Shashanks Blog

Frostwire VS Bit torrent :

2009-02-10T22:55:00.001+05:30

Recently, I started pitting utorrent, vs other torrent apps and torrent apps in general against frostwire. I noticed a lot of differences in download speeds of the same file on both networks.

Speed:

> The file downloads much more quickly on frostwire.

> Even a well seeded torrent with ports forwarded and what not still leaves something to be

desired in terms of speed.

> Frostwire downloaded a 1 GB file from beggining to end with almost the same speeds.

> Torrent trackers tend to delay completion so that the torrents are seeded longer. Thus

the waning effect in terms of speeds when downloading from bit torrent.

File Diversity:

> Almost the same on both networks. Although, I think MUCH older RARER files are available

on the Gnutella network.

Architecture:

> Bit Torrent Requires a centralised "Tracker" to account and co-ordinate file transfers.

> Frostwire doesn't require any such thing. Direct transfer between two peers.

> Torrents may be public or private depending on which the torrents are posted on servers.

User base:

> Its a proven fact that the Gnutella network has a higher user base than the bit torrent network.

3 damn good reasons to switch over to Linux:

2009-02-02T18:17:00.000+05:30

1. Free as in freedom :
Almost 99.9% of Linux’s source code is released as open source. This means you can modify the code and redistribute it as you see fit. This means lesser lawsuits and lesser hassles in gaining updates.
There was a point in software time when anything free was considered buggy, incomplete or plain pointless. That might be then, but this is now. Linux has grown into one of the most advanced OS out there, and how! The penguin has come a long way indeed.

2. Surf the net without fear:
Yes, you read it right. Linux separates the root user from other users, thus restricting user privileges, and drastically reducing the chances of catching a virus. There are around 40 malwares in circulation, but almost 32 of them do nothing harmful, and are intended to point out security loopholes within Linux’s kernel. 6 of the remaining rest are dangerous and 2 are Trojans. If you’re still worried of catching a Linux virus, why don’t you resort to the age old solution- Go get yourself a free antivirus.

3. No more bloated OS: Linux makes a lot of room for your programs:
In fact, I’ve been using a PCLinuxOS installation on my PC for the past 2 months, and I’ve Installed a lot of software’s for Linux from Unreal Tournament 2004 to NVidia’s latest graphic drivers. Linux leaves a lot of room for your stuff, and doesn’t slow down one bit!!

Emulation on the PSP:

2009-02-01T06:16:00.000+05:30

I haven’t installed a single game on my PC after I brought my PSP. I almost feel as if I should’ve purchased it EONS ago. What really is the point of upgrading your PC< when you can do everything, except programming, on your PSP?? And you can carry the PSP everywhere you go! What was that? Lack of functionality? Not many options when it comes to gaming? Earth calling to .

Have you checked the homebrew community? They have everything from new games to friggin alarm clocks for the PSP. I have also seen some REALLY good programmers put out everything from emulators for the N64 on a PSP to a Linux port that runs on the PSP. Do you have any idea as to the humongous library of games that are available for even one of these consoles? That in itself is a HUGE advantage. Add to that portability.

If you are able to play that classic game of Mario Kart 64 on your flight, isn’t that everything you ever dreamed of ? Add to that watching movies, recording, and camera snaps. Isn’t that what most people use our PC’s for?

And I have also beta tested a bit torrent downloader for the PSP. To me, the PSP is the single most dominant piece of hardware that I have around me at all times. Whatever Sony’s intentions were in making this piece of hardware, I’m sure they hadn’t expected it to be used thus? Laugh on Nintendo and your army of fan boys ?

How badly do you need an antivirus?

2009-01-30T18:14:00.000+05:30

How many times have you wondered which is the best antivirus? Nod? Symantec Norton? Kaspersky? Bit defender?? My answer: None of the above. Why?? Read on.

