All posts by Like Tangents In The Rain

Basic Lessons

[Update] IPv6, Security, Future Near

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The 27th Chaos Communication Congress – subtitled We Come In Peace had an excellent presentation on IPv6 by Marc Heuse, an expert in the field and creator of several tools to test IPv6 security.

IPv6 is the coming standard for intranets, the internet and most IT/IP interconnect equipment. It is quite different from the IPv4, which is currently in place in all of our network systems. The IPv4 protocols use the typical 4 octet system, e.g. 192.168.1.1 (taking 32 bits), while IPv6 uses 128 bit address of numbers and letters. The comparison is 232 v 3.4 x 1038 – the number is 340 undecillion unique addresses.

Other advantages include autoconfiguration of IP addresses and networking, a hierarchical address structure which reduces operational cost and several Integrated security features. 

As Mr. Heuse points out, all major operating systems and most modern routers already support IPv6, but it is turned off. For most intranet installations, IPv4 will probably continue to be sufficient and won’t need to be replaced by IPv6. But as with all new protocols, there are some advantages that might move manufacturers to use the system to uniquely identify equipment for communication security, or other features that are not available with IPv4. Therefore we need to stay abreast of its advantages and potential pitfalls. Especially when one of the current problems being worked out is security weaknesses in tunneling, when using IPv4 and IPv6 together (like that will ever happen!). And though it handles multicasting more securely than with IPv4, that area is also one that has some issues. 

The issues with security come from the standard’s original outline being laid out 15 years ago. It dealt with the security problems of the time. Recommended practices have been developed to upgrade the protocol’s implementaion, but there are many, and they aren’t always dealt with the same way by all manufacturers.

Notwithstanding this, IPv6 is being tested this month in a ‘live on the internet’ plug fest fashion. It will be rolled out in the coming months. The Youtube video that follows isn’t for everyone, but it should be for everyone who claims to be a professional in the entertainment technology field of digital cinema, as cinema is by its nature ‘unique addresses’, on the internet and very concerned with security.

This link points to a page that has several slide presentations on the subject:
27C3: Recent advances in IPv6 insecurities
Don’t miss this slide presentation: Recent Advances In IPv6 Insecurities

Side note before the 53 minute video, if you run across any interesting information in this field, or recommendations or comments by the technologists in the d-cinema field about IPv6, please forward it to the editor.

Other articles: 
Last of the IPv4 Addresses Allocated
Understand IPv6 Addresses

YouTube – [27C3] (en) Recent advances in IPv6 insecurities

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In the News

Stuxnet and SCADA – New News

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New Siemens SCADA Vulnerabilities Kept Secret

SCADA systems — computer systems that control industrial processes — are one of the ways a computer hack can directly affect the real world. Here, the fears multiply. It’s not bad guys deleting your files, or getting your personal information and taking out credit cards in your name; it’s bad guys spewing chemicals into the atmosphere and dumping raw sewage into waterways. It’s Stuxnet: centrifuges spinning out of control and destroying themselves. Never mind how realistic the threat is, it’s scarier.

Last week, a researcher was successfully pressured by the Department of Homeland Security not to disclose details “before Siemens could patch the vulnerabilities.”

Read the entire article and some cogent comments at: 
    Schneier on Security: New Siemens SCADA Vulnerabilities Kept Secret

Tangential Art and Science

Ohga-san Passes

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Growing up in entertainment technology in the 70’s meant growing up with relationships with Sony in many areas of the business. The myth of the company revolved around two people; co-Founder Akio Morita and Ohga-san, Mr. Norio Ohga. (The other founder, Mr. Masaru Ibuka didn’t have as much of a public profile, for us gaijin at least.)

Your editor has had many incarnations of relationships with members of the Sony group, in Tokyo and Atsugi in Japan, in Los Angeles and New York and London. The spirit of the two pioneers most always seemed to have infused everyone with the desire for the highest quality in every aspect of the many games they played.

Ohga-san has passed. This article in the New York Times explains some of the attributes of the man: Norio Ohga, Who Led Sony Beyond Electronics, Dies at 81. May there be many more people like him.

Connectivity

DCI Compliance–Stuck in the Projector

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Doremi has done it again, this time with an IMB.

