create a multi boot CD using multicd.sh script

multicd.sh is a shell script designed to build a multiboot CD image containing many different Linux distributions and/or utilities. After creating a multiboot CD you can choose the OS you wish to install at the boot time.
 
The avantages to making a CD with this script are:

•  You don't need to burn multiple CDs for small distribution 
• If you already have the ISO images, it is not necessary to download them again. 
•  When a new version of one of the distributions is released, you can simply download the new version and run the script again to build a new multiboot image.

Instructions:

   1. Make a folder for building the image. You can give it any name; I call mine multicd.
   
2. Download the multicd.sh script and save it into that folder. (For version 5.0+, either download multicd[version]-    combined.sh to that folder or untar multicd-[version]-seperate.tar.gz to that folder.)
   
3. Copy or symlink some of the supported boot images to files in that folder. Note: they must have the names below         (i.e. Puppy must be puppy.iso, etc.) Also, only distros supported by this script will work.
  
4. Install mkisofs or genisoimage. If your distribution comes with CD/DVD burning sftware, you probably have it already.
   
5. Open a terminal, go to the multicd folder (made in step 1) and type:

     chmod +x multicd*.sh
     sudo ./multicd*.sh       

      The script will detect which images are present and make a CD for you. They will appear on the menu of the final CD in the order they are listed. (Note: if the final size is over 700 MB, you will have to use a DVD.)

supported linux distributions:

Linux Mint → linuxmint.iso
PCLinuxOS → pclos.iso* PCLinuxOS LXDE → pclx.iso* Knoppix → knoppix.iso (Versions 5 and 6 supported. If you use the DVD version, KNOPPIX2 will be dropped. You can also use the 5.3.1 Japanese Edition if you prefer KDE.)
*the two plugins can both be used for any other version of PCLinuxOS 2009 -customized-
Debian Live → binary.iso
-compilation-
Ultimate Boot CD → ubcd.iso
-not too large-
Slax → slax.iso
Tiny Core Linux → tinycore.iso
Puppy → puppy.iso
Macpup → macpup.iso
Feather → feather.iso
SliTaz → slitaz.iso
Austrumi → al.iso
GeeXboX → gbox.iso
DSL → dsl.iso
Slax modules → *.lzm
DeLi Linux → deli.iso
TinyMe → timyme.iso
antiX → antix.iso
Wolvix → wolvix.iso
CDlinux → cdl.iso
-partitoning and specialized-
RIPLinuX → riplinux.iso
SystemRescueCd → sysrcd.iso
Trinity Rescue Kit → trk.iso
INSERT → insert.iso
Parted Magic → pmagic.iso
GParted Live → gparted.iso
BackTrack Linux → backtrack.iso
WeakNet Linux → weaknet.iso
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor → ntpasswd.iso
EASEUS Disk Copy → diskcopy.iso
Clonezilla → clonezilla.iso
PING → ping.iso
Endian Firewall → efw.iso
NetbootCD → netbootcd.iso
Ubuntu (hardy or jaunty) mini.iso → ubuntu-mini.iso
Debian (lenny, squeeze or sid) mini.iso → debian-mini.iso
Fedora 11 netinst → fedora-boot.iso
openSUSE NET iso → opensuse.iso
Mandriva boot.iso → mandriva-boot.iso
Arch Linux FTP or CORE → arch.iso
FreeDOS base or full CD → fdbasecd.iso/fdfullcd.iso
Any floppy disk image → *.img or *.imz (could be Super Grub Disk, MS-DOS, etc.)
Any floppy disk image → games/*.img or games/*.imz (for bootable DOS disk images with games)
GRUB4DOS grub.exe → grub.exe
DBAN iso image → dban.iso
Memtest86+ → automatic

for more information visit http://multicd.tuxfamily.org/

First man to be 'infected' by computer virus

A British scientist has laid claim to being the first man to be infected by a computer virus, after he used a contaminated chip implanted in his hand to attack a lab security system.

Dr Mark Gasson,a British scientist, programmed the microchip, similar to those used to "tag" pets, to remotely open his lab's security doors and unlock his mobile phone before having it inserted under his skin.He also infected the implant with a virus, to prove that it could be transferred as the chip and the security system wirelessly exchanged electronic data.

The virus could then have been passed on to other devices interacting with the control system, such as colleagues' swipe cards, in the same way viruses are able to spread across computer networks.

 The results raise the possibility that in the future, increasingly advanced medical devices such as pacemakers, inner ear implants, and other medical devices could become vulnerable to cyber attacks from other human implants.

 Dr Gasson said: "Our research shows that implantable technology has developed to the point where implants are capable of communicating, storing and manipulating data.

"This means that, like mainstream computers, they can be infected by viruses and the technology will need to keep pace with this so that implants, including medical devices, can be safely used in the future.”

He stressed it is not currently thought possible to exploit medical devices such as pacemakers because they have not been analysed for flaws, but said they could theoretically be vulnerable.

He said: "We do not know of any medical device that can be exploited in this way yet but we are very much on the cusp of it being possible.

"It is possible that you could create a virus that completely corrupts the device to the point where it does not work any more."

Implanted technology has become increasingly common in the United States, where medical alert bracelets can be scanned to bring up a patient's medical history.

Dr Gasson said the technology is likely to become more widely used in the future, even for non-medical purposes such as increasing someone's memory.

He said: “Our next evolutionary step may well mean that we all become part machine as we look to enhance ourselves, either because it becomes as much of a social norm as say mobile phones, or because we’ll be disadvantaged if we do not.”

Find invisible users in your Gtalk buddy list

Most instant messaging protocols like yahoo messenger, msn, gtalk, etc,. support invisible users. Anyone can remain online without being noticed by anyone in their buddy list. In this post I'm going to explain how to find the invisible users in your GTalk list. For this i used:

•    operating system: ubuntu 9.04 
•    programming language:python language.Install this by running 

            sudo apt-get install python

•    xmpp module for python language.you can install this by running the following command:   

                         sudo apt-get install python-xmpp

          The interesting thing about GTalk implementation is that it implements user 'invisibility' on the client side, not on  the server side. we can find such invisible-yet-online users by listening to their presence notifications. When ever a user or client joins a sever/network, it sends presence notification for the users. when the user authenticates to the server and becomes invisible, the client sends an 'unavailable' presence to all buddies in the roster. Thus, presence notifications with a presence type of 'unavailable' means that the user is in invisible mode. All Gtalk clients ignore this type of presence; hence, those users are not shown in the buddy list.

using the below python program we can grab the list of invisible users.It uses XMPP module for python. You can install this module in Ubuntu and other debian based distribution by running the following command:

                                      sudo apt-get install python-xmpp

#!/usr/bin/python -W ignore::DeprecationWarning

import xmpp

user="username@gmail.com"
password="password"
server="gmail.com"
def presenceHandler (conn, presence):
      if presence:

         if presence.getType() == "unavailable":
          print presence.getFrom().getStripped()

print "Invisible users:"

jid = xmpp.JID(user)
connection = xmpp.Client(server,debug=[])

connection.connect()

result = connection.auth(jid.getNode(), password, "client Name")

connection.RegisterHandler('presence',presenceHandler)
connection.sendInitPresence()

while connection.Process(1):
             pass

Write the above code in a text editor and save it as 'invisible.py' (without quotes)

open the terminal and go to the directory containing the invisible.py file and type:

         chmod a+x invisible.py   to get root powers to execute the code.

now type:

                     ./invisible.py

This will print the list of invisible users on the command line itself.