April 17, 2009

Do Not Want!

And so my fellow Canadians, the day that we have been dreading in our hearts has finally arrived. A day when our freedoms and rights have been crushed beneath the festering heel of international corporations. We, the just and righteous have finally fallen. They have attempted to snuff us out.

But no. In the words of our immortal intergalactic savior. Never give up. Never surrender. Our beloved captains and fellow pirates Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm and Carl Lundström have finally succumbed to their trial.

That’s right. Oh what a cruel twist of fate for pirates everywhere.

Or is it?

Despite the guilty verdict issued by the courts in Sweden, Peter Sunde has promised that The Pirate Bay will continue to live on! Due to the precise (or not so precise, depending how you look at it) nature of the accusations brought against the 4, The Pirate Bay will continue to run. Only the 4 of them have been accused. And while I’m not saying that the one year sentence and roughly 900K (USD) each that they have to serve, it’s Sweden. Considering first time offenders, I’d say they’ll be out in 6 months. Add good behaviour? Probably closer to 4.

Still though, the case has been watched by all as the trial will surely hold sway over any future cases. The four, while holding no official positions at The Pirate Bay, were told that they worked as a team, and as such their “punishments” were handed out as such. What makes this so very different is that this is the first time charges have ever stuck.

Normally when tracker operators (more on the science behind torrents later) are legally pursued, it is a simple matter of shutting down the tracker. Or moving to a more legal-free zone such as Sweden. This has happened to TPB before. Their server farm was raided numerous times and they’ve moved to numerous locations. This time, rather than bringing charges against a website, the corporations involved chose to go after their owners.

However, because of certain “innocent bystanders” laws, ISP’s will be immune to this decision, so don’t worry about Rogers or Bell getting nailed for people hosting illegal websites. However, this should add some more fuel to the RIAA’s already pathetic fire bringing it up from smolder to candle.

At any rate, there will be an outcry among pirates. Pirates tend to be rather computer literate. And they don’t take well to their idols being messed with.


In response to the outrageous nonsense, I’m going to be writing up a couple posts on Torrents. How to get yourself up and running with them, how to optimize your connecting, and the best places for torrents.

GO FORTH AND PIRATE.

AR.

April 14, 2009

Disable WGA – KB905474

I know with my recent Microsoft appraisals it may seem like I’m placing them on some sort of super-high pedestal that the rest can’t reach. Over the weekend Microsoft got knocked off that a couple times, almost as if the universe decided to spite me.

Reinstalling Windows - For KB905474 tests?

WGA Validation Fail.

Oh noes. What have we here? For those out of the loop, apparently unbeknowst to the public Microsoft slipped patch KB905474 through their update servers. Those of you who don’t check the updates and look into them before installing (probably most of you.. I can’t imagine anyone doing this unless they were completely paranoid) wouldn’t have even noticed this little doozy pass by. And then you’d never notice it again, until it told you that the pirated copy of windows that you were using was Pirated, and then refused to shut down your computer or start it up. It would also display a horrendous little notification on the bottom right of your screen and a system tray icon that refused to go away. Oh and it would bond to your OS, making it virtually impossible to remove. Once installed, KB905474 is here to stay.

Or is it? With a little know how KB905474 is actually fairly simple to remove. It invovles the use of a single tool that’s offered to the public for free and the steps are so easy someone who claims to be computer illiterate can easily perform them (trust me, I have validation on this).

  1. Download and install Unlocker. This handy little gem was actually found through a website that I frequent called Rarst, the particular post outlining it vs another file unlocker. In the end Unlocker won out for me simply because it was the easiest to use. What it does is take any file and list the files that are using it. You can then “unlock” the file from use. The Unlocker website contains and lot more details (and screenshots) of the whole process and the Rarst post contains a lot of good information for those of you who want  a bit more.
  2. Now go to this folder: C:\Windows\system32\ and look for the following files:
    wgalogon.dll
    WGATray.exe
    They’ll by right next to each other, so if you find one, you’ll find the other.
  3. Making sure every other window is closed, right click WGATray.exe and select unlocker. Simply select the file in the window that pops up and select unlock. Then rename the file to WGATray.exe.old. If Unlocker reports that a lock couldn’t be found, simply rename the file.
  4. Now right click wgalogon.dll and do the same thing. This file will have a lock on it, so you will have to select Unlock before you can tamper with it. Rename it to wgalogon.dll.old

You would have noticed that wgalogon.dll was actually tied directly into winlogon.exe which is essential for windows. This is why you can no longer remove it.

Now just open task manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL or right click the taskbar and select Task Manager). Click on the Processes tab and then click on the Image Name title, sorting them alphabetically. Now you can just find WGATray.exe and end the process. You will have noticed that if you tried to end it previously that it would just start back up again, but by renaming the file, it can no longer find it so it can’t start it.

Your computer will also refuse to shut down the first time this is done. This is because WGA is tied directly into Windows and it’s getting confused that it can no longer find it. Simply force shut down (hold the power button) and when that’s done boot up again and you should be fine.

April 6, 2009

A little less conversation

A little more action please.

All this aggrevation is exactly what Microsoft is hoping to stir up.

For years Apple has berrated Microsoft through it’s “I’m a MAC/PC” Commericals. For all these years, while Apple was their “competitor” Microsoft really never had anything to fear. I mean, Microsoft was in a league of their own. But Apple continued to assualt them. They mocked their look, they mocked their security, they mocked their.. virusability? They pretty much took Windows, and decided to beat them around a bit. And Microsoft took it. It wasn’t because they were trying to be the better person. It was because they had nothing to say. Apple was right about all those things.

Oh but then Microsoft realized. Hey, there must be SOMETHING we’re doing right right? I mean, billions of people who use us can’t be wrong. There must be something we do that Apple can’t.

Oh yea. Most things.

The latest bout of Microsoft commercials attack Apple where it hurts. Right in their shiny shiny chins. For years Macs have been about the look. About the “complete Mac experience”. The feeling that, when you buy a Mac, you’re instantly a part of a community of people who are just so awesome that their smiles run the world. Now Microsoft has taken that and thrown it right back at Mac owners.

Yes, you love your shiny mac. Is that why you paid for it? Because you’re attracted to shiny things? Ooooo smart you ;)

Microsoft, while being unbelievably nice about it, just kicked Apple in it’s proverbial nuts (pits would be more accurate no? Or maybe seeds) by hinting that people only by Macs because it’s Apple. Because for some reason, they put shiny ahead of working.

The new commercials have incited riots online (which is the equivalent of 12 year olds making lewd comments in forums) amoung Mac fans.

With their first commercial, Microsoft showed the world what everyday ..joettes thought of computers. And Fan boys responded in anger!

“Bah!”, they cried. “Lauren is an actress! She’s fake! Her computer is vastly inferior to ours!”

And Microsoft replied by jabbing at Apple yet again.

“PSHA!”, they seem to say this time. “The computer you showed sucks! It’s so, 2006″.

Oh noes Microsoft! What will you do now? The Fanboys have spoken. Perhaps you have prodded the sleeping lion.. or, dare I say, Snow Leopard?

Welcome to 2009 Apple. Microsoft is finally fighting back.

Newer Entries »