Develop Bugs

Restrict Outside Download Links in Posts?

Hello,
First, I am NOT trying to keep people from downloading anything, just read what I have seen occur on a couple of sites.
Is there any way to restrict the outside download links on posts until someone logs in? The reason I ask is that I have seen on more than one other non-phone forum links to this forum to get the latest ROM downloads. For example, I was on a car forum and someone was talking about their BT and other "neat" options they had added via WM6 (also other hacks) and had gotten it here. They stated it was very simple/easy and put in a link. When I followed the link it gave me a post to here and a link to a RapidShare site. No logon required, no reading, no warnings, etc.. I went back and followed the original automotive thread and sure enough, someone tried to flash their phone and now it wasn't working. The automotive thread never once mentioned types of phones or anything else until AFTER the link to here had been posted. And then, of course, the suggestion to the person that had bricked their phone was to come back here to find a way to fix it.
If you do a Google search you will see that there are a number of hits returned of non-phone/PDA sites that talk about WM6 and other issues that have links back to here, and other phone/PDA sites.
So I was wondering if there was some way to make it necessary to at least log in before you can click on a link to an outside download site? Or, failing that, if there is a redirect from an outside site that doesn't come through the portal, could thre be a warning screen then a re-direct to the page in question? This might save a lot of heartache for people both here (repeated noob questions) and people that have no clue what they are messing with before they brick their phones.
Thanks,

If you do not know what you are doing and decide to "upgrade to the new shiny <whatever>" , then no matter what stupid warnings, restrictions and disuations are given, then you will go ahead and brick your phone.
Its true that a few minutes of thought could save you a trip down to the local store to buy a new phone, but that is too much to ask from all these hot headed "I want it 5 minutes ago" people.
They also tend to blame Microsoft, the ROM chef, other forums, some higher deity and everoyne else before coming to realise that no matter who/what they blame, they still end up with the bricked phone because they themselves went ahead and did it.
NOBODY FORCES ANYONE to "upgrade" , but for some reason many people just go ahead and do it without any thought nor knowledge about what they are about to do.
Again, restricting usage of <anything> because some people feel users are unable to stop and think is not the answer.
But then again, what do I know....

I am not suggesting that they be restricted from downloading. All I am asking is if there is a way to make them log in/join the forum instead of just linking from an outside site, grabbing a link from here to another outside site and then bricking their phone.
I agree that many, if not most, will not be stopped and will continue on, but maybe a extra step will cause a few to pause and think (or be too much of a hassle), thus cutting down on the number of complaints/repetitious posts for help un-bricking their phone.

erm, if i get what your saying... i think it is... i know what brought me to this site was a file i was looking for was here, but it needed me to register to download!

freakuency said:
erm, if i get what your saying... i think it is... i know what brought me to this site was a file i was looking for was here, but it needed me to register to download!
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I believe (I am guessing here) those files/links are the ones that are hosted on the XDA server. But a lot of the links to the ROMS that can no longer be hosted on XDA thanks to M$ are direct and do not require a logon. Try coming to the site and not logging in and clicking on some of the ROM links and you will see what I mean.

This is of course just an opinion of a user but:
It would be wrong to restrict links to sites like rapidshare. That would take away the whole point, plus it is not too difficult to copy paste the link.
You can not protect people from their own stupidity and this site should not be held responsible for it.
If you try to mess with your phone based on what you read in an automotive forum or fix your computer based on advice from a cooking forum anything that happens is your fault and no one else's!
(At least they do not try to fix their car based on advice from XDA-dev)
People like that will not be stopped by warnings or blocks and there is no point in trying.
Some people should not be let near electronic devices, but we still live in a free world (most of us anyway) and that includes the freedom to brick a brand new 1000$ phone.

