#it downloaded a filed called DEAD and when i found an application that could open it it was an email to a guy from Harvard???
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
My clinical psych prof is 84, has a Wikipedia page, clearly does not know how to use Canvas, and posts assignments under helpfully named links such as “syl.l.(f23).doc”
I think this will be a good semester.
#in the about me tab he clearly copy and pasted his Wikipedia page#the formatting on the class page is so confusing. multiple docs in comic sans#one link goes to a website with no formatting just a bunch of files. clicked on one called dead.letter out of curiosity#it downloaded a filed called DEAD and when i found an application that could open it it was an email to a guy from Harvard???#just like ‘sorry i can’t meet at that time’ normal kinda message to a harvard edu email. what kinda power play???
1 note
·
View note
Text
Faster Notification Toggle
Faster Notification Toggle
Introduction
In this article I show you how to quickly toggle a specific notification type on or off. These iOS setting are normally buried in an inconvenient location that you must slog your way to. But using Apple’s Shortcuts app, you can create a button that jumps directly to the setting. You can even use a voice command and have Siri open the page for you.
For me, email notifications are especially vital during work hours. Because email is the lifeblood of an information business (like my employer’s), I want to respond immediately when a request or question hits my inbox. But it is equally important to prevent email alerts from interrupting meetings, disrupting doctor appointments, annoying cinema patrons, or awakening me and my spouse in the dead of night.
Therefore, I frequently toggle this particular notification on or off as the situation demands. I found the manual method unnecessarily cumbersome: First, find and open the Settings app. Then find the Notifications category. Next scroll through the massive list of apps in the search of the one I want (often scrolling past the Mail app). And, lastly, toggling the notifications to the desired state.
I have now fixed that pain point: I can say “Hey, Siri, toggle mail” or tap a “Toggle Mail” button in my widgets. Either method jumps immediately to the toggle page for Mail. Below I give the steps on how to create this shortcut on your iOS device. This technique requires iOS version 13 (it does not work on certain older versions or out-of-date devices). Apple’s earlier support for this mechanism was a bit waffled, so let’s hope this recent development signifies a stronger commitment to let the Shortcuts app access settings.
Create the Shortcut
Watch the video below for a quick walkthrough. Or keep reading for the full written instructions and some additional information for advanced users.
First, find and open Apple’s Shortcut app. If you don’t remember where you put it, use Apple’s Finder. On my iPhone the Finder is opened by swiping downward from the middle of the screen. Start typing the word “shortcut” and it will soon show the app in the Applications section. If you deleted it, then you can re-download it from the iTunes store.
After you launch the Shortcuts app, make sure you are on the “My Shortcuts” page by using the menu at the bottom of the page. To create a shortcut, you can either tap the plus sign in the upper right corner of the page or tap the “Create Shortcut” button at the bottom of the displayed list.
I named my shortcut “Toggle Mail” for several reasons. First, it is short enough to fit inside a widget button. Second, I could also use Siri to invoke the shortcut because the name was memorable, easy to say, and unambiguous. And third, (the reason that it was memorable) was because the name was logical and self-explanatory. But feel free to use something else if this name does not work for you. To set the name of your shortcut, tap the button in the upper right of the page (with three dots) to access the shortcut’s “Details” page.
Replace the “Shortcut Name” in the top field by typing in the name you prefer.
While still on this “Details” page, tap the existing icon if you want to change the symbol or color. I chose green and used the “alert” symbol for my glyph. The “Show in Widget” is already on by default so we can leave that untouched. You could optionally also tap the “Add to Home Screen” if having the shortcut there is more your style. When you’re finished on this page tap the “Done” link in the upper right of the page to begin building the actions of the shortcut.
Tap the “Done” link in the upper right of the Icon page to return to the “Details” page. On the “Details” page tap the “Done” link to return to the actual shortcut definition.
Now tap the blue plus sign button (with the “Add Action” link) centered near the top of the page. Our shortcut will have two steps (i.e., actions). First, define our destination: that is, tell the shortcut where this particular setting lives. And, second, open that defined location (that is, display that page so we can set the toggle to the desired state).
For our first action, begin typing in “URL” into the search field. Select “URL” when it appears in the “Actions” results list.
When the action is initially added it has an example destination of “apple.com” in light text. Tap this example text so we can type in a replacement.
Enter the following string precisely. I recommend that you copy and paste the line below to ensure accuracy.
prefs:root=NOTIFICATIONS_ID&path=com.apple.mobilemail
Now we are ready to add our second and final action. Again, tap the plus icon centered below our first action. When the search field appears begin typing “Open URLs” and then tap the matching result when it appears in the “Actions” list.
There are no parameters to configure for this final/second action. So, tap the “Done” link in the upper right of the page to finish your creation. It is now ready to use. You can invoke the shortcut from the widget button (swipe left-to-right from the center of the home page), or by name using Siri. If you took the option of putting a button on your home page, you might want to reposition its icon so it’s placed in a convenient location.
Advanced Users
For users that are a bit more adventurous and technically inclined, you can use the URL shortcut technique to access different settings. If you’re not using Apple’s built-in mail program, you need to replace the identifier with your product’s official internal name. The first action will still begin with
prefs:root=NOTIFICATIONS_ID&path=
But instead of ending with com.apple.mobilemail you need to specify your mail app after the equal sign. Here is how to find the official internal name of your application.
Go into the Notifications section of Settings and find the exact name as it’s listed there
Open a web browser and search for “iTunes” and the name of your application (for example, “Outlook on iTunes store”)
Find the search result that’s on the official Apple.com website. In the screenshot below, it was the first result.
Click the official App Store link and confirm it’s the correct application (vendor, version, etc.)
Make note of the final identification number in the URL. For our example, Microsoft Outlook’s URL to its App Store page is https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-outlook/id951937596 so the identification number is 951937596
Put this identification at the end of a lookup URL (i.e., after the equal sign). For MS Outlook (app identifier 951937596) the URL would be https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=951937596
Go to the lookup URL and you’ll be prompted to download a file name 1.txt
Save the file and then open it in a text editor
Search this text file for “bundleId” and make note of the exact official name that follows. For our example, we found
, "bundleId":"com.microsoft.Office.Outlook",
So, the official internal name is com.microsoft.Office.Outlook
Use this name in your shortcut. For this example, the first action would define the settings URL as:
prefs:root=NOTIFICATIONS_ID&path=com.microsoft.Office.Outlook
Other Settings
A shortcut can have other destinations than just notification toggles. Below is a slew of other destinations to inspire your creativity and research.
Accessibility
Accessibility: prefs:root=ACCESSIBILITY
App Store
App Store: prefs:root=STORE
App Store ⮞ App Downloads: prefs:root=STORE&path=App%20Downloads
App Store ⮞ Video Autoplay: prefs:root=STORE&path=Video%20Autoplay
Apple Pencil
Apple Pencil (iPad-only): prefs:root=Pencil
Battery
Battery: prefs:root=BATTERY_USAGE
Battery ⮞ Battery Health (iPhone-only): prefs:root=BATTERY_USAGE&path=BATTERY_HEALTH
Books
Books: prefs:root=IBOOKS
Calendar
Calendar: prefs:root=CALENDAR
Calendar ⮞ Alternate Calendars: prefs:root=CALENDAR&path=Alternate%20Calendars
Calendar ⮞ Default Alert Times: prefs:root=CALENDAR&path=Default%20Alert%20Times
Calendar ⮞ Default Calendar: prefs:root=CALENDAR&path=Default%20Calendar
Calendar ⮞ Sync: prefs:root=CALENDAR&path=Sync
Camera
Camera: prefs:root=CAMERA
Camera ⮞ Record Slo-mo: prefs:root=CAMERA&path=Record%20Slo-mo
Camera ⮞ Record Video: prefs:root=CAMERA&path=Record%20Video
Compass
Compass: prefs:root=COMPASS
Contacts
Contacts: prefs:root=CONTACTS
Control Center
Control Center: prefs:root=ControlCenter
Control Center ⮞ Customize Controls: prefs:root=ControlCenter&path=CUSTOMIZE_CONTROLS
Display
Display: prefs:root=DISPLAY
Display ⮞ Auto Lock: prefs:root=DISPLAY&path=AUTOLOCK
Display ⮞ Text Size: prefs:root=DISPLAY&path=TEXT_SIZE
Do Not Disturb
Do Not Disturb: prefs:root=DO_NOT_DISTURB
Do Not Disturb ⮞ Allow Calls From: prefs:root=DO_NOT_DISTURB&path=Allow%20Calls%20From
Emergency SOS
Emergency SOS: prefs:root=EMERGENCY_SOS
Face ID
Face ID: prefs:root=PASSCODE
FaceTime
FaceTime: prefs:root=FACETIME
Game Center
Game Center: prefs:root=GAMECENTER
General
General: prefs:root=General
General ⮞ About: prefs:root=General&path=About
General ⮞ Background App Refresh: prefs:root=General&path=AUTO_CONTENT_DOWNLOAD
General ⮞ CarPlay: prefs:root=General&path=CARPLAY
General ⮞ Date & Time: prefs:root=General&path=DATE_AND_TIME
General ⮞ Dictionary: prefs:root=General&path=DICTIONARY
General ⮞ Keyboard: prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard
General ⮞ Keyboard ⮞ Hardware Keyboard: prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard/Hardware%20Keyboard
General ⮞ Keyboard ⮞ Keyboards: prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard/KEYBOARDS
General ⮞ Keyboard ⮞ One Handed Keyboard: prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard/ReachableKeyboard
General ⮞ Keyboard ⮞ Text Replacement: prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard/USER_DICTIONARY
General ⮞ Language & Region: prefs:root=General&path=INTERNATIONAL
General ⮞ Multitasking (iPad-only): prefs:root=General&path=MULTITASKING
