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Create a Video demonstrating how to recover your Administrator Password using phpMyAdmin


This is my second task, my first task was to create a Bi-fold brochure titled, "Joomla for Worship".

My name is James and live in Geelong (an hour from Melbourne) in Australia. I am 16 years old and have just completed my high school studies and am on holiday for a number of months until the univertsity year begins (Early March next year). I am hoping to get in to the University of Melbourne and complete a Bachelor of Computer Science.

This task interests me because I am very interested in security and I have also did some brief experimenting with MD5 hashes with Visual Basic. During that period I learn't about how to decrypt them as well as creating a new ones.

I was planning on going through the video with two end points, reseting the password using PHPmyAdmin to a new password (which I pressume was the main idea) and also how to recover your password (using Rainbow Tables, lookup tables offering a time-memory tradeoff to reveal plaintext password). I also plan on making it clear that it is very important to remember your password.

Just to check I am on the correct track...
1) Login to PHPmyAdmin
2) Locate the table in the correct database that contains that passwords
3) Replace the MD5 hash with a new one (generate new one with free program or use a pregenerated one.)
4) Login to Joomla! and change password to something else

Cheers,
James

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

I have had a look around and see that salts are used to with passwords when Joomla! is used to change your password. Hence, Rainbow Table and other brute force methods become unfeasible.

I was wondering, how are the salts generated? I see that they are different every time you change your passwords.

Cheers,
James

P.S. Was wondering who my mentor is?

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

Hey James, cool to see you grabbing another task! I almost wish I had chosen this one, it looks like a ton of fun. Can't wait to see what you come up with, I know you'll do an A+ job!

_________________
-Chad Windnagle
Please use the search feature as your question might already have been answered.

http://www.s-go.net/ ~ Website Hosting - Strategic Marketing - Website Development - Print Work

James -

Good reading on salted passwords and Rainbow tables in Wiki.

I don't see you needing to get into all of that though.

This is a pretty basic - although important - video. Check out this FAQ for some ideas.

Thanks!
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

James -

How are you doing? When you get a chance, give us an update, please.

Hope your holidays were good,
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Hi,

Sorry, I guess I knda took a break, but I shall get on top of the video! Shouldn't take me too long.
Should have something done soon, maybe later today.

Cheers,
James

P.S. Hope you had a very merry christmas!

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

Hi,

I have created a video, download link is below. Feedback would b greatly appreciatted. It would be great to try and get this right in as few goes as possible as my upload speed is shocking (took me an hour to upload the video).

DOWNLOAD: http://rapidshare.com/files/79583311/GH ... 1.swf.html (~ 29 MB)

Cheers,
James

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

James -

Would you be able to upload it to Google videos and share a link?

Much thanks!
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Hi Amy,

Sure....

LINK: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3350224912116534807&hl=en

Enjoy!

Cheers,
James

P.S. For some reason he quality became absolutly shocking when I uploaded it to google video. If I upload if to rapidshare as an AVI instead of FLV it is only 10 megs but full quality.

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

Hi

Here is an AVI that is 800 by 600. It is much better compressed than the SWF and it is also much better quality than what Google Videos did to this file.

DOWNLOAD: http://rapidshare.com/files/79736370/GHOP_Task_51_V1.1.avi.html

Cheers,
James

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

OK - first of all, high quality work - which is exactly what I expected you to produce.

There is an easier method with the MD5 that you might want to explore. Just drop the Function menu options and select MD5. Then, you can update to admin in place.

Also, how difficult is it to remix that film and increase the font size of those instructions? I'm downloading your .avi file, but, as you are indicating that is pretty hard to see what the words and actions are on that Google video. Sharing your video on Google/Youtube ensures it will get the broadest usage possible - which is the ultimate goal.

Do you have ideas on how to improve the readability of the video?

Thanks for all of your efforts - you are really great to work with,
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

What software are you using to generate your video and with what codec? Some are far better than others for google etc

Hi,

I am using Techsmith Camtasia 5. From Camtasia I can export as a whole variety of formats...
- WMV
- MOV
- AVI
- RM (Real Media)
- SWF/FLV

I was using "ff Show Codec" to compress the video, because it supports 64-bit machines better an integrates with Windows Media Centre.
But I could use something else.

