Symcaimport Safety

No matter what you do, there are always social rejects (and this is saying it nice) trying to sabotage you. I've been getting various virus alerts on my CA import tool for mobile phones. Every on of them seems to be an attempt to upload a trojan. Thankfully, the AV software intercepts them.

 Just to reassure you all; each upload is given a unique name (8 characters). If such a filename already exists, it will be overwritten. So the chance of you getting someone else's file is (almost) zero. Just make sure that you use the correct name / URL when you're trying to download the certificate on your phone.

Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Lens

Last Thursday, I received a phone call from my local photography store. At first I thought that my 52mm circular pola filter had arrived, but NO... The long awaited arrival of my Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S lens had come.

First, I noticed that the lens was heavy and large (compared to my 'old' Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8). On the other hand, the Nikon is 4 times more expensive....

Most notable when shooting the the lightning-fast auto-focus. On the D300 is a 3D-tracking mode. I had no problems in tracking a couple of (really) low flying F-16's that day. Normally, I have a hard time tracking birds (which don't fly that fast). So thumbs up for the Silent Wave Auto-Focus (AF-S).

There is a downside to this lens (apart from being heavy)... It makes you wanna upgrade every other lens. Currently the 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED AF-S, or the 17-55mm f/2.8 IF-ED AF-S DX, and the 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S comes to mind :P

Updating Capture NX on Mac

When I bought my Nikon D300, I got a free copy op Capture NX (v1.3.0). After installing, the application reminded me to update. There were a couple of new versions available (current version is 1.3.3).
This is were the quest began......

The Nikon Update application kept crashing on me. 50MB downloads took over three hours (before crashing), while a single download from the support pages would take 5 to 10 minutes. So I needed to get the files from the web instead of using the updater.

First, the D300 was bought in the Netherlands, so you might think that the software would also be the Dutch version. I wouldn't know this because I install everything in English (if there's a choice). So I downloaded the Dutch updates from the Nikon support pages.

Note: I used the 'Dutch' CD which came with the camera.

None of the updates worked (Error: No version of Capture NX was found)....

I literally downloaded 12 different versions from different continents. Finally, I found a 1.3.1 update (a file called cnx131_en.dmg) which worked. So I needed to get English versions of the software. Not US, or Canadian versions, but English versions.

After this it was easy; Created an account on the UK Nikon support website and found Nikon Capture NX v1.3.3 for OSX. This update worked. So finally, after a gazillion downloads, multiple crashes, and 5 hours well spend, I got Capture NX v1.3.3 up and running.....

So, even if your camera is officially purchased in the Netherlands, you need to get the updates from the UK.

UPDATE: It seems that I'm not the only one who ran into this. I keep getting referers from some fora around the Internet.
I think that if you're running Windows instead of OSX you might have similar problems. So yet another crossplatform solution :)

CiscoVPN Error 51 Annoyance

The CiscoVPN client (v4.9.01.0100) for Apple OSX throws an error every once in a while. Mainly when I just rebooted, or when I was forced to quit some hanging application (which also occurs on Macs). The error is:

Error 51: Unable to communicate with the VPN subsystem

Somehow, the VPN software looses contact with the network adapter (wired AND wireless). After this there are two things you can do;

1. Reboot
2. or restart the Cisco VPN Service manually.

The first is kinda obvious (it's almost a MS Windows strategy :)). The second one is done via the Terminal (Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal). Just type the following command (followed by your password);

sudo /System/Library/StartupItems/CiscoVPN/CiscoVPN restart

The thing I don't understand is; Why hasn't Cisco incorporated this in the VPN client?

IF (Error 51 == TRUE)
DO CiscoVPN.restart

It seems that this 'bug' is present since the release of the Mac OSX version of the software.

OpenSSH Vulnerabilities

It seems that public key authentication isn't as save as you might have thought. That is if you're using a Debian based OpenSSH solution. This package can be found in many Linux distributions like;

• Debian (duh ;) )
• Ubuntu
• Kubuntu
• etc.

The problem is that the random number generator (which is of vital importance in generating key-pairs) isn't as random as you might think. It seems that there are only about 30.000 combinations in this specific generator. This leaves the door wide open for brute-force attacks.

So, the first you must do is update your OpenSSH software, and generate new keypairs for all devices / users which might have keys which were generated with the vulnerable OpenSSH software. Softwarepackages depending on OpenSSH are;

• OpenVPN
• DNSSEC
• OpenSSH
• Certificates used in TLS connections
• etc.

More info on the subject can be found here [1, 2, 3].