General ⮞ Profiles: prefs:root=General&path=ManagedConfigurationList
General ⮞ Reset: prefs:root=General&path=Reset
General ⮞ Software Update: prefs:root=General&path=SOFTWARE_UPDATE_LINK
Health
Health: prefs:root=HEALTH
iCloud
iCloud: prefs:root=CASTLE
iCloud Backup: prefs:root=CASTLE&path=BACKUP
Mail
Mail: prefs:root=MAIL
Mail ⮞ Blocked: prefs:root=MAIL&path=Blocked
Mail ⮞ Blocked Sender Options: prefs:root=MAIL&path=Blocked%20Sender%20Options
Mail ⮞ Default Account: prefs:root=MAIL&path=Default%20Account
Mail ⮞ Include Attachments with Replies: prefs:root=MAIL&path=Include%20Attachments%20with%20Replies
Mail ⮞ Increase Quote Level: prefs:root=MAIL&path=Increase%20Quote%20Level
Mail ⮞ Mark Addresses: prefs:root=MAIL&path=Mark%20Addresses
Mail ⮞ Muted Thread Action: prefs:root=MAIL&path=Muted%20Thread%20Action
Mail ⮞ Notifications: prefs:root=MAIL&path=NOTIFICATIONS
Mail ⮞ Preview: prefs:root=MAIL&path=Preview
Mail ⮞ Signature: prefs:root=MAIL&path=Signature
Mail ⮞ Swipe Options: prefs:root=MAIL&path=Swipe%20Options
Maps
Maps: prefs:root=MAPS
Maps ⮞ Driving & Navigation: prefs:root=MAPS&path=Driving%20%26%20Navigation
Maps ⮞ Transit: prefs:root=MAPS&path=Transit
Measure
Measure: prefs:root=MEASURE
Messages
Messages: prefs:root=MESSAGES
Music
Music: prefs:root=MUSIC
Music ⮞ Cellular Data: prefs:root=MUSIC&path=com.apple.Music:CellularData
Music ⮞ EQ: prefs:root=MUSIC&path=com.apple.Music:EQ
Music ⮞ Optimize Storage: prefs:root=MUSIC&path=com.apple.Music:OptimizeStorage
Music ⮞ Volume Limit: prefs:root=MUSIC&path=com.apple.Music:VolumeLimit
News
News: prefs:root=NEWS
Notes
Notes: prefs:root=NOTES
Notes ⮞ Access Notes from Lock Screen: prefs:root=NOTES&path=Access%20Notes%20from%20Lock%20Screen
Notes ⮞ Default Account: prefs:root=NOTES&path=Default%20Account
Notes ⮞ Lines & Grids: prefs:root=NOTES&path=Lines%20%26%20Grids
Notes ⮞ New Notes Start With: prefs:root=NOTES&path=New%20Notes%20Start%20With
Notes ⮞ Password: prefs:root=NOTES&path=Password
Notes ⮞ Sort Checked Items: prefs:root=NOTES&path=Sort%20Checked%20Items
Notes ⮞ Sort Notes By : prefs:root=NOTES&path=Sort%20Notes%20By
Passwords & Accounts
Passwords & Accounts: prefs:root=ACCOUNTS_AND_PASSWORDS
Passwords & Accounts ⮞ Add Account: prefs:root=ACCOUNTS_AND_PASSWORDS&path=ADD_ACCOUNT
Passwords & Accounts ⮞ Fetch New Data: prefs:root=ACCOUNTS_AND_PASSWORDS&path=FETCH_NEW_DATA
Personal Hotspot
Personal Hotspot: prefs:root=INTERNET_TETHERING
Personal Hotspot ⮞ Family Sharing: prefs:root=INTERNET_TETHERING&path=Family%20Sharing
Personal Hotspot ⮞ Wi-Fi Password: prefs:root=INTERNET_TETHERING&path=Wi-Fi%20Password
Phone
Phone: prefs:root=Phone
Photos
Photos: prefs:root=Photos
Privacy
Privacy: prefs:root=Privacy
Privacy ⮞ Calendars: prefs:root=Privacy&path=CALENDARS
Privacy ⮞ Camera: prefs:root=Privacy&path=CAMERA
Privacy ⮞ Contacts: prefs:root=Privacy&path=CONTACTS
Privacy ⮞ Location Services: prefs:root=Privacy&path=LOCATION
Privacy ⮞ Microphone: prefs:root=Privacy&path=MICROPHONE
Privacy ⮞ Motion: prefs:root=Privacy&path=MOTION\
Privacy ⮞ Photos: prefs:root=Privacy&path=PHOTOS
Privacy ⮞ Reminders: prefs:root=Privacy&path=REMINDERS
Privacy ⮞ Speech Recognition: prefs:root=Privacy&path=SPEECH_RECOGNITION
Reminders
Reminders: prefs:root=REMINDERS
Reminders ⮞ Default List: prefs:root=REMINDERS&path=DEFAULT_LIST
Safari Browser
Safari: prefs:root=SAFARI
Safari ⮞ Advanced: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=ADVANCED
Safari ⮞ Camera: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=Camera
Safari ⮞ Clear History and Data: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=CLEAR_HISTORY_AND_DATA
Safari ⮞ Close Tabs: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=Close%20Tabs
Safari ⮞ Content Blockers: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=Content%20Blockers
Safari ⮞ Downloads: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=DOWNLOADS
Safari ⮞ Location: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=Location
Safari ⮞ Microphone: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=Microphone
Safari ⮞ Page Zoom: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=Page%20Zoom
Safari ⮞ Reader: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=Reader
Safari ⮞ Request Desktop Website: prefs:root=SAFARI&path=Request%20Desktop%20Website
Screen Time
Screen Time: prefs:root=SCREEN_TIME
Screen Time ⮞ Always Allowed: prefs:root=SCREEN_TIME&path=ALWAYS_ALLOWED
Screen Time ⮞ App Limits: prefs:root=SCREEN_TIME&path=APP_LIMITS
Screen Time ⮞ Downtime: prefs:root=SCREEN_TIME&path=DOWNTIME
Shortcuts
Shortcuts: prefs:root=SHORTCUTS
Siri
Siri: prefs:root=SIRI
Sounds
Ringtone:
prefs:root=Sounds&path=Ringtone
Sounds: prefs:root=Sounds
TV
Settings ⮞ TV: prefs:root=TVAPP
Voice Memos
Voice Memos: prefs:root=VOICE_MEMOS
VPN
VPN: prefs:root=General&path=VPN
Wallet
Wallet: prefs:root=PASSBOOK
Wallpaper
Wallpaper: prefs:root=Wallpaper
Wireless Radios
Bluetooth: prefs:root=Bluetooth
Cellular: prefs:root=MOBILE_DATA_SETTINGS_ID
Wi-Fi: prefs:root=WIFI
1 note
·
View note
Text
How To Merge Multiple Audio Information Into One Track Simply
Looking for a program that can aid you merge mp3 online and mix a number of mp3 information into one? 1. Appropriate with many of the audio codecs. Simply as talked about, when it's good to use it to combine the WAV from CD, download MP3 online or seize Dolby AC3, you need a strong audio combiner to assist all formats. You possibly can merge (or bounce) any number of unmuted tracks in a tune. This can be useful in the event you attain the maximum variety of tracks for a track, but want to add extra Touch Instruments. Hello @Minachung, you'll be able to't merge the playlists, however you may send the songs from one to another. In January 2000, AOL and Time Warner announced plans to merge, forming AOL Time Warner, Inc. The phrases of the deal known as for AOL shareholders to personal 55% of the brand new, combined company. The deal closed on January eleven, 2001. The brand new firm was led by executives from AOL, SBI, and Time Warner. Gerald Levin , who had served as CEO of Time Warner, was CEO of the brand new company. Steve Case served as Chairman, J. Michael Kelly (from AOL) was the Chief Monetary Officer, Robert W. Pittman (from AOL) and Dick Parsons (from Time Warner) served as Co-Chief Operating Officers. 28 In 2002, Jonathan Miller turned CEO of AOL. 29 The next year, AOL Time Warner dropped the "AOL" from its title. Helium Audio Joiner, as its title suggests, lets you merge quite a few audio tracks into one single file utilizing an intuitive interface and superior tools. 1. Combine your MP3 music tracks to no less than one file with easy steps. The headers of mp3-recordsdata are moreover merged. You can't merge mp3 information together with out the usage of a software program, let's go deep into the numerous strategies which may be utilized in combining multiple mp3 tracks all collectively. As talked about earlier, the Free MP3 Cutter and Joiner boasts a straightforward and properly-organized with a delightful design. All widespread audio formats: MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, AC3, DTS, and so forth. For clarity after I extract tracks from audio recordsdata (mp3) and then combine them together with copy-paste to obtain one solely audio mixes, overlaps. MP3 Toolkit is a group of six separate audio manipulation instruments that are all helpful ultimately: Converter, Ripper, Tag Editor, Merger, Cutter, and Recorder. Then confirm Merge into one File" subject and click on on Convert" to hitch the songs into one single observe. And in some way I tried to save lots of a number of the file though I can't be a part of the two songs nonetheless it confirmed the instead of mp3. This MP3 joiner is likely to be an MP3 editor www.mergemp3.com and cutter utilized for all audio info. The right editor helps you shortly merge audio and video with superior choices. All of the strategies above will certainly benefit you in accordance to your need. The first free audio joiner could be very recommended for it is straightforward and effective, and has no limits. It is special appropriate for individuals who don't wish to put in additional packages. Freemake Audio Converter will appeal to the users with its intuitive interface and a variety of supported codecs. For Mac prospects, Fission perhaps a dependable different for it may possibly merge MP3s on any Mac operating applications with ease. Creating new playlists is dead straightforward. Title the playlist, drag and www.goodreads.com drop songs to it. Add recordsdata out of your computer or your gadget, as you would like. And, with iMazing, there isn't a danger of duplicates. Be free to mix and match your jazz, rock and electronic tracks, it is all as much as you. If you ceaselessly expertise sudden breaks in your CD, particularly if it is a music concert copy or a comedy show recording, it may be actually frustrating. On this case, you need a program like Merge MP3that lets you merge all MP3 tracks into one massive MP3 file and enjoy the music till the end, with no break. Convert audio data - Lower from one audio format and convert to another format, or merger many audio info with different audio codecs. Free Audio Merger - Merge some small audio data in a single massive audio file. You might merge transient mp3 recordsdata captured by a voice recorder. For that reason, you want a MP3 cutter to achieve this. Apowersoft Free On-line Audio Editor is one other net-based mostly device that permits you to merge audio information for any use. This is a bit more absolutely-featured than Audio Joiner but does the job simply as properly. You need to use the web version or obtain a program to your computer relying in your wants. The online model requires you obtain a launcher for some reason but once accomplished, you'll be able to entry the audio editor. Inettools is a standard but purposeful on-line program that allows you to carry out an array of audio in addition to video enhancing, and merging is certainly considered one of them. Yu can simply combine your favourite mp3 information with ease and inside a really quick time. 3. With a purpose to save the merged MP3, select the audio output formats as MP3 within the "Profile" menu and click on "Convert" button. After seconds, hwaebsworth46.wapdale.com you may playback the merged MP3 file in your laptop. Is the quickest and finest method to convert audio to video on-line. You possibly can free merge two or additional songs into one with Pavtube Free Video DVD Converter Ultimate , which has full help for all audio file formats includingau,mp3,mp2,m4a,flac,ape,ogg,8svx,aiff,.aif,caf,dts,smv,tta,voc,aac, and plenty of others, you presumably can flexibly rearrange the order of the music then just verify the Merge into one file" option to affix your whole audio clips into one.
