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SSL What Why Where
What
SSL stands for secure socket layer. It is the technique used to encrypt and secure data over the internet. It is most known for use in web browsers. When you go to a secure web site (known as http over SSL or https), you will see a little lock icon somewhere which shows you that the site is secure. Things get complicated when you shop for SSL certificates where you can also get site seals or EV SSL and you’ll find a wide range of prices ranging from $30/year to over $1,000/year.
Terminology
- SSL certificate – A basic SSL certificate is all you need for a lock to be displayed in a browser.
- Site seal – If you purchase an SSL certificate, it often comes with a site seal which is a little graphic you can display on your site which will tell visitors that your site is secured by that SSL seller.
- “Deluxe” or “Premium” SSL – Most SSL sellers offer some more expensive version of SSL which is typically the exact same SSL certificate accompanied with a site seal or more advanced site seal.
- Multi-domain SSL – It is possible to purchase one SSL certificate that can work for multiple domains which makes it much easier to manage if you need to secure many domains. This is typically only worth getting if you have a lot of domains.
- Extended Validation (EV) SSL – This is the latest and most expensive SSL which in addition to basic SSL will also cause a green security bar to be shown in the latest web browsers. The green bar means the SSL purchase was verified as a real business which is supposed to make the visitor feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Considering it isn’t that hard to make a fake business, I never get that feeling. Also, less than 1/3 of browsers in use right now can show the green bar and most people don’t even know what it means yet.
Why
Without encryption, everything you send from your computer to a web server is totally readable by anything in between. Things get even more unsafe if you are at an open wifi spot at a cafe where anyone around you can watch all the unencrypted data you are sending and receiving. As a result, some actions such as site logins or purchasing online must be encrypted with SSL.
Where
There are several places you can buy SSL certificates. Many are extremely overpriced for no good reason. From cheapest to most expensive, I’d recommend the following:
- GoDaddy.com
– The standard SSL from GoDaddy is $30/year and you can typically get a discount off of that with a promo code. They also offer EV SSL for $500/year. Sadly, that is relatively cheap for EV SSL. One complaint I have about GoDaddy is their site to manage your SSL is ugly and confusing. Another problem is they are not a top tier SSL provider so you have to install what’s called a certificate chain file in addition to the certificate. If you can handle the extra work and poor site, they are the cheapest way to go and in the end, the SSL works the same.
- Geocerts – This is a site that resells GeoTrust certificates for cheaper than GeoTrust sells directly. GeoTrust certificates are easier to install than GoDaddy because you don’t have to deal with a certificate chain. They also make the process quick and easy. Their basic SSL is $99 and their Premium is $129. If you want a good site seal that is clickable that brings up a useful dialog box about your SSL, GeoTrust Premium is the way to go.
- VeriSign – These guys have been around for a long time and they do a good job but their prices are nuts. $400 for basic SSL and $1000 for EV SSL. If money is no object, you can consider them.
Tivo HD Hard Drive Upgrade Guide
There are several Tivo hard drive upgrade guides out there. I recently had to upgrade a Tivo HD drive for a Virginia customer and realized that most guides out there either don’t work or are unnecessarily complicated. As a result, I’ve collected the simplest way to do it which requires just one command if you’ve got everything you need.
What you need
- The Tivo HD
itself. That link is to Amazon which almost always has the Tivo HD for less than $250.
- A new larger drive. I recommend the Seagate DB35 750GB
- MFSLive linux boot disc. You can download the ISO of this here: http://www.mfslive.org/download.htm. Burn the ISO to disc.
- A desktop computer with 2 sata connectors and cables for the old drive and new drive.
- A Torx T-10 screwdriver.
What to do
- Remove your original Tivo drive and hook it up to your desktop’s first sata connector.
- Hook up the new drive to the desktop’s second sata connector.
- Boot off the linux boot disc. When booted, you should just see a command prompt. You can now type the following command to see your connected drives:
cat /proc/partitions
If hooked up correctly, you should see your smaller original drive listed as sda and your new larger drive as sdb. If you hook them up wrong, you could copy a blank drive to the original drive removing all Tivo data. That would be very bad which is why you need to run this command and check the drives. - Execute one command to begin the full copy and expansion to the new drive. This command will copy all your settings and shows as well:
backup -qTao – /dev/sda | restore -s 128 -r 4 -xzpi – /dev/sdb
This command is nicer than many in that it tells you how much time is left. It should take about an hour. - Once the command completes, turn off your computer and plug the new drive into your Tivo. That’s it, boot up the Tivo and you should have a working box with much larger recording capacity. It is a good idea to hold on to the original drive in case your new one ever breaks so you could duplicate it again to keep your Tivo working.
LCD Image Persistence
Most people have heard of screen burn-in. It is an imprint of an image on a display that is caused by that image being displayed too long. CRT burn-in was very common for things like taskbars that were always displayed on the screen in the same place. To prevent this, screen savers were invented to display different images to counteract the burn-in effects. Most people thought this problem went away when LCDs were created but that isn’t entirely true.
It is uncommon in LCDs but it can happen. The crystals change their natural state enough to cause an imprinting of the persistent image, kind of like a shadow of it.
See the LCD screen to the right which has a menu at the top that still displays on a blank screen.
Prevention
Much like CRT burn-in, screen savers can help prevent the problem. It is a good idea to pick a screen server with lots of changing colors. Having your screen auto turn off when not in use will also help by not displaying the image more than it has to be.
Fixing
Unfortunately, preventative techniques will only do so much if you are always at your computer and not giving it an opportunity to turn off or run a screen saver. In that case, you need to know how to fix the problem. It is important to try to fix it as soon as you notice it as it is possible to become permanent if it continues too long. To fix it, you can try one of these following techniques:
- Leave your monitor off for very long periods of time. This could take hours or many days.
- Use a screen saver with lots of colors and let it run for a long period of time. The length of time can vary depending on how bad the persistence is.
- Display a solid single color or white for a long period of time.
If none of those work, your image is probably permanent and you are at your computer far too often.
Aspire One BIOS Update Version 3304
The Aspire One
Create a FreeDOS bootable USB flash drive
Once you have your USB flash drive, be sure it is formatted FAT32. Then download the program UNetbootin. Start up UNetbootin and select the Distribution FreeDOS. Then towards the bottom select your USB drive letter and click OK. The drive should now be bootable.
Acquire BIOS 3304
You can download the 3304 BIOS here. Extract the contents of the zip file and copy them to the USB flash drive.
Boot off the USB drive and install
Start up the Aspire One and hit F12 until the boot screen appears. Choose to boot off of your USB drive and you will see a UNetbootin screen where you can select default. You will then see 5 boot options. Select #5 FreeDOS Live CD only. Once booted, you’ll be at a DOS prompt on drive A:\. Change to C:\ by simply typing “C:\”. You should then be able to see the contents of your usb drive by typing “dir”. Then type “cd ZG5_3304” if that is the directory where you put your BIOS files. Then the last step is to type “3304.BAT” to run the install script. A progress screen will appear. The install should take less than a minute.
Verify
Once the flashing of the new BIOS is complete you can reboot. You can remove your USB flash drive. Press F2 at boot to get into the BIOS and confirm that System BIOS Version says v0.3304.
Problems
If you encounter any problems, the most likely cause is your usb drive. You can try to reformat your drive or use a different usb flash drive.