I recently wrote about some issues I’ve had with my Dell Mini 9. Since I received my Mini it’s had issues with the keyboard, primarily that the space bar wouldn’t respond. Something I’ve heard several other people say; leading me to believe it’s a flaw in the design.
A quick chat with Dell support and a new keyboard was on the way. Shipped FedEx Priority Overnight no less.
I ordered my Mini within hours of it being released, so it’s a fairly early unit. When I received the new keyboard I was rather disappointed to see the it was marked “A00” – which is Dell-speak for version 1.0. So obviously when I saw that, it was a bit frustrating. What’s the point in replacing a flawed keyboard with another flawed keyboard?
After removing the existing keyboard I found something I really didn’t expect; the existing keyboard was marked “A02.” So my early model Mini has the newer keyboard! So, let’s take a quick look at what we know so far:
- A00 – This keyboard has the same layout as the A02; the keys are printed a bit darker making it harder to see in low light. The keys are a bit stiffer when you press them, and all the keys seem to respond reliably.
- A01 – I’ve yet to see any information on this one, though we must assume it exists.
- A02 – This version has brighter printing on the keys though seems to have a defect affecting at least the space bar and perhaps other keys. Pressing the keys, they feel somewhat cheap or flimsy.
These details are for the US-English, 61 key layout, Dell part # M958H. There is also an US-International version (U061H) floating around with a somewhat different layout that some people may prefer.
Though I don’t like how dark the A00 keyboard is, it does seem to correct the issue with the keyboard missing presses. The process of changing the keyboard only takes a few minutes and the instructions cover everything you need to know.
Wow! It’s been over a year since this blog o’ mine has seen any activity, though I’ve certainly not forgot about it. A lot has happened in the last year, so I’ll use this post as a bit of an update (and a warm-up for my return to blogging).
I’m not going to promise you’ll see a new post daily as was once the case, though I’ll try to ensure something new is up at least once a week.
The last release of YAWAST was on January 1, 2020; while the release history was sometimes unpredictable, the goal was a new release each month with new features and bug fixes. I intentionally took January off from the project. In February, I left the company I was at; the team of penetration testers there had helped to inspire new features while looking for ways to make them more productive. But something else happened in February, an issue was opened – something that appeared to be simple, but in fact, made me realize that the entire project was in doubt.
During a recent discussion about the DarkMatter CA on a Mozilla mailing list, it was found that their 64-bit serial numbers weren’t actually 64 bits, and it opened a can of worms. It turns out that the serial number was effectively 63 bits, which is a violation of the CA/B Forum Baseline Requirements that state it must contain 64 bits of output from a secure random number generator (CSPRNG). As a result of this finding, 2,000,000 certificates or more may need to be replaced by Google, Apple, GoDaddy and various others.
For the second year I am publishing a year-in-review – something I had generally avoided in the past, as the tone of these posts is typically just cynicism and negativity. Looking back at 2015, it wasn’t all positive (what year is?), but there was certainly some good, and there are great things to look forward to.
In a season filled with empty marketing pitches, worthless predictions, and pointless projections – it’s important to look at the good and avoid the cynicism overload that is all too common.
Inspired by a post from Scott Arciszewski, I’ve decided to go ahead and publish a year in review post. This is something that I’ve generally avoided in the past, as the tone of these posts is more often than not, just cynicism and negativity. After seeing Scott’s post, it made me think about how such a review can be used to send a positive message — something desperately needed.
Year after year, we see predictions, projections, and sales pitches — and the cynical responses that they always generate.