It counts with a very engaging interface, which makes its use so simple as counting from 1 to five. You may lower and merge MP3 files in few steps. Merge was founded by Guitarist Julien in 2011. After a bunch of exhibits performed the identical year, the band took a brand new begin bringing in 'Trapped by Stereo's' singer, Anthony, for what becomes a turning point within the band's history. Because the band writes their first tracks they get the possibility to open for bands comparable to Dance Gavin Dance, La Dispute and Touche Amore.A simple methodology to report out of your show display in HD. Make video footage of any software program, record online streaming video, webinars, even Skype calls, and save clips in all modern codecs. Weeny Free Audio Cutter helps reducing or merging audio codecs MP3, OGG, WAV and WMA. That may save the merged MP3 file in your default Music folder. This web page offers a simple program that may shortly and simply merge multiple MP3 recordsdata. Load the audio files you want to merge into AVS Audio Converter. It's advisable to rearrange the MP3 recordsdata that you just simply must merge in a folder so to add the folder as a substitute of uploading audio file one after the other. You may get hold of data from ASCAP concerning your online software instantly upon submission. Merge MP3 is a portable system that is very straightforward to utilize and compact in dimension.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Original Post from SC Magazine Author: Doug Olenick
We’ve covered two AI-based next generation tools: deception networks and network monitoring. This time we’re going to use next generation enterprise forensics to go on a threat hunt. If you recall, we deployed an Attivo BOTSink deception network in the lab and added, last time, the MixMode Packetsled network monitor. Both of these use true artificial intelligence with machine learning and deep learning. We have beaten the definition horse to death but in case you didn’t pick up on it I discussed artificial intelligence in the last two parts of this four-part series.
The tool I’ll introduce this time is a dream tool for anyone who has suffered through the tedium of forensic analysis on a dozen or so computers in a digital forensics incident response. In my experience it can take hours to image a single hard drive, a day or more to ingest it into the digital forensic tool and days to weeks to analyze it. And that is just one disk. If you have a dozen possibly compromised computers, multiply that by twelve and then add days or weeks to tie all of the analyses together. You may have a different process (for example, ingest all twelve disks and analyze them together in the first pass) but whatever you use it is very time consuming.
Moreover, this is dead box forensics. At best you’ll maybe get a memory snapshot but if you are looking at an event that took places days or even months in the past your memory snapshots are going to be limited in what they see. The tool I’m going to introduce will let you cut that analysis time dramatically. In fact, I’ve used it to do a full analysis of 1,400 computers on the network and get live rather than dead box forensics in just a couple of hours. The tool I’m talking about is Infocyte HUNT. I have been using it in my lab and at a client for quite some time. It cuts analysis time dramatically and it finds things that I might have missed.
Let’s Set up the Problem
For our threat hunt we are going to respond to a suspected banking Trojan. We don’t know what it is (actually, in this case we do since I loaded it for this problem – so in this test we’ll meet Citadel – but for now let’s assume that we don’t know what’s troubling us), where it is or even if it is. But we have noticed the network acting a bit hinky. A hint, here… HUNT performs scans of the network and you can schedule daily scans as I do with a client. You can see a daily analysis report and you can receive an email alert if there is anything found in the current scan. So this becomes an alerting tool as well as a threat hunting tool. In our case, I was not running regular scans because I set this problem up specifically for this article.
The other thing to note is that HUNT works, in part, by seeing what artifacts have been left by a piece of malware or a manual/programmed attack. It does not do a static analysis of every file leaving you to figure out what, exactly, happened. HUNT checks the shim cache and tells you assuming that a file that never has executed is not a problem. However, if such a file has been placed on the computer in a non-standard manner – a dropper, for example – it will notice that. Also, there is a very cool function, added recently, called Activity. Activity lets you look at a suspicious event, artifact, connection or user activity and see every step involved with it since it first interacted with the computer. More on that later.
This is beginning to sound like a product review so let’s get on with our problem. I’ll explain other features as we meet them. To create the problem, I set up some of the virtual machines in my Malware Analysis Environment (MAE). MAE is isolated from the rest of my network, runs its virtual machines in a VMWare environment and is not part of the deception network. HUNT cannot analyze the deception network because the deception network sinkholes anything it doesn’t like and HUNT’s agent is something it doesn’t like because its behavior feels to HUNT like malware. So it sinkholes all of the responses from the agent back out to the Infocyte cloud and we never see them. But that’s ok because BOTSink provides its own forensics so HUNT’s would be duplicated effort and needless traffic.
On one of our VMs I fired a copy of a file with the Citadel Trojan on it. Then I ran the scan of the machines in our test environment. I did not set up many machines just to keep things easy to see. Figure 1 shows the machines.
FIGURE 1 – Test Bed Computers
We have seven computers consisting of two Centos Linux computers, one Ubuntu 15.10 computer, one Windows 10 Pro, two Windows 7 SP1 and one Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter server. You’ll note, I’m sure, that HUNT thinks that the Windows 10, The Server2008 and both Windows 7 machines are compromised. That pretty well confirms that our theory that something is not as it should be is potentially correct. It also means that if we were to analyze this manually we would have four disks to look at, once we tracked them down which could take a while, and there might or might not be something on any or all of them. Our memory capture may or may not bear fruit as well.
You’ll also notice on the left-hand menu that in addition to the four compromised computers, we have three artifacts and two instances of a memory problem shown in red. Our first step in the threat hunt is done. We now know that we have four computers that may have problems, three artifacts and two memory activities that look interesting. Now, we dig in. I should note (so I will) that you may not have the advantage of having HUNT available but the process – though quite a bit more tedious – is the same if you do this manually. You just need more tools and more time.
Now, the Hunt
I’ll begin by opening the first computer, the Windows 10 Pro machine. Looking under Artifacts (we checked memory and found nothing so this is not a machine with an interesting memory dump) we see that this computer ran bittorrent.exe on 6 Aug 2016 at 1:02 PM. It shows up as bad. See Figure 2.
FIGURE 2 – Artifacts on the Windows 10 Pro Computer
Let’s look at that and see why HUNT thinks that is a problem. Clicking on the artifact we open the analysis page and we see that it is showing bad because four anti-malware programs think it is. It still may or may not be bad. It could, of course just be considered an unwanted application (two of the four AV results tagged it thus) or it might be infected. Figure 3 shows the analysis page for the artifact.
FIGURE 3 – Analysis page for bittorrent.exe
We could, if we wished, download a sample and send it to a sandbox such as our favorite, JoeSecurity, but in this case we’ll just open the Activity and see what happened with this application. You can see that I created it on 6/19/2016 and modified it on 8/6/2016. That makes sense in my recollection so we won’t pay any more attention to it. Since there is no indication that I did a bit torrent download of something malicious (I didn’t – I was fiddling with bitcoin analysis at the time) We’ll move on the next one. The Activity page is shown in Figure 4.
FIGURE 4 – Activity Analysis for bittorrent.exe on the Windows 10 Pro computer.
Returning to our Hosts page, we’ll look at the next computer, the Server2008 machine. Again, we see no memory activity so we go to the artifacts and see one called rdrservicesupdater2_1901020091.exe. I don’t know what that is but, as you can see from the Artifacts analysis in Figure 5, three AV programs don’t like it and two of the think it’s a Trojan. See Figure 5.
FIGURE 5 – rdrservicesupdater2_1901020091.exe Analysis Page
Now I have a couple of choices. First, I can submit it to either Virus Total, Google or both. Or I can download it and send it to JoeSandbox or, if I wish, to Infocyte for further analysis. I’ll take the path of least resistance for now and check Virus Total. It tells me that only one engine detected the file (a zero-day or a false positive, more likely a false positive) and it says that this is the Adobe Web Installer. The SHA-1 hash in Virus Total matches the one HUNT found so I’m pretty sure that we’re OK but let’s look at the Activity just to be certain. Activity says that I created (installed, in this case) on 2/26/2019 and modified it at 2/26/2019 both at 3:53:02 AM. I think that we are safe on this one so we move to the first Win 7 Pro SP1 (“Win7sp1-master”).
