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Use Reconstructor to Create Your Own Customized Ubuntu Live Linux CD/DVD

by amp on Jul.20, 2010, under File System, General, Linux, PC Maintenance, Pro Tips, Products, Reviews & Previews, Tutorials, Web Resources

Reconstructor

Once again another free (up to a point) web application for use for customizing a Linux distribution for whatever you want.

Reconstructor isn’t as pretty as some of the other Linux distro customization services I’ve seen but it gets the job done.  You still have the ability to customize the way it looks, operations, modules, addons, etc.

For the amount you can do it is certainly useful.  Not to mention it has been around since before 2007.

Reconstructor is a GNU/Linux distribution customization and creation toolkit. It allows for the customization of the Ubuntu andDebian GNU/Linux distributions. Customizations include boot logo image and text color, wallpaper, themes, icons, applications, and more.

To start using Reconstructor (it’s free) go to https://build.reconstructor.org and signup.

The reason I said it is free up to a point is that they do charge for the service but they give each account a $5 limit per month (for free).  Anything over that will have you paying up front for it.

Here is an overlook of their “Fees” page…

Fees

The following are the fees for using the Reconstructor services. Please note: each account balance will get up to a $5 credit each month (ending balance after credit will be no more than $5). Each transaction will deduct from your account credit. To add more funds, click the “Add Credit” button in your account details window (accessed by clicking your username in the upper right after you login).

  • Upload and store a project file: $0.02 per MB per month
  • Build a project: $0.30
  • Download a built project: $0.45 per GB
  • Priority build service: $5.00 (enabled for one month) Note: This charge is prorated based upon the remaining days in the month.

Project Hosting

  • File storage: $0.45 per GB per month
  • Download: $0.35

So yes for a one or two time use I would say the service isn’t that bad.  There’s still a lot of customization you can do and a lot you can get out of it.  However, the entire fee thing isn’t really the best but you have to understand the kind of loads you can put on servers when doing these kinds of operations.

Reconstructor

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Some Free Photoshop Brushes – Courtesy of the Internets.

by amp on Jul.20, 2010, under Photoshop, Pro Tips, Web Resources

Here are some good Photoshop brushes I have come across.  Some are from deviantArt while the rest can be found out on the blogosphere.

Ink and Paint

3D Halftone

Coffee Stains

Hi-Res Splatter

More brushes are available for download.  Just click the “Continue Reading” link below.

(continue reading…)

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Learn to Secure Linux The Fun Way

by amp on Jul.18, 2010, under General, Linux, PC Maintenance, Pro Tips, Tutorials, Web Resources

DVL Distro

You must admit; one of the most popular activities among the IT world is downloading and trying new operating systems.  Why?  Because we are looking for one that meets all requirements of what we do.  This would include..

  1. Easy to use..
  2. Easy to configure and set up..
  3. Easy to manage and above all..
  4. AS SECURE AS POSSIBLE.

What if that isn’t your goal?  Maybe your goal is to have something as vulnerable as possible so that you can LEARN to secure nearly any Linux OS.  That is the goal of Damn Vulnerable Linux.

DVL is a linux distribution based off Backtrack 2.0.  It’s filled with all sorts of tools and exploits as well as all the services such as SSHD and Apache that are out-dated and vulnerable to attacks.  The main goal of this distro is to teach you how to secure, reverse engineer code, and most of all…LEARN.

This is by far one of the coolest things I have come across and I am recommending it highly.

Damn Vulnerable Linux (DVL) is everything a good Linux distribution isn’t. Its developers have spent hours stuffing it with broken, ill-configured, outdated, and exploitable software that makes it vulnerable to attacks. DVL isn’t built to run on your desktop – it’s a learning tool for security students.

The main idea behind DVL was to build up a training system that I could use for my university lectures. My goal was to design a Linux system that was as vulnerable as possible, to teach topics such as reverse code engineering, buffer overflows, shellcode development, Web exploitation, and SQL injection.

Of course one of the obvious warnings they give you is to not use it as an actual operating system and if you ask me that goes without saying.

Give it a shot and see what you can learn.  I’m having fun on it already! :)

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UNetbootin – Create bootable flash drives for almost anything.

by amp on Jul.08, 2010, under File System, General, PC Maintenance, Products, Reviews & Previews, Web Resources

UNetbootin is free software aimed at anyone looking to create USB-Bootable installs for Linux distributions.

“UNetbootin allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions without burning a CD. It runs on both Windows and Linux. You can either let UNetbootin download one of the many distributions supported out-of-the-box for you, or supply your own Linux .iso file if you’ve already downloaded one or your preferred distribution isn’t on the list.”

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

The wonderful thing about UNetbootin is the fact that this does not just work for linux distributions that I have found but it also works for any other boot-cd you might find.  As long as you have an ISO of a disk that is supposed to boot on startup, it can make it so.

Therefore, you are not limited to just ISO’s of Fedora, Ubuntu, etc.  I have created USB bootable flash drives with MultiBoot, Hirens, and others as well as Windows XP, Windows 7, etc.  Why you need to do this?  Want to install Windows XP on your netbook?  Need to remove a windows password?

Download it Here.

If you have already used it before, leave a comment about what you have done with it.

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Commit Web 2.0 Suicide

by amp on Jun.20, 2010, under PC, Pro Tips, Reviews & Previews, Web Resources

Web 2.0 Suicide Machine

Who doesn’t love being on the latest social networking site?

That’s what I thought.

…but, if you are one of the millions that are on Facebook, Myspace, twitter, and wish you had never joined; don’t worry.  There is hope.

A friend of mine was going out for a job interview with a very important company.  Of course he had a profile on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and a few others.  Being worried about evidence of activities they wouldn’t like for obvious reasons he had to go through and scrape as much of his pictures, status updates, friends, etc that he could.  My friend spent a good day removing whatever he could find. Of course, this could have been easier..

The Web 2.0 Suicide Machine will take care of all the work for you.  The automated website / script will login to your accounts, remove all your friends, remove all status updates and tweets, and make your profile and information completely private and removed.  Basically, it kills your “social network” profiles.

If you watch South Park at all, you already know about this and probably wondered, “Hm…I wonder if it’s real” and I can assure you it is.  The only difference is you won’t be sucked into a Tron 2.0-like Facebook internet mall environment where everyone ignores you while you are transported by Facebook-Guards.

If you are wondering which episode of South Park this was featured on follow the link below to download the episode via ThePirateBay.

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5505157 – South Park : Episode 04, Season 14 :: “You have 0 Friends.”

Commit Web 2.0 Suicide Here

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