A Slow Week

Biggest (techno) news in the Netherlands was probably the failure of the Internet. The largest ATM Internet backbone massively failed in the Netherlands. This resulted in thousands of people without any Internet access for 1-3 days.
Currently the problems are temporarily patched, but they are still on high alert.

For the first time I wasn't affected. Normally this only occurs to me.

Purely coincidentally, I found a South Park episode (s12e06/Over Logging) in which the Internet fails. This results in mayhem in South Park (just like it did over here).

Furthermore, I drove 170 kilometer today, and it took me about 5 hours. Traffic jams due to spring rain (????) were to blame (according to the traffic information services). Basically, because people are egoistic when they're driving, and won't anticipate (when they're reading the paper, shaving, and/or applying make-up using the rear view mirror) on their surroundings.

So no Internet (for large parts of the Netherlands), and traffic jams from here to Tokyo. So 'slow' might be an understatement.

NYC in Prime

In a couple of weeks I'm off to New York for a couple of days. This time I'm packing a DSLR instead of the old Canon IXUS V. And to save my back (and neck), I'm not taking any of the regular zoom lenses with me. It's just gonna be me and a couple of prime lenses. These lenses aren't as flexible as a zoom lens, but they weigh a lot less Three primes approx. equals 1 nice zoom lens (nearly 2 pounds), but you mount only 1 lens at a time on the camera.

Currently I've got a 35mm f/2D and a 50mm f/1.8D prime for my D300. The lack of zoom capabilities will force me to be a little more creative while strolling the streets of NYC.

It would be nice to have a 24mm f/2.8 (or 20mm f/2.8) as well for a little more wide angle. Downside is that those are relatively pricey, or not available. the biggest photo/video store in NYC sell those at low prices, but they're out of stock.....

UPDATE: first images of the Nikon 35mm f/2D looks promising. The lens is a bit larger than the 50mm f/1.8, but image quality looks better (contrast, colors).

Ubuntu 'Hardy Heron' Released

As of yesterday, the latest Ubuntu release 'Hardy Heron' is available for download (both client and server). Every time a major Linux distri(bution) hits 'the shelves', the Linux community roars. With each release (Ubuntu or whatever flavor) the Linux community gets closer, and closer to Windows.

Even though the OS itself is getting better and better. It still lacks the support of decent major software like Adobe Creative Suite, etc. It's missing the software people use in every day (business)life.
Sure, there a million different ways of running Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop on a Linux OS, but these require a commercial piece of software (CrossOver) , or in depth knowledge of the OS to make it work (Wine in some cases). Two things that shouldn't be required. Not if you're used to Windows (or Apple's OSX). And even if you find a 'substitute' it's most likely to have an awful user experience.

The average housewife won't use Linux, because her friends all use Windows. All those nice little Windows programs, which makes life easier (or a living hell with all the mal/spyware out there). So if the Linux community wants to make a difference they need to create some sort of critical mass (by their selves, or by Microsoft screwing up) to get the attention of the 'normal' user. But in a community where there's no real (commercial) business model, it's gonna be damn hard.

Microsoft created this critical mass by playing (probably) the best marketing trick in the world; Release Windows 95, and turn a blind eye to those who use a pirated copy at home. The home users create demand on the workfloor, so businesses start to use it on their workstations. Soon everyone was addicted. And now it's damn hard to beat the addiction.

B.t.w., Apple is doing it a lot better. They created a nice and stable OS (just like the average Linux desktop distribution), BUT the OS has ALL the relevant drivers for the hardware used. ALSO they have a complete (and cheap) software suite (iLife and iWork), which is more than enough for the average family. No need to search the caverns of the Internet for software, and they look and feel the same as the OS.

So, I guess that my conclusion is that the OS is nearing perfection, but it (Linux in general) lacks good and decent third party software (and a good marketing machine :) )

In the mean time; I'm gonna upgrade my Linux (mail, web, and ssh) servers at work to 'Hardy Heron'.

Zoo's

Last weekend I visited Ouwehands Dierenpark. A Zoo near the town of Rhenen in the Netherlands.

It had been a while since my last visit to any zoo. It sure is nice to stroll around the zoo with a camera, but in many cases it almost seems cruel to see those animals in those cramped spaces for the rest of their lives.

I think it might have to do something with seeing all those animals in the wild in Africa. Once you've seen that, the rest is kinda sorry, but on the other hand, not everyone has the possibility of going to Africa, and this might be the only way of seeing those animals in real life......

B.t.w. those cute polar bears are known to chase humans. Especially photographers :)