Using the Secure-Tunnel bookmarklet to secure your Web connection

I've been using Secure-Tunnel to securely tunnel Web traffic when connecting to the Internet from less than trustworthy locations.  Using the FoxyProxy add-on to Firefox, it's fairly easy to set up a tunneled profile based on URL patterns:



but what if you don't want or have the luxury of installing FoxyProxy on the computer you're using?  Wouldn't it be cool to have a lightweight bookmarklet to get approximately the same functionality.

I decided to see if I could try my hand at hacking a JavaScript silly string to do just that.  Breaking down the URL generated by the value-add service called ST Securebar by Secure-Tunnel, I was able to create the following hacked bookmark:

javascript:%20var%20u%20=%20'http/'%20+%20window.location.host%20+window.location.pathname;%20u%20=%20'https://securebar.secure-tunnel.com/cgi-bin/nph-securebar.cgi/010100A/'%20+%20escape(u);%20window.location%20=%20u;

Yeah, ugly, right?  For convenience, I've created a small bookmarklet below:

SecureTunnel

Just drag the link up into your Bookmarks Toolbar and you'll be able to tunnel your currently displayed Web page within an SSH Secure-Tunnel.

Comments and questions welcome.

Removing Scanners, Cameras and Webcams from "My Computer"

Warning: Blog Entry Contains Original Content

I recently performed a massive search for information regarding removing a newly materialized "Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000" icon within my "My Computer" window on my Windows XP laptop. Obviously, the icon came about through the installation of a new ... you guessed it ... Logitech QuickCam installed recently into the rats nest of USB devices now procreating in my office workspace. I purchased the webcam to inflict undue stress and anguish on unsuspecting Skype contacts who haven't grown accustomed to my face. It's really a fate worse than SPAM on an iPhone, but of course, I digress.

The real estate in my "My Computer" window is at a premium these days. I have a half-dozen perma-mounted network drives, an external DVD burner, a USB thumb drive-based TrueCrypt volume, and pretty icons for my Creative ZEN and Windows Mobile device. Yet another barely useful icon in "My Computer" wouldn't do. There must be a way to irradicate this infiltrator. But how?

A quick search – or to use the new technological verb, "google" – for removing icons from "My Computer" listed lots of near misses, including a fairly prevalent references to tools such as TweakUI (one of my favorite Windows powertoys, BTW) for hiding icons found in My Computer. Unfortunately, while almost everything, including actual drives, can be hidden, this annoying new webcam icon seemed to be considered a permanent fixture with no clear way to remove it. The Logitech QuickCam forum made reference to an "unsupported Windows hack" to remove such things, but hacks were clearly taboo in their forum's forum.

Then I decided to do what any good geek with little regard for safety of their Company-given laptop would do: Start... Run... regedit. A global search for this unwelcome visitor found several references, all far too scary to consider whacking. Then I came to learn of the MyComputer registry key and things started getting interesting. Apparently this is how/where TweakUI'esque programs hide certain icons from "My Computer". But there were no Logitech references to be found in this hallowed Registry key hierarchy. Hmmm.

Back to Google (the site, not the verb). Under MyComputer, I found something called a NameSpace, which seemed to house things like my ZEN and Mobile Device's class IDs, but again, no webcam. But then, after hours of wasting the company's time, I found ... wait for it ... DelegateFolders! More googling found that this is where the sometimes annoying "Shared Documents" is inserted into "My Computer". Could it be that additional delegation was being done to add my webcam? You betcha!

One of the Class ID registry keys under DelegateFolders has a default value of "Scanners & Cameras". Obviously, this had nothing to do with webcams, right? Well, those with a keen eye and lots of free time may realize that webcams are listed under the "Scanners and Cameras" control panel within the Windows Control Panel. Hmmm. Sure enough, after backing up my Registry and whacking the Class ID with the default string of "Scanners & Cameras", I was finally free of that pesky yet benign icon forever.

In summary, thank you for bearing with me. In more of a technical summary, this is how one would remove all scanners, cameras and webcams from one's "My Computer" window:

• Close "My Computer"
• Start REGEDIT.EXE
• Make a backup of your Registry by selecting the top of the displayed tree (ironically called "My Computer"), then pulling down File... Export.
  
• Find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\DelegateFolders
• Select each Class ID sub-key (keys with ugly names like {E211B736-43FD-11D1-9EFB-0000F8757FCD}) and look for a "(Default)" value of "Scanners & Cameras".
• Delete the key
• Double-click "My Computer" on your desktop

Questions, comments, warnings, suggestions and threats are all welcome.

Dorothy L. Dugal, 1933-2009

Dorothy L. (Wunschel) Dugal, 75, passed away Sunday, January 25, 2009. She was the former wife of the late Dona A. Dugal. Born in Pawtucket, a lifelong resident of the City, she was a daughter of the late Anton and Alice (Roberts) Wunschel.