levenum said:
This is of course just an opinion of a user but:
It would be wrong to restrict links to sites like rapidshare. That would take away the whole point, plus it is not too difficult to copy paste the link.
I am not suggesting restricting the link, just linking from outside sites without logging in.
You can not protect people from their own stupidity and this site should not be held responsible for it.
Never even suggested that and don't understand where that came from.
If you try to mess with your phone based on what you read in an automotive forum or fix your computer based on advice from a cooking forum anything that happens is your fault and no one else's!
(At least they do not try to fix their car based on advice from XDA-dev)
People like that will not be stopped by warnings or blocks and there is no point in trying.
Some people should not be let near electronic devices, but we still live in a free world (most of us anyway) and that includes the freedom to brick a brand new 1000$ phone.
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I have been on this forum since January of this year and watched the Hermes section have issues with requests for information redundancy overload, frayed tempers, and other miscellaenous PBKAC's. Anything simple that doesn't restrict any user from access, but maybe would keep somebody from just clicking and getting what they want might help. I am just a user as well, (with few posts) I only asked since I thought it might be a way to help lessen some of the load. Only that, not that I actually think it would make a major difference, but any little bit can help at times.
Again, I never said to restrict the links, just make someone logon/join XDA first, versus just cruising in from another site or a Google hit. If you don't try, you never know. Maybe XDA will even get some more donations that way or gain a new chef.

But this is the whole point: You see a link but can't click it.
Never mind that joining is free and easy - there is still a barrier even if symbolic.
Look, my last post may have sounded harsh, but I did not mean to attack you.
What I meant by "protecting people from stupidity" is this:
Today even children know that simply downloading stuff from the net puts your computer at risk (forget rapidshare, we have viruses here on our own FTP all the time - scum uploading scumware - and no, it is not a matter of having a virus scanner! A home cooked exe that deletes all files on your c drive is easy to make and also will pass just about any virus scan).
But if someone is about to mess with his brand new expansive toy based on two lines in an unrelated forum and using a download from a questionable source without bothering to look up detailed instructions or check on risks of the procedure - well no point in warning such people.
The thing is - I think forcing such individuals to join will only increase the number of repeated/already answered/"I bricked my phone" messages as they will now think that we (the forum) are responsible for them and they have an account to make the post.

Try to make something idiot proof and nature will make a better idiot...

levenum said:
The thing is - I think forcing such individuals to join will only increase the number of repeated/already answered/"I bricked my phone" messages as they will now think that we (the forum) are responsible for them and they have an account to make the post.
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You very well may be right. I have directed, in the field, so many different rollouts of new communications gear and seen every last one of them hosed in such incredibly varied manners that almost nothing surprises me now. I have just learned that the more little checks and balances that are added in without actually affecting performance can help the end product.
And I second "The Brit's" statement.

[Q] Information about the nitty gritty of XDA

hey, i recently joined this page on facebook (i've withheld the name of the page as to not seem like i'm here to promote it or such, not that it requires promotion with its 2 million members) and a many of us including the owner of the page there are a free-thinking bunch. The problem is that whenever some user finds something we say offensive, we get reported and are blocked from posting for 10-12 hours, sometimes entire days...
The gracious admin there took it upon himself to finance an entirely new site as a refuge for us. But most of lack the technical know-how of getting a site up and running. We have a few volunteers ready to devote their time and skills to help in the site's construction.
The owner suggested a forum-esque feel to the site rather than something like facebook itself and when anyone mentions forum the only thing my mind thinks is XDA!! This site is the epitome of what a forum should be about!!
So i was hoping if anyone could give me some sort of information as to what the site is based on (HTML, PHP, etc)? what type security measures should we be looking at? we read something about a using social networking engines to enable features like instant messaging...
i was hoping if someone could point me (and by relation, us) in the right direction.
Any help would be much appreciated.