As is my habit, I check memory first and I find a treasure trove of data. The first thing I notice is a file called abatu.exe. When I Google it I find no information. That may make sense since many malwares rename their files randomly. Checking the Artifacts, all I found was the Cylance agent – my AV program – which I had to disable before I could run this problem. Figure 6 shows a partial memory dump. There are over a hundred lines in total but I probably won’t need to examine everything. I do note, however, that abatu.exe executed because it has a process ID (PID) assigned by the operating system.
FIGURE 6 – Win7SP1-Master Partial Memory Dump
Well, I want to know more about this. Next step is to look at the victim and see if the file is where it is supposed to be (in c:userspstephenappdateroamingazov) and it is. Great! I’ll upload it to Virus Total and see what I get. Perhaps, if it’s interesting enough I’ll send it to JoeSandbox as well for a more complete analysis but for now it’s VT. The result is pretty conclusive: we have a problem. VT tells us 49 of 67 engines detected the file. There is no consensus but it may be a Trojan, a back door or an injector. None of those is particularly good. A partial VT result is shown in Figure 7.
FIGURE 7 – Partial Virus Total Results for abatu.exe
Next, let’s look at the Activity for this machine. At 2:11:08 PM you see that I executed the cmd command. At exactly that time you can see that the abatu.exe file was executed by me. That is because I executed the malware and it fired immediately. So we see that. At that point I stopped any activity so the malware would not spread. The events after that time have to do with the Infocyte agent’s behavior. We have a lot of possibilities for this malware as indicated by the VT scan.
Because we don’t really know what, if anything, it has done since I triggered it, we’re going to send it to JoeSandbox Cloud for deeper analysis. The nice thing about Joe is that it does a full revering on the malware. That includes both static and dynamic. It presents the results in a way that facilitates further analysis by security engineers without requiring the more tedious task of reverse engineering. In this case we are going to look for embedded strings and any attempts to access the Internet.
First, we see that Joe regards the sample as malicious with 99% confidence, and classifies it as an evader, a Trojan and a banker. See Figure 8.
FIGURE 8 – Top Level JoeSandbox Cloud Analysis of abatu.exe
Reading down the report we see that Joe identified ZeusVM e-Banking Trojan. Doing a bit of research we find that the Zeus v2 that leaked into the underground in 2011 was subsequently used in other similar malware families such as Citadel. This explains our results since we know that I infected the target with Citadel. In fact, Citadel is considered one of the primary forks of Zeus. No matter, though… we identified our problem and we see that no successful effort to download a dropper or exfiltrate data was made.
Additionally, Joe has the Mitre Attack Matrix. It gives us a lot of very useful information such as the malware can encrypt and exfiltrate data, it can discover accounts and it can perform process injection. As well, Joe gives us a list of similar samples that the tool has reverse engineered and we see quite a lot with different names reinforcing our speculation that the malware has generated a random filename for the malware executable. There are lots of strings but for our purposes now nothing jumped out at me. For now, then, I don’t need any of that but it is there if I want it later to understand the malware’s behavior better.
Now, we can remove the malware and get on with life. The entire analysis took less than an hour rather than the more tedious methods which could take days to weeks since we have no idea without a tool such as HUNT how many – if any – other machines were infected or to where the malware might have spread.
Oh, and returning to the last of our machines designated by HUNT as compromised, we find that other Windows 7 VM – MAEConsole – was positive for nmap. nmap was not signed – that costs it on the HUNT scoreboard and three AV programs consider it malicious. That is not an uncommon false positive for that tool but just to be sure I did some quick testing and all is well.
In this episode we went on a threat hunt using one of my favorite workhorse tools, Infocyte HUNT. As I said earlier, you can use the same process without HUNT… it just takes longer and needs more tools.
Next time we’ll apply all of our next gen tools and add the dimension of threat intelligence to complete our AI-based security stack. I’ll be pulling the pieces together for the full Monte of alerting, analysis, DFIR and hunting in a compact next generation tool kit. Join me, won’t you?
The post Threat hunting with next-generation tools appeared first on SC Media.
Go to Source Author: Doug Olenick Threat hunting with next-generation tools Original Post from SC Magazine Author: Doug Olenick We’ve covered two AI-based next generation tools: deception…
0 notes
Link
Five years ago, 2 5-year-old progressive libertarian Cody Wilson stood on a remote central Texas gun range and gathered the initiation on the world’s first fully 3-D-printed grease-gun. When, to his comfort, his plastic invention fired a. 380 -caliber bullet into a berm of clay without jamming or exploding in his hands, he drove back to Austin and uploaded the blueprints for the pistol to his website, Defcad.com.
He x27 ;d launched the place months earlier along with an anarchist video manifesto, declaring that gun control would never be the same in an epoch when anyone can download and magazine their own handgun with a few clinks. In the days after that first test-firing, his artillery was downloaded more than 100,000 occasions. Wilson constructed the decision to go all in on development projects, lowering out of statute school at the University of Texas, as if to support his belief that technology supplants rule.
Cody Wilson, the founder of Defense Distributed, plans to create the world’s largest repository of digital artillery files . div>
Michelle Groskopf
The law caught up. Less than a week subsequently, Wilson received a letter from the US State Department demanding that he take down his printable-gun ideas or front trial for transgressing federal exportation self-controls. Under an obscure define of US regulations known as the International Trade in Arms Regulations( ITAR ), Wilson was accused of exporting weapons without a license, just as if he x27 ;d carried his plastic firearm to Mexico rather than give a digital copy of it on the internet. He made Defcad.com offline, but his solicitor counselled him that he still potentially fronted billions of dollars in penalties and years in prison simply for having performed the file available to overseas downloaders for a few days. "I fantasized "peoples lives" was over, " Wilson says.
Instead, Wilson has depleted the past year on an unlikely programme for an revolutionary: Not plainly defying or skirting the existing legislation but making it to field and changing it. In doing so, he has now not only defeated a legal menace to his own highly controversial gunsmithing assignment. He may have also unlocked a new period of digital DIY gunmaking that farther subverts gun control across the United States and the world--another step toward Wilson x27; s reckoned future where anyone can make a deadly weapon at home with no government oversight.
Two months ago, the Department of Justice calmly offered Wilson a agreement to culminate a lawsuit he and a group of co-plaintiffs have sought since 2015 against the United States government. Wilson and his team of lawyers focused their law proof on a free speech affirm: They pointed out that by forbidding Wilson from posting his 3-D-printable data, the State Department is not merely transgressing his right to bear arms but his right to freely share information. By blurring the line between a gun and a digital register, Wilson had also successfully blurred the lines between the Second Amendment and the First.
"If code is speech, the constitutional oppositions are noticeable, " Wilson to present to WIRED when he first propelled the lawsuit in 2015. "So what if this system is a artillery? ”
The Department of Justice x27; s surprising settlement, reaffirmed in court substantiates earlier this month, virtually renounces to that argument. It promises to change domestic exports regulate regulates circumventing any firearm below. 50 caliber--with a few exceptions like fully automatic weapons and rare firearm designings that use caseless ammunition--and move their regulation to the Commerce Department, which prevailed x27; t try to police technological data about the grease-guns posted on the public internet. In the meantime, it holds Wilson a unique permission to publish data about those weapons anywhere he chooses.
"I consider it a rightfully glorious occasion, " Wilson supposes. "It will be an irrevocable part of political life that artilleries are downloadable, and we helped to do that."
Now Wilson is making up for lost duration. Subsequently this month, he and the nonprofit he founded, Defense Distributed, are relaunching their website Defcad.com as a repository of handgun plans they x27; ve been privately creating and compiling, from the original one-shot 3-D-printable pistol he burnt in 2013 to AR-1 5 frames and more strange DIY semi-automatic artilleries. The relaunched website will be open to user contributions, more; Wilson hopes it will soon be used as a searchable, user-generated database of almost any firearm imaginable.
A few of the digital prototypes Defcad.com will host, from the first 3-D printable shoot known as the Liberator to every tiny ingredient of an AR-1 5.
A few of the digital frameworks Defcad.com will host, from the first 3-D printable handgun known as the Liberator to every tiny factor of an AR-1 5.
A few of the digital models Defcad.com will host, from the first 3-D printable shoot known as the Liberator to every tiny constituent of an AR-1 5.
A few of the digital modelings Defcad.com will host, from the first 3-D printable artillery known as the Liberator to every tiny ingredient of an AR-1 5.
A few of the digital prototypes Defcad.com will host, from the first 3-D printable artillery known as the Liberator to every tiny constituent of an AR-1 5.
All of that will be available to anyone anywhere in the world with an uncensored internet acquaintance, to download, reform, remix, and fabricate into lethal weapons with implements like 3-D printers and computer-controlled milling machines. “We’re doing the encyclopedic manipulate of rallying this data and putting it into the commons, ” Wilson mentions. “What’s about to happen is a Cambrian detonation of the digital material related to firearms.” He purposes that database, and the inexorable growth of homemade weapons it helps make possible, to serve as a kind of bulwark against all future gun control, demonstrating its futility by making access to weapons as ubiquitous as the internet.
Of course, that goal seemed most relevant when Wilson firstly inaugurated daydream it up, before a political party with no are willing to rein in America’s gun death epidemic accommodated self-control of Congress, the White House, and likely soon the Supreme court of the united states. But Wilson still insures Defcad as an answer to the resurgent gun control campaign that has emerged in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, senior high school shooting that left 17 students dead in February.