Dot was a member of St. Teresa's Seniors and was involved with the Pawtucket Parks and Recreation Department. She leaves one son, David G. Dugal of Merrimack, NH; one daughter, Diane A. Bynum of Cranston; two brothers, William Wunschel of Cumberland and Carl Wunschel of Coventry and four step-grandchildren. She was the sister of the late Irene Russell and Lillian Dexter.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday at 10 a.m. in St. Teresa Church, 358 Newport Ave., Pawtucket. In lieu of flowers, gifts in her memory to the American Stroke Association, 20 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701-4688 would be appreciated.

The Kid's now a blogger!

It's hard to believe, but our little lady, aptly nicknamed "The Kid", has now started an honest-to-goodness blog of her own.  While currently only a StumbleUpon blog, initial indications are that her eclectic interests are really showing progress.



If you dare, review or subscribe to her blog at:

http://deanna-mae.com

Good luck, Deanna!  You've made your two socially networked (read: "geek") parents proud!

Dona A. Dugal, 1930-2008

Dona A. Dugal
DUGAL, DONA A., 78, of Woonsocket and formerly of Pawtucket, passed away Saturday, September 6, 2008 at the Philip Hulitar Hospice Center, Providence. He was the husband of Pauline (Beaudry) Dugal. Born in Pawtucket, he was the son of the late George and Jennie (Clausse) Dugal. Mr. Dugal was a mechanic for the Auto Show of Seekonk, MA for several years, retiring in 1998. Besides his wife, he leaves his former wife, Dorothy (Wunschel) Dugal, a son, David Dugal of New Hampshire, a daughter, Diane Bynum of Cranston, three step daughters, Donna Bell of Pawtucket, Kim Marie Bell of New Hampshire, and Tammy West of Pawtucket, two sisters, Mary St. George of Pawtucket, and Frances Borges of Pawtucket, and eight step grandchildren. Mr. Dugal was one of the first mechanic's of Leonard Ink D.B.A. Auto Show of Seekonk MA, for over 30 years, Retiring in 1998. He also did some Modeling with Mr. Leonard through the Donahue Modeling Agency. Through the years Don had a LOVE for OLD CARS, He loved breathing new life into old cars that needed him, He could not pass a JUNK YARD without bringing one home. There are maybe 500 cars he has fixed for friends and family members that are still on the road today. Don also belonged to the Rolling Rhodes Car Club, The Drifters, & the Four Seasons Rambler AMCRC Car Club. Visiting hours Tuesday 5-9PM. at the COSTIGAN-ONEILL Funeral Home, 220 Cottage Street, Pawtucket. The funeral will be Wednesday at 9 a.m. with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in Saint Teresa Church, 358 Newport Ave., Pawtucket. Burial will be private. Reception will be held after the funeral, everyone is invited to the basement of the Church for a small luncheon.

Pioneer Sneaks Out $2200 Elite BDP-09FD; First Blu-ray Player That Crushes the PS3

clipped from vipergeek.stumbleupon.com Last May Pioneer told us that autumn would bring a "super duper" Blu-ray player--the most powerful Blu-ray player ever built. It makes up for the current crop, which are lower in price but are missing key features like BD-Live for internet-based content. Well, not a leaf has fallen off a tree, yet here it is already, the $2,200 Elite BDP-09FD. Feature-wise, the best Blu-ray player on the market has been the PS3--turns out, an extra $1,700 will buy you something that kills Sony's game console as far as Blu-ray and other media are concerned. Home Theater: Pioneer Sneaks Out $2200 Elite BDP-09FD; First...

Pork and Beans

Incredibly hilarious video by Weezer. See if you can catch all the YouTube viral video cameos. Absolutely brilliant!

OB/GYN + Earthquake = VagQuake!

A 5.4 earthquake hit Tuesday while Verdell Wilson was having an exam in her gynecologist's Los Angeles office. Given it was her first earthquake experience, Wilson did what comes naturally--she twittered it."As soon as I got dressed, I twittered my experience from my cell phone," Wilson said. "I usually twitter to 80 friends, but I now have 274 messages from people commenting on it."

And then Twitter and FriendFeed exploded with comments and references and replies. Verdell's experience even prompted chitown.mike to post a mock-up motivational poster about it:




Clearly this is a new Internet meme and the beginning of the latest Internet viral concept.

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Juniper: Enterprise demand strong; Johnson hired to scale up

Current Juniper CEO Scott Kriens delivered strong quarter results, said enterprise demand was solid and outlined the primary reason Kevin Johnson was hired as his replacement: He knows how to scale.

