My Twitter feed seems to be filled at the moment with tweets about the situation in Iran, particularly the political censorship of access to social networking sites. The general gist of the tweets seems to be that we should all do something to help maintain open internet access… so I wondered what I could do to make a small contribution.
Now, the most popular way to facilitate said access seems to be using TOR. Tor is basically a service that lets you route internet traffic between random nodes across the world, thereby making sites effectively unblockable. Pretty cool, the preferred usage model is installing Firefox / Vidalia / Privoxy and Tor.
Now, this is a bit of a faff, and involves leaving a bunch of stuff on the machine you are using – not ideal. I figured a useful contribution could be using a tool such as the excellent Xenocode Virtual Application Studio to repack the apps such that they run from one EXE and are sandboxed from the machine you are running on. e.g. you can run from a USB stick without leaving traces.
Since I happen to have purchased aforementioned software, I have bundled up Firefox 3.0.11 with the Vidalia software bundle and i’m making it available here for download. Please note that I make NO warranties around this, but it seems to work – feedback is very very much appreciated.
DOWNLOADS IN ZIP FORMAT: (just unzip and run the EXE):
- My Server
- Rapidshare Mirror
After running, click the ENABLE TOR button down the bottom right of Firefox and then visit a site like http://www.showmyip.com to check it’s working!
When you exit, remember to exit the components aside from Firefox (i.e. Tor, Privoxy, Vidalia – would it be better if exiting FF exited them all?)
Finally, note the ‘Sandbox’ directory – this is your custom settings from the session – instead of being saved on the host machine, they’re saved in there, allowing you to persist your settings on, say, a USB stick, between launches.
If it’s useful, spread the word. and your feedback is very welcome!
Cheers,
P
EDIT: This version should now be x64 compatible.
Trying to leave LinkedIn… AGAIN!
In: Random
11 May 2009Take 2!
Why is closing my account so damn hard – shame on you LinkedIn…
P
Eees are good!
In: Random
27 Mar 2009Ingredients:
1 x Samsung 40″ LCD TV
1 x Asus EeeBox B202
1 x 2GB SODIMM
1 x Samsung 2GB USB stick
1 x VESA adaptor
1 x MCE IR adaptor
1 x Hauppauge HVR 900 USB tv card
2 x packets of rubber tap washers
1 x Windows 7 install DVD
Directions:
Upgrade EeeBox B202 RAM before configuring with latest Windows 7 build – use 2GB USB stick for ReadyBoost. When installation is complete, mount EeeBox VESA bracket (included with EeeBox) to VESA adaptor using screws provided with adaptor. Use 2 rubber tap washers to space from bracket. Next, mount VESA adaptor to back of television, again using supplied screws, with 1 tap washer to avoid possibility of damage to TV back surface. Finally, mount EeeBox to VESA bracket. Connect MCE IR adaptor and Hauppauge HVR 900 TV card via USB.
EeeBox can now be used as media center machine (bear in mind GMA950 graphics on B202, B204 or B206 may suit better), as well as a NAS box with it’s Gigabit Ethernet.
Yield:
Serves 3… 
Retro gaming mobile style!
In: Uncategorized
4 Mar 2009This is just the coolest… Lemmings is a true classic!
Details: http://www.modaco.com/content/forum/285236/play-lemmings-on-your-pocket-pc/
P
- (38) Comments
- Tags: Add new tag, s just
Mmmm, Tiny Toads…
In: Uncategorized
4 Mar 2009Pulling some pictures off my camera today and I came across this one… i’m really hungry now! 
Cooked using this recipe at BBCGoodFood, it’s a brilliant, easy, snack!
P
Chains that fit!
In: Random
3 Mar 2009Following on from the earlier snow chains debacle… this is what they’re supposed to look like!
Maximum kudos SCC to for their excellent customer serveice, if you EVER need snow chains for your vehicle, they are the people to speak to!
P
Flashing your NSLU2 via a Mac – upslug2 binary
In: Uncategorized
24 Feb 2009If you’re reading this, there’s a reasonable chance you came here via Google I guess… 
I recently got hold of a NSLU2 (aka the ‘Slug’), which is a nifty little linksys box that serves as a NAS server. It’s particularly nifty because with some custom firmware, you can flash it to a full Linux ARM distribution, such as Debian 5.0 Lenny, as detailed on this page. Now, the process is pretty simple, and involves the use of a utility called ‘upslug2′. While upslug2 is available in binary form for Windows and PPC OSX, it’s not available in binary form for Intel OSX, which means you have to download XCode and compile it yourself. Not tricky, but it IS a 900MB download just to compile one app!
Fear not, the solution is here…
Simply click on this link to download a zipped upslug2 binary for Intel OSX.
Enjoy!
P
Graze – the healthy eating craze?
In: Uncategorized
24 Feb 2009I’ve just had my first ‘graze box’ delivered – free courtesy of http://tinyurl.com/freegraze – and it’s pretty tasty!
Of course, healthy eating by post could quickly become rather expensive (and it’s not cost effective compared to just going to the supermarket) but there’s definitely something fun about having a box of random goodness to surprise you when it drops through the letter box!
Nom nom nom…
P
I am not an Australian soap actor
In: Random
24 Feb 2009Randomly, there seems to be an Australian soap actor called Paul O’Brien. Erm… that’s not me (for those that are visiting the blog, and even posting comments on that basis)…
Having said that, seems that my namesake isn’t really an actor in ‘Home and Away’ any more! From Wikipedia…
Paul made his first appearance as Constable Jack Holden on August 5, 2005, Episode 4020. He arrived with his brother Lucas Holden and Father Tony Holden. Jack soon fell for Martha McKenzie, and the two later married, only to divorce later in 2007. Jack then married Sam, however this did not last, as Jack was still in love with Martha, and Sam died. Martha and Jack had re-married after a heartfelt wedding. On the season finale of Home and Away 2008, Jack was shot in the heart by his fellow workmate Angelo. Jack was found dead by his father Tony at the end of the 2009 Series Return – his death is a big shock for Home and Away fans.
Being shot in the heart – even in TV soap-land – is pretty final…
P
Testing the embeddable video widget
In: Random
24 Feb 2009Just a quick video post to test the video widget in my blog theme!
Theoretically by posting a link to this video (CamerAware demo!), it should also show up on the right hand side of my theme!
P
- (12) Comments
- Tags: video
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- Firefox + Vidalia / Privoxy / Tor bundled as single EXE [test]
- Trying to leave LinkedIn… AGAIN!
- Eees are good!
- Retro gaming mobile style!
- Mmmm, Tiny Toads…
- Chains that fit!
- Flashing your NSLU2 via a Mac – upslug2 binary
- Graze – the healthy eating craze?
- I am not an Australian soap actor
- Testing the embeddable video widget
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