needs:

- Windows Server 2003 (min)
- Ability for us to install our own software (no limitations)
- Remote Desktop Connect for a min. of 5 users at any given time

We don't need a massive amount of disk space, enough for us to run Visual Studio, SQL Server and a few other applications.

It's essentially going to be a remote development machine for us to use for this project - or alternatively we'll run a TFS instance on it together with an AD. Not sure about the logistics of it at the moment.

Anybody know of a good, reliable and most importantly, cheap hosting provider that provides VPS plans?

Bambi & Thumber - they do exist!!

Brian Madsen — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:05:00 GMT

Got this in my email today from my sister back in Denmark and thought i'd share it with the world.

So, the proof's in the pudding! Bambi and Thumber does indeed exist!!

JRE to include MSN Toolbar..Sun and Microsoft best buddies?

Brian Madsen — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:43:00 GMT

Saw this article today, which related to the JRE runtime and the fact that they'll be including the MSN toolbar with its download.

"Who says the age of miracles is past? Sun, which loathes Microsoft, is going to distribute Microsoft’s search toolbar with its Java Runtime Environment.

Nope, it’s not April fool’s. More like Sun and Microsoft slurping out of the Obama “change” cup.

IE users who download the JRE will be able to download the MSN Toolbar along with it."

When i read those opening lines i was like "what?" - must be an april fools day joke..in november though!! But no, it's not, JRE's deal with Google is ending apparently and the swap from the Google Toolbar to MSN Toolbar is going to happen.

"Microsoft, of course, is getting sloppy seconds. Google has piggybacked on JRE since 2005 and now that deal is reportedly ending. A similar deal with Yahoo continues."

I've always hated the Google Toolbar - had major problems with it in the past (think i blogged it at some stage even) and since i removed it back then it hasn't gotten back onto my laptop.

Read the full article here: http://coldfusion.sys-con.com/node/744099

Dell extends my warranty...

Brian Madsen — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:08:00 GMT

The laptop saga is drawing to an end and as promised, Dell has extended my warranty (at no cost to me) to ensure that my laptop stays perfectly functional.

I was surprised to see two new line items in my warranty and service list:

- Priority User Phone Support (24x7)
- Plus Technical Phone Support

Haven't seen those two before, but i'm assuming that #1 means i have priority when i call technical support. The second one still baffles me a bit. "Plus Technical Phone Support"?? The Dell Technical Engineers, i've dealt with, wouldn't know a laptop if they were sleeping on it - well, that's what the impression i've gotten from the numerous times i've spoken to them anyways. Maybe there's different levels of Dell Technical Engineers (would assume they have some smart people on their corporate programs) and maybe i wont have to deal with the "less-than-knowledgeable" engineers in the future.

So i now have 1 year (360 days left it shows) with priority support and the laptop warranty is extended out to 2010. As long as i don't have to battle my way through lies and excuses if something has to be fixed i suppose the case is now closed.

It's good to see the Customer Care/Service Representative has come through with the promise he made me.

I also got one of those "Dell Customer Experience Survey Invitations" today. which was surprising as well - didn't think they could be in any doubt as to my opinion at this stage. Should have waited 3-4 months before sending that i think. Still extremely dissatisfied over how my issue was dealt with - that's not going to change. However, if it proves (with time that is) that the laptop isn't going to die on me then it's as satisfactory outcome as can be expected.

DELL XPS M1710 gaming laptop overheating...

Brian Madsen — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:31:00 GMT

Last night i decided to play a few games of COD4 - which i do for an hour here and there, and suddenly i had a drop in FPS and a few seconds later the whole laptop just closed down.

At first my mind went OMG!!!!! a powerspike or something just as malicious has come through and fried my laptop.

then i settled a bit and had a closer look at the laptop - it was hot, even for the XPS, it was very hot yet it booted almost straight away (2-3 minutes later) and i saw an error message on the screen - it had overheated and closed down as a result.

first i felt a great deal of relief as this laptop isn't cheap - but then i became rather annoyed. This is meant to be a gaming laptop and should be equipped well enough to play games.