psychocyst said:
hey, i recently joined this page on facebook (i've withheld the name of the page as to not seem like i'm here to promote it or such, not that it requires promotion with its 2 million members) and a many of us including the owner of the page there are a free-thinking bunch. The problem is that whenever some user finds something we say offensive, we get reported and are blocked from posting for 10-12 hours, sometimes entire days...
The gracious admin there took it upon himself to finance an entirely new site as a refuge for us. But most of lack the technical know-how of getting a site up and running. We have a few volunteers ready to devote their time and skills to help in the site's construction.
The owner suggested a forum-esque feel to the site rather than something like facebook itself and when anyone mentions forum the only thing my mind thinks is XDA!! This site is the epitome of what a forum should be about!!
So i was hoping if anyone could give me some sort of information as to what the site is based on (HTML, PHP, etc)? what type security measures should we be looking at? we read something about a using social networking engines to enable features like instant messaging...
i was hoping if someone could point me (and by relation, us) in the right direction.
Any help would be much appreciated.
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Click to collapse
This site is running on vBulletin 3.8.6 which is commercial software. There are free bulletin boards out there. As for security, this is a massive topic that I don't think anyone can summarise. Obvious things like good password policies (long and random, never re-used, etc) and keeping all software patched up to date are key. Other than that it all depends on the implementation. Also, there are penetration testing tools that you can find off the internet to test your site.
Dave

thanks a million Dave. i'll look into it and pass the message on to our group.

psychocyst said:
thanks a million Dave. i'll look into it and pass the message on to our group.
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What Dave said, but beware that your site is only as secure as the system it runs on.
Your system can be the most secure in the world, with lovely nice PHP code, the latest patched vBulletin install, and I might still get into it...
If you are using shared web hosting, and some peon is using an out of date wordpress install, they can likely wreak a fair bit of havock on a poorly setup server.
Unfortunately most shared hosting is poorly setup. If you have 2 million members, you WILL need dedicated server space. I would also suggest you need to seriously consider the undertaking here - 2 million people is A LOT, and I don't know how many simultaneous users you are talking about, but it sounds a big target...
You will need a fairly powerful server from the sounds of it. I would suggest looking at the available forum systems, installing them (free ones), or trying out the demos.
I assist in the running of a number of sites, from single figure numbers of visitors per day, through to hundreds of thousands/millions per day... The requirements for these differ HUGELY. While something free like SMF might be good for a site with 200 folk, it's not likely a good idea on a site with 100,000 visitors per day posting...
Consider backup strategies too, for WHEN the worst happens - not if... Where will you store backups? How will you secure them?
Finally, remember to look to the future. phpBB is pretty poor, I suggest avoiding it. But what will you move to next? Make sure you pick a system that ain't gonna die tomorrow... If it does, you are stuck without security updates, and you might find it hard to migrate to another one... Be sure to go with a system that has good support to migrate further if/when the time comes...

woah!! ok, this was a big help...although we have close to 2 million people signed on, only about 30 - 40% of those are regularly active and perhaps 100 or so who're almost always there...
i saw BBCode implementation at linux mint forums and found it a total fail compared to XDA...i had completely forgotten about the back-up portion...
knew i could count on XDA for a lil' help...God i love this site!!

psychocyst said:
woah!! ok, this was a big help...although we have close to 2 million people signed on, only about 30 - 40% of those are regularly active and perhaps 100 or so who're almost always there...
i saw BBCode implementation at linux mint forums and found it a total fail compared to XDA...i had completely forgotten about the back-up portion...
knew i could count on XDA for a lil' help...God i love this site!!
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Haha no worries.
From those figures I would size the site based on coping with 5000 simultaneous users minimum. I doubt you will get as much tbh, as many people hit the homepage and look at the latest, then go to the next site they visit.
If you can afford, aim to cope with 10k+ simultaneous, to cover you for if you get a bout of publicity...
I'd reckon on a well-run server you would be OK with 8 to 16 GB of RAM, and a few hundred gigabytes of hdd. Bandwidth is hard to gauge without info on the site and content...
But I think it could be run for under $400 per month, and that is a very high estimate to cover things like multiple backup locations.
You will instantly ruin your site reputation if you need to use backups and they don't work...
If nobody is experienced in server management, hire someone to do it. These things are often best left to the experts where you are unsure... It will likely pay for itself in their expertise at least 3 times a month (or at least that's how often some of my clients proclaim I saved their "lives" )

[Q] [Introduction] from a noob....