Recently my curiosity got the best of me and I finally decided to read “The Big black book of virus programming” that I bought a while back. I’m told the book is illegal in most countries, and you could end up in jail for so much as possessing it!! The book details pretty much everything you need to know and also gives you a start by giving off some virus source code on the CD accompanying the book.

I started off writing my first virus and coded it such that it would look for a folder and deleted it. The folder was aptly named “Do Not Delete” and resided on my root drive.

I have a PC with the latest hardware. Thus , running 3 anti viruses is a walk in the park. Just for your info, I was running MacAfee, Symantec Corporate, and Nod 32. Some of the most reputed names in the antivirus industry.

The virus was written in assembler to make it faster than programs which I previously wrote in Java or C#. I fired up my “Virus”, and it promptly did its work. For a moment this really startled me because none of the antivirus programs even warned me that a potentially unsafe operation was being performed by a third party program. I convinced myself thinking that of course they didn’t detect it! It’s just another program that’s occupying memory and manipulating files. As far as other “programs” such as anti-viruses are concerned, there is NO harm being done to your computer!!

Most viruses are offshoots of “virus creation” kits available in shady websites running in third world countries like Nigeria or Kenya. So, the programmers for these “antivirus” programs have to detect a pattern in the viruses and voila, the antivirus detects the threat. But what if people like you and me started writing viruses? Would the antivirus programs have any chance at all in detecting these new “breed” of viruses?? Of course not! This is exactly the reason why the market for “network security” has grown exponentially over the past decade. We need to have fewer OS loopholes (poke at Microsoft) and fewer ways for programs to run in the background without your permission. Of course, if windows (like Symantec internet security 2008) were to ask you each and everything, you would curse your OS while click “ OK” and “Ignore” buttons , endlessly.
Yes, there is a certain tradeoff between OS security and usability, but that’s for novice users. NOT for pros like me. Well, we could probably have 5 modes for the OS, something like:

1. Novice
2. Intermediate
3. Power User
4. Expert User
5. Geek demigod ?

The PSP:A wonderful piece of hardware

2008-12-12T17:00:00.003+05:30

I have always yearned for an up to date PC, with the latest games, and playing them with the best and highest of resolutions. But call it fate, or call it destiny, I had to forsake gaming on the PC completely for the following reasons.

> Gaming is centered around windows. Linux and Mac users don't have those many choices

> There are so many games around that the quality is almost next to nothing. See: NFS Undercover

> I have to sit in office in front of the PC, all day long (Yes, I do work daytime job), and when I get home, if I wanna play my favorite game, I have to sit in front of the PC again, resulting in frequent backaches

> I guess I was never a fan of killer graphics(and no gameplay) , or killer game play(and 0 graphics). I would rather spend my time playing a game having a mix of both

> Portability is a HUGE issue with my desktop

> The electricity bill went through the roof

One fine day, I just decided I had to go out and buy myself a console. I had never owned one. But then all consoles suffer from the same problem as the PC. Portability, and upgradation, and what not. So, I decided I would afford myself a PSP. And I must say its REALLY worth the investment. I do find the occasional blooper, but then the games on the PSP are better than those for the PC by leaps and bounds. And the graphics are really good too. Now, I can take my PSP to the rooftop just to play a game of Burnout Dominator, rather than play Crisis:warhead in front of my PC. The graphics on the PSP are really good. What I don't understand is the reason why game developers for the PC have to make such hefty games which don't compare to squat.
The graphics on burnout:Nominator are almost equivalent to NFS:Most Wanted, and that of God of war: Chains of Olympus surpass the graphics for Prince of Persia:The two thrones. If a 500Mhz CPU with 2MB VRAM can render such excellent graphics, just take a second to wonder what the PC could really do with careful programming. Developing games for the PSP is really a tough task because you cant afford to be careless about memory leaks. There is a lot less RAM than the PC to work with. And, also gamers are much more demanding graphics wise when it comes to playstations. So, each and every frame has to look well polished, and the frame rate shouldn't vary greatly.If it does, it would be downright outrageous.