Now i'm going to chase down support from Dell - first to find out if i'm covered under warranty still and secondly to complain (yes, i do that from time to time, but i love this laptop and i'm rather furious that it should overheat).

Normally overheating is expected when you tamper with the system (or environmental issues, such as very hot areas or if you block the exhaust vents) - such as overclocking your hardware - but this is a stock DELL XPS M1710, with absolutely nada tampering. It should be equipped with enough heatsinks and fans to handle playing a game if the system specifications are up to par with what the game requires - and the XPS M1710 certainly does that.

And here i was, actually considering upgrading to a M1730 in the near future...fat chance at the moment!

So, i am grumpy as hell and am going to raise absolutely hell with DELL Support in the coming days!!

Google Chrome Exploit - Auto Download

Brian Madsen — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:29:45 GMT

Ok, it's now blatantly obvious that Google Chrome was released in a rushed, incomplete (even for Beta releases) and faulty state.

An Auto-Download (extremely simply executed at that) exploit was found and has been published.

We're talking about an .exe file being downloaded automatically to a user's system. Uhmmm.

Ok, Google has been known to be pushing the envelope when it comes to technology. They're "supposedly" the big beast for Microsoft to beat and they've now entered the Browser War.

Does MSFT have anything to fear from this release? IMHO, no, nothing at all. Chrome is still yonks from being a viable contender to both FireFox and Internet Explorer.

Obviously Google was rushed to release this beta - but my faith in ever picking it up is dwindling by the minute as i'm trawling newsgroups, mailing lists etc for more news.

Google, it doesn't look good guys..

Technorati Tags: Google,Chrome,Exploits Galore

OMG!! Chrome (Google's browser) indexes HTTPS pages - even online banking details

Brian Madsen — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:47:00 GMT

This would seriously have been one of the biggest mistakes known to man if it wasn't for the fact that people actually downloaded it!

Chrome, which is Google's new answer to the web browsing war, has revealed a serious flaw in it's search and indexing. Nevermind the fact that Chrome is meant to keep processes in a single tab, rather than spreading it out as a single instance/process, but obviously something wrong has happened when the guys at Google didn't even bother to check against something this simple before throwing it out to the public.

I for one (even with my MSFT hat on) is going to steer as far away from Chrome as is humanly possible.

"Thinking like a hacker, my first plan of attack was to enumerate or list the financial services. After enumeration, I could drill down into the exact accounts and transactions. By simply typing in Visa, Mastercard, account and the names of popular banks you can find the types of accounts and which institution they belong to. In my case, Capital and Washington worked just fine. To get my account balance, I just typed in “balance” and to get transaction information I entered “transaction”. Typing in “costco” pulled up how much I spent on my last trip."

I wonder how long it'll take for hackers, malware, spyware and virus writers up there to hook into some of these nifty little inbuilt features.

Well done Google for thinking on such an advanced level - you're simply so far ahead of the competition that it blows my mind. Honestly, you've even managed to get extremely far ahead of the malicious people out there that you've provided them with such an excellent tool.

To read the full story (AFTER you've uninstalled Chrome that is), go here:

TG Daily - Chrome is a security nightmare, indexes your bank accounts

Technorati Tags: Chrome,Google,TG Daily

Another year...

Brian Madsen — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:16:36 GMT

I just received my confirmation email, letting me know that i've been re-awarded for 2008-2009.

I'm still going to participate in the ASP.Net category. 2007-2008 really saw some dramatic changes in my field and i'm sure the next 12 months wont be any different.

One of the bigger things on my table (something which i've held sort of secret) is the fact that i'm writing a book. I'll be revealing more on that as i get more time to blog.

So thanks to all of the great guys at the MVP Program - especially a big thank you goes to the Australian DPE team (Michael Kleef, David Lemphers, Charles Stirling, Nick Hodge and last, but not least Scott Barnes) for the events over the last year. Hope to see you all around!

o O { maybe saying "LO" all day long and singing "Oh Happy Days" really did work, eh Colin?