Projector manufacturers were the first to get their paperwork saying that they got through the Compliance Tests, one by one the TI OEMs. Then recently Sony managed to get the 4K and its SMS through. But since their entire assembly is one huge secure chamber, the SMS almost becomes an internal media block…which is a technicality that shouldn’t interest anyone. 

Logically, an IMB would be the next to roll-out of the Compliance Test Lab. And it was. Still, no server has been through which is an interesting political situation. If a manufacturer can get the IMB Compliant, so much of the SMS is redundant. To get it tested by both NIST and the Compliance Lab – that’s a big cost for something that is going to be outmoded in a couple years.

Still, they have come this far – but what a moving target, getting through the InterOp to SMPTE transition – when do you call it quits, shot the engineer (off to a new project) and get things tested? It would be tough to get through the tests and then find you have to make a big change somewhere. (Little changes in the code can be mutually looked at through the AskanceLensing System.) 

None of this matters to the Doremi IMB team. They got through this week. Salutations! 

Tangential Art and Science

PDF/A: Federal Court Requirement

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The is a blog on the Adobe site, Acrobat for Legal Professionals, which has an article of interest:
Federal Courts Moving to Requiring PDF/A for Filings « Acrobat for Legal Professionals

It is interesting for the DCinema world because pdf files are regularly sent to projectionist’s computers which also have keys and critical private information on them. Even if company policy restricts non-cinema related material on a computer it would still be subject to the vagaries of chance that some pdf contained some version of malware. Unlike mail attachments, pdf files can have embedded files that don’t get caught at firewalls or by virus checkers. 

And frankly, who has the time to keep up with all the updates that Adobe has thrown at us in the last two years?

Back to the article about the US Federal Court system not allowing any other version of pdf file except for PDF/A. They are not the first and won’t be the last to go this way. A lot of work went into making PDF/A an archival standard and many organizations mandate it. What is interesting is that it finally made it into the mainstream as lawyers file documents every hour and now have to learn how to create a PDF/A file correctly, constantly and easily.

In the article the author makes the following points about PDF/A

In a nutshell, here’s what you need to know about PDF/A:

  1. PDF/A is a specific flavor of PDF
    1. PDF 1.4 format (Acrobat 5 level file)
    2. All fonts embedded
  2. PDF/A is designed for long term archiving.

    Files must be self-contained with no reliance on external players or links.

  3. PDF/A does not allow:
    1. Cross-document links (e.g. a link to a separate PDF file)
    2. Dynamic media such as movies or sounds
    3. Links to destinations outside the PDF itself including other PDFs and websites
    4. Security of any kind
    5. [Editor: Links can be made using standard HTML code.]

The entire article is worth reading. It is premised upon the user using Microsoft products, but it should be known that open source products like OpenOffice have an easy PDF/A creation tool, and Apple Macintosh products from Adobe also can follow this standard.  

Alternative Content

Broadcasting Live Events to Cinema: DTG

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Here is a short clip from the Introduction, then the Table of Contents, then a link to the download page.

It will be evident … that providers of alternative content, integrators, satellite distribution networks, and exhibitors are faced with a number of commercial and technical considerations in order to deliver AC to a cinema audience. It is therefore important that the benefits and limitations of the various options are fully understood.

This document aims to provide, in a clear and unbiased manner, a set of guidelines which will enable live audio-visual events to be prepared, transmitted, received and presented into cinemas that comply with the relevant international standards for motion picture replay, whilst at the same time avoiding the risk and expense of reconfiguring established television broadcast infrastructures.

1. Summary
  1.1 Introduction  
  1.2 Background 

2.0 The Alternative Content (AC) Delivery Chain  
  2.1 Managing the AC Delivery Chain  

3.0 Preparation 
  3.1 Image Preparation
  3.2 Audio Preparation
  3.3.Subtitle Preparation

4.0 Transmission
  4.1 Image Transmission
  4.2 Satellite Transmission
  4.3 Audio Transmission
  4.4 Subtitle Transmission 

5.0 Reception
  5.1 Reception Equipment 
  5.1.1 Satellite Dish 
  5.1.2 Receiver 

5.2 Principles of repositioning a satellite dish 

6.0 Presentation 
  6.1 Image Presentation 
  6.2 Audio Presentation 
  6.3 Subtitle Presentation 

7.0 Live Delivery of Stereoscopic 3D 

Appendices 

The link for downloading this report is at: DTG Books and White Papers, though it is only one link of many so not so clear as what to do. Click on the Download button of Broadcasting Live Events to Cinema. Fill out the form, check your mail and you will get this 27 page report.

