Pimping Podcasts and Packets

Well... with a title like that you just have to read this, don't ya?

Ok... there are really two subjects here - one is pimping podcasts and the other is packets, but they came together this evening with a new podcast series I am developing and a quick analysis of some podcasting traffic.

Pimping podcasts? This title came to mind as I searched for some lead-in/closing music for the upcoming podcast series. After searching for royalty-free music for a bit, I found a little ditty that turned my head (including my ears). The music was described as "70's, pimp-stylin, funkin', porn music. If prostitution is a victimless crime, then where's my wallet?"

I HAD to listen to this music!

Sure enough - this was some seriously funky music - it dripped of sexual innuendo with loads of wawawa slipping through dadum dadum with a funk beat - this could have been background music for Shaft! I could honestly imagine myself following that attitude-adjusting swank with a serious conversation about the If-Modified-Since HTTP header field! What a mood setter!

Note: We'll cover the importance of that header field in the upcoming Summit 08 (http://www.chappellsummit.com/) when analyzing web browsing traffic.

So what do packets have to do with this? Well... since I was on the topic of podcasting, I thought I'd check out the traffic rate of the recent podcast I did with Ron Nutter's Help Desk Toolchest over at Network World (http://www.networkworld.com/podcasts/nutter/) - I found that the podcast MP3 file was 31,640,580 bytes and downloaded in just over 30 seconds at an average rate of 8.77 Mbit/s. This was waaaaay bigger than the Internet radio trace I'd taken a while back when studying streaming methods and bandwidth usage. Ron's podcast runs for 65 minutes and 55 seconds. When there I injected traffic into the network to cause packet loss and higher latency, I didn't notice it at all.

Tomorrow I should finish my analysis of Spore's network traffic and have the signatures to spot and eradicate that little primordial slime off the network (oh, sure... play it at home all you want!).

Laura
Don't forget - register for the Summit by September 30th for the Early Bird Special!
http://www.chappellsummit.com/

Where the *(@#$# Have I Been?

It's been ages since my last post - so where on Earth have I been (assuming I've been on Earth, of course). Good question...

I've been halfway around the world in Canberra, Australia (snoooooooze) and assorted places in the US. Mostly, however, I have been buried in the deep, dark and exotic... lab! Playing around with the VoIP analysis functions in Wireshark, cool enhancements in NetScanTools Pro and wireless views in Pilot. I'm also enjoying playing with systems that have been left naked and exposed on the Internet (eek!) - analyzing the methods used to compromise those systems.

I've also been writing a series of articles on topics ranging from "Optimize Your Network Regardless of IT Budget Cuts" (www.chappellsummit.com) to "Getting More Pool Time (aka Graphing Wireless Network Behavior with Pilot™)" (searchnetworking.techtarget.com) and "Enhancing Windows® XP Performance with RFC 1323" (also searchnetworking.techtarget.com) and a few podcasts with my friend Ron Nutter were we discussed DNS security faults, strange traffic on the network (check out the live analysis results of going to www.usatoday.com - yucko!), and Microsoft's TCP enhancements in Vista/Server 2008 (all three to air at www.networkworld.com/podcasts/nutter/).

Most excitingly, however, I've been working on the Student Manuals for the Summit (Network Analysis and Network Forensics Training) that takes place November 4-5 (www.chappellsummit.com) - I extended the Early Bird registration price until September 30th because of the hardships caused by Ike and the roller coaster ride we call the Stock Market.

Over the next two weeks I'll be releasing some of the lab information for the Summit - giving you a taste of the hands-on labs that we'll tackle together. Oh, yeah... we'll definitely do some VoIP playback and work in the wireless world! Join us for accelerated analysis/forensics training at the Summit.

Better go - it's 5:30pm and I have a few more hours-worth of trace files I want to review this evening! Yippie!

Laura

Summit 08 Registration Brings Nausea...

At typical conferences, I only have a 1 hour 15 minute time slot to present information - hardly enough to do more than whet your appetite for packet-level life. It is very frustrating when I really want to ensure attendees grasp concepts and walk out with solid skills for immediate gratification. So... I cancelled most of my remaining conferences this year to focus on development of my Troubleshooting and Security Summit on November 4-5th in Las Colinas, Texas (near DFW). Visit www.chappellsummit.com or www.wiresharkU.com.