Ahead of its earnings report Thursday, Juniper made the Johnson news official. The company has hired Kevin Johnson, who used to run Microsoft’s platform and services division, which was split up by the software giant. And judging from Juniper’s announcement Johnson is walking into a good situation.

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Mozilla Sets World Record

With over 8 million downloads Mozilla sets the Guinness World Record for most software downloads in 24 hours.

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Color Management add-on for Firefox 3

The Color Management add-on for Firefox 3 by Sean Hayes is a must for any avid photographer or enthusiast who knows the difference between sRGB and Adobe RGB. Firefox 3 adds support for non-sRGB colorspaces, but the Color Management add-on easily enables it, and allows specification of monitor profile as well. Install this now!

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Zippo Tricks by Nathan Walker

Pretty clever, possibly unedited slight of hand tricks with one or more Zippo lighters. My pyro daughter is looking on with delight. I think I'll hide my Zippo tonight ...

Finally -- Skype CallerID for North Americans

This week Skype has modified this service such that Skype users can select either their SkypeIn (Online) number or mobile phone number as their CLI or CallerID to be sent with their SkypeOut calls. And now it applies to North American Skype users.

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Our three new kits at play.

Our three new kits at play.
Originally uploaded by ViperGeek

Introducing our three new baby ferrets (called "kits"). Angel is the red-eyed white albino ferret. Josie is the champagne ferret. And Midnight is the black sable ferret. Each has a different personality. We're waiting to find out which will become the Alpha Weasel.

Am I on Myspace.com plugin keeps you off MySpace forever!

It appears you are not on MySpace.com. You're safe at the moment, but at any point you could accidentally follow the wrong link and end up stuck inside the sweaty armpit of the Internet. But with our helpful Firefox plugin you can browse in peace again. Any visit to MySpace will cause it to jump in and save you with a large prompt offering to take you back to sanity.

Click Am I on MySpace.com to save your sanity forever!

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Obama crosses historic milestone

Obama crosses historic milestone - CNN.com

Barack Obama has done what many just a year ago thought was impossible. He took on the most powerful family in Democratic politics and won.

On Tuesday, Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, marking the first time an African-American will head the ticket of a major political party.

The first-term senator captured the Democratic nomination by beating out Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was hoping to become the first female nominee.

He also had to campaign against the senator's husband, former President Bill Clinton, one of the great political talents of the 20th century who, at least going into the primary season, enjoyed widespread popularity among Democrats.

During one debate, Obama wondered out loud if he was running against the wife or the husband, given the former president's high profile on the campaign trail.

Posted using ShareThis

Security Twits by Mediaphyter

Security Twits by Mediaphyter


Jennifer Leggio (aka. @mediaphyter) has started an up-to-date list of security professionals on Twitter and FriendFeed. Check back often for upcoming security events and/or contacts, or DM mediaphyter to be added to the list.

Alex Matusciac Photography

An incredible portfolio of alluring, eye-catching glamour and fashion photos on photo.net by Alex Matusciac.

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LisaNova will Collab Your Face Off!

Have a video you'd like to upload to YouTube? Having trouble getting hits and distribution of your important message? Well add a Lisa Nova "collab" character inserted somewhere in your video to use as the video's thumbnail and watch the hits roll in!

Viral Marketing on Youtube: A Look at LisaNova’s Sexy Videos

It’s well known that the use of sexy screenshots can help your videos get a lot more exposure. People are much more likely to click through on videos showing cleavage or the body of an attractive male/female.

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What is BlogThis! (revisited)?

This is simply a refreshed update to the original BLogThis! post from October 2005.

BlogThis! is an easy way to make a blog post without visiting blogger.com. Once you add the BlogThis! link to your browser's toolbar, blogging will be a snap. Or rather, a click. Clicking BlogThis! creates a mini-interface to Blogger prepopulated with a link to the web page you are visiting, as well as any text you have highlighted on that page. Add additional text if you wish and then publish or post from within BlogThis!

Who'da thunk our little town of Merrimack would have such excitement???

clipped from www.nashuatelegraph.com Man jailed after stabbing, robbery in Merrimack MERRIMACK – Police are investigating a robbery and stabbing that led to a trip to the hospital for one man Sunday night and to an attempted murder charge for another. Michael Teeple, 35, of Mast Road in Manchester, is in custody at the Merrimack Police Department after police said he used a T-handled tire rasp – a roughly 4-inch tool used to patch flat tires – to stab a 50-year-old resident of a Loop Road home multiple times.

My Ferret Photo Set on Flickr

I'm actually quite surprised I haven't blogged my set of ferret photos from Flickr yet. I've got quite a collection of photos I've taken of my Evil Weasels throughout the years. Here's a mosaic, created from BigHugeLabs.com Mosaic Maker:



and a few of my favorites:






















Comments welcome!