Things you cannot do on April Fools day...

Brian Madsen — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:29:23 GMT

Apparently, you cannot sing "Oh happy day!" a lot on April Fools day.

Apparently, you cannot ask the same question over and over and over and over again on April Fools day.

I wonder what other things you cannot do on April Fools day?

whitepages.com.au gets hit by malware via their ads

Brian Madsen — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:33:24 GMT

Sandi Hardmeier uncovered a local, high volume site which had been infected with malware through their advertising/banner ads etc.

Sensis has been hit well and truely so please avoid the www.whitepages.com.au / www.yellowpages.com.au and of course www.whereis.com.au as they're all run under the same system.

for more details on this head on over to Sandi's blog:

Malwarealarm hits www.whitepages.com.au - Spyware Sucks

Well done Sandi for uncovering this hijack...

stupid bus and sleepless nights...

Brian Madsen — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 08:01:08 GMT

Here's one of the dumbest episodes of my life.

First some background.

As habit is, i walk my dog at night time just after my kids has gone to bed and being that it's now summer time it means that mozzies are now going rampant in all their horny glory.

So i acquired 19 mozzie bites on my legs and it's itching like mad. Hence i didn't get any sleep last night but felt that i could go through the day.

Our offices is near the top of St Georges Terrace in Perth and i wanted to go see a client and get some Lotus Notes databases from them which we're migrating into MOSS 2007.

So i leave the office and head down the terrace - it's hot outside so i decide to jump on the nearest bus going down the terrace and cut the 15-20 minute walk out with a bus ride instead.

Now, after about 2-3 minutes the gentle rocking of the bus + the heat knocks me out..eg. i fall asleep in the bus - route 37 i believe...then some time passes by and somebody shakes my shoulder gently, asking me if i had to get off at this stop.

I look out the window and see i'm at Perth Airport........how the hell did i get to Perth Airport????? i was just going down the terrace.

Stupid bus! couldn't it have NOT gone to the airport? seriously, i didn't want to go to the airport, but here i was.

Naturally I answer no and tell the driver i was just going down the terrace...nice...response was..i need to buy a ticket then...did i have cash on me? no...Anyways..i look a bit guilty and it must have shown. Luckily he lets me off and we head back to town.

I nearly fall asleep again on my way back to town..stop off at the bottom of the terrace and head over to my car, thanking the bus driver for the nap.

Lesson learned..stand up in the bus if I have to go down the terrace instead of sitting down.

Free Code Focus magazine issue...

Brian Madsen — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:00:19 GMT

Excerpt:

VSX CoDe Focus magazine is now online at http://code-magazine.com/focus/vsx. Microsoft sponsored this special edition of CoDe Magazine on the topic of VSX. The entire 76 page magazine is available online in multi-page HTML format and also as a PDF download (13MB). Printed copies of the magazine will be available in late October at various developer events and mailed to many existing CoDe magazine subscribers.

Coates put it up there: Andrew Coates ::: MSFT : Visual Studio Extensibility CoDe Focus Magazine Online.

Nice, just got myself a look..think i may have to subscribe to that one..certainly goes well with my FHM subscription :)

Craig hits the spot...why is MSFT continuing to use Flash?

Brian Madsen — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:52:24 GMT

Tonight i took a breather and read up on the huge amount of blogs i've backed up as i've been faily busy these last couple of weeks.

Craig put something out there which IMHO i believe is true - MSFT is still using Adobe Flash on some of their coolest sites.

I mentioned some time back on my blog that some of the cool things that's being done by MSFT is still done using Flash.

Here's Craig's post: Blog:: Craig Pringle - Why are Microsoft holding SilverLight back?

Is Microsoft holding back? i'm sure there's reasons for the continued use of Flash, but it would be far more appropriate if they used Silverlight.

One point which I will sort of contend is that there's a parallel between Flash and Silverlight...IMHO Silverlight beats Flash's pants hands down, no contest..I remember in the "early" days of the interweb and having to work with Flash..it was a dog and i never really understood how anybody could justify that massive amount of time you need to make even the smallest of things with it.

