Issue #145 / Dec 2012

By Joe Casad

Knoppix 7.0.4

Botnets aren't all bad. We'll show you how to harness the power of the botnet architecture to solve real-world problems in a business context.

An offline cache in your browser and a bit of HTML5 acrobatics combine for interactive web applications that keep working even when the Internet connection breaks down.

"HMTL5 rocks" – and Google is not the only one who feels that way. You will find many resources, frameworks, and utilities that will help you get started with the new standard.

Many web attacks are the result of programmer error. Sloppy code testing leaves a door open for the uninvited.

HTML5 brings 3D support to browsers. Thanks to WebGL, Firefox, Chrome, and company, you can render three-dimensional worlds without special plugins or viewers, and the Three.js JavaScript library makes programming easy.

Linux has several convenient package management systems, but they are not entirely free of weaknesses. We show you how to keep the RPM package management system permanently stable and how to get rid of some ballast with just two small programs: rpmorphan and rpmrestore.

Hdparm is the tool to use when it comes to tuning your hard disk or DVD drive, but it can also measure read speed, deliver valuable information about the device, change important drive settings, and even erase SSDs securely.

Searching for errors on an SMTP server via Telnet and test mails can seem like a never-ending obstacle course. The utility called Swaks helps bring the finish line within reach.