The potential for his new locate, if it runs as Wilson hopes, would also go well beyond even the average Trump supporter’s delicacy in handgun titles. The culture of homemade, unregulated firearms it promotes could oblige pistols available to even those people who practically every American agrees shouldn’t possess them: felons, children, and the mentally ill. The answer could be more disputes like that of John Zawahiri, an emotionally ruffled 25 -year-old who went on a shooting rampage in Santa Monica, California, with a homemade AR-1 5 in 2015, killing five people, or Kevin Neal, a Northern California man who killed five people with AR-1 5-style rifles--some of which were homemade--last November.
"This should startle everyone, " announces Po Murray, chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, a Connecticut-focused gun control group created in the wake of the mass opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2013. "We’re passing regulations in Connecticut and other states to make sure these weapons of war aren’t going into the paws of dangerous beings. They’re working in the opposite direction."
When reporters and reviewers have repeatedly pointed out those potential consequences of Wilson x27; s work over the last five years, he has argued that he’s not seeking to arm felons or the senseles or to cause the deaths of innocents. But nor is he moved fairly by those prospects to give up what he hopes could be, in a brand-new era of digital fabrication, the winning move in the battle over access to guns.
With his new legal succes and the Pandora x27; s casket of DIY artilleries it opens, Wilson says he x27; s lastly fulfilling that duty. “All this Parkland stuff, the students, all these nightmares of' common sense firearm reforms x27 ;? No. The internet will serve grease-guns, the artillery is downloadable.” Wilson says now. “No amount of applications or die-ins or anything else can change that."
Defense Distributed operates out of an unadorned building in a north Austin industrial park, behind two black-mirrored openings distinguished merely with the circled letters "DD" scrawled by someone x27; s finger in the dust. In the machine shop inside, amid stacks of aluminum shavings, a linebacker-sized, affectionate designer identified Jeff Winkleman is accompanying me through the painstaking process of rolling a gun into a collection of numbers.
Winkleman has residence the lower receiver of an AR-1 5, the component that serves as the core formulate of the rifle, on a granite counter that x27; s been gauged to be perfectly flat to one ten-thousandth of an inch. Then he targets a Mitutoyo height gauge--a thin metal probe that slithers up and down on a tall metal stand and measures vertical distances--next to it, poking one edge of the enclose with its probe to get a baseline read of its position. "This is where we get down to the nitty gritty, " Winkleman enunciates. "Or, as we call it, the gnat x27; s ass."
Winkleman then slowly revolves the guage x27; s rotary treat to move its probe down to the edge of a insignificant defect on the side of the gun x27; s frame. After a duet scrupulous sounds, the tool x27; s presentation speaks 0.4775 inches. He has just measured a single line--one of the innumerable dimensions that define the shape of any of the dozens of component of an AR-1 5--with four decimal regions of accuracy. Winkleman x27; s chore at Defense Distributed now is to repeat that process over and over again, integrating that count, together with every measurement of every cranny, opening, surface, defect, cheek, and bank of a rifle, into a CAD model he x27; s making on a computer behind him, and then to repeat that obsessively comprehensive model-building for as many artilleries as possible.
That a digital manufacturing busines has opted for this absurdly manual process might seem counterintuitive. But Winkleman insists that the analog evaluations, while endlessly slower than modern implements like laser scanners, induce a far more accurate model--a kind of gold master for any future replications or modifications of that weapon. "We x27; re trying to set a precedent here, " Winkelman announces. "When we say something is true, you utterly know it x27; s true."
One room over, Wilson evidences me the most impressive brand-new plaything in the group x27; s digitization toolkit, one that arrived simply three days earlier: A room-sized analog artifact known as an optical comparator. The manoeuvre, which he bought used for $32,000, resembles a kind of big parody X-ray scanner.
Defense Distributed’s visual comparator, a room-sized machine different groups is consuming to convert physical artilleries to collections of digital evaluations . div>
Michelle Groskopf
Wilson arranges the body of an AR-9 rifle on a pedestal on the right side of the machine. Two mercury lamps job neon green radiation of light onto the enclose from either feature. A lens behind it bends that light within the machine and then assignments it onto a 30 -inch screen at up to 100 X magnification. From that screen x27; s mercury brighten, the hustler can map out points to calculate the grease-gun x27; s geometry with microscopic faithfulnes. Wilson throws through higher magnification lenses, then concentrated on a series of minuscule ridges of the make until the remains of their machining look like the clean strokes of Chinese calligraphy. "Zoom in, zoom in, enhance" Wilson jokes.
Wilson’s firstly controversial invention was to demonstrate how digital data could be converted to physical, lethal artilleries . div>
Michelle Groskopf
He now assures an opportunity to maims gun control with the opposite tactic: digitizing as numerous weapons as possible and originating the folders available to gunsmiths . div>
Michelle Groskopf
Turning physical shoots into digital folders, instead of vice-versa, is a new manoeuvre for Defense Distributed. While Wilson x27; s administration firstly gained reputation for its invention of the first 3-D printable handgun, what it called the Liberator, it has since largely moved past 3-D publish. Most of the company x27; s operations are now focused on its core business: making and selling a consumer-grade computer-controlled milling machine known as the Ghost Gunner, designed to allow its owner to engrave artillery areas out of far more sturdy aluminum. In the most significant chamber of Defense Distributed x27; s headquarters, half a dozen millennial staffers with whiskers and close-cropped hair--all resembling Cody Wilson, in other words--are busy structure those mills in an assembly line, each machine capable of skirting all federal gun control to churn out untraceable metal glocks and semiautomatic rifles en masse.
The staff members of Defense Distributed: duty startup, side advocacy radical, part armed insurgency . div>
Michelle Groskopf
For now, those mills develop only a few different handgun formulates for handguns, including the AR-1 5 and 1911 handguns. But Defense Distributed’s operators dream a future where their milling machine and other digital fabrication tools--such as consumer-grade aluminum-sintering 3-D printers that they are able print objects in metal--can establish almost any digital artillery component materialize in someone x27; s garage.
Most of Defense Distributed’s organization work on the group’s center beginning of revenue: house gun-making computer verified milling machines "ve called the" Ghost Gunner
Michelle Groskopf
A Ghost Gunner can finish an AR-1 5 lower receiver, the central part of the rifle’s make, in a few hours. Defense Distributed has sold close to 6,000 of the machines . div>
Michelle Groskopf
In the meantime, selling Ghost Gunners has been a advantageous business. Defense Distributed has sold roughly 6,000 of the desktop inventions to DIY gun lovers throughout the country, largely for $1,675 each, netting millions in earning. The busines employs 15 beings and is already outgrowing its North Austin headquarters. But Wilson says he x27; s never been interested in fund or house a startup for its own purpose. He now claims that the part crusade was created with a singular aim: to conjure enough coin to wage his legal fighting against the US State Department.
After his solicitors originally told him in 2013 that his instance against the government was hopeless, Wilson fired them and hired two new ones with knowledge in export self-restraint and both Second and First-Amendment law. Matthew Goldstein, Wilson x27; s advocate who is focused on ITAR, says he was immediately convinced of the merits of Wilson x27; s primacy. "This is the case you x27 ;d bring out in a regulation institution direction as an unconstitutional law, " Goldstein responds. "It ticks all the check boxes of what infringes the First Amendment."
When Wilson x27; s fellowship teamed up with the Second Amendment Foundation and delivered their lawsuit to a Texas District court in 2015, they were supported by a collecting of amicus summaries from a shockingly vast alignment: Arguings in their regard put forward by not only the libertarian Cato Institute, the gun-rights-focused Madison Society, and 15 Republican members of Congress but also the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
When the gues in the case nonetheless scorned Defense Distributed x27; s request for a initial injunction that would have immediately permitted to be to resume publicizing shoot records, the company petitioned, and lost. But as the occurrence proceeded toward a find on Defense Distributed x27; s first amendment polemic, the government astonished the plaintiffs by suddenly offering them a village with essentially everything they craved. It even compensates back $40,000 of their court costs and paperwork rewards.( Wilson said today x27; s still exclusively about 10 percentage of the $400,000 that the plaintiffs spent .)
Goldstein supposes the settlement may have had as much to do with ITAR improvements begun during the Obama administration as with the gun-friendly Trump administration that took over the event. But he doesn x27; t rule out that a new government may have helped tip the remaining balance in the plaintiffs x27; advantage. "There x27; s different handling at the helm of this agency, " Goldstein does. "You can choose your own conclusions." Both the Department of Justice and the State Department declined to comment on the outcome of the case.
With the rule change their make necessitates, Defense Distributed has removed a legal threat to not only its project but an part online community of DIY gunmakers. Areas like GrabCAD and FossCad previously host hundreds of artillery designs, from Defense Distributed x27; s Liberator pistol to printable revolvers and even semiautomatic artilleries. "There x27; s a lot of comfort in doing things yourself, and it x27; s too a road of expressing support for the Second Amendment, " justifies one prolific Fosscad contributor, a West Virginian serial founder of 3-D-printable semiautomatics who goes by the pseudonym Derwood. "I x27; m a republican. I substantiate all the amendments."
But up to now, Derwood and basically every other participate on those pulpits risked prosecution for transgressing exportation sees, whether they knew it or not. Though enforcement has been rare against anyone less vocal and discernible than Wilson, many online gunsmiths have nonetheless fogged their identities for that reason. With the most open and purposeful database of grease-gun documents that Defcad represents, Wilson imagines he can create a collection of data that x27; s both more comprehensive and more polished, with higher accuracy, more detailed simulations for every constituent, giving machinists all the data they need to utter or remix them. "This is the stuff that’s may be required for the creative work to come, " Wilson says.
