Patch vCenter Now!

VMware has released patches that address a new critical security advisory, VMSA-2021-0010 (CVE-2021-21985 &  CVE-2021-21986). This needs your immediate attention if you are using vCenter Server (if you didn’t get an email about it, please subscribe to our Security Advisories mailing list). In most cases a security advisory is straightforward, but sometimes there are nuances that are worth extra discussion. That is the case here, and the goal of this post is to help you decide your course forward.

VMSA-2021-0010: What You Need to Know – VMware vSphere Blog

VMSA-2021-0010 (vmware.com)

How to Rip DVDs with VLC

Ripping a DVD Using VLC

To get started, load up the DVD you want to rip and start up VLC. Then, under Media, click on Convert/Save.

The Open Media window will appear and you want to click on the the Disc tab.

Check the DVD box, and make sure that the “Disc Device” field points to your DVD drive. Click the Convert/Save button to rip the DVD.

You may also want to select “No disc menus” here, since VLC can occasionally get tripped up trying to convert a looping video menu.

There are a few other settings here you can tweak, too. Under Starting Position, you can choose which title and chapter you want to rip. If you’re interested in ripping special features, or just part of the movie, you can change these settings, but if you just want the movie, you can leave this at the default. Under Audio and Subtitles, you can similarly choose which audio and subtitle track you want to rip. If you’d prefer to grab a language other than the default or include embedded subtitles, you can choose them here. To change any of these four settings, type in the number of the track, title, or chapter you want to start with. You may need to do some trial and error to figure out which track is the one you want.

Once you click Convert, you can choose what type of codec and container you want to use to encode your rip. By default, VLC will choose an H.264 video codec, MP3 audio format, in an MP4 container. This preset should work for any DVD, but if you want to change anything, click the Tools icon to the left of the Profile drop down box.

When you’re satisfied with your profile choice (or if you want to stick with the default), click Browse to pick a name and location for your file.

Pick where you want to output your video file, then give it a name. At the end, be sure to include the file extension (in this case, .mp4). If you don’t include this, VLC won’t rip the movie properly. When you’re done, click Save.

Back on the Convert screen, click Start to begin ripping the movie.

Once it begins, you can see a progress bar along the bottom. Technically, VLC is “streaming” the video to a file on your hard drive, so it will take the entire runtime of the movie to rip it. Once the movie is done (or if you want to stop it early), click the Stop button.

As we said earlier, this isn’t the most robust way to rip a DVD, but if you just need to do a quick rip with the tools you already have on your computer and don’t need to fiddle with codecs or video quality—and don’t want to pay for a better ripping tool—VLC can do it just fine.

SOURCE:
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/2696/how-to-rip-dvds-with-vlc/

Setup digital signature in Adobe Acrobat

Setup digital signature in Adobe Acrobat:

  1. Open the PDF requiring your signature
  2. Click the Tools group
  3. Click Open under Fill & Sign which is in the Forms & Signatures section
  4. Click the Sign button on the Fill & Sign toolbar
  5. Click Add Signature or Add Initials
  6. Use the options Type, Draw, or Image to add your signature
  7. Once added, you can drag your Signature or Initials to the desired location in the PDF
  8. Save the PDF

Pair AirPods to Windows 10

We will be covering two scenarios for using Apple’s AirPods’ with a Windows 10 computer:

  1. Pairing the AirPods for the first time.
  2. Reconnecting the AirPods.

1] Pairing the AirPods for the first time

Before pairing, make sure that AirPods are at least 40% charged. If not, insert into the AirPod case, and charge it. Keep it inside for the pairing process.

  1. Open the cap of your AirPods’ case.
  2. Press and hold the circular button on the rear portion of the charging case for few seconds.
  3. Release the button when the light inside the case blinks in white colour.
  4. Open Windows Settings app. (WIN + I)
  5. Navigate to Devices > Bluetooth
  6. Select Add Bluetooth or other devices.
  7. In a mini window that pops up, select Bluetooth. 
  8. A list of available Bluetooth devices will be populated.
  9. Select your AirPods from there.
  10. It will automatically pair and connect your AirPods, and they will be available for the first use.

