linux and the pen drive boot.

alright, so in this article, i will be walking you through how to get a linux distro on a flash drive. this is perfect if you like to take your operating system with you, or if your new to linux and just want to try it out before installing it.

a few things to keep in mind:

• you will be limited to 4 gb of saved data, as your drive will be formatted in fat32 (im assuming you still want to be able to use the drive to store file in windows)
• unless you run the installer, nothing touches the hard drive... the whole opperating system is ran from the flash drive.
• you can still 'mount' your hard drive and use the files on the computer.

2 ideas... what would you rather hear?

well... i was going to do a tutorial on how to make a bootable flash drive with linux, but i know most people prefer windows... so i decided to cover windows as well...
the only issue is, windows is VERY hard to get portable... and i found that if you make windows 7 portable, you cant boot it if you have windows xp, and if you have xp you cant portable boot 7. another main problem is that if you want large files like games, you have to use ntfs, not FAT32.... and you cant boot from the ntfs device, so you have to have a flash drive with the boot info that is formatted with fat32, that then boots the ntfs drive...

im still working on the tutorial, but i know if i finish it it will be long and verbose... probably taking up 3 blog entry.... im still going to do a single blog on booting linux, but i want to know if its worth writing all that stuff down about windows.

the other idea that i have is also going to be long and verbose, but in my oppinion more interesting then a moble version of windows.... how to flash routers with a firmware know as DD-WRT. it takes a 40 dollar router and turns it into an enterprise level router (firmware wise). the firmware is linux based, and really  unlocks the potential of the router.  so tell me, what would you rather read?

firmware modification on routers?
or
portable windows?

Network Anonymity.

i recently talked about encryption, this is great for keeping files secure.... now im going to cover network anonymity... there are tons of reasons you might want to stay anonymous on the web, possibly to view pages out of your region, you might want better privacy, or you might be bypassing a web ban. if you have heard of a VPN, a proxy, TOR, or even an ssh.... these are all ways to mask your identity.

Encryption.

today, it seems that technology is becoming more and more important in out lives. this is great, but it seems that everything is switching over to online. so what if we don't want to store sensitive data on our computer due to security, yet we have to? well.... we can encrypt the data, so if anyone gets access to our computer, they cant view our data.

another use of encryption is to transmit your data across the internet safely. in this tutorial, we will talk about how to encrypt our personal data, as well as making sure our data is being encrypted safely.

ideas for future tutorials?

i have a few plans on tutorials for the future.... however, i want to know what my viewer base wants to learn about.
im thinking of doing the following this month:

• network anonymity
• file encryption
• part 2 of the SSH and you tutorial (using your computers shell remotely)
• how to bypass white listed / black listed program filters.

im also thinking of starting to do some stuff on hardware, not just software... starting with simple things like how to shield RFID credit cards to prevent id theft, and possibly go into hobbyist level integrated circuit programming, like with pic micro controllers.

i want to hear about what YOU want to hear about.... so leave a comment below, say if you like the directions im looking to go in, as well as any suggestions you have. (or even request a tutorial!)