What can i say, i'm biased and don't care..Flash is in my eyes dead, overused and useless...there..that's said - now move along, nothing to see here :)

Do corporates pay attention to blogs?

Brian Madsen — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:15:37 GMT

Sometimes there's blog posts out there that makes me cry...

why? because justice was served and service became the main focus of Lenovo. All from a blogger in Perth - Michael Kleef...

Granted, there's more than one side to the story, but it really shows how powerful blogs can be.

Michael blogged first about having to wait for ages to get a response, or even an update, to his laptop order from Lenovo. IMHO, the guy he did contact should seriously have taken a few minutes to think and then track down the REAL person that Michael needed to speak to.

Here's a link to the follow up story from Michael:

Michael Kleef ::: MSFT : The case of the super responsive Lenovo Australia team :)

What can be learned from this?

A number of things - but first and foremost it shows that corporates really does pay attention to the blogosphere. The influence some of the more prominent bloggers have is amazing. Lack of original service or not, his post really is a testament to how important blogs are becoming.

Naturally it's not the first time i've seen this happen - but rarely have i seen the effects cascade down the ladder this fast.

Well done Michael!

Now i seriously wish Dell would be as responsive as Lenovo was in this instance...I remember clearly the amount of grief i had with my XPS M1710 when it was first shipped which i blogged. Granted, i most likely don't have the sphere of influence that Michael has (should i get Michael to blog these issues next time???).

On another note..Dell vs. Lenovo? It's sometimes very hard to justify the cost of a laptop because you pay so much more for the mobility. I could have spec'ed out a seriously beast of a desktop for the price of my XPS M1710. I know we're now 6-7 months further along than when i bought the XPS, but IMHO Lenovo is a great contender by looking at the specifications.

That is to say, that the Lenovo's are portable, whereas the XPS M1710 isn't really that easy to lug around. I mean, 4.8kgs is a tad heavy. But i do have a nice 17" widescreen, a beast of a graphics card (7950GTX)..What lets this one down however is the hard drive..5400rpm oh and the battery life. I have a max of 2hrs on this one if i don't really do anything. That's simply just not good enough and I can see why Dell has pulled the M1710 off the shelf. It's a desktop replacement, without the flexibility of a desktop.

So, am i jealous of Michael's T61? yes..it's beautiful and packs a punch. Hopefully he'll show it off once he takes possession of it in the (near?) future.

Stupid Sharepoint 2007...

Brian Madsen — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 01:31:45 GMT

Today i set up a Wiki on our company's intranet and everything went well till i went and wanted to add the Wiki to my Outlook 2007 as a Sharepoint List (eg. it is a feature of the list that this is possible)..

but...here's what happens when you have added it:

I know i'm not the brightest bulb in here, but seriously??? Outlook 2007 does NOT have a previewer installed for a feature that's implemented across the Office platform?

So, "Browse for previewers online" is an option..right?

These are the previewers Outlook 2007 comes installed with...nothing will help me view this Wiki list via Outlook.

If anybody know of a third-party previewer please let me know, because this is a blatant act of stupidity...damn i'm annoyed!

Dell backs down on bloatware - Spyware Sucks

Brian Madsen — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 02:58:48 GMT

Ahhh...Sandi is on the ball again with this brilliant piece of articulated anger/resentment which I can fully relate to. Seriously, not that long ago i bought a XPS M1710 laptop from dell. Hardware wise i was very happy with the system, but the bloatware was just ridiculous.

Dell backs down on bloatware - Spyware Sucks

One of the worst things was that some of the software/bloatware they added wasn't even compatible with Vista, yet the laptop was "Vista certified". So Dell decided to drop bloatware onto the system which would end with driver errors, long startup sequences because Vista was being forced to load a driver which would crash...Not only that, but the Dell support web site didn't even have vista drivers for some of the stuff they installed.

Even going to the vendor web sites you'd sometimes find that they specifically stated that the software was NOT Vista compatible.

