Better than TeamViewer? Remote Desktop Software [Chrome Remote Desktop]

For a long time I have used TeamViewer to access my computers at home and for family members in other states when ever they had a technical problem. More recently I set up a home server using Windows Server (completely legit copy….) because of some of the added abilities for its use case. Most of what this server is used for is streaming content to the various tv’s around the house but it does a couple other tasks as well. TeamViewer assumes that any computer running Windows Server editions is used in a commercial environment and as such will only give you a trial of the software to use. Obviously I don’t want to pay for it and I went looking for other options. With out opening up ports on my network leaving me with the potential for a compromised network windows default RDP protocol and VNC are both out of the question. In comes Chrome Remote Desktop. This handy app is provided by Google and they don’t try and charge me for it! YAY!!! They have apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. While the interface is not quite as refined as TeamViewer or RDP overall the functionality is definitely there and it does exactly what it needs to. That is allow me to access my computers from anywhere in the world using my laptop, iPad or iPhone. So check it out if your tired of TeamViewer blocking your connections because they think you are using it for commercial ventures and get back to downloading those completely legal movie streams.

-Tracker

AT&T Gives users more data with out them asking! Oh and they are gonna charge them for it… Wait WTF?

So AT&T is in the news AGAIN! This time they are fucking over long time customers on older plans by giving them 15gb of data extra per month but then charging them for it. AT&T is claiming that these customers have the option to change plans if they would like and its a small number of customers that are still on older legacy plans.

Ok so now for my opinion (I am very good at giving it!)

Fuck that if I have been a customer on the same plan for “X” years I should be able to maintain that plan. Don’t tack on additional charges and fees just because you want me to switch to a newer more profitable plan that you offer. This ties into my previous post about deceptive marketing with the “unlimited” plans that were offered that were not unlimited. All the big phone providers are just screwing over customers where ever and when ever possible. The only thing we can do as consumers is find a provider that screws you over as little as possible that you can tolerate.

Fail!

-Tracker

Source[Gizmodo]

AT&T Fined $60 Million for Selling Unlimited Data Plans That Were Not Unlimited. Imagine That.

In a somewhat follow up to our post the other day. AT&T has now been fined $60 Million for throttling customers who purchased “Unlimited” plans from the carrier. Some people reported up to 95% slower speeds with as low as 2gb of data usage. The FTC has assessed a fine of $60 Million that will be used for partial refunds to affected customer’s. This goes exactly in line with what I was talking about. Now the industry has changed a little in the fact that its a bit easier to find the info about when and why they will throttle you but they are still not offering “UNLIMITED” service because its not possible!

Source: [Gizmodo]

-Tracker

At&T has a new “Unlimited” plan

Ok so here we go with some info about AT&T and a opinion of the big 4.

At&T released info on its new “Unlimited” plans (or not so unlimited) they are giving users the following choices for single lines

$65 for Unlimited data. What they failed to mention in the press release was that data throttling would be possible at ANY TIME down from a soft cap and throttling after 22gb. What does this mean? Well if you are in a congested area your speeds are going to suffer extensively.

They are also offering a plan for $65 that includes 15gb of hotspot usage and a 50gb soft cap (Throttled after 50gb) a long with a $85 plan that includes a 50gb of hotspot and a 100gb soft cap along with HBO Go (Does anyone really care about that?)

So they are saying its unlimited but hiding in the fine print that its not really unlimited and after you use a certain amount on some plans its throttled and on the lowest tier it’s ALWAYS possible to be throttled.

Now for the opinion portion of this…

If your going to advertise something then deliver on it. I have said for years on the web hosting forums I use to be a part of as well as well as on my own hosting website when I ran that company that “Unlimited” simply can not exist there will always be a limit. Companies bury those limits in the fine print and expect the average customer to not be smart enough or care enough to notice it. Don’t get me wrong AT&T is not the only one to do this. The provider I use (T-Mobile) has a 20gb hotspot limit and a 50gb high speed limit with the plan that I am on or lower if you have a different plan. However if you look at any of the promotional info online in big bold letters it always states “Unlimited”. Sprint and Verizon use a very similar strategy and don’t get me started on the smaller providers like simple mobile, h20, trackphone, boost…ect…ect.. as all of these guys are using tower time leased form the big 4 providers and are subject to being throttled at any time in favor of the priority customers from the provider itself.

This is not a issue centered around cell phones either. Look at any major web hosting site and they will offer unlimited storage and transfer. Cloud backup sites do the same thing. Now I have spent countless hours on different websites and have yet to see an “Unlimited” hard drive. While storage media is extremely cheap these days the simple economics of it is that no provider is going to let you store 4tb of data on their cloud for $5 a month. Again if you read in the terms of service there are limits just perhaps not clear ones.

I wish that some of these providers across all the industries would practice more fair and reasonable tactics when it comes to the services they offer as well as be more up front about what it is you are actually paying for instead of trying to hide it in the fine print where most every user wont be able to see it.

Seems I may have rambled on a bit but I feel I made my point.