Geez... it takes a ton of work to put on a Summit/Conference! Reviewing the contract with the hotel nearly made me gag! We did select a fantastic hotel and we hope to take over the entire ballroom/meeting room area - giving us plenty of room to spread out with our laptops and great visibility for all attendees. Hey - if you're going to head out and spend time geeking out with us, you might as well be someplace nice (sorry, Detroit Days Inn... I just couldn't do it!).

I am working on the student kits and the new sets of trace files. I am most excited to work together on the new Microsoft TCP/IP stack stuff, optimization of XP communications and then the compromised host evidence area. In addition, we'll get to work with new trace files of unusual/suspicious traffic to locate their signatures and figure out how to block this crap from the network. Users get more bold every day with the dirty applications they try to run on network!

There was a major change made from the time we polled the mailing list to the current time - I want to give all attendees a copy of the WSU03: Troubleshooting Network Performance self-paced DVD course instead of the WSU02: Analyzing TCP/IP Communications. The WSU02 stuff is the perfect prerequisite to ensure you get the most out of the conference.

New trace files - new toys (uh, er... I mean tools) - hands-on labs! It's gonna be a blast! Make sure you register before September 1st to get the Early Bird Special. Ideally, I'd like to have enough attendees to ensure we take over the hotel. Oh, yeah - and hotel room discount rates are only available until October 20th.

Get the full outline and details at www.chappellsummit.com and let me know your thoughts!

Laura

No One Wipes Blood Off Their Own Face in Movies!

Well... it's another late night for me... insomnia rules my world at times and I've spent the day working with the new video training interface and the lab exercises for the Pilot beta course (which is debuting on July 18th - check out the calendar page for details).

I am finally settling in to watch a movie (oh, and blogging...) - "The Interpreter" is on... a smarmy show with beautiful-but-quesionable-actress Nicole Kidman and amazingly-talented-but-no-one-I'd-let-stay-in-my-house Sean Penn. The scene that just played had Sean Penn grabbing a paper towel, wetting it down and wiping the blood off Nicole Kidman's face. Now why is it that in movies no one can wipe the blood off their own face or put a simple bandage on their cuts? Geez... if we acted the same way I'm sure we'd all be walking around with oozing wounds and blood-stained faces, hands and feet. Ok... Hollywood is not reality (I want you all to remember that when the "Mother of Invention" movie comes out - if it ever does).

On that note... I've received numerous queries about the film. Last week I spoke with the main writer - the script is on it's 10th rewrite. He asked me some questions (I'm Technical Consultant on the film) about Navy Seals and intercepting radio-control signals. Now what the hell does that have to do with my life? Oh, wait... I'm not supposed to talk about those jobs... Seriously folks... when the film does come out it will have little relationship to my real life (except for that diaper-packed suitcase scene - believe it or not - that is true).

So back to the Pilot labs now - it's just past 12:15 am and I have another 3 hours or so of energy and focus left. I'm excited about this new course - as excited as I am with Pilot. If you don't know about Pilot, check out CACE Technologies' website. I just saved myself about 10 hours creating a report for a customer by using Pilot.

Oh... gotta go - final scenes coming up - helicopters and all... hey, wait a minute! I didn't see any helicopters in my film script!!! Time to make some calls... someone in Hollywood's gonna need some Bandaids!

Laura

Bag Lady of TechEd...

Those quizzical looks said "don't you have a hotel room?" After dragging around a suitcase of toys (uh, er... I mean 'tools') during TechEd, I really appreciate the guy/gal who invented roller bags. The lunch session today - while only 45 minutes long - finally offered me a chance to unload the bag and share some of my favorite tools. From the hot graping tool, Pilot, to NetScanTools (my key reconnaissance/traceback tool) and the infamous SumoBots, Ironkey, the self-destructing USB stick and the Phantom Keystroker that plagued some of the CommNet stations at various points during the network - the 45-minute sessions was a 'spewfest' of fun.


If you'd like to see the list of some of my favorite tools, check out www.wiresharkU.com/tools - if there are tools I should add, send an email to tools@wiresharkU.com.

This week I also created a page with some information and product discount codes over at www.wiresharkU.com/teched. Even if you didn't go to the show, grab the discount codes for AirPcap, NetScanTools, Pilot and the Wireshark University Courses - watch the expiration dates - don't miss your chance to save some money on these hot items.