Societies

NAB / CinemaCon Future Space.Time Conjunctions

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The schedule for the NATO convention now known as CinemaCon* and the NAB Convention has taken on interesting time intersection. They both occur in Las Vegas. 

In the past the NATO convention (then known as ShoWest) was 4 or 5 weeks before NAB. With the first CinemaCon this year (2011) there was a 9 day difference between the end of CinemaCon and the beginning of NAB (if you consider the SMPTE/NATO “DCienmaDays” as the beginning of NAB…the weekend before the NAB Exhibits open.

In 2012 this takes an interesting twist. NAB begins on the 14th and closes on the 19th of April, with CinemaCon beginning just a few days later on the 23rd (and closing on Thursday the 26th.

2013 brings NAB on 6-11 April with CinemaCon on 15-18.

2014 switches them; first CinemaCon on 24-27 March and NAB on 5-10 April. (Perhaps these dates were chosen because Passover is on the 15th and Easter that year is on the 20th. There is no conflicts with these floating holidays the other years.)

Now if only the Hollywood Post Alliance festival in Palm Springs were moved from February to the week before CinemaCon us Europeans could schedule one trip and get our tech fix all in one long drip-fed dose. 

 

 

*It has been confirmed that the Con in CinemaCon has nothing to do with “Putting the Con back in Cinema” as has been suspected. 

Cameras

Test Bloom – AF100/F3/FS100/5DMkII

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Phillip Bloom has done a quick and dirty set of tests between the Panasonic Panasonic AG-AF100 Micro 4/3 Pro HD Camcorder, and the Sony F3 and FS100…along side a Canon 5D MkII. You can see them on his blog or watch them with these links.

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AF100 vs F3 vs FS100 Part 1: The Real World from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

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AF100 vs F3 vs FS100 Part 2: In depth and conclusions. from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

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The Bloom Danube: Sony FS100 Smooth slow motion test from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Articles and News

Cinemark and Regal Go Captioned

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Here are some links to the news. Cinemark has decided upon the Doremi CaptiView system, while Regal hasn’t specified the technology. [Sony Entertainment Access Glasses with Audio are announced as the choice at CinmeaCon 2012 – Ed.] Cinemark had ongoing lawsuits with the Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA), which are going to be dropped, according to the announcements of ALDA.

Regal will also be working with the website development group and Captioned Movies Search Engine site CaptionFish to help promote the services to their customers.

Hearing Loss Law : Washington Hearing Loss Lawyer & Attorney : John Waldo Law Firm : Hard of Hearing, Disability, Hearing Impairment : Seattle, Bainbridge, Washington, Pacific Northwest – Dead Link

Cinemark and ALDA (Association of Late-Deafened Adults) announce movie theatre accessibility for customers with hearing disabilities Global Alliance on Accessible Technologies and Environments

Cinemark Agrees to Provide Closed-Caption Option – DCInsider

Cinemark Installing Closed Captioning in all Theatres | Digital Cinema Report.

Regal theaters to become more accessible | Denver Business Journal

NJ theaters to use caption devices for deaf

Closed Captioning at the Movie Theatres. 

Regal Makes Seattle America’s Most Accessible Movie City

“Unfortunately, not every theater chain is following the lead of Regal and Cinemark. AMC theaters, America’s second-largest chain, continues to take the position that it will equip some but not all of its theaters to show captions. We are currently in the process of addressing that question in our Seattle lawsuit, and would hope for a favorable ruling, a change in AMC’s corporate position, or perhaps both.”

Tangential Art and Science

Eye better than camera capturing simultaneous contrast and faint detail

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“One of the big success stories, and the first example of information processing by the nervous system, was the discovery that the nerve cells in the eye inhibit their neighbors, which allows the eye to accentuate edges,” said Richard Kramer, UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology. “This is great if you only care about edges. But we also want to know about the insides of objects, especially in dim light.”

