Tool suppliers

I have purchased tools and D.IY. suppliers online for many years. I find Screwfix often have the greatest range and best prices although it's always worth checking other stores - even Amazon has tools these days! Over the coming months I'll review some of my favourite purchases and post information on some of my projects.

Cheers
Andy

DropBox for file sharing between devices and synchronising Internet Explorer Favourites

DropBox is a pretty simple concept - it keeps copies of a folder, sub-folders and contents synchronised across multiple systems, devices, and the DropBox website. Additionally it keeps a history of file changes so you can retrieve old versions should you experience an oh-no-second (the moment in time when you have done something you regret that it's too late to stop it but the consequences have not yet hit). It's a freemium service - that is there's a free version but to get at certain features you have to pay up. In the case of DropBox you pay for additional capacity.

Using DropBox I can keep files accessible on:

• my work laptop
• my commuting net book
• my Blackberry
• and my iPad

Keeping work and personal apart
You can create a "Personal" folder and exclude that from syncronising to a work PC should you wish to keep certain files from being copied to work. In converse you can create a "Work" folder that gets copied to your blackberry and work PC but not your home PC for example. You should of course be aware that anything in your DropBox will also be on the DropBox website and this may restrict what corporate information you are able to use it for if any.

Sharing Internet Explorer Favourites between PCs
If like me you work on more than one device you may well have come across the situation where you have a link to something on one PC but are currently working from another. This situation shouldn't arise again if you set things up right. Indeed you will even be able to get at your favourites by accessing the DropBox website!

1. Open your Favourites
2. Right click on a folder and click "open"
3. Navigate up levels until you see the "Favourites" folder
4. In Windows 7: Right click->Properties->Location and move into your DropBox folder
5. In older versions of Windows: Move your Favourites folder into your DropBox and use RegEdit to alter the registry key for "HKEY CURRENT USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders"

Alterations to your Favourites or to your Favourites bar should now be replicated on any PC you have altered to use this new location. (BTW you can create sub-folders in your favourites bar - a useful way of keeping sites organised for rapid access).

Cheers
Andy

P.S. If you found this useful and are not yet signed up to DropBox then please consider using this link ( http://db.tt/V9OaPij ) which will get both of us some extra storage space.

Padding oracle attack on ASP.net a.k.a POET vs. ASP.net

I've been spending a bit of time at work looking at this...and a load more at home last night. It turns out once you get past all the jargon and attempts at security through obscurity it's fairly simple. First off - watch the following video - but keep in mind these things:

1. This has nothing to do with any sort of Oracle database - the oracle in this case is referring to something that you are able to use to extract useful information from a server. 
2. This is not restricted to DotNetNuke - it applies to pretty much all ASP.net applications.
3. Don't get distracted by the bit after the DotNetNuke session token has been created because at this point it's game over and the rest is just a show.
4. Don't get distracted by them setting custom errors to false - that setting is important but simply setting it to remoteOnly or whatever which is normal good practice is not enough to protect you!
5. Don't blame me for "helping the bad guys" - all that damage has already been done as the exploit tool is out there. What's important now is that the good guys understand the risk and mitigations.

Cycling: Folding bike for commuting - Raleigh Folda review and user guide

I wanted to get myself a folding bike for commuting having tried the Barclays cycle hire and been impressed with the ease of cycling and provision of cycling paths but put off by the lack of bikes and bike rack space in the mornings. I figured a folding bike could be used both ends of my journey and also it would be door-to-door unlike the cycle scheme. Some are crazy expensive and I wasn’t sure how much use I would get from it so I decided to take a bit of a gamble on a cheapy one from Amazon. It was made more of a gamble than it should have been due to a complete lack of pictures, reviews, or anything much at all on the internet about this bike. Well, now I’ve taken the plunge I can help you buy armed with much more detailed knowledge! If you find this information useful then please use the link on the right to go back to Amazon to buy as I’ll get a small amount of commission for my trouble at no cost to you!