How to capture your on-screen steps on video with a builtin windows feature ?

Found myself wishing to send a short video demonstrating some steps to a friend. But did not like the idea of making a bundle of screen snips. A video would be much more convenient, I thought.
I Started considering 3rd party options in windows, but then I thought that maybe windows has a built-in option (linux has such a built-in option I should write about some day) and was happy to search and learn that it has - the Windows Game Bar, an app that makes it simple, among other activities, to capture clips of your screen activity:

Win+g will open the Windows Game Bar:

Start recording using the "record" button (black arrow pointing):

While recording a small status and control window shall appear, and with which you can stop recording:

Find the folder with the media created, using the folder button (black arrow pointing):

And in it you shall see an mp4 file, named after the name of the window that was active, when you pressed the win+g activation.

Further reading

• Windows Game Bar 
• You can see the full keyboard shortcuts associated with the game bar, and define your own, if you go to Settings\Gaming 
• Record game clips with Game DVR on Windows 10
• Not entirely related, but might help someone - Windows 10’s Game Mode

p.s 

I tried but could not find a way to start the Windows Game Bar directly. Only Win+G. If anyone found a way - will you drop me a line, , please?  

bring your own device is becoming more prevalent, but what about securing it?

BitGlass, a Cloud Access Security Broker services (CASB) provider, has reported a recent survey  among 400 IT professionals, regarding Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies and their impact on the organization information security. 

The outcomes, are - how shall we say it ? - very encouraging if you are a hacker. Less so, if you wish for better information security standards around your virtual neighborhood. 

Among the eye-catching findings: 

• 85% of enterprises allow data access from personal devices for employees, partners, customers, contractors and even suppliers
• Only 30% of firms are confident that they are properly defending against malware on personal and mobile devices.
• 43% of organizations are not able to determine whether the personal devices that are accessing corporate data have actually downloaded malware. 
• Only 56% of companies use protections such as mobile device management tools.
• As little as 15% of organizations reported that they do not enable BYOD for any users.

Once again, InfoSec news can be summed with the sad understanding that IT isn't becoming more secure each day. Quite the contrary. 

adduser vs. useradd

adduser is a "high-level" script developed around "low-level" useradd. So, adduser is userfriendlier. For example, it creates and sets up the user's home folder by default, whereas in adduser you have to remember to specify the paramter (-m). useradd, like any self-respecting linux command shall only do what you ask. 

Some recommend always using adduser. If you wish to a adopt this strategy, it can be remembered as the "better" alternative by recalling that it is the "most intuitive" of the two, because its name is "proper english" (you use the command to add a user. not to useradd...) 

Two points to remember: 

1) there have been reports of differences in implementation of adduser in different linux flavors (with people reporting on it missing altogether from some, although I doubt that it is really missing, and more reasonably wasn't automatically installed on some core-installtion). 

2) people complain that adduser does a lot of things in the background that might be disruptive for users that are for system services, which might be a case for useradd... 

A practical demonstration

adduser gil 

is the equivalent of

useradd gil -m 

passwd gil

a last remark

why is home directory important to remember when setting up a user? 

while in terminal mode you can login with a user that has no home folder (and you will receive a notification "no directory. loggin in with HOME=/") .
X can't login a user that has no home folder (think of all the structures it maintains under your $HOME folder, and how in first logins in weak machines it takes more time because of the automatic creation of those).
Sadly, all distributions I know tend to handle a home-less user in a very foolish way, by throwing you back to the login screen, without explanation....

Can't run msfconsole in kali 32bit ?

Tried running msfconsole in kali 32bit and got lots of error messages starting with something like "bignum too big to convert into `long' (RangeError)" ? 

Turns out there is a simple solution (found it on rapid7's github discussion): 

1. sudo apt-get update
2. sudo apt-get install metasploit-framework
   # pay attention for user-input that is necessary to proceed with installation:
    1) updates notification
    2) services restart (twice) 

Now you can run msfconsole.... 

kali update fails with GPG error ?

Trying to update kali but fail with GPG error ? 

Turns out that if you haven’t updated your Kali installation in some time the repository key expires... 

how to update it ? 

wget -q -O - https://archive.kali.org/archive-key.asc | apt-key add

now your apt-get update will work.... 

Source

Invalid signature for kali repositories on Unix Stackexchange 

איך לקבוע בוורד שמספרי העמודים יתחילו בעמוד שאתה רוצה, במספר שאתה רוצה

זה הדבר הכי מטופש בעולם, אבל כשאתה לא זוכר איך עושים את זה, אתה יכול לבזבז
על זה יותר מדי זמן.... אז איך לקבוע בוורד שמספרי העמודים יתחילו בעמוד שאתה רוצה, במספר שאתה רוצה?

