ASUS Eee PC

Asus EeePC

The ASUS Eee PC is a 'sub-notebook' designed by ASUS and Intel. ASUS describes the name Eee as deriving from "the three Es"; an abbreviation of their advertising slogan for the device: "Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play".


Display: 7 in (17.8 cm) 800×480 TFT LCD with LED backlight
Graphics: Integrated Intel GMA 900 graphics processor (Shared Memory Architecture), additional VGA port (up to 1600×1280 pixels)
Storage: 2 GB Solid state drive (SSD) flash, 4 GB SSD, 8 GB SSD
Processor: 900 MHz Intel Celeron-M ULV 353 which has 512 kB L2 cache RAM, @ 630 MHz (70 MHz x 9) cooled by a fan
Memory: 512 MB DDR2-400 RAM, 512 MB DDR2-667, 1 GB RAM DDR2-667
Camera: 0.3 megapixel; up to 640×480, up to 30 fps

Operation: Bot Roast

Operation: Bot Roast is an operation by the FBI to track down bot herders or hackers who install malicious software on computers through the Internet without the owners’ knowledge, which turns the computer into a zombie computer that then sends out spam to other computers from the compromised zombie computer, making a botnet or network of bot infected computers. The operation was launched because the vast size of the botnet poses a threat to national security.

Abilities of bot herders

* Steal the computer owner’s identity.
* Launch massive spam campaigns.
* Engage in click-fraud - schemes which artificially inflate the number of visitors to a website.
* Launch denial of service attacks that can cripple web servers and crash sites.

The operation was created to disrupt and disassemble bot herders. The FBI has identified about 1 million computers that were compromised, and to arrest the persons responsible for creating the malware, and notify the owners of infected computers.

Some early results of the operation include the charging:

* Robert Alan Soloway of Seattle, Washington, is accused of using botnets to send tens of millions of spam messages touting his website.
* James C. Brewer of Arlington, Texas, is accused of infecting tens of thousands of computers worldwide, including some at Chicago-area hospitals.
* Jason Michael Downey of Covington, Kentucky, is charged with using botnets to disable other systems.

HMAC

RFC 2104 HMAC: Keyed-Hashing for Message Authentication

HMAC Algorithm in Detail

In cryptography, a keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code, or HMAC, is a type of message authentication code (MAC) calculated using a specific algorithm involving a cryptographic hash function in combination with a secret key. As with any MAC, it may be used to simultaneously verify both the data integrity and the authenticity of a message. Any iterative cryptographic hash function, such as MD5 or SHA-1, may be used in the calculation of an HMAC; the resulting MAC algorithm is termed HMAC-MD5 or HMAC-SHA-1 accordingly. The cryptographic strength of the HMAC depends upon the cryptographic strength of the underlying hash function, on the size and quality of the key and the size of the hash output length in bits.

An iterative hash function breaks up a message into blocks of a fixed size and iterates over them with a compression function. For example, MD5 and SHA-1 operate on 512-bit blocks. The size of the output of HMAC is the same as that of the underlying hash function (128 or 160 bits in the case of MD5 and SHA-1), although it can be truncated if desired. Truncating the hash image reduces the security of the MAC which is upper bound by the birthday attack.


where h is a cryptographic hash function, K is a secret key padded with extra zeros to the block size of the hash function, m is the message to be authenticated, ∥ denotes concatenation, ⊕ denotes exclusive or (XOR), and the outer padding opad = 0x5c5c5c...5c5c and inner padding ipad = 0x363636...3636 are two one-block–long hexadecimal constants.


The construction and analysis of HMACs was first published in 1996 by Mihir Bellare, Ran Canetti, and Hugo Krawczyk, who also wrote RFC 2104. FIPS PUB 198 generalizes and standardizes the use of HMACs. HMAC-SHA-1 and HMAC-MD5 are used within the IPsec and TLS protocols.


The following pseudocode demonstrates how HMAC may be implemented.

function hmac (key, message)
opad = [0x5c * blocksize] // Where blocksize is that of the underlying hash function
ipad = [0x36 * blocksize]

if (length(key) < blocksize) then
key = key || [0x00 * (blocksize - length(key))] // Pad the key if shorter than blocksize
end if

for i from 0 to length(key) - 1 step 1
ipad[i] = ipad[i] XOR key[i]
opad[i] = opad[i] XOR key[i]
end for

return hash(opad || hash(ipad || message)) // Where || is concatenation
end function

Denial of Service

DoS

Understanding Denial-of-Service Attacks

ddos.org

RFC 4732 Internet Denial-of-Service Considerations

A denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. Although the means to, motives for and targets of a DoS attack may vary, it generally comprises the concerted, malevolent efforts of a person or persons to prevent an Internet site or service from functioning efficiently or at all, temporarily or indefinitely.

One common method of attack involves saturating the target (victim) machine with external communications requests, such that it cannot respond to legitimate traffic, or responds so slowly as to be rendered effectively unavailable. In general terms, DoS attacks are implemented by:

* forcing the targeted computer(s) to reset, or consume its resources such that it can no longer provide its intended service; and/or,
* obstructing the communication media between the intended users and the victim so that they can no longer communicate adequately.

Denial-of-service attacks are considered violations of the IAB's Internet proper use policy. They also commonly constitute violations of the laws of individual nations.

exFAT

#define OEM_FLASH_PARAMETER_GUID 0A0C7E46-3399-4021-90C8-FA6D389C4BA2

msdn exFAT

msdn TFAT Overview

Extended file allocation table (exFAT) is a new file system that is better adapted to the growing needs of mobile personal storage. The exFAT file system not only handles large files, such as those used for media storage, it enables seamless interoperability between desktop PCs and devices such as portable media devices so that files can easily be copied between desktop and device. In addition, exFAT can be adopted with minimal effort. The exFAT file system encapsulates standard FAT and TFAT functionality.