The Simpsons OK Go Spoof

The Simpsons OK Go Spoof

FaceBook In Reality

Hilarious take on what Facebook would be like in real life.

Clipmarks - Clip the highlights

With Clipmarks, you're always one-click away from sharing any piece of media you find on the web.

Like scissors for web pages, Clipmarks lets you capture the specific content on a web page that you want others to see.

Once you've clipped something, you can share it anywhere on the web, including Facebook, your blog, by email or on clipmarks.com.

Obama nears finish line, but can Clinton rebound?

clipped from www.cnn.com Analysis: Obama nears finish line, but can Clinton rebound? NEW YORK (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama took a major step Tuesday toward securing the Democratic presidential nomination. He not only scored a convincing victory in North Carolina, but he also made Hillary Clinton's path to the nomination even more difficult by finishing closely behind her in Indiana. Clinton vowed to soldier on, telling supporters at an Indiana rally that "it's full speed on to the White House." Obama on Wednesday morning has a larger lead in pledged delegates as well as the overall popular vote. For Clinton, time for a rebound may be slipping away.

WOT (Web of Trust) - Participate in Your Own Internet Securi

WOT (Web of Trust), a free Internet Browser resource that has established an impressive 4.5/5.0 star user rating on CNET, tests web sites you are visiting for spyware, spam, viruses, browser exploits, unreliable online shops, phishing, and online scams. WOT which integrates with search engine results from popular search engines including Google...

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OK Go - Here It Goes Again

This "OK Go" video has become an absolute classic. It's one of my favorite YouTube videos of all time. There was even a reference to this viral video on an episode of The Simpsons!

Panasonic Details DMP-BD50 Pricing and Features | High-Def Digest

Panasonic Details DMP-BD50 Pricing and Features | High-Def Digest

Panasonic has announced the spring debut of its much-touted DMP-BD50 player, which boasts BD-Live among other expanded capabilities.

As reported in January and further detailed via press release today, The BD50 adds BD-Live functionality, which lets viewers access online content such as images and subtitles to further enhance the viewing experience.

The BD50 also offers next generation sound capabilities using integrated decoders for lossless Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

How to Delete Email Addiction

How to Delete Email Addiction is an excellent article on how to wean yourself off of near-fatal e-mail addiction. The article begins:

"I have a secret: I am an email-holic, and I am addicted to email.

"Despite persistent drive to improve my productivity and personal efficiency, I am hooked on email, and occasionally social networking sites like facebook. I have read countless articles on the topic, including Tim’s 4HWW. Each time, I would get inspired, follow it for a few days, and eventually fall back on my routine of checking email, every spare moment."

Click here for more.

Just before sunset.

Three beautiful images of a sunset over the water, taken during our cruise on the Sovereign of the Seas coming back from the Bahamas:

Check out Nancie-Jo's Travelogue for more details on our cruise.

ViperGeek's Random Ramblings

This blog is dedicated to the pseudo-random thoughts I have throughout my lifetime. While it may be of little interest to almost nobody, I wanted to confirm that my AddThis widget correctly allows posting to Digg.

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Nancie-Jo has a new blog!

Nancie, my fiancée, has graduated from MySpace to Facebook, and now onto a real, honest-to-goodness Blogger blog! Check out her heartfelt ruminations, called Our Lives, at:

http://nancie-jo.blogspot.com
Congratulations Nancie! I'm very proud of you.

Another Day at Fenway - Panning Time Lapse - HDTV

Incredible time-lapsed video of Fenway Park in Boston, MA, shot by Tom Guilmette (www.tomguilmette.com).

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Who's selling Windows XP in July? | Defensive Computing - CNET Blogs

Who's selling Windows XP in July? | Defensive Computing - CNET Blogs

By July 1st, Dell, Lenovo, HP and all the other big computer manufacturers will no longer be allowed to sell new computers with Windows XP pre-installed. So says Microsoft. Microsoft also dictated to retailers that, come July, there will be no more shrink-wrapped boxes of Windows XP on their store shelves.

But, many of us prefer XP over the Microsoft-mandated Vista. To borrow from Star Trek, some of us don't want to be assimilated (sorry, couldn't resist). What are we to do this summer?

Clinton Camp Vows to Fight On, but Needs to Win 2 States - New York Times

Clinton Camp Vows to Fight On, but Needs to Win 2 States - New York Times

Whois Source: whois and domain name lookup

This is possibly the most complete Web-based whois site I've ever seen. The detail about the requested Web site includes detailed ownership information, link analysis, search engine criteria, and even a thumbnail of the site.

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Mixwit mix tapes

My Frappr Social Networking Map

Legacy is greater than Currency.

Gary Vaynerchuk talks about the value of social equity over money.

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