Got something to say? Comment!

Move over Prince of Persia, God of war is here

2008-12-12T16:52:00.002+05:30

God of war:Chains of Olympus was the first game that was installed on my PSP. As soon as I waded through the first level, I got a sensation of Deja Vu. The graphics looked stunning, and it almost looked as if it employed Prince Of Persia's' graphics engine! How could this be? Perhaps both games are really well polished, and the graphics may look similar. But how can a hand held console even come close to the graphics capabilities of a PC equipped with the latest video card? What baffled me more was the fact that the game loads almost instantly. There are a lot less "Loading" screens on God of war, than there are on Prince of Persia:Two thrones. Even the EPIC setting is not lost until the last boss fight. If you're a serious gamer, then this has got to raise a couple of questions in your mind.

> How can a hand held with 2MB VRAM render graphics equivalent to a game on the PC?

> With careful optimization of games, can game developers squeeze more out of existing hardware?

> Do you really need to upgrade your PC? Cant you buy a cheaper hand held?

To these questions, hardware manufacturers such as NVidia have got to answer, or all gamers would eventually move onto consoles. Got answers? Lets hear them in the comments!

Are we all heading towards an era of cloud computing?

2008-11-27T07:00:00.000+05:30

NO. Heres 8 reasons why:

1. Providing Mario, or for that matter any modern graphic intense game, as a service wont be easy.

2. If you’re NEVER going to use the computing power in your PC, and would rather rely on some server for processing your information, do you think major hardware vendors such as Intel, and AMD, who have spent billions to develop their hardware, would just standby and watch?

3. One MAJOR problem with cloud computing is that if, and when the central server crashes, ALL of your data would be lost, because of the failure. It wouldn’t matter if you have backup servers. They could not take in ALL of the traffic resulting in slower transfers. This would be unacceptable for large companies depending on the central server to provide it with certain programming “services”, and for your 9 year old son who wants to play DOOM 3.

4. 82% of the world is still using dialup connections to connect to the internet. What could possibly compel them to change that? And if they decided to change that, even for some unknown reason, would the costs be the same? Wouldn’t it be higher? Wouldn’t this would compel most of them to stay on the same infrastructure?

5. Programmers are humans too. We aren’t perfect. We couldn’t possibly come up with a mechanism that would go online throughout the world providing “services” to everyone involved, AND expect the system to be robust enough to NEVER crash. Even a primitive system, designed for this purpose would probably end up crashing because of the load involved.

6. If you think Im being a pessisimist, and Im making this up, consider this- Even a complex backend architecture such as server farms, possibly coupled with complex algorithms to optimize performance, do you think the access time would be anywhere near, or comparable to a file stored on your system?

7. If you do everything on a server, then why do you need your PC? Just input devices, and output devices will suffice in such a situation right? Then your PC wouldn’t be a “terminal” it would be a dummy terminal.

8. Finally, the security threat involved is totally unacceptable for any major corporation. As all “services” run on a central server(or on different servers, which ever you deem necessary for the purpose of this discussion) even a small loophole could prove costly for all those involved in such an endeavor.

What makes you think that distributed could ever be stopped? Lets hear them in the comments !

The confusion over chrome

2008-11-26T07:00:00.003+05:30

With the advent of Google’s new applications, the press is abuzz with terminologies such as "cloud computing" and online operating systems. But is this really the future of the web?

Definitely Not!! I read a news article in a major newspaper a few days ago which called Google’s chrome a “revolution” and that it would eventually overtake windows and Linux.. Excuse Me? Is it just me , or can you spot the odd one out of the group too? Heres whats wrong with the article:

Ø First off, chrome is an application, not an OS. To be specific, it’s a browser, just like Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

Ø Secondly, Chrome needs an OS to run.

Ø Third, the day when chrome will start up as soon as you switch on your PC is still VERY far away.