# Enables the file system to handle growing capacities in media, increasing capacity to 32 GB and larger.
# Handles more than 1000 files in a single directory.
# Speeds up storage allocation processes.
# Removes the previous file size limit of 4 GB.
# Supports interoperability with future desktop OSs.
# Provides an extensible format, including OEM-definable parameters to customize the file system for specific device characteristics.

struct
{
GUID OemParameterType; //Value is OEM_FLASH_PARAMETER_GUID
UINT32 EraseBlockSize; //Erase block size in bytes
UINT32 PageSize;
UINT32 NumberOfSpareBlocks;
UINT32 tRandomAccess; //Random Access Time in nanoseconds
UINT32 tProgram; //Program time in nanoseconds
UINT32 tReadCycle; // Serial read cycle time in nanoseconds
UINT32 tWriteCycle; // Write Cycle time in nanoseconds
UCHAR Reserved[4];
}
FlashParameters;

Douglas Skyrocket D-558-2

NASA Dryden Douglas Skyrocket

The Douglas Skyrocket (the D-558-2; also found, D-558-II) was a rocket and jet-powered research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy. On November 20, 1953, shortly before the 50th anniversary of powered flight, Scott Crossfield piloted the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket to Mach 2, or more than 2076 km/h, the first time an aircraft had exceeded twice the speed of sound.

All three of the Skyrockets had 35-degree swept wings.

Until configured for air launch, NACA 143 featured a Westinghouse J-34-40 turbojet engine rated at 3,000 pounds force (13 kN) static thrust. It carried 260 US gallons (980 L) of aviation gasoline and weighed 10,572 pounds (4,795 kg) at take-off.

NACA 144 (and NACA 143 after modification in 1955) was powered by an LR-8-RM-6 rocket engine rated at 6,000 pounds force (27 kN) static thrust. Its propellants were 345 US gallons (1,306 L) of liquid oxygen and 378 US gallons (1,431 L) of diluted ethyl alcohol. In its launch configuration, it weighed 15,787 pounds (7,161 kg).

NACA 145 had both an LR-8-RM-5 rocket engine rated at 6,000 pounds force (27 kN) static thrust and featured a Westinghouse J-34-40 turbojet engine rated at 3,000 pounds force (13 kN) static thrust. It carried 170 US gallons (644 L) of liquid oxygen, 192 US gallons (727 L) of diluted ethyl alcohol, and 260 US gallons (984 L) of aviation gasoline for a launch weight of 15,266 pounds (6,925 kg).

[edit] Aircraft serial numbers

* D-558-2 Skyrocket
o D-558-2 #1 - #37973 NACA-143, 123 flights
o D-558-2 #2 - #37974 NACA-144, 103 flights
o D-558-2 #3 - #37975 NACA-145, 87 flights

* Maximum speed: 720 mph, 1,250 mph when air-launched (1,160 km/h, 2,010 km/h when air-launched)
* Stall speed: 160.1 mph (257.7 km/h)
* Service ceiling: 16,500 ft (5,030 m)
* Rate of climb: 22,400 ft/min, 11,100 ft/min under rocket power only (6,830 m/min., 3,380 m/min under rocket power only)
* Wing loading: 87.2 lb/ft² (426 kg/m²)
* Thrust/weight (jet): 0.39

WiTricity

MIT WiTricity
Goodbye wires…

WiTricity, a portmanteau for wireless electricity, is a term coined initially by Dave Gerding in 2005 and used by a MIT research team led by Prof. Marin Soljačić in 2007, to describe the ability to provide electrical energy to remote objects without wires. WiTricity is based on strong coupling between electromagnetic resonant objects to transfer energy wirelessly between them. The system consists of WiTricity transmitters and receivers that contain magnetic loop antennas critically tuned to the same frequency. As WiTricity operates in the electromagnetic near-field, the receiving devices must be no more than about a quarter wavelength from the transmitter, that is a few meters at the frequency of a few MHz used by the system. In their first paper, the group also simulated GHz dielectric resonators.



Wireless power transmission is not a new idea, William C. Brown demonstrated in 1964 on the CBS Walter Cronkite news a microwave-powered model helicopter that received all the power needed for flight from a microwave beam. Between 1969 and 1975 Bill Brown was technical director of a JPL Raytheon program that beamed 30 kW over a distance of 1 mile at 84% efficiency.

Unlike the far field wireless power transfer systems based on traveling EM waves, WiTricity employs near field inductive coupling through magnetic fields, which interact far more weakly with surrounding objects, including biological tissue. It is not known exactly why this technology had not been developed. Researchers attribute it to various reasons ranging from the limitations of well-known physical laws, to simply a lack of need. Only recently have modern consumers obtained a high number of portable electronic devices which currently require batteries and plug-in chargers.

The MIT researchers successfully demonstrated the ability to power a 60 watt light bulb from a power source that was 2 meters (7 ft) away at roughly 40% efficiency. They used two capacitively loaded copper coils, 60 centimeters (24 in) in diameter, oriented along the same axis, The coils were designed to resonate together at 10 MHz. One was connected inductively to a power source, the other to a bulb. The setup powered the bulb on, even when the direct line of sight was blocked using a wooden panel. Aristeidis Karalis says that "the usual non-resonant magnetic induction would be almost 1 million times less efficient in this particular system".

The researchers plan to miniaturize the setup enough for commercial use in three to five years. The researchers suggest that the radiated power densities will be below the threshold for FCC safety regulations.

Further applications for this technology include transmission of information — since the underlying technology is not electromagnetic waves, It would not interfere with radio waves and thus could be used as a cheap and efficient communication device without requiring a license or a government permit.