Remember, Always read the fine print when you sign up for a service. You never know what little tricks are hidden in there

-Tracker

Site updates

So it came to my attention that when you would visit our site that there was some malicious code injected into some of our site files that would redirect you to another site with advertisements. I believe I have gotten rid of all that shit and got the site updated and back in a happy place. If at any point you see an advertisement on here or are redirected please try and get in contact with me (my alias) @themodshop.net and I will correct the issue. Currently we DO NOT have any advertisements on the website as this is not a full time job but just a hobby and there is no income expected from it.

Thanks,

Tracker

I have enabled comments for the first time in years. All are manually approved.

VPN Fail?

So in the news recently was a breach of a VPN server owned by Nord VPN. Media outlets keep covering it like its the biggest thing since Experian leaked the personal info of a lot of people. In reality the server that was accessed did not store any user data nor did it contain any logs. The only thing the hackers obtained was a key that would allow them to set up a spoof server.

Theoretically they could set up a server and direct Nord VPN users to it and then harvest data of the users from there. The problem here is that it would require them to send out tens of millions of spam phishing emails to people in hopes that someone uses Nord VPN and clicks it thus directing them to the spoofed server. In reality the chances of a exploit of this nature would not be as rewarding as some of the other schemes that hackers are using these days.

As to why Nord VPN took so long to release the info about the breach. From what I have seen on various news sources I have seen it claimed that they were investigating, among other things. My thought? They didn’t see it as being important. Considering that they did not leak any user data and no other servers were compromised it would seem that the best corse of action would be to audit the security of all the other servers in the network and make sure they are secure. From there its just a matter of damage control. Why would you release that you have been hacked when the hackers got essentially nothing out of it.

The reality of this just shows that anything is able to be exploited given the right set of circumstances and that you need to do what ever you can to protect your personal info and data to the best of your ability. Probably be a good idea to have a plan to mitigate the effects of a breach on your personal data should it ever happen.

You may look for other VPN providers at BrownCoupon.

This is just my opinion on the matter but hey we all have one right?

-Tracker

*Side note: Look 2 posts in 2 days! I’m on roll!*

Still Here

So it looks like it has been a few years since anything has been posted on here and at this point most would assume that this site has been left to die. Well not so much but life sometimes gets in the way of the internet ways. Currently I am working on a plan to bring some of the fun of this site back and update more regularly but its a slow and tedious process. Hopefully many mods are in the future that expand my knowledge as well as all those who care to read the site.

-Tracker

Social Hacking

When we thinking of hacking we automatically think of some drifter sitting in his moms basement with a large collection of computers surrounding him. Or maybe not. In any event hacking can be done with out a computer.That is in the form of social engineering. Let me explain what I mean. Its kind of like what your mom use to do with the reverse psychology, make you do what she wants you to do while thinking your doing what you want to do. As a sales representative I use these tactics every day at work  selling cell phones. Someone THINKS they want a free basic phone but I make them think they need a super powered smart phone!

How can this be done?

Its really just simple word play. By making someone think something is better than what it really is then they (most of the time) want to go for the bigger and better object.

There are other ways to use social engineering to your advantage. For example there was a story a few years ago about a hacking group that convinced a large registrar of domains that they were a representative for comcast and was able to take control of most of comcasts domain names. By using very convincing arguments and strategic word play the registrar believed that the person was indeed a rep for comcast and handed over control.

Another example is western union phishers. They go from store to store saying they are expecting a money transfer. Well the customer service rep goes and looks on the computer and says that they see a transfer for John Smith. Well that person then goes to another location and says hes John Smith. This store then tells him the amount. From there he goes to yet another location and by then has gathered enough information to withdraw the funds from western union.

So how can you use this form of hacking to your advantage?

Really that is up to you but in my case I use it to up sell my product and make more money. Others use it to scam and some just use it to take down large business. In any event your always gonna rely on a calm and well played out use of words and wits.

Click here to read the ultimate review of the best portable grill.

Hopefully this has been atleast a somewhat interesting read for you and happy hacking!

-Tracker

PS3 and Xbox 360 in a PC case? Check.

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Looking Good

        So I have been kinda lazy lately, and by lazy I mean working two jobs and going to school full time instead of doing…well anything fun. Besides that I was trolling the SlashDot news feeds when I saw this. Now it wasn’t that I think this was a particularly hard mod to do its that I think it was done very well. So well that I think it needs to be posted on as many websites as possible! Now heres what I really like about this mod:

1) He didnt just use the original power supplies / bricks, he actually wired the two up to a computer power supply. I would have just added holes oh made a few Island Plastics bridges holding for the two that already came with the console.

2) He didn’t use a super “rice-y” case. And by “rice-y” I mean that he didn’t throw LED’s at it and make it into a freaking god damn Christmas tree.

3) The temperature gauge is a VERY good idea that I wouldn’t have worried about, hah.

4) Im pretty sure he could easily get the stuff out of the case to do maintenance on it.

I wish I had more time and money to do fun lil’ projects like this, but hey bills don’t pay themselves!

OH! There are also a TON of pictures on this and you can get to the page by either clicking the image or by clicking the link below.

Check this guy out: http://timofiend.blogspot.com/2011/09/hi-there-my-names-timofiend-or-tim-as.html