So finally you get an option of installing NO SOFTWARE onto the system IF you go to configure it. That still means the following:

1) for those that just want the basic system and have absolutely no IT experience/knowledge at all, will still be forced to have tons of crap (at last count i had nearly 2GB of crap installed) installed on their new system - which in turn means a performance degradation.

2) US customers (why only US??) can now have an option of what bloatware to install IF they so choose. Those outside the US just have to live with the fact that if they want the OS pre-installed and the system ready to go - there'll be bloatware or alternatively have to go through a complete install themselves which some of their users just aren't comfortable with.

So what is really the alternative here? not to buy Dell systems? for price you just cannot beat them. not for systems which cater really to the "unknowledgeable" market (or me, who likes flashy fast performance and don't mind paying top dollar for it).

On top of that, Dell is now making some software mandatory:

Adobe PDF Reader BLOATWARE
Google Tools BLOATWARE

and lets not forget McFee (yes, that's how I spell it..useless piece of crap) Anti-virus BLOATWARE yet its still only a trial. So Dells statement that they want to make sure that their customers are protected from day 1 and beyond (beyond apparently means 30 days or something to Dell...i wonder what their warranty states) - you still have to buy the damn thing to get the "beyond" protection you expect.

ASUS M2N32 WS Professional - BIOS upgrade

Brian Madsen — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 21:55:39 GMT

I should have listened to my own advice yesterday and just gone out the backyard to dig a hole and then drop myself into it.

First a Vista installation fails....driver corruption...

Then being very brave (well i thought i was!!!) i decided it was about time to upgrade my BIOS on my desktop.

I look through the ASUS website and find version 1401 which is the newest release and of course the manual.

So armed with this i head off into re-boot-land to locate EzyFlash 2 under the BIOS.

Now, first off, many have told me to upgrade my BIOS if i want to run BitLocker or if i wanted to install Windows 2008 but i was rather nervous about touching the BIOS..but people kept telling me nonsense..they've never had problems with it.

Thinking its just myself i locate the 1401.bin file on my USB stick from the BIOS flash utility - it scans the file and confirms it's the right version..then a message appears not to shut down because it's doing a BIOS flash..i can live with that...i look at the small status bar...pls pls pls..work!!!!

"BIOS Flash completed, press any key to restart"

YAY!!

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man, this is just NOT my week...my PC restarts, i see a lil' blue flashing light..and then the fans start, all 5 of them..and then...

n o t h i n g . . . . .

I can hear the fans still working...but n o t h i n g happens....n o t h i n g at all..it just sits there, gloating, snickering "I MADE YOU DO IT!!!! HA!!!! SUCKER!!!!"...

i read through the manual again...and nothing else has to be done...wtf?!?!?! i now have a very very pretty footrest in the shape of a CoolerMaster 810 Stacker under my desk..at least till i figure out how to get another BIOS onto it...

So, I started my travels into XNA

Brian Madsen — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:24:48 GMT

Today i took a few spare hours to get myself set up for XNA. I've been totally keen to get working with this ever since it got out but always managed to find an excuse why i'd put it on hold.

I also got myself another blog which is going to be dedicated to my tour of duty with XNA..

First installment of my n00bness can be found over here - www.virtualrealm.com.au/blogs/csharpzealot - courtesy of Glenn Wilson, founder of www.virtualrealm.com.au and fellow MVP (DX).

Anyways - i figured i'd keep my ramblings separate from here so it's pure XNA.

ask a SQL guru - Virtual SQL Server help, by Frank Arrigo's Blog

Brian Madsen — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 09:22:47 GMT

It's not only innovative thinking which led Peter Ward, SQL Server MVP Australia, to set up AskASQLGuru.com together with a group of other SQL Server specialist and gurus.

I found this today on Frank Arrigo's blog - thanks for spreading the word on this Frank!

After taking a look around I have to admit that these guys are definitely gurus and there's already a range of screencasts and articles available.

Good working guys!!

ask a SQL guru