Veeam Endpoint Backup is my new favorite backup tool for workstations and laptops.   It is a great alternative to Drive Image XML and to Ghost.

Pluses:

• Reliable background scheduler
• Both image based and file level restore
• Efficient differential backups
• No server required needed, just point at a drive or network share

Minuses

• Have to register at Veeam to download it, but since the registration is free, that’s not a big deal

Normally, to mount VMDK on Linux, you can follow these steps 

But what if the VMDK in question contains GPT with NTFS inside?  How do you find the offset and mount it?

#first losetup the raw disk
losetup /dev/loop0 ./file-flat.vmdk

#to find out offset do this
parted /dev/loop0
unit s
print
#find the start offset of the partition you're looking for and multiply by 512 (mine was 135266304 - yours will likely differ)

#use the offset to mount the actual partition
losetup -o 135266304 /dev/loop1 /dev/loop0

#now mount it
mount.ntfs-3g /dev/loop1 /mnt/vmdk

NIST, LANL and Albion College set two significant distance records for distributing “keys” (or codes) for quantum encryption.

Press release

Why does this matter?

– Will make it impossible for adversaries to “sniff” network traffic without being detected.
– Until now prototypes were specialized (read expensive) equipment. This technology is inexpensive so it could soon be mainstream.
– With the real possibility of quantum computing developing the point of making all SSL and VPN encryption methods obsolete, this technology is one piece of the puzzle in replacing current encryption technology with the next generation.