So what about that Thursday panel? Seated between Steve Riley and Mark Russinovich - the same seating arrangement we had in Barcelona, I knew it would be a hoot. Mark Minasi and Marcus Murray rounded out the geekfest at the front of the room. Without any introductions or scripting, it was a great opportunity to just chat about the issues - unbeknownst to the audience, we rarely all get together in the same room and the same time. When we do... you have five Type A personalities butting heads and trying to one-up each other's stories... and what stories they are!

Now... it's time to relax in the hotel room - I'm totally wiped out from four breakout sessions, a panel, a lunch session, four 'fishbowl' recordings and one TechNet Edge recording (oh, yeah... and some late nights out at the hotel pool and an evening of non-stop walking around Universal Studios).

Off to the HP TechForum conference in Las Vegas - with a pre-conference training session Monday and several sessions Tuesday, it will be a busy week. After that, however, I am thrilled to enjoy the summer with minimal travel. That will give me lots of time to play with new toys and tracefiles. Wheee!

Laura

Smack That ###!

Now before you begin to get all hot and bothered by the title of this splog ("spewed blog") - let me put this in context.

Brenda and I are on an American Airlines flight from SJC to DFW (if you travel much, you'll know the acronyms - if you don't who cares - just take it that we're on a plane). We were thrilled to have been upgraded and shuffled everyone around in first class so we could sit next to each other. I have loads of prep work that I still want to get done before TechEd starts tomorrow. (In truth, we've been cracking up while devising some very juvenile interview questions for our filming this week).

I've just plugged in my AirPcap adapters and set them for scanning mode - I want to know if the flight attendant speech about "please turn off your wireless cards or if your electronic device supports airplane mode, please use that" actually works. And after all - what's the point? Really?

I've talked to tons of pilots who say the whole wireless and cellular on planes is a bunch of hooey (pilot terminology). As Brenda and I hunch over the computer cracking up at the SSIDs flashing across the screen... my heart nearly stops...

"WHAT'S THAT!?" echoes through the entire plane at a decible level that rivals the Rolls Royce engines and makes my teeth ache. Holy shrieks - what was that?

"GIMME IT!" another shriek as my ears begin to bleed and both the parties in row 4 (the ones with hearing aids) keel over (there's just enough room in first class to actually keel over - if this had happened in 'economy class' no one would know until unloading time - you'd just look like you were taking a snoozer while propped up against the seat in front of you - lack of drooling would have been a clue, however).

With the 'Stare of Death' that my kids have feared since birth, I looked across to the nightmare sitting in 6B - with my eyes I try to send a signal of 'you should not be on this plane - and potentially, you should never breed'. I turn to Brenda with a simple question - "Why don't I hear any slapping?"
You see - I'm not wasting my 'Stare of Death' on the little boy who has the lung power to rival Pavarotti (before he died, of course) - the stare is for the mother who is oblivious to her son's inappropriate shrieking - hmmm.... perhaps the woman is deaf? If not, she will be soon. Hmmm.... are those earplugs in her ears? Really! This is a pet peeve of mine - parents who don't teach their kids manners until the kids reach the ripe old (too old for teaching manners) age of 13 or so.

What's wrong with saying to little Jimmy, "no, sweetie - we don't stand on the table at restaurants" or "no, honey, we don't give the cat a haircut using a butcher knife"? Geez - can't you get that kid a video game to play - laptops are cheap - get him Grand Theft Auto - that' oughta hold his attention - especially if his favorite color is red.

So... back to the wireless traffic - here's a list of the SSID's being requested by the various laptops on this flight (notice the lack of querying for WSU? I listen to those aero-cops big time now with the recent Call-Ahead-to-have-a-Passenger-Arrested-if-They-Don't-Wait-for-the-Beverage-Cart-to-Pass-Before-You-Want-to-Go-to-the-Bathroom law.

ARC-WLAN
Bernards-Inn
ATLWifi
GlobalSuite Wireless
GoldenTree
GreatBearCoffee
GuestGuestAccess
HHonors402
IRDWlan
InternetIvy Room - (97)
JPLGuest
InternetLodgeNet
Regents Park
SKYHARBOR PUBLIC
Sheraton_WIFI
Space Park #1
TAA-WiFi-Hotspot
WACWIFI
Wayport_Access
Wayport_Meeting
Westin-Aruba (this is just wrong - in Aruba hitting the wireless?)
admiralsclub
amonien
attwifi
belkin54g
bytelynkc
SBConTWLAN
concourse
hhonors
holidayinn
ibahn
linksys
nasaguest
npwireless.com
omni
picctxsur
roomlinx
stayonline
surfamily
syslink8
tmobile
westinsf
workgroup

