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Yesterday was Windows 8 day, but I found this e-reader hack more interesting

Dave Farquhar Hardware March 1, 2012android, Angry Birds, Nook Color, Nook Simple Touch, windows 8

Yesterday, the consumer preview of Windows 8 hit the streets. I haven’t downloaded it. I’m mildly curious, but have a number of things higher on my priority list. Being a late adopter of Windows versions serves me well more often than not anyway.

I found something else yesterday that I find a lot more interesting: An e-ink Android tablet. Humor me.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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UEFI on ARM illustrates why we still have to watch Microsoft

Dave Farquhar security, Software January 14, 2012android, apple, Bill Gates, cisco, IOS, Steve Ballmer, UEFI

UEFI is a technology that forces a computer to only load a digitally signed operating system. This has some security benefits, as it makes parts of the operating system unbootable if they become infected, since the viruses won’t be digitally signed by a reputable vendor.

Great idea, right? From a security perspective, absolutely. The more attack vectors for viruses we can eliminate, the better off we’ll be. But Microsoft’s policy on ARM systems shows how it can be abused.

Dave Farquhar

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Adblock Plus adds an option for allowable ads

Dave Farquhar Software December 14, 2011android, malware

Adblock Plus, starting with version 2.0, is going to start allowing acceptable ads, something I see as a good thing.

I’m not against advertising–I use it on my own site. I’d prefer not to have an all-or-nothing approach to ad blocking. In fact, I only started blocking ads when I started getting malware that I expected was coming from booby-trapped ads. I stopped getting the malware when I started blocking all ads, so draw your own conclusions.
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Dave Farquhar

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HP open-sourcing Web OS is a gutsy move

Dave Farquhar Software December 13, 2011November 19, 2018android, apple, firefox, hp, mysql, oracle, SQL, web os

HP announced this week that it’s not going to sell Web OS–the operating system it bought the remnants of Palm to get–and plans to open-source the platform, as well as re-introduce tablets based on it sometime in the distant future.

The move isn’t guaranteed to work, but I think it’s a shrewd move.

Dave Farquhar

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Cyanogenmod 7 on a Nook Color

Dave Farquhar Android, Hardware December 12, 2011January 5, 2013android, cyanogenmod, Ice Cream Sandwich, Nook Color, PNY

I should not have said yesterday it would take 38 minutes or less to turn my Nook Color into a Cyanogenmod-powered tablet. Big mistake.

I have it running now, more or less. It’s nice. Sluggish at times, but once it’s set up it seems to do better. Time can make it better. Getting started is the big thing. Baby steps. Baby steps.

Dave Farquhar

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Balancing safety and versatility

Dave Farquhar security December 2, 2011December 1, 20111980s, android, cyanogenmod, hp, IBM, john c dvorak, linksys, macintosh, networking equipment, proprietary unix, unix, vulnerability, wrt54g

John C Dvorak has a very simple solution to the HP printing problem. Lock down the firmware so it’s not upgradeable. And while we’re at it, do the same thing to routers and other equipment.

This solves the problem of loading rogue firmware on the devices, but there are several problems with such a draconian approach.
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Dave Farquhar

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Don’t write Android’s obit yet

Dave Farquhar Software December 1, 2011November 30, 2011android, apple, compaq, cyanogenmod, IBM, Ice Cream Sandwich, iphone, kindle, Kindle Fire, nexus, Packard Bell, pc magazine, samsung

PC Magazine’s Tim Bajarin seems ready to write the obituary for Android for tablets which, to me, seems extremely premature.
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Dave Farquhar

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The $119 tablet

Dave Farquhar Hardware November 25, 2011December 10, 2011android, cyanogenmod, kindle, Kindle Fire, Nook Color

I broke down today. I’m going to join the tablet game. Barnes & Noble was selling refurbished Nook Color e-readers for $119, so I bought one, intending to load Cyanogenmod on it and turn it into an Android 2.3 tablet.

The resulting tablet is no Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet, but it’s $119.

Dave Farquhar

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How to buy a sub-$100 Android tablet and not get burned

Dave Farquhar Hardware November 17, 2011November 16, 2011amd, android, intel, Media Player, overclocking

Last year, a flood of $99 tablets built with extremely low-end hardware running dated versions of Android appeared. This year, slightly better tablets running slightly less dated versions of Android are readily available, sometimes for as little as $60. And I have to admit, these devices got me thinking. I didn’t quite pull the trigger. But here’s what to watch (out) for on the low end.
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Dave Farquhar

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