The very fact that a major newspaper called chrome an OS shows the amount of computer literacy amongst the press. And to think the article came from the associated Press! God knows how many newspapers all over the world published his and how many people believed it!

Top 10 things to do with dial up internet

2008-11-25T07:51:00.000+05:30

1. Tune into internet radio:

You wouldnt believe how many internet radio stations have popped up over the years. Just tune into a low quality radio service such as Social crime and you will enjoy for hours. There are pop, jazz, rock, funk radio channels available like this too!

2. Join mailing lists:

Have a hobby? There are mailing lists for almost anything on the internet. Join some of these mailing lists and watch your hobby get better. A mailing list consists of everyone replying to a mail thats found in their inbox.

3. Watch videos:

Youtube and Dialy video have managed to provide me with hours and hours of non stop entertainment. The endless library of videos on these sites give you everything from the latest movie trailers, to game strategies, to video songs.

4. Play online:

There are countless sites that are offering free gaming services online. Many of these are fun and addictive games. But beware, even though you require just the flash player installed, these may bring with them unwanted downloads also.

5. Stumble:

Stumbling is the most addictive past time I have right now.

6. Avail the use of online operating systems:

Operating systems are available online too! These are basically built on the web 2.0 architecture. Get aquainted with one of them, and upload all your important files as a backup mechanism. This would ofcourse take time, but its worth it!

7. Read tutorials online:

Dont go out to buy that costly book when you can get the same content for free! There are people like myself all over the web, and they simply enjoy writing about everything. Sometimes you find information in blogs that you wont find even in a commercial publication. Wikihow is an excellent source of such tutorials.

8. Start a blog:

Have ideas that you would like to share with everyone on the net? Start a blog with free services such as blogger or wordpress. These services are free and easy to use!

9. Download updates for windows:

Windows giving you problems? Leave "automatic update" on in windows, and it'll download updates for ya!

10. Chat on yahoo!

I know what you are thinking. Yahoo! is infested with bots. I know, but it still IS one of the best places on the net to chat! Believe me, I do! My Yahoo Id is : shockstreamz.

Does windows get slower with a cluttered desktop?

2008-11-24T07:42:00.000+05:30

I didnt believe in this concept until recently. One of my clients asked me this question, and I told him "No, it doesnt". He continued "I think it does!". I later began thinking that there may be more to this than meets the eye. The following article is based on my analysis of the situation.

> The more number of icons on your desktop, the more time it takes for all the icons to be loaded from the icon cache.

> This might be one of the reasons why windows seems to become slow.

> Whenever you exit a game, and return back to desktop, windows refreshes the desktop thereby refreshing the cache.

> Windows doesn't store all its icons in the memory because considering the depth of these icons, there would be no space in the memory left for running applications.

> This is also apparently the reason why a linux machine runs faster than a windows machine, with the same hardware configuration, apart from of course the OS architecture.

Why windows software installs are slower than uninstalls

2008-11-22T19:36:00.001+05:30

Put the other way, why are uninstalls faster than installs? Windows was built to just incinerate a directory when its deleted. That is, the directory, or files are just removed from the partition table if you pressed Shift+Del (which it seems, everyone these days is very used to!). When installing, the program has to

>Look up the target drive and check if enough space is available or not.

>Unpack the files onto some temporary location (Most probably C:\windows\Downloaded program installations)

> Extract and copy the files onto the desired location on your installation directory

This is the step that possibly takes up a lot of time because the transfer is happening from the hard disk onto the hard disk as opposed to the transfer happening from some other medium to the hard disk which is atleast, a bit faster. Since the source and the destination of the files are on the same disk, the transfer bus is fully used, and thus the OS seems to get stuck. During this process, if you try to , say play your music collection with winamp, your pc would get stuck because the OS (which is quite a heavy resource consumer), your copy process(also a heavy weight) and your music player are all contending for CPU time. As and when the CPU gets more tasks in its queue, the system starts to become slower, as each task has a degenerating effect on the system, leading to the popular deadlock problem of computer science. When your PC gets locked up, you have to remove all your processes from the CPU queue. The easiest way to do which is to RESTART your computer, which I assume, all of us,windows users do from time to time. :)

>Seek a suitable location in the registry

>Enter keys in the registry

>Delete the temporary files

>Possibly do other tasks such as configure the application for first run
This basically involves the installer entering some values into the applications configuration files to tell the application that the next time the application runs would be its first on this machine.