After a bathroom break (I'll talk about the Coffe-Pack-in-the-Bathroom-Issue in another splog), I asked the flight attendants who were up in the front galley hiding away from the noise... "What's the deal with wireless communications on the plane? What happens if a laptop is turned on with wireless enabled?" In tandem, as if they'd practiced this response one thousand times (hmmm... mind-control training of flight attendants - that explains a LOT!) they synced "It interferes with the instrument panel!" I did mention that we must have lots of laptops on this plane with their wireless turned on - "How come we aren't plummeting to the ground by now?" Ok... wrong question. It took a bit of time to ensure them I wasn't interested in parking the plane over a corn field and I finally snuck back to my seat.

I reviewed the results of my wireless scan - systems desparately seeking 45 different SSIDs! Whoa! Doesn't anyone care about the dangers of wireless transmissions on the plane? Hey folks - our plane's instrument panel is probably popping outta the dash the and pilots are using hand-signals before turning! YOU'RE RISKING MY LIFE HERE, BUBBA! I feel like doing a 'puter smack-down of the systems on the plane, but feel that is likely to land me in Club Fed long before I'm ready... I sit down and pick up some SMB2 specs to review...

Now considering that TechEd starts tomorrow and we're on a flight from the Silicon Valley - I'm quite certain some of these yapping systems are headed for the conference center. It's kind of like meeting people ahead of time. When we get there, we'll check for some of the same SSID requests and who knows... we might find we're surrounded by friends before the conference even starts.

Uh oh... gotta go - landing time "Please turn off and stow all electronic devices..." Hmm.... maybe it would be interesting to see if people turn off their laptops during landing...

Laura
p.s. Visit the new www.wiresharkU.com/tools.html page! Enjoy!

TechEd or Jail... Packing Light

With only a few days to go before the TechEd IT Pro conference, I've begun the packing process.

I had some nagging feeling as I carefully entombed my three competition SumoBots and the Annoy-a-tron circuit board in my carry-on bag. Let's see... where can I fit the webcam rocket launcher? What about that 7' antenna I wanted to bring... it'll have to stay home for this show.

I had hoped to have some form of the Digital Dress to bring out, but it's just been delayed again - wouldn't that have made a splash at the show? Of course getting that dress through airport security would be.... OH WAIT A MINUTE! AIRPORT SECURITY!

Mouth agape as I looked through the bag I'd planned to tote onto the plan... when the TSA (Transporation Security Administration) scans this bag, they're just going to throw me in a holding cell as a precaution. The gears, wires and circuitboards of the SumoBots alone will likely have me cuffed face-down in the security line - my nose on par with the putrid unclad feet of the traveling masses.

DON'T TAZE ME, BRO!

So... the other suitcase was recovered from the back of the storage shed as I tearfully said 'goodbye' to my favorite toys that would set off even the most dense of TSA agents. How do you describe the purpose of bringing a full-sized keyboard in your over-sized 'purse' (he he... if 'man purses' were a bit more accepted, you'd be stuffing everything in there too, guys!)?

"OH THAT? IT'S ACTUALLY A KEYLOGGING KEYBOARD TO STEAL PASSWORDS AND USER NAMES. No Worries." Don't fret about me, Ms. TSA-woman-with-a-bad-attitude-because-she-is-an-AOL-user. I wouldn't hurt a fly...

I will certainly be in a funk if my SumoBots and flying monkey slingshot get re-routed to Sao Paulo - perhaps it's time to print up some "Baggage Handlers Do It Gently" or "I [heart] Baggage Handlers" or "Chairwoman: Baggage Handlers Union" stickers for my luggage...

As a side note - some of the materials being discussed at TechEd have made me consider teaching a hands-on course - something I haven't done in about 16 months, 2 days and 5 hours (not that anyone is counting). Check out http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=wzJBpD4AFvnFGQ1xRb2eIg_3d_3d for the survey on the possible course. Or visit www.wiresharktraining.com/summit08 and let me know your thoughts.

Now back to packing... goodbye little BillyBot... goodbye little BushBot... goodbye little BallmerBot... (did you see the BallmerBot video yet?)... sob...

Laura

Proud parent of three aggressive SumoBots

Fan of Baggage Handlers everywhere!