@Amy-
I can remix the clip easyily. Font size is a breeze. And I will look around for info about settings for Youtube/Google Video

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

I've not watched it as I'm posting from my cellphone but this looks like it might be worth watching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBJ_e0vJt50

I was just going to send the same video! It is very good video I am just now watching.

If it's easy to remix - I will be interested in seeing the difference.

James - thanks for being so flexible and accomodating.

guyjosephuk - thanks for the link!

Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Hi,

Thanks, just found that video about 5 minutes ago and I will give it a go.

The one thing I don't like about Youtube/Google Video is the very low resolution. However, if the end result is meant to be something for Youtube then I can work with that.

By the way, Amy, are you my mentor on this one?

Cheers,
James

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

I think we have sort of abandoned the mentor concept, there is so much going on. But, I'll be here for you!

Thanks,
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

James I think you did an awesome job on this.

_________________
-Chad Windnagle
Please use the search feature as your question might already have been answered.

http://www.s-go.net/ ~ Website Hosting - Strategic Marketing - Website Development - Print Work

Hi,

Thank for clearing that up. The forums do seem to be quite busy with GHOP.
I have uploaded a new video with enlarged captions and different encoding.

LINK: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1913933063155584455

I will see how I go with the more simple method of simply using the MD5 drop down.

Cheers,
James

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

Hi,

I have redone the video to reflect the sorter, simpler method that Amy pointed out me 

VIEW: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7276331954337481476&hl=en (the quality still seems to be poor even following he instructions above)
DOWNLOAD: http://rapidshare.com/files/79804506/GHOP_Task_51_V1.2.wmv.html (5.3 MB - WMV)

So, I guess if the video content is good, all that would be left is to sort out format and presentation issues.

Cheers,
James

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

James -

Couple of things - first of all, I have worked in the forums for a couple of years, and you cannot imagine how many times this question comes up. And, you nailed it. You hit every point that was necessary and, more importantly, you got right to the point and demonstrated a straight path to get there. Not a surprise seeing your earlier work; you know what quality is and we are fortunate to have your participation.

Agreed. Quality of video still needs improving - even though I think it's a tad bit better.

Andrew did a video showing how to install XAMPP and Joomla! and it is also fabulous work. When uploading to Google, quality is not there. He, too, uses Camtasia. I asked that he post into your thread and that the two of you collaborate on a solution.

I am hoping that neither of you have to recreate your work (especially since you have, already, one time). I hope that it's simply a matter of selecting the right options in Camtasia. I recommend visiting their forums, as well, to see what ideas they offer.

Please be encouraged. You are going to be shocked (and impressed) by the number of views your video will get when it's "out there" and it will provide value to people you will never meet. Joomla! v 1.5 final is nearing. This will be useful and used. I am confident you guys will figure this out - and when you do - what you discover will also be helpful to others.

Thanks for choosing to participate with Joomla! in the GHOP. 

Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Hi,

Thanks for your positive feedback.

I have been Googling around and the low quality of screencasts seems to be a common issue. I tried a few things that you might be interested in comparing.

Uploaded to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW-A6SgOIec (Source: 640x480 WMV)
Uploaded to Google Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7276331954337481476&hl=en (Source: 640x480 WMV, same file as above)

Uploaded to Google Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5289440742588013524&hl=en (Source: 320x240 WMV)

Also, I was wondering, do you want me to record a voice over to go along the with the video?

Cheers,
James

P.S. I was just going through them and the problem seems to me is the fact that...
(a) Both Youtube and Google Video are scaling the videos to 320x240
(b) Google Video scales the video to fill a bigger area in your browser making it look even worse

Could the Joomla! website host embedded Quicktime MOV's? The Apple website is littered with them and that overcomes the limitations of Google Video and Youtube quality.

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

Hi (again ),

I have looked at MOV's and here are some interestign results...
File Size Comparison:
MOV - 2.99 MB (640x480) (http://bhsnerds.net/ftp/GHOP%20Task%2051%20V1.2.mov)
WMV - 2.15 MB (320x240) (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5289440742588013524&hl=en - set "Actual Size" down bottom for true representation.)