2] Reconnecting the AirPods again

Technically, once paired, your AirPods should be able to auto connect to already paired devices.  But the chances are that you have it connected to your phone or tablet. So if it doesn’t connect automatically, it is best to connect it manually.

  • Open Settings and navigate to Devices > Bluetooth.
  • Under the section of Audio, select the entry for your AirPods.
  • Select the button that says Connect.
  • Once it prompts you of the connection, you are good to go.

If it still keeps connecting an disconnecting, read our guide on how you can fix AirPods frequent disconnection.

The guide should help you connect  AirPods to your Windows 10 computer.

 

SOURCE: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-connect-airpods-to-windows-10-pc

UPDATE 6/11/2020:

https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/f7jpj7/using_your_airpods_with_their_microphones_on/

When paired to your regular Bluetooth connection, do this:

Control Panel

Settings

Devices

Devices and Printers (far right-hand side)

If you can’t find this, press WINDOWS KEY + R to bring up RUN, then type in CONTROL PRINTERS and click OK to get to the Devices & Printers screen

Find your AirPods “device” and then Right click on your headset & choose Properties (it must be connected, paired & active for you to adjust these settings below)

Click the Services Tab

De-Select/Un-check Handsfree Telephony and hit Apply/OK

You shouldn’t need a restart after this, but worth doing if it doesn’t work right away.

This is a bit of a work-around and doesn’t help you if you want to use it as a true headset in things like games for chat, or via Skype/WebEx/etc. That said, it’ll ensure that your headphones show up as only one device, with quality stereo sound… so you don’t accidentally select the hands-free audio device which produces terrible quality sound.

Enable/Disable Numlock at Windows Startup

Solve a problem where Numlock is enabled in Microsoft Windows at startup with these steps.

Method 1 – Registry Setting

  1. Hold the Windows Key then press “R” to bring up the Run dialog box.
  2. Type “regedit“, then press “Enter“.
  3. Navigate to the following location in the registry:
    • HKEY_USERS
    • .Default
    • Control Panel
    • Keyboard
  4. Change the value of InitialKeyboardIndicators
    • Set it to 0 to set NumLock OFF
    • Set it to 2 to set NumLock ON

PowerShell Script

Use the following PowerShell code:

Enable Num Lock:

  • Set-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKU\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard' -Name "InitialKeyboardIndicators" -Value "2"

Disable Num Lock:

  • Set-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKU\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard' -Name "InitialKeyboardIndicators" -Value "0"

SOURCE: https://www.technipages.com/enable-disable-numlock-windows-startup

Ubuntu work on secops VM

How to Enable SSH on Ubuntu 18.04

Installing Kali Linux Tools using Katoolin on Ubuntu

Step 1 – Install Git
Launch the Terminal and enter the following command to install Git.

sudo apt-get install git
Check the Git version. As of today, it’s version 2.17.1.

sudo git –version

Step 2 – Install Python
Check for available Python version.

sudo apt-cache policy python
Available Python Version
Available Python Version
Start install Python 2.7.

sudo apt-get install python
Now check for installed version:

sudo python -V

Step 3 – Install Katoolin
Before installing Katoolin, clone git repository to our current location. Here we are going to clone git to “/opt” directory.

sudo git clone https://github.com/LionSec/katoolin.git
Clone Katoolin Git
Clone Katoolin Git
Copy the Katoolin binary to your path:

sudo cp katoolin/katoolin.py /usr/bin/katoolin
Give executable permission to katoolin:

sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/katoolin
That’s it. Katoolin is now installed. Let’s start using it.

Step 4 – Check Katoolin Interface and Options
Launch katoolin.

sudo katoolin
Now you can see Katoolin main interface and four options:

Katoolin Main Interface
Katoolin Main Interface
You will see a bunch of options:

Add Kali repositories & Update
View Categories
Install classicmenu indicator
Install Kali menu
Help
Let us discuss each of the options from 1 to 4 listed above in depth.