Hello, I recently purchased a Kin TwoM from Verizon. After about two weeks of owning the phone I became very curious of how to add/delete, and change stuff on the phone. After quickly realizing that this is either impossible or extremely hard, I decided to investigate like I'm sure most of you did. I'm very familiar with hacking and developing. I stumbled across this forum today while investigating for stuff i didn't know. So as a noob, I was hoping there would be some kind members willing to give some information, on whats been so far released and discovered. I've found a couple things that appear to be already known (like the key combos to downgrade/ secret menu) but so far that's about all I know about this phone. So is anyone willing to fill me in?
Thanks..

Hi Aaron,
Take no offense at this, but all the information you are looking for is already in the other posts in this forum subcategory. Please be willing to take the time to read all the posts in this KIN Two Software Development section, as there are only a few pages of them. You'll find the button combinations and details and findings on the secret menu.
Also, JohnKussack put a lot of work into developing a cross-platform file manager for the Kin, called KinO. It works pretty well and even lets you back up and restore your contacts, with limitations.
Aside from these, that's about as far as anyone has gotten. I know for myself, I've spent a lot of time trying to gain access to the file system, but Microsoft finally outdid itself on securing a device from any hacks or exploits. The irony is that I happen to own it and want that access.

Thesis Topic

Greetings all
im currently looking for a thesis topic to graduate, and im interested in NFC
My supervisor asked me to prepare a proposal about the subject, he suggested that i choose an "application" or a certain aspect of NFC to study, i have an idea about maybe doing a comparing study about NFC Security techniques and methods, since one payment is probably the most famous application of NFC, however i cant really say that i know much about NFC, in fact i barely know anything about it, i'm a telecom student, and i'd appreciate if some of you can point me to some reading material or give me some pointers that wud help me preparing the proposal and eventually the thesis itself.
thanx in advance and best regards to all

Well since nobody else has replied to this, I'll help you out. NFC is short for near field communication. NFC builds on RFID systems that allows two way communication between end points. RFID was first patented in 1983. That's pretty general, I know a lot about NFC so if you have any specific questions I can help you there.
For more general information I'd recommend http://www.nearfieldcommunication.org
Good luck with your thesis my friend!
Just don't say you got help from a 15 year old...
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

Thesis approach
Downloadaholik said:
Greetings all
im currently looking for a thesis topic to graduate, and im interested in NFC
My supervisor asked me to prepare a proposal about the subject, he suggested that i choose an "application" or a certain aspect of NFC to study, i have an idea about maybe doing a comparing study about NFC Security techniques and methods, since one payment is probably the most famous application of NFC, however i cant really say that i know much about NFC, in fact i barely know anything about it, i'm a telecom student, and i'd appreciate if some of you can point me to some reading material or give me some pointers that wud help me preparing the proposal and eventually the thesis itself.
thanx in advance and best regards to all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Security seems to be a main concern this days. NFC advantages are aplenty, however no one is really concerned about the security aspect of it. i.e. hacking NFC or being able to track a person by their NFC capable phone etc. etc.
I would show that NFC can be easily read for instance passports, credit cards etc... Show the techniques used to circumvent reading i.e. hashing, pin codes.
In the end describe a theoretical approach that it can make nfc's security better.
In the end you just need to be able to defend your approach against other professors so keep in mind you need to be well aware of the subject.
This is my idea and this is how i would approach the subject. Im sure there are hundreds of other applications out there that you can ellaborate on.
Sounds cool though good luck.

thank you all
@Truitt.Jack its not a problem for me to get help from a fifteen years old, if you are good at what you do
who cares how old are you
@ Sofitos : thanks for the advice, i'll look into it