Firebug – The ultimate tool for the web designer

2008-11-20T14:26:00.003+05:30

Many of my friends were saying firebug could do that and firebug could do this. Recently, I decided to see for myself what it could and what it couldn't do. And , I must say I'm very pleased by what I saw. Firebug comes as an add-on with Firefox. Simply visit http://addons.firefox.com and get your firebug add-on. It sits just above your Firefox status bar, making it non – obtrusive and really helpful whenever you need it.

But the area where firebug really shines is its ability to highlight elements of the page you are viewing. Just click the "inspect" button on firebug, and wherever you take your mouse on the HTML page, the corresponding markup will be highlighted. This is really useful and priceless for a web page designer because this would save a lot of time and help you learn how someone else has coded his webpage. If you see a nifty CSS trick that you could use, just take your mouse over the element and its corresponding markup would be shown. You would be amazed to know that this works even with Javascript generated content. For example, if you generated a button at runtime. Now if you go into inspect mode, you can see the code for the Javascript that made the button what it is! This way you can get to debug your pages on the fly.

Is it time microsoft started making antivirus software?

2008-11-19T10:50:00.001+05:30

If you use windows, you would probably have come across hundreds of security loopholes, and viruses trojans, and what not! With all this in mind, you gotta ask yourself, isnt it time microsoft started making antivirus software? I mean, windows is microsofts own creation, so no one else knows windows better than microsoft, right?

Confronted with the above, any microsoft employee would tell you that microsoft doesn't make application software. True, but I still think microsoft is the best company to make antivirus softwares, and it would easily rise to the top in the antivirus market.

With that said, why not build an antivirus along with the OS, so its fully interoperable with the OS? We windows users are anticipating the release of windows 7 in 2010. I would love to see the antivirus feature with that version of windows.

Using VS2005 IDE regular expressions for find and replace

2008-11-18T12:16:00.006+05:30

Suppose you have redundant information such as :

, (11,12,1,5,75,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')
, (11,13,1,6,200,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')
, (11,14,1,7,50,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')
, (11,15,1,8,100,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')
, (11,16,1,9,25,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')
, (11,17,1,10,60,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')

You need to replace the first two integer fields with say 7.

Hit Ctrl + F to bring up the find and replace dialog. click on Regular expressions.

Find : [(]:z:z,:z,

Replace with : (7,

Heres a nice page about VS 2005 IDE's regular expression comparison with other regular expression 'standards':

Coding horrors take on VS IDE regular expressions

Result:
, (7,1,14,75,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')
, (7,1,15,60,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')
, (7,1,16,10,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')
, (7,1,17,25,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')
, (7,1,18,150,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')
, (7,1,19,100,1,1,'2008-10-19 00:00:00')

Net Packets Out Of Order - Expected ( xxx ), Received ( y ) error in Toad:

2008-11-18T10:28:00.000+05:30

Toad is one of the most versatile front ends I have seen for an efficient database such as MySQL. But toad does have its rough edges. The error message "Net Packets Out Of Order - Expected ( xxx ), Received ( y )" pops up whenever the client has been opened for many hours together. There is something about the situation that makes me feel that the toad front end was made to be specifically timed with the number of packets that were recieved after a transaction is complete. That is, it estimates the number of packets that are to be recieved whenever a transaction is completed. If at all the number of packets recieved after a transaction doesnt match up with the ones expected, the above error is seen.

