Mooshabaya Meetings at Research Lab

October 27th, 2009 [Dr.Srinath/All members/CSE Research Lab] : Updates on the project. Eventing component issues and masup deployment and authentication issues. Discussed about the upcoming first formal presentation.

November 19th, 2009 [Dr.Srinath/K.D.B.C.De Alwis, A.S.Malinga, K.Pradeeban/CSE Research Lab] Demonstration of the project update using a screencast. Design and development issues, further updates, and the potential usage of the ongoing project on transferring Extreme! Labs projects from using XSUL to Axis2 were also discussed.

December 14th, 2009 [Dr.Srinath/All members/CSE Research Lab]
Discussed about the eventing module integration into carbon to call the eventing module methods from mashup server. Project Draft Report and the upcoming project schedule was also discussed.

December 15th, 2009 [Mrs.Vishaka Nanayakkara/All members/HoD Office]
Discussed about the draft report with the project's internal mentor Mrs.Vishaka Nanayakkara. Suggestions for potential enhancements and improvements to the draft report were given.

Open Source Viruses!

Back Orifice (Currently known as BO2K) (often shortened to BO) is a controversial computer program designed for remote system administration, well known for its launch as an open source project. This program can effectively control your computer from a remote location once your computer has become a client. As BO2K server can be installed without the user's interaction, it can be distributed as payload of a Trojan and hence listed into the virus database by Anti-Virus programs, neglecting its legitimate use as an administrative tool.

It is often discussed whether 'open source virus' is a concept in practice or just a myth. Murphy's Law: Sometimes, an Open-Source Virus is Just a Virus - Views mentioning a virus/malware can never be considered to be open source, as it is not installed with a user agreement, as a reply to the post "Why virus writers are turning to open source". Another post focusing the Back Orifice developers - "Transatlantic Cable : Could the Cult of the Dead Cow be your friends?"

"Behind the scenes of online fraud" discusses about the online frauds along with some precautions. We were discussing more about Ethical hacking, malwares, and the behaviors of crackers during one of our recent CS4050 module lectures (Hence got the idea of a small research on Open Source Viruses ;)). From the discussions we had, it seems online fraud has become a popular hobby. Computer Crime, Act, No 24 of 2007 published by the Parliment of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka discusses the identification, investigation, and prevention of computer crimes. Online crimes are no more considered a fun that is tolerated!

Learning and Fun

Even very serious stuff can sometimes be fun, if it is mentioned in the proper way. Recently got to know a nice blog post thanks to my pal Sach. It explains the encryption in a very nice manner, using stick figures. Seems a good learning resource on computer security.
Moserware: A Stick Figure Guide to the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

Development Discussions - Mooshabaya

August 28th, 2009 [Dr.Srinath/All members] : The design constraints of Mooshabaya : [CSE/CSLR4 9.30 a.m - 10.30 a.m]

The design constraints of Mooshabaya was discussed. The development updates were discussed with Dr.Srinath. Cleaning up XBaya code and the UI for Mooshabaya, Integrating WSO2 Identity Server along with WSO2 Registry to Mooshabaya to retrieve services, Deploying the generated mashups into WSO2 Mashup Server by configuring a Mashup Server into the Mooshabaya, and configuring the workflow monitoring to monitor the executing workflows were discussed. These initial design level constraints were discussed during the meeting.

September 24th, 2009 [Dr.Srinath/All members] : Initial Developments : [CSE/Tutorial Room 11 a.m - 12.00 p.m]

The development processes and the development decisions were discussed. The mashups generations for the deployed workflows, the constraints in integrating openID credentials for WSO2 Identity Server, monitoring the workflow events, using axis2 in place of XSUL, and the other input sources like web feeds were discussed. The initial developments were demonstrated.

Ubuntu and SLT ADSL

When it comes to Linux, most of the software for the commonly used peripherals remain unsupported in Sri Lanka. Sometimes the software can be downloaded from the community forums, though the remaining stuff still, is on your hands. Recently when I switched to Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty), completely from Windows XP, I had to replace my Prolink H9601 ADSL USB Modem with a router since SLT(Sri Lanka Telecom) explicitly mentions that the above modem suits for Windows only. There was a program named UbuDSL which works for Prolink modems *sometimes*, on Ubuntu.

Configuring the CT-5624 4 port ADSL Router was a piece of cake though.

[1]. Just open http://192.168.1.1 and enter both username - admin and password - admin.

[2] Quick Setup will take you to the web page where you will have to input the username and password given by SLT. After this click 'Save & Reboot'; wait for the router to reboot. After rebooting you will mostly be able to connect to the Internet.

The below describes the further configuration, if the above fails. Since the router comes preconfigured for SLT it should work without these though.

[3]. Configuring Computer [From the SLT Router guide - for Windows Operating System]

TCP/IP Properties (You will not need to do this mostly.) .

Use IP address in the range of 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.254

Subnet mask 255.255.255.0

Default gateway 192.168.1.1

Preferred DNS Server 203.115.0.46

Alternate DNS Server 203.115.0.47

[4]. Configuring CT-5624

After the initial configuration, as mentioned in [1], Select WAN under Advanced Setup tab, and Click Edit.

VPI = 8

VCI = 35

[Next]

Connection Type - PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE)

Encapsulation Mode - LLC / SNAP-BRIDGING

[Next]

Enter the username and password provided by SLT.

[Next]

Enable WAN Service

[Next]

Check the summary and Save if it is correct. Save/Reboot.

Wait for the router to reboot.

This should work by now.. :)

Click the DNS Server option under Advance Setup to set the DNS Server address.