In all of this, Wilson checks autobiography repeating itself: He points to the so-called Crypto Wars of the 1990 s. After programmer Philip Zimmermann in 1991 released PGP, the world x27; s firstly free encryption program that anyone could use to stymie surveillance, he too was threatened with an indictment for transgressing exportation controls. Encryption software was, at the time, treated as a munition and placed on the same proscribed export dominance inventory as shoots and weapons. Exclusively after a fellow cryptographer, Daniel Bernstein, sued the governmental forces with the same free-speech statement Wilson would use 20 year later did the government drop its investigation of Zimmermann and spare him from prison.
"This is a specter of the age-old event again, " Wilson tells. "What we were actually fighting about in court was a core crypto-war problem." And following that analogy, Wilson quarrels, his legal make symbolizes gun plans can now spread as widely as encryption had now been that earlier legal battle: After all, encryption has now thriven from an underground curiosity to a stock integrated into apps, browsers, and websites feeing on billions of computers and phones across the globe.
But Zimmermann takes matter with the analogy--on ethical if not legal soils. This time, he points out, the First Amendment-protected data that was legally treated as a weapon actually is a weapon. "Encryption is a defense technology with humanitarian applications, " Zimmermann does. "Guns are only be useful for killing."
"Arguing that they x27; re the same because they’re both made of chips isn’t relatively persuasion for me, " Zimmermann enunciates. "Bits can kill."
After a tour of the machine shop, Wilson contributes me away from the industrial booming of its milling machines, out the building x27; s black-mirrored-glass doorways and through a grassy patch to its back entrance. Inside is a far quieter incident: A enormous, high-ceilinged, dimly fluorescent-lit depot seat filled with half a dozen sequences of gray metal shelves, mainly covered in a seemingly random collecting of bibles, from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire to Hunger Games . He proudly points out that it included the entire list of Penguin Classics and the entire Criterion Collection, close to 900 Blu-rays. This, he tells me, will be the library.
And why is Defense Distributed structure a library? Wilson, who quotes Baudrillard, Foucault, or Nietzsche at least formerly in practically any conference, certainly doesn x27; t mind the patina of erudition it gives to what is essentially a modern-day gun-running running. But as usual, he has an ulterior motive: If he can get this room certified as an actual, official public library, he x27; ll open another giant collection of existing firearm data. The US armed preserves records of thousands of the specs for several thousand weapons in technical guides, stored under spools and reels of microfiche cassettes. But only federally approved libraries can access them. By improving a library, ended with an actual microfiche onlooker in one corner, Wilson is angling to access the US armed x27; s part public repository of gun data, which he eventually hopes to digitize and include on Defcad.com, too.
To employed a technical opening that renders him better access to armed weapons enters, Cody Wilson is also improving a library. He proudly memo it will include the entire Criterion Collection on Blu-ray . div>
Michelle Groskopf
"Ninety percent of the technical data is already out there. This is a huge part of our overall digital intake policy, " Wilson alleges. "Hipsters will come here and check out movies, independent of its actual role, which is a stargate for sucking ancient legion technological materials."
Browsing that movie collection, I nearly trip over something large and hard. I look down and find a granite headstone with the words AMERICAN GUN CONTROL stamped on it. Wilson excuses he has a is our intention to embed it in the dirt under a tree outside when he gets around to it. "It x27; s maybe a little on the nose, but I think you get where I’m going with it, " he says.
Wilson has the intention to implant this tombstone by his library’s admittance. “It’s maybe a little on the nose, ” he acknowledges . div>
Michelle Groskopf
Wilson x27; s library will be represented a much simpler purpose, more: In one corner stands a server rack that will host Defcad x27; s website and backend database. He doesn x27; t rely any hosting busines to braced his contentious folders. And he likes the optics of accumulating his crown jewel in a library, should any change of his legal fortunes result in a raid. "If you want to come get it, you have to attack a library, " he says.
On that subject, he has something else to show me. Wilson draws out a small embroidered stamp. It depicts a ruby-red, dismembered arm on a lily-white background. The limb x27; s entrust controls a arched sword, with blood dripping from it. The representation, Wilson excuses, formerly moved on a pennant above the Goliad Fort in South Texas. In Texas x27; change against Mexico in the 1830 s, Goliad x27; s stronghold was taken by the Mexican government and became the locate of a massacre of 400 American hostages of fighting, one that x27; s far less widely remembered than the Alamo.
Wilson lately said a full-size pennant with the sword-wielding murderou weapon. He wants to make it a new epitomize for the working group. His interest in the icon, he asks, dates back to the 2016 poll, when he was convinced Hillary Clinton was set to become the president and extend a big crackdown on firearms.
The flag of Goliad, which Wilson has adopted as a brand-new representation for the working group. He indicates you translate it as you are able to . div>
Michelle Groskopf
If that happened, as Wilson tells it, he was ready to launch his Defcad repository, regardless of the outcome of his suit, and then represent it in an forearmed standoff. "I’d call a militia out to defend the server, Bundy-style, " Wilson speaks calmly, in the first overt mention of proposed armed violence I x27; ve ever heard him manufacture. "Our simply alternative was to build an infrastructure where we had one final suicidal mission, where we dumped everything into the internet, " Wilson supposes. "Goliad became an inspirational situation for me."
Now, of course, everything has changed. But Wilson alleges the Goliad flag still resonates with him. And what does that viciou arm emblem mean to him now, in the age where Donald Trump is president and the law has surrendered to his will? Wilson rejects to mention, explaining that he would rather leave the whodunit of its generalization unscathed and is accessible to interpretation.
But it doesn x27; t take a degree in semiotics to see how the Goliad flag suits Defense Distributed. It speaks like the logical escalation of the NRA’s “cold dead hands” motto of the last century. In actuality, it may be the perfect symbol not just for Defense Distributed x27; s duty but for the country that produced it, where pistols result in tens of thousands of deaths a year--vastly more than any other mature commonwealth in the world--yet radicals like Wilson x27; s followed up with realize more progress in threatening gun control than lawmakers do in advancing it. It x27; s a pennant that represents the essence of murderous fanatic ideology: An forearm that, long after blood is spilled, refuses to let go. Instead, it simply tightens it grip on its weapon, as a question of principle, forever.
More Great WIRED Stories
Our own Andy Greenberg made an untraceable AR-1 5 in the agency, and "its easy to"
This $1200 machine causes anyone make a metal grease-gun at home
This beings invasive grow can give you third-degree smolders
The Pentagon x27; s fantasy crew of tech-savvy soldiers
PHOTO ESSAY: The annual super-celebration in Superman x27; s real-world dwelling
It’s time you learned about quantum estimating
Boeing’s proposed hypersonic airplane is really < em> genuinely fast
Get even more of our inside dollops with our weekly Backchannel newsletter
Corrected 7/10/ 2018 2:30 EST to be recognised that the first 3-D printed firearm exerted. 380 -caliber ammunition , not. 223 -caliber .*
Related Video
Culture
I Compiled an Untraceable AR-1 5' Ghost Gun' In My Office
WIRED senior writer Andy Greenberg positions new homemade gunsmithing tools to the test as he tries three ways of improving an untraceable AR-1 5 semi-automatic rifle---a so-called "ghost gun"---while skirting all gun control laws.
Read more: http :// www.wired.com /~ ATAGEND
0 notes
Text
Why i can use Hotmail tech support
We use email service like Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail on the daily basis. Most of the users use these service for their main purpose Like sending and receiving the email. This is the very fast service that can we used these service…
Hotmail tech support is the most popular free online email service. It is the launched in 1996 and it is the first web email service. This service found by Sabeer Bhatia and jack smith. This is an original spelled Hotmail customer service. And putting emphasis on the HTML same name. And Microsoft acquired Hotmail in 1997 August 2012. This revamped the Hotmail and also rename the service at outlook.com. The user can access it from any web browser anywhere in the word with connecting internet connection. Username and password.
Some Reasons for using Hotmail support :
1. If you are Hotmail customer service users you will be thrilled there that you can use it to
Create a Blog Post: By sending emails you can create some post in the certain blog platform Like blog, word Press and Tumbler .. its a use very simple. You just go to the setting of your blog and allow the creation of the post on the basis of email address to which you can send your blog post. When summit your blog you have to need put in the header its title and the content of the post should into the body of the message.
Convert files to the different format: if you can not open the certain format by using the program on your computer. Instead of downloading additional apps. Then you can simply change the format of the documents. You can use some of the online programs like that “ Zamzar ”. however, accounting for the people from MSN Customer Service .then you can do the same by sending emails.
Use Hotmail as Store online documents: when it comes to email capacity, is 5GB storage. But you can have to use it only for the message, but you can also store documents. All you got to do is the upload a file in an email and also save it as the draft. If 5GB seems not much to you feel free to ask for Hotmail customer support Australia for more gigabytes. you can ask them to switch your account to premium by calling.
2. They can fast send and receive the email the Hotmail account. It is the first launched the free accounts offered and feature such as spam filters and also enhance virus scanning and storage up to 250 MB.
3. Microsoft is an acquired the email service, for users. And they were also provided with the schedule calendar, the capability to the save contact lists in our address book.
4. Users could choose the pay a subscription fee up to the grade their account.
5. This uses a very simple that one of other reason for using that once you can sign in to your account, It takes you to your inbox where the new mail is stored by default. New and un open messages are shown in the bold. Click a message to open it. And To send mail, click "Reply" to an existing mail then you click "New" for a new mail.
Some silent feature of Hotmail technical support :
1.Share and Delete files.
