Show #2: My Favorite Things

TTP #2 MP3 Download (17MB)

As per request, this show talks about the tools I use on my own computer. All of them are free; just follow the links below to read about or download any one of the tools I talked about.

• Firefox - Web browser
• Thunderbird - Email client
• Open Office - Office Suite
• VNC - Remote Desktop


• Visual Studio C# Express - Microsoft Developer Studio -- Free till Novemeber
• Notepad2 - Notepad Replacement
• Notepad++ - Notepad Replacement
• Frhed - Hex Editor
• XN View - Image viewer / Converter
• XN Resource Editor - Resedit for Windows
• QEMU - Machine Emulator


• PuTTY - Windows SSH Client
• WinSCP - Windows SCP Client
• Cygwin - Linux tools on Windows
• WGet for Windows - Command line downloader


• Process Explorer - Enhanced Task Manager
• Audacity - Audio Editor

I promised I'd explain how I made it so that I could right click on any file and open it with my favorite tools. Just add the appropriate entries under HKCR\*\shell\ with the correct path to the program you want to run. I've pasted below the contents to a .reg file that will add entries for frhed and notepad2, assuming that the programs are found in under the paths indicated below (e.g. C:\program Files\notepad2\notepad2.exe). If your setup is different, then modify the paths accordingly. Note the double-backslash where the path section is specified. That's because it's within a quoted string; if you change the path, make sure you follow that same pattern. When you're done, save as a .reg file and double-click on it to apply the changes.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open in frhed\command]
@="C:\\Program Files\\frhed\\FRHED.exe %1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open in Notepad2\command]
@="c:\\Program Files\\notepad2\\notepad2.exe %1"

There's a similar trick you can do with the "folder" type, as I explained in the podcast, that lets you run a command window in that folder. There's a Windows XP Powertoys item called CmdHere.exe that sets this up for you in an uninstallable manner (very desirable). But if that's not an option, here's my equivalent, though less elegant solution:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\DOS Prompt\command]
@="cmd /k cd \"%1\""

As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated, whether you liked it, didn't like it, or are completely indifferent, I'd love to hear from you.

Sorry for the wait

It's been over a month since I recorded the last TTP episode, but I'd just like to make sure you all know that I haven't given up on the podcast. Rather, my wife had foot surgery a few weeks back. A week later, she got a blood clot which turned into a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.

Now, a few complications later, and after nearly a week in the hospital's intensive care unit, she's back home and happy as ever. And so, while my wife is no longer in mortal peril, she's still partially immobilized by the foot surgery, which means that I have much less time for things like recording a podcast.

I fully expect that within a couple of weeks, she'll have completely recovered and we'll go back to our normal schedule, podcast and all.

Show #1

[Changed: New MP3 link, re-encoded at 44.1kHz -- the previous file sounded "chipmunky" on flash-based players]

TTP#1 MP3 Download (16.32MB)

I really would like to hear your feedback about this show, good or bad. Since this show is new, parts of the format are still up for discussion. I would love to have a question-answer section...if I get enough questions :) Also, I would like to hear from you what sort of things you would like me to talk about.

Here's the links from this show:

News: Phishing with Credentials
• Washington Post: The New Face of Phishing
• SANS: Phollow the Phlopping Phish

Hacking the NSLU2
• NSLU2 Linux (Community Site)
• Unslung download site
• NSLU2-Linux: HowTo

About Me

Here's some quick information about your host, Tyler Larson:

I work as a computer programmer for a company in Colorado. Most of my time at work is spent creating newer, faster server software to help us respond better to our customers' needs. I do the majority of my development in C++ on Linux and Windows; though I've also done some major projects in C#, Python, and Perl.

Web design is another one of my areas of expertise. Besides the obvious HTML, CSS, and JavaScript experience, I also use PHP extensively, but have taken a strong liking to mod_python for my new stuff.

Work and play have driven me to learn a fairly wide range of technology-related skills. That includes video editing with Premiere, developing extensions for Firefox, audio editing with Audacity and Sound Forge (that skill comes in handy with podcasting), and creating all sorts of programs--from games to Windows services to keystroke loggers to compression utilities.

I am truly interested in what you have to say, and I would love to get your questions or comments about the podcast. Email me at TechTricksPodcast(a)gmail.com to leave any sort of feedback at all.