בתמצית -

• שמים את הסמן בתחילת העמוד איפה שרוצים לשנות את המספור 
• בוחרים פריסת עמוד/מעברים/העמוד הבא (כך מוסיפים מה שנקרא section break)
• בעמוד שאחרי, דאבל קליק על הheader (או הוספה/כותרת עליונה או כותרת תחתונה) והורד הסימון ליד "קשר לקודם" 
• כעת עשה מה שאתה צריך עם המספר (הוספה/מספר עמוד; בעיצוב מספר עמוד אפשר לעשות את השינויים הנוספים) 

ההסבר רלוונטי ל:

• Word for Office 365 
• Word 2016 
• Word 2013 
• Word 2010 
• Word 2007 

הקישור הבא מאתר התמיכה של office מסביר איך עושים את זה בפרוטרוט.

איך לחבר שלט חדש ל-XBOX 360 במשפט אחד

לפעמים הדברים הכי מסובכים הם גם הכי פשוטים. הילד הגיע לשלב בחיים שבו מתקדמים ממשחקי-קינקט למשחקי-ג'ויסטיק, וכך מצאתי עצמי רוכש controller נוסף לXBOX 360 ומגלה להפתעתי שהשלט הגיע ללא מדריך לחיבור.... אתה מפשפש בsettings, מנסה כל מיני דברים, אבל מתברר שהאינטואיציה של האנשים מרדמונד והאינטואיציה שלי לא עובדות אותו דבר בכל מה שקשור לאיך מחברים ג'ויסטיקים.... עכשיו, קל למתוח ביקורת מהצד - הרי פעם, כשהXBOX היה צעיר, קראתי במדריך שלו איך עושים את זה, אבל עברו שנים רבות מאז והמדריך ספון לו בקלסר בחדר אחר, ולא הגיוני שפעולה שאמורה להיות כל-כך טריוויאלית תצדיק שליפה וקריאה, לא ?

אז מחפשים ביוטיוב:

זה כל כך פשוט שזה מביך. במשפט אחד:

לחיצה מתמשכת במקביל על הכפתור הקטן שבחזית הג'ויסטיק ועל הכפתור הקטן שבחזית הXBOX עד שרואים שהג'ויסטיק הסתנכרן (ומסמן על מספרו החדש בהיררכיית הג'ויסטיקים שמחוברים).

אינטואיטיבי, ברגע שאתה מבין את הראש, לא ?

a solution for ubuntu 12 sources mismatch

Found myself installing Ubuntu 12 for a little project, and out of the box, post installation, apt didn't work, with apt-get update failing with error messages regarding "sources mismatch". 

Sadly, sudo apt-get clean && sudo apt-get update didn't get things any better.

A little search brought me to an askubuntu discussion and solution (which in itself, was based on another discussion and solution by askubuntu member lorem). The solution is remarkably simple - delete all of apt lists, and start over: 

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*sudo apt-get update

howto import and export data from mysql using the command line interface

Found myself in need to quickly transfer data between mysql databases in different computers. 

searched the web and found a nice guide. As I don't usually work with mysql, and whenever mysql issues arise, they are usually in relation to time-stress issues, I thought summarizing the data, just in case, might be a good idea:

exporting from the source computer:

mysqldump -u [dbuser] -p [database-name] > /tmp/[dumpfilename]

Pay attention: you do not provide the password in the command. it will be asked for (assuming the user has a password) when the program runs. 

Now transfer the file to the target computer. 

and there - 

enter into mysql and create the database. 

(once inside  the mysql command interface, just issue  create database [database-name] 

then return to the command line  and issue:

mysql -u [dbuser] -p [database-name] < /tmp/[dumpfilename]

Once again - Pay attention: you do not provide the password in the command. it will be asked for (assuming the user has a password) when the program runs. 

a remark:

what you get is a lovely text file, with mysql commands that shall create the database content (tables and actual content). I did not export/import a very sophisticated db, so I still do not know the limitations of this transport method.  As usual, and as is especially important to remember the quick-and-dirty solutions, use the method with care, and be willing to spend time learning more and tackling surprising aspects that one might not expect, but that usually arise in database export/import processes. But it did work for me in a very simple db transfer. 

Kindle Device Howto: What is my IP address?

Sometimes you look for donkeys and you find a monarchy instead. 