2.Contact list management, sync with the phone
3.Single login to all applications, Skype, One drive, MSN, and MS Office
4.Adding Gmail account
5.Connect to the Social network via Outlook.com
6.Audio players, organization tools, and spam filtering
7.Security
8.Real-Time Document collaboration
9.View, edit and share office docs
10.Send and view images
11.One-click filter
12.Quick views
13.Active views
14.Search auto compete
15.Conversation views
16.Sweep
17.Remove spam
Make a new look at the Hotmail :
Behind the new look and new name. Shares. It name has a heritage. It was one of the easiest webmail services and according to the Brian Hall. the general manager of what the still called the Windows Live team, it is the still "the world's largest webmail service.
Microsoft has announced to the loss of the Hotmail and moving the Hundreds of millions . and he is still using to the Outlook.com by this summer. It’s users, once they move and will get Outlook.com clean and Metro-Style interface for their mails and ultimately, calendar.
Microsoft outlook support is the web-based suite of web mail, tasks, and contacts, calendaring services from Microsoft. One of the world first web mail services. It was the founded in 1996 as Hotmail.Hotmail is officially Dead
All accounts have been upgraded to the Outlook.com and the Hotmail.com now redirects to Outlook.com. Maybe you've got the mail. Outlook now has more than 400 million active users, Microsoft said in the blog post.
Today the It service provides many things like virtually unlimited storage for free connections to Skype, mobile access, twitter, Facebook, and Linked In, Google, built-in search, and spam filtering. you can also use outlook to send and receive email.
Way to contact Techczar support team:
If you don’t understand and trouble while Hotmail support from your system and you need to support for Hotmail Tech support. So Techczar group is the right place for getting the best solution. We have well qualified professional they resolve your problem and properly guide you how it can resolve. Now only need to dial toll-free number 1-844-891-4883. Awaiting your call. We provide the best solution instantly.
Article source :-
https://www.diigo.com/user/amarasmith/b/444911103
0 notes
Text
Useful tools for editors: Go Predators edition
It’s been awhile since we’ve visited the Useful Tools for Editors series so in honor of our Nashville Predators making it to the NHL Western Conference Finals here’s a new batch of software, hardware, books, tweets and tips for editors everywhere. Go Preds!
Art of the Cut book
Most people reading this column have probably been following Steve Hullfish’s long running ART OF THE CUT series here on PVC. It is by far the most expansive and in-depth interview series with the biggest names working in editorial in Hollywood today. While Steve’s series has published on PVC for quite some time you may not know that he recently published a printed, paperback version of Art of the Cut:Conversations with Film and TV Editors.
I’m sure the first question asked is: Why would I every buy a dead tree version of this book when I can read them all online for free? For me there is still the pleasure of curling up with a good book and as an editor I learn something every time I read something like Art of the Cut. After a long day of editing I just don’t like to stare at more screens, even a Kindle (though a Kindle isn’t as bad as an iPad.) But the best thing about the book is that the interviews are organized by topic and not just by interview subject. I think this approach takes the linear approach to reading a book out the window as you can browse the table of contents and go to a section that is of interest. Since Steve is an editor first and foremost he does a great job interviewing his subjects and has worked very hard on the curation of hundreds of hours or interviews. Amazon is currently listing the book at $36.26 so click on over and get your own copy.
I really love how the printed version of @stevehullfish ART OF THE CUT book divides the interviews by topic.
A post shared by Scott Simmons (@editblog) on May 15, 2017 at 1:19pm PDT
Avid App Manager Closer
God bless Avid and their attempts at making Media Composer easier to install and work with but one downside of a modern Avid install is that both the background services and the Avid Application Manager seem to run all the time. While you can just quit the background processes the App Manager continues with a helper process that runs even after quitting (this is on a Mac, I’m unsure how this works on a PC). Yes you can force quit via the Activity Monitor or you can download the AvidAppManagerCloser thingy that will do it for you.
This little Automator script comes courtesy of the must-read Avid related blog 24p. Click on over there, give it a read and download it if you need it.
Editing Folders generator freebie
Many of us know and love and use Post Haste from Digital Rebellion to get us setup with a defined folder structure when we go to work on a new editing job. But editor Adam Schoales wanted to customize things a bit more and he created a Mac Automator workflow called Editing Folders that does just that and is available as a free download. It only asks you to name when you launch it and then creates a series of folders where you specify.
This is a pretty good set of folders to cover many different edit jobs.
If you want to customize the folders you can open the Editing Folders script in Automator and dig into the shell script a little bit and change those folder names and maybe even add a few more. I didn’t do this but since you can see those folder names in the script I’m guessing it should be easy. But since there’s not support with this freebie you’re on your own.
Some free custom folder icons
If you just want some new, free custom folder icons then head over to Sam Woodhall’s blog and download his 2017 Post Production Icons. Pretty simple in concept but there is a lot of different categories in the sets Sam has created. The clean, modern design is just nice to look at as well.
Each of those folders you see on the left all contain subfolders of varying types to future organize your projects. They are some specific folders icons for Final Cut Pro X and Adobe CC apps but there is enough in there that any media professional will be able to find some stuff to use.
Sam also includes some blank folder png files so I suppose you could take those and make some of your own. One could also dig through all the folders and remove what you don’t want and create a template set that could be duplicated for each new project. I guess that’s sort of like the Automator script above only you don’t run an Automator script. Thanks to Sam for putting these together and you can thank Sam as well (or leave him a donation for these things) on his blog.
Timing
As a freelancer I always keep an eye out for time tracking apps because freelancers track a lot of time. And as one who works in multiple NLEs tracking between the different applications and projects can become tedious. This app called Timing was recently brought to my attention and I can’t wait to try it. It looks to have a lot of different analytics to track many aspects of what you’re working on. Timing also says it will track documents so my first test will be to see if it can latch onto an NLE project or Library and actually track it per job and not just per NLE.
Timing has three difference cost tiers ranging from $29 – $79. It looks like the $49 option is the sweet spot with a lot of useful looking options at that price.
FindrCat (Pro)
Intelligent Assistance introduced a new app last last year called FindrCat. It’s an interesting little Final Cut Pro X app with a cool idea that kind of reverses that you might think in that it takes your Keywords applied in FCPX and turns them into Finder tags in the Mac OS Finder. Those keywords then travel with the files as metadata meaning they are searchable outside of FCPX. Philip Hodgetts talks a bit more about FindrCat on his blog post after the software’s introduction.
FindrCat is $20 and available on the Mac App Store.
Rampant Design NLE Templates
We all know Rampant Design as a creator of great special effects and overlays but they’ve gotten into creating templates for both Adobe Premiere Pro CC and Final Cut Pro X. They create After Effects templates as well but I’m always more interested in cool templates that work directly in the NLE (sorry Avid Media Composer but none for you right now). The PPro templates include things like VHS glitch effects, various promo and lower third designs as well as a slideshow. FCPX templates include some of the same but a few less. And the price is right running at around $20.
Some of these types of things are over the top for most jobs but depending on your need templates like these can save a ton of time if you’re in a pinch or a ton of headaches if you’re not a particularity strong motion graphic designer. And since these are project files you can most likely monkey around with them and do a good bit of customization to fit your need.
FX Factory
It’s always worth catching up with that’s new from FX Factory since the last edition of Useful Tools. There’s a few things I wanted to point out:
Yanobox Mosaic
I’m always by what Yanobox is doing. Their Nodes tools just blows my mind and now they’re released Mosaic for FCPX, Motion, Premiere Pro and After Effects. I can’t explain it so here’s YAnobox’s description: “Mosaic lets you create a wide range of effects based on real time pixel texturing and adaptive tiling. Mosaic includes several procedural recipes but the most exciting use comes with the import of your own motifs to create amazing graphic effects.”
Or better yet watch the video:
Kevin P. McAuliffe wrote up a little review here on PVC so check that out as well.
VideoDenoise and Echo & Noise Remover from CrumplePop.
A new entry into the noise removal category is VideoDenoise. This $99 option is optimized for OpenCL and CUDA which is a good thing as denoising is not for the small computer.
On the audio side both EchoRemover and AudioDenoise have added some new hosts including Logic Pro, GarangeBand, Davinci Resolve and Adobe Audition. I expect we’ll see more and more plug-ins supporting Resolve in the future. All of these CrumplePop tools are $99 and part of the FX Factory ecosystem. Update your FX Factory install and you can get a free demo of most all FX Factory tools as well as purchase the ones you need.
Red Giant Universe
Red Giant’s subscription effects service Universe has gotten an update to version 2.1. And with version 2.1 we get six new effects:
AV Club: Mimic the lo-fi, noisy text found on ancient video tapes, old infomercials and local access cable channel shows.
Luster: The 1980s are back! Give video text the retro treatment with Luster by applying a metal sheen to text – includes a refraction-based bevel for a glassy simulated 3D look.
Title Motion: Create text and shapes and then instantly add dynamic animations that bring them on and off screen. Great for titles, lower thirds, callouts and more.
Ecto: Inspired by the timeless film “Ghostbusters” and Netflix cult-hit “Stranger Things,” Ecto allows artists to create haunting, evolving titles with this glowing, fractal-based effect.
Long Shadow: Apply a colored, long shadow to text, logo or shape, for both classic and modern motion design.
Glow Fi II: Give text an ethereal moody look by instantly adding silky smooth, self-animating, fractal-based glow effects to titles. A simple UI make it easy to apply evolving, organic glows.
Universe is also a package that is supporting beyond the usual FCPX/Motion/Premiere Pro/AE as it also supports Magix Vegas Pro, Hitfilm and Davinci Resolve. Universe costs $99 / year or $20 / month.
Tools, Tips and Tweets from Twitter
Premiere Pro was born 25 years ago. Through film, music videos, and groundbreaking cuts, see how far we've come together. #PremierePro25 pic.twitter.com/OZ6818830f
— Adobe Premiere Pro (@AdobePremiere) April 10, 2017
Interesting read on the effects of social media on our lives. https://t.co/LB7C2r9onv
— Reba Baskett (@RebaBaskett) May 8, 2017
Control + Shift + Eject = Screen Off#MINDBLOWN
— Zeke McGeehon (@zekesauce) April 19, 2017
You can then import that SRT back to your NLE or do whatever you need with it.