Outrageous Claim: Texting with the Moto 360 is too difficult

I only say this because there have been a time (or two) where I thought it would be easier/faster/safer to send a quick message through the watch, but I've found that it actually takes more concentration to get it "just right".
I won't even get in to the speech to text issues.
I'm not bashing the product - maybe i'm bashing Android Wear - but activating the watch, speaking to it, making sure it got the right phone number and person, speaking your message and then checking it for accuracy... too much work. I mean, I could let it blindly go on its own, but a large percentage of the time its not any easier than just ripping out the phone and doing it manually.
Last night I replied to a message to my wife that said, "what time and what is taste want to do." It should have read, "what time and does Chase want to do?"
Maybe I suck at annunciation. Maybe there was too much background noise.

640k said:
I only say this because there have been a time (or two) where I thought it would be easier/faster/safer to send a quick message through the watch, but I've found that it actually takes more concentration to get it "just right".
I won't even get in to the speech to text issues.
I'm not bashing the product - maybe i'm bashing Android Wear - but activating the watch, speaking to it, making sure it got the right phone number and person, speaking your message and then checking it for accuracy... too much work. I mean, I could let it blindly go on its own, but a large percentage of the time its not any easier than just ripping out the phone and doing it manually.
Last night I replied to a message to my wife that said, "what time and what is taste want to do." It should have read, "what time and does Chase want to do?"
Maybe I suck at annunciation. Maybe there was too much background noise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is really no different than using your phone's voice-to-text feature. remember, the watch just acts a mirror for your phone - and the experience is what you make of it.

You might have to practice and speak into the mic. I had a few mistakes at first but once you figure out how loud and how fast you can speak it becomes really easy. If I'm at home I do almost all my texting on the watch.

Soon after getting my moto360 back in November I started asking myself whether there isn't a better method than speech for text-entry. I think there should at least be some alternatives. That's exactly why I am now writing my Bachelor's thesis on the topic of "efficient text-entry on smartwatches". I want to evaluate how handwriting recognition or a virtual keyboard could work on smartwatches.
For my thesis I created a short survey regarding the use of smartphones and smartwatches. You would help me a lot if you would take it and/or share the link! It will take 10 minutes at a maximum. Since it is still rather difficult to find smartwatch owners, your feedback will be especially helpful!
Link to the survey in english: http://goo.gl/forms/gSFkNNum3Q
or in german: http://goo.gl/forms/r50Hr3qaZR
Thanks for your support!

did the survey. hope it helps
mvol said:
Soon after getting my moto360 back in November I started asking myself whether there isn't a better method than speech for text-entry. I think there should at least be some alternatives. That's exactly why I am now writing my Bachelor's thesis on the topic of "efficient text-entry on smartwatches". I want to evaluate how handwriting recognition or a virtual keyboard could work on smartwatches.
For my thesis I created a short survey regarding the use of smartphones and smartwatches. You would help me a lot if you would take it and/or share the link! It will take 10 minutes at a maximum. Since it is still rather difficult to find smartwatch owners, your feedback will be especially helpful!
Link to the survey in english: http://goo.gl/forms/gSFkNNum3Q
or in german: http://goo.gl/forms/r50Hr3qaZR
Thanks for your support!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

mvol said:
Soon after getting my moto360 back in November I started asking myself whether there isn't a better method than speech for text-entry. I think there should at least be some alternatives. That's exactly why I am now writing my Bachelor's thesis on the topic of "efficient text-entry on smartwatches". I want to evaluate how handwriting recognition or a virtual keyboard could work on smartwatches.
For my thesis I created a short survey regarding the use of smartphones and smartwatches. You would help me a lot if you would take it and/or share the link! It will take 10 minutes at a maximum. Since it is still rather difficult to find smartwatch owners, your feedback will be especially helpful!
Link to the survey in english: http://goo.gl/forms/gSFkNNum3Q
or in german: http://goo.gl/forms/r50Hr3qaZR
Thanks for your support!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried the handwriting recognition and virtual keyboards that are available, and how do you like them?