helping you stay protected in the digital age

Here is my standard disclaimer: I’m not responsible for bricked, broken, or non-functioning hardware. Upgrading firmware is a very delicate process which can result in completely useless hardware if done incorrectly.

I recently ran into a problem where I needed to upgrade the firmware in my HP Procurve 2524 switch. The HP documentation doesn’t clearly state how to upgrade the firmware, just that you can do it via telnet and with an TFTP server… thanks HP.

To upgrade the firmware of your HP switch via TFTP you’ll need to download Solarwinds’ free TFTP server from http://www.solarwinds.com/products/freetools/free_tftp_server.aspx

Registration is NOT required and installation is a snap. Follow the prompts to install and bind the TFTP server to your IP address. FYI: the TFTP server will create a folder in your C: root (granted you are running a Windows-based operating system) in which you’ll need to place the switch firmware.

You’ll also need to download your switch’s firmware. You can probably find it here: http://www.procurve.com/customercare/support/software/switches.htm

Once you have the TFTP server installed and the firmware downloaded, drop the firmware (the .swi file) in the TFTP server’s folder on the root drive (for example C:\TFTP-root\firmware.swi).

Open up a command prompt and telnet into the switch.

You’ll be prompted for your username and password. If you reset (or initially configured) your switch via web interface, this will be your username and password that you configured.

Once your at the switch’s menu type “menu”

Press “7″ on your keyboard or scroll down to “Download OS”

Select “TFTP” from the menu, enter the TFTP server address (I’m running the TFTP server on my actual server so, in my case, the IP would be 192.168.2.2), and enter the firmware filename (your_firmware_name.swi).

If you haven’t started your TFTP server right click on the icon near the clock and select “start” (sorry, I have no image). Once the server service is running you can safely initiate the transfer.

The file transfer should begin in the telnet window. Wait for the transfer to complete. Once finished your switch will be running with the most recent firmware.

Enjoy!

New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a “news” website stating that it can be protected by laws concerning reporters and media. This could have a tremendous impact on those of us who blog if other states follow suit. Just recall the incident with Gizmodo and the iPhone prototype leak. Guys, whether you post a blog article once a year or once a day, it doesn’t matter, this is a big deal in New Hampshire and hopefully will make it’s way to Louisiana.

http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2010/new-hampshire-supreme-court-rules-website-covered-state-reporters-privilege?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20CitizenMediaLawProject%20%28Citizen%20Media%20Law%20Project%29

“This morning, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire handed down an important decision holding that a mortgage industry website, The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter, is entitled to protection under the state’s reporter’s privilege.

After the mortgage company discovered the disclosure, it sued the website, demanding that the document be removed from the Internet and that the anonymous source be identified.

In the part of the decision dealing with the reporter’s privilege, the state high court ruled that New Hampshire’s qualified reporter’s privilege applied to Implode-O-Meter and could protect the identity of the source who provided the loan document. The court flatly rejected The Mortgage Specialists’ argument that “the newsgathering privilege is inapplicable here because Implode is neither an established media entity nor engaged in investigative reporting.”  It explained that “[t]he fact that Implode operates a website makes it no less a member of the press,” and that “Implode’s website serves an informative function and contributes to the flow of information to the public.” Therefore, the court concluded, “Implode is a reporter for purposes of the newsgathering privilege.“

(emphasis mine)

So Louisianian bloggers, start brushing up on your LA revised statutes 45:1452 because, hopefully, a similar case will make it’s way to the Louisiana courts and they’ll rule in favor of the blogger similar to New Hampshire Supreme Court.

http://johndball.blaize.net/2009/11/15/dell-poweredge-4600-sata-via-hot-swap-bay/

I’ve received a ton of e-mails asking me for pictures on how I’ve setup the SATA PCI cards in the Poweredge 4600. Sorry the crappy pictures, used my Blackberry. Here they are:

Image from: http://kwcinnovate.net/coym/?p=1839

UPDATE: To DELETE your Facebook account, not deactivate it: https://ssl.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account

I signed up for Facebook a while back and enjoyed the ability to connect and share with friends and family. Recently, as in the last couple of months, my taste for Facebook has gotten sour. For years Facebook’s attitude has been to automatically “opt-in” the user to what most would consider major privacy violating programs and allow the user to manually “opt-out”. The most recent “straw that broke the camel’s back” came in the form of “Instant Personalization.”

From CBC Canada:
“Facebook’s newest tools application, which allows users to see personalized versions of websites they visit elsewhere, is the latest change to the social networking site that is raising privacy concerns.

The “Instant Personalization” application allows users to see websites tailored to them based on their interests and social connections, as long as they are logged into Facebook.

The initial sites involved in the application are Yelp, Pandora and Microsoft Docs.

More are expected to join, Facebook said.

“As of today, Facebook has a new privacy setting called ‘Instant Personalization’ that shares data with non-Facebook websites and it is automatically set to ‘Allow.’ Go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites, and uncheck ‘Allow,’ then repost this to your profile,” is the common warning.

In 2007, Facebook’s Beacon tool caught users off-guard as their activities at other websites got broadcast on the networking site, alerting friends, for instance, of holiday gifts just bought for them.”

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/04/23/tech-facebook-instant-personalization-privacy-concerns.html

Had I not been a member of DSLreports.com and a frequent visitor of their security forum, I would have never read this: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r24143053-Facebook-Instant-Personalization-raises-privacy-issues

I’m going back to the “old fashioned” way of communicating… via speech and human interaction.

Facebook can shove their “anti-privacy” attitude up their you-know-what. You can fill in the rest.