— Jiří Fiala (@stooovie) April 18, 2017
At an airport? Need a password for the Wi-Fi? Here you go.https://t.co/dAENL0L3XH
— Mikko Hypponen (@mikko) March 13, 2017
Knot School for filmmakers: https://t.co/YJxmssdtMo #filmmaking
— Filmsourcing (@Filmsourcing) February 20, 2017
Walter Murch on the Difference Between Sound Editing and Mixing https://t.co/9XjNm14YsQ
— lacpug (@lacpug) February 20, 2017
The post Useful tools for editors: Go Predators edition appeared first on ProVideo Coalition.
First Found At: Useful tools for editors: Go Predators edition
0 notes
Text
CALYPSO
Never let it be said that computer geeks are an unperceptive people. Spending hours upon hours a day looking out for changes on a screen will do that to a person. We were hikikomori - modern day hermits and recluses. That identity, with its small, tedious boxes that we locked ourselves in for months, inspired us to take entertainment from any small bit of change, and a respect for those who could find those bits and tear them wide open. And in my circle at least, it was worth being a little aware of what was happening in front of you. The people of my little digital community varied on a spectrum between friendly loner and delinquent psychopath. And whilst the threat of danger was purely something directed at our beloved possessions (usually, at least), those plastic collections of fans and boards and batteries were often all we had, so we kept watch over them like primitive mother-beasts over our children.
What I’m saying is, is that we should have seen it coming.
We called our circle Tortuga. This was because our administrator Lyle had a fascination over pirates, and none of us could really argue that we were the reputable sort. The image of us cruising along the lightning strings of that great Web in the form of junk ships and galleons was also one that grew on us, and by the first time CALYPSO introduced herself we all had a fairly large nautical era, so we recognised the name instantly.
CALYPSO didn’t introduce herself personally. In fact, she never did. Instead, CALYPSO was the name of an invisible author of a gradually growing number of text files that appeared in a USB dead drop owned by Paul, another one of our own. The drop consisted of a 1TB flashdrive cemented deep into a wall of a factory located in an out of the way industrial cul-de-sac called Danmouth Grove. The metal interface jutted out of a concrete wall, fastened in place by a Frankenstein stitching into the structure of the building itself. Paul called the drop Treasure Island, and it was his one way peephole into the outside world. Through a regular trip every two weeks, Paul could download any number of files that people had left on the drive.
This wireless, off the grid access to files was a valuable asset to Paul and all of Tortuga. As a group of casual crackers, it would have been a risk to pass our tools to each other through our online client. Like thieves exchanging picklocks and crowbars outside of a police station, we could very well have taunted them into arresting us and the white hat inquisition would have piled on no quicker. As such, Treasure Island was well guarded against outside threats; Paul’s father worked high up in the building, and Paul paid the security there weekly to keep an eye on the little jut of metal. As an added precaution after a close call with one of our little, lurking sociopaths armed with a blowtorch, Paul had fitted a hidden camera to the wall of the opposing building. There, in shades of grey and black and white, Paul could watch his beloved Treasure Island all day and be there immediately in case of a more determined intruder.
CALYPSO, of course, was one of these intruders, though never did Paul see her coming. Our little city being coastal, we were prone to thick sea frets that lay their cloying fingers all the way down into the metropolitan centre. She arrived on one of those nights. Paul’s camera lens had fogged his view into absolute obscurity, and the whole thing sent him into a panic for the next few hours. When he checked Treasure Island the next morning, everything he had expected to be there had disappeared, wiped clean and replaced with a single file labelled ‘calypso.txt’, with three crisp lines:
‘odysseus lived on ogyia for seven years before i let go
this time i fancy more for longer
you have one week to say goodbye’
The word of our mystery villain spread across Tortuga in minutes. At first, it was all endlessly amusing. It became a joke for a time to whip Paul into a flurry of rage whenever CALYPSO was mentioned. He had never been a particularly sporting loser – always the type to need several clones of his controllers in case of damage. But this slight, along with the ridiculously confident and physical threat, had him riled beyond anything we had ever seen before. He would rant and rage for hours, winding himself into a tremendous frenzy that filled our screens and overwhelmed any attempt at changing the subject for the rest of the day. Almost a week later the joke still hadn’t lost it’s lustre, and Paul seemed to wait on edge all times of the day for the topic to come up again so he could try out some new, hilarious argument or justification for his ��loss’ that he had clawed out of that dark pit of low self esteem.
Like I said, we were a perceptive bunch. It was part of our job, our lives, our being to be apt observers. It was a requirement for our safety to have foresight. So when Paul didn’t log in, we should have noticed. Someone should have spotted that bit, torn it open, and ripped out the answers to that questionable change. But no-one saw. No-one said a word. No-one saw when more of us disappeared either. By the fourth day of the new week, Paul’s disappearance had been joined by five others, and we had done nothing except wonder dream-like what our friends were doing with their time that kept them away from their computers.
On the fifth day, Lyle disappeared. A man who had spent more time on Tortuga than he had under his parent’s roof, whose name was so prominent in the chatroom that he might as well have been the logo. A shining beacon of persistent, unique charisma that we had harboured at for years that day winked out, and suddenly we were aware how many more of us had gone dark.
We talked for a while about what to do. We hated the idea that we had let so much happen without notice, and it drove us to act unlike we ever had before. Every possible point of contact the lost seven had lit up like flares for hours, trying every avenue we could think of to find our friends – or so we wished to believe, anyway. But as we came back to Tortuga with our hands empty, the plan that became clearer was one that none of us liked to think about.
Seven days after Paul’s disappearance, we drew lots. We let Neil - Lyle’s boyfriend, who by far was the most driven of us all - place some of our names into a random number generator. The few of us who were too frightened or lived too far away were given the mercy of abstaining from the draw, but they assured us that whilst we went on our mission, they would do everything they could to make contact with those who’d gone missing. Still, I felt a pang of envy for the ones that the group had considered too weak to go. When my name was drawn from that list, my heart felt like it had sank a thousand leagues down. I swallowed my fear, and packed a bag with things I thought I might need to survive an outing into the wider world. Three hours later, at 8PM, the four of us who were chosen left our homes and ventured to Paul’s house.
Our meeting was surreal. I had met none of my cohorts before; I knew one of them only as ‘Fizz’, and the others I had never even seen a picture of. They all looked as I might have expected, however; Fizz was a short, gangly man with frizzy ginger hair and freckled hidden by a dust mask and a grey hoodie. The other two, Gary and Randall, were two hulking figures in the dark. Gary was almost grey faced with the exhaustion of his travel, the sweat of his brow hidden under a black trilby hat. Randall was clearly fitter, long scraggly hair, tight, hole-ridden clothes and creeping beard barely sodden. Looking on this now, I feel like I might have had a view of them that was a little too judgemental – I’m sure, looking back at me, that any one of them might have thought me the essence of what we were. Avoiding the grim reality of our appearances, we turned to the locked door of Paul’s apartment.
The common lock was something that fortunately came under the array of skills we had that were applicable to the outside world. Randall leant down, and after a few moments of clicking metal and whispered swears, the door popped open. Randall beamed, and in return we offered him a small, congratulatory smile. None of us knew how to talk to one another; as we walked in single formation into the narrow, dingy corridors of Paul’s private lair, we didn’t say a word, wishing silently to be in front of the comfort of our glowing screens again.
The search for Paul was short – his apartment was only small, and between the four of us the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen/dining room were quickly confirmed to be empty. It seemed then that the conclusion we had expected and feared was the right one – Paul really had been taken by CALYPSO. As we all convened back into the main hallway, we loitered awkwardly, the guilty shadow of the seven lost members of Tortuga making it only harder to speak.
Finally, Fizz broke the quiet open. His voice was quiet and high pitched. He stumbled over his words in a way that made us all wince with sympathy.
“Di- uh. Did any of you f-find his. The camera feed?”
Fizz’s question wasn’t answered with words, but again with more silence. As we looked between each other, it became clear that none of us had seen the infamous set up that Paul used solely for his surveillance. The search began again, and with the four of us looking, the room we had all missed was found in moments. Beside the fridge in the kitchen was a small, square doorway – a crawlspace, through which a greyish glow emitted when the door was pried away.
A bridge to Treasure Island.
It became immediately clear what had to be done. Gary and Randall were too large to fit into the hole at all, and Fizz looked at me desperately, silently pleading for me to go in myself. What had been wrong with Fizz that night was beyond me. Whether he was claustrophobic as well as agoraphobic, or just scared of what he might see inside, I never found out. I crawled smoothly into that space head first, straightened up into a dark room illuminated only by the still live feed. I never thought to wonder who had kept the screens running until later, but by then the obvious answer was too late.
What I saw on that feed, among the mist and the crumbling static, was too much for me to bear. I left Tortuga forever the very next day, and broke an eight month spell of hermitry to visit Paul’s parents. I stood on the steps of a house in a nice neighbourhood for half an hour, knocking and then pounding for a response. I saw the shifting of curtains and whispers beyond the door, but no-one ever came. No-one ever talked to me about this again.
Sometimes, I remember CALYPSO’s threat. I remember that she had said she wanted more, and for longer. On sleepless nights I wonder whether the prison she has Paul locked in is so different from mine – forced into a primal isolation beyond even our wildest dreams. An idyllic place of peace, and quiet, and a lack of socialisation. Above all, I wonder whether Tortuga still exists without it’s beacons of communication; or, in the absence of us trapped by her presence, they drift like solitary ships in the black of the Ionian Sea.
0 notes