Doing a short network survey of my home network (which is surprisingly large, as all home networks are these days), I found myself looking for a way to verify that an unidentified device was indeed my Kindle PaperWhite. How can you see the IP Address of your kindle device ? 

A rather short search (but not as short as one would have expected) brought me to the MobileRead KindleTouch Hacking # Search Bar Shortcuts and was that a happy discovery or what? 

Now, I've naturally known that all Kindle devices are Linux-based smart-gadgets, of the pervasive computing class, but theoretically knowing that is one thing, and finding the keys for a comfortable and leisurely path to discoveries is an entirely different matter. 

Putting aside that discovery of how to get into the depths of one's kindle for a while, the mere hidden functionality that is accessible through the "Search Bar Shortcuts", is a goldmine in itself. 

But putting that trove aside, the search in question is answered easily: 

Click the Search Icon, and then enter the following 4 characters to get your WiFi information (don't miss the semi-colon): 

;711  

And you shall find what you have sought. 

reinstall vmware tools greyed out ?

 Do you see that the reinstall vmware tools option is greyed out on your vmware guest machine ? 

shortest way to fix, for a linux guest, on a windows host, was -  

1. create dvd/cd 
2. set it to mount the relevant guest additions -
   C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\linux.iso
   #Stressing again, this path was relevant for a windows host and a linux guest. 
3. now boot up.
   note: This can be done with guest up or down, but i prefer, considering possible client distress, do to it "properly" with client down and being rebooted after hardware connected... it appears to be NOT NECESSARY for most modern clients) 

now you can install guest addition in your preferred way. 

my way: 

1) mkdir /tmp/1

2) sudo mount /dev/sr0 /tmp/1

3) mkdir /tmp/2

4) cd /tmp/2

5) tar xvf ../1/VMWareTools-xxx-version-number-xxx.tar.gz 

6) cd vmware-tools-distrib 

7) sudo ./vmware-install.pl --default 

now be sure to set your preferred guest addition prefernces (shared folders, copy&paste, etc) 

time to start being crypto-coin wary ?

John Oliver talks Cryptocurrencies, and his point makes sense. 

With - 

• 1500 cryptocoins
• Companies triple their value only by changing their name and adding bitcoin into it ? 
• sums of money being raised by NEW bit currencies gets to the incredible stage. ICOs - initial coin offerings - become gold mines with very little behind them...  A company raised 35 million $ in less than a minute ! (the BAT)

Yes, I agree.
Not every blockchain scheme is bullshit. 

Not every cryptocoin is a con-job.
The future might be here. 

But it seems that most revolutions get - sooner or later - to that bubble stage...
Yes, it is true - lots of money can be made by other's raging optimistic/foolishness, but lots more money is going to be lost by hard working innocent people....

Time to take care, folks... 

“No object for D-Bus interface” when mounting a folder in GUI in ubuntu

Got the “No object for D-Bus interface” when mounting with Nautilus In a newly installed ubuntu 16.04 system (yes. it happens that even Linux gets reinstalled, but in this time, as a future post shall tell, it was because of the sister to the dual-boot computer, windows...). 

I searched in Google, and reached the following discussion and was surprised to see that the seemingly best answer was pushed back, so I thought it would be wise to repeat it here when the need returns again (I'm quoting the heart of Antonio's answer there):

1. Find your gvfs folder and [USER ID]
   $ mount | grep gvfs gvfsd-fuse
2.  List mount points used by gvfs $ ls -als /run/user/[USER ID]/gvfs
   (as gvfs isn't working, this would produce an empty folder's content list)
3. Check whether the gvfsd daemon process is active$ ps axu | grep gvfsd
4. Kill it with the following cmd.
   $ sudo killall -9 gvfsd
5. relaunch the daemon (process)
   $ sudo /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-fuse /run/user/[USER ID]/gvfs
6. Now, shutdown the system and restart it (doing this without steps 1-5 will not work...) 

How to run vmware workstation as root in ubuntu 16.04

How to run vmware workstation as root in ubuntu 16.04 ? 

1. sudo apt-get install gksu
2. edit /usr/share/applications/vmware-workstation.desktop
3. change the "exec" line from
   Exec=/usr/bin/vmware %U
   to
   Exec=/usr/bin/gksu /usr/bin/vmware %U

That's all. 

p.s

There are reasons for and against running one's virtual machines engine as root. Do it only if you understand the complete reasons for doing so. 

p.s2

If you are doing it because of Promiscuous Mode reasons, check the following link (but bear in mind that usermod differs in syntax between centOS and Ubuntu).