 

This terrific story comes from the terrific Terra Daily
Why the eye is better than a camera at capturing contrast and faint detail simultaneously

 

Kramer and former graduate student Skyler L. Jackman, now a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University, discovered that while light-sensitive nerve cells in the retina inhibit dozens of their close neighbors, they also boost the response of the nearest one or two nerve cells.

That extra boost preserves the information in individual light detecting cells – the rods and cones – thereby retaining faint detail while accentuating edges, Kramer said. The rods and cones thus get both positive and negative feedback from their neighbors.

“By locally offsetting negative feedback, positive feedback boosts the photoreceptor signal while preserving contrast enhancement,” he said.

Jackman, Kramer and their colleagues at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha report their findings in the journal PLoS Biology. Kramer also will report the findings at the 2011 annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Read the rest of the article at: Why the eye is better than a camera at capturing contrast and faint detail simultaneously

Neuron to Cones - Better Contrast and DetailCones normally release the neurotransmitter glutamate in the dark, while light decreases glutamate release. This graph of neurotransmitter release shows what happens when cone cells are exposed to a dark spot in a light background (top) under various scenarios, including no feedback (green trace) and only negative feedback from horizontal cells (red trace). Negative feedback to many cones enhances edges, but would decrease detail in dark areas were it not for newly discovered positive feedback that is localized to only a few cone cells (blue trace). Credit: Richard Kramer lab, UC Berkeley

Video Processing

More on DCP Creation – Qube

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Qube has a new DCP creator that works as a plug-in for Final Cut Compressor. There are 4 versions that range from generic to 3D/4K packages and from $800 (570€) to nearly $2,800 (2,000€).The title is QubeMaster Xport.

Qube Online Store Product Catalog

Qube is also announcing that in June they will have a KDM key generation service for QubeMaster Xport users to add security to the DCPs.

QubeMaster Xport enables Final Cut Pro users to save pre-defined settings as Compressor Droplets and simply drag-and-drop files to create DCI-compliant masters. All of the file formats supported in Final Cut Studio can be output to 2K and 4K, and the software can handle XYZ color space conversions, or apply custom 3D LUTs to source files while encoding.

“With major film festivals like Cannes and Venice now endorsing DCPs as their preferred delivery format, we’re seeing a surge of interest from independent filmmakers looking for better ways to master and deliver their films,” explained Eric Bergez, director of sales and marketing at Qube Cinema. “This new website gives them access to all the tools they need for generating DCP masters without the expense and complication of going to a major facility.”

Bergez pointed out that QubeMaster Xport also opens the door to the growing digital cinema market for boutique post houses and pre-show content creators. “It’s about putting distribution capabilities into the hands of those who create the content,” he added.

Constant Alertness

Russian Scriptor Targeting Macs?

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A new crimeware kit for sale on the criminal underground makes it a simple point-and-click exercise to develop malicious software designed to turn Mac OSX computers into remotely controllable zombie bots. According to the vendor of this kit, it is somewhat interchangeable with existing crimeware kits made to attack Windows-based PCs.

One might point out that these web-injects have supposedly been available for several months but they really haven’t been reported in the wild. 

Where to turn if one decides to go for a Mac Anti-Virus system. Being not ready to spend money on a yearly the subscription that many packages charge, here are a few ‘free’ packages.

The Open Source choice is ClamXav. This package is maintained by long time stalwart Mark Allan who would appreciate a donation. The package will handle individual files, whole computers and networks. Comprehensive means large and possibly sometimes slow. But it isn’t pro-active – it only looks when you hit scan.

Another well regarded package Free Antivirus for Mac – Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition. Smaller, faster, yet the home version will not cover networks.

PCTools | iAntivirus – This small package actively monitors for Mac malware, but that may be fine. I run PC AV software on my PC partitions.

That’s the end of free. None are bad; all are different, though both free products from commercial companies can be upgraded to pay-for packages.

VirusBarrier X6 for Mac OS X

Articles:

Antivirus Software On Your Mac: Yes or No?: Apple News, Tips and Reviews «

Mac Security: Antivirus | Security | Macworld

PC Tools iAntiVirus 1.0 Antivirus & Security Software Review | Macworld

Best AntiVirus Software Review 2011 | AntiVirus Software Learning Center – TopTenREVIEWS