The MOV if used with correct settings can yeild a very small result (wrong settings yeild huge files - 44 MB and above )

Cheers,
James

P.S. I am setting up an FTP server so I don't have to do all the Rapidshare rubbish. Should be up momentarily (well maybe more like 10 minutes )

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

I haven't the time to review all of your experiments and draw any conclusions, although I wish I could. I have to go through all of the open tasks. What conclusions have you drawn, if any?

Regarding Joomla! hosting, I don't see how that would even make a difference (although they do not host videos.) The problem is the end user. We could offer a download of some massive, high quality video and the end user could use it and see perfectly what you are doing.

But, they won't (of course) download a hour's worth of video to see 15 seconds of instruction. And, we want to make it drop-dead easy for them to get it so they DO use it.

So, today, that means Google video or YouTube provide the most easily consumed result.

People do create Camtasia work and publish it - but, it's obvious there is a trick to that!

Haven't "seen" Andrew yet?

Frustrating, I am certain! Regarding voice - certainly - voice is better. MUCH better. If you are willing to do that it would be great!

Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Hi Amy,

Sure, I understand your time is limited.

Conclusions I have drawn...
There is much disapointment across the internet over the poor quality offered by Google Video and Youtube. Reading stuff from fellow Camtasia users and other screencasters expresses the same sentiment. The problem is, in my honest opinion, that the resoltuion (320x240) is insufficent to show enough detail. Scaling the video down to such a level means that area of focus has to be VERY small to see anything. This would mean significant PANNING, ZOOMING which is very hard for a user to follow, this also increases length of video and in turn increases loading time.

What I was suggesting above would be to add the video tutorial in the form of a embedded MOV file. The following HTML code would read in the file I am hosting...


So, as long as the MOV was hosted somewhere, like on the server that hosts the Joomla! Help Tutorials, some simple code could be added to the content and you would have the video right infront of the user. Of course the video could alsoo be embedded in a flash file.

I will post a demo on my server in a few hours. Got to go..

Cheers,
James

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

James,

I feel your pain. I've tried uploading AVI (800 x 500 and 640 x 400) with no luck, as well as WMV (640 x 400). I'm going to try uploading a MOV file now, but as you said, embedding it on a Joomla! server would be optimal, allowing the videos to be streamed in either a MOV or SWF.

The problem with that approach is bandwidth and does Joomla! have a budget for it. (Keeping in mind there is no charge to use Joomla!, so funds are very limited.)

I've been looking around at the videos out there - and they all seem to be of the same poor quality.

With voice, it's easier to "fill in the gaps" on what the eye can't see. So, James, if you are able to add that in, go for it!

I think upload to Google - provide the link - and upload the MOV file to your Google Task. That way, we have choices and you guys are not stopped (more than you have been already).

Thanks for exploring this for us - and for such high quality instruction - one day Google will catch up with you!

Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Hi,

Thanks for that! I will add some voice to my recording and hopefully I sound ok!

Andrew-
Settings I used to get my MOV are...
Video:
- Compression Type: H.264
- Frame Rate: Current
- Key Frames: Automatic
- Frame Reordering: Ticked
- Compressor Quality: Low (Multi-Pass)
- Data Rate: Automatic

Audio:
- Compressor: None
- (Sampling) Rate: 8.000 KHz
- Size: 8-bit
- Use: Mono

Hope that is of help!

Cheers,
James

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

Hi,

I have added audio and have uploaded the video to Google Video. If you could confirm the voice over is good, then I can upload it to Google Code.

VIEW: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8269755556213777685&hl=en
DOWNLOAD: http://bhsnerds.net/ftp/GHOP%20Task%2051%20V1.2.1.mov

Hope they are good
I have added them to Google Code, so if all is well, all that is required is for the issue to be closed.

Cheers,
James

P.S. Thanks so much for your help through out this task and the previous. It is nice to know that my work is appreciatted and that it is helpful! Keenly looking forward to the next one.

_________________
Zebras don't have stripes, every photo you have ever seen has been Photoshoped!

When I uploaded it to Google as a MOV, it gave an error and said that it failed. The best quality for me has been AVI with DivX codec.

Andrew