The problem not only arises for specific transactions but also for transactions involving a series of transactions involving a large number of unions. Yes, this is a fact.

The solution:

> The first possible solution is to copy the query and execute it in the mysql command line client. You will be happy to see that it works.

> The second solution is to restart the PC and hope that Toad is back to its helpful self again.

> The third and last solution is to modify your query to involve fewer number of joins, or unions. This would surely solve the problem.

Simple ExtJs Grid Example 2

2008-11-17T16:40:00.000+05:30

var store;
var temp;
Ext.onReady(function()
{

var arr=document.getElementById("hdnField1").value;
var splitter=arr.split("|");
var myData = [[splitter[0],splitter[1]]];
// create the data store
store = new Ext.data.SimpleStore
({
fields: [{name: 'Name'},{name: 'Designation'}]
});
store.loadData(myData);
// create the Grid
var grid = new Ext.grid.GridPanel
({
store: store,
columns: [{header: "Name", sortable: true, dataIndex: 'Name'},{header: "Designation", sortable: true, renderer: 'Designation'}],
stripeRows: true,height:320,width:240,title:'Array Grid'
});
grid.render('grid-example');
});

var clicked=function()
{
var TopicRecord = Ext.data.Record.create(
{name: 'Name', mapping: 'Name'},
{name: 'Designation', mapping: 'Designation'}
);

var myNewRecord = new TopicRecord({
Name: 'Do my job please',
Designation: 'noobie'
});
store.add(myNewRecord);
return false;
}

Basic structure of an ExtJS grid

2008-11-17T13:22:00.002+05:30

Ext.onReady(function()
{
var arr=document.getElementById("hdnField1").value;
var splitter=arr.split("|");
var myData = [[splitter[0],splitter[1]]];
// create the data store
var store = new Ext.data.SimpleStore
({
fields: [{name: 'Name'},{name: 'Designation'}]
});
store.loadData(myData);
// create the Grid
var grid = new Ext.grid.GridPanel
({
store: store,
columns: [{header: "Name", sortable: true, dataIndex: 'Name'},{header: "Designation", sortable: true, renderer: 'Designation'}],
stripeRows: true,height:320,width:240,title:'Array Grid'
});
grid.render('grid-example');
});

Of course, to make this work, you have to have the extJS libraries included first.Include them as follows:

>view your HTML code, and add the Javascript tags .The ExtJS path goes into the src property of the JS tag. I will be posting many more examples of ExtJS forms here. Be on the prowl until then...

Official Gmail Blog: Say hello to Gmail voice and video chat

2008-11-12T12:49:00.000+05:30

Official Gmail Blog: Say hello to Gmail voice and video chat

The peeps at Google just launched video and voice chat from within Gmail. I really am waiting to criticize them for this move. Turns out, the app would be using H.264 encoding so external apps can choose to speak to this service. The implementation would no doubt involve a flash player on the front end. Im yet to really see an implementation of the flash player which can capture both voice and video from the client side at the same time not making the app sluggish (which im sure Googles' newest product WILL be!) .

Rest in peace DVD?

2008-11-10T22:41:00.000+05:30

Do you use DVDs to backup your stuff? How much can you backup in 4.5 GB of media? 4 movies (compressed)? or 2 average games?

Move over DVD, 'cause this is the age of the Blu-ray disc and the flash drives. With hard disk drives getting cheaper by the day, and the advent of the Blu-ray disc's the DVDs are set to do a vanishing act ala the floppies. It is said the Blu-ray discs can hold upto 25 GB in a single layer disc, or 50 GB in a dual layer disc. Whatever the case, all digital storage will be replaced by bigger , better , and faster media in the coming days.

Or, better yet by flash drives. You can get a flash drive these days for as low as $3, or 150 rupees. We are on the cusp of the digital age. This is when the information bubble bursts and all media, information is gonna be exchanged freely.

Better still, why do you need to backup something when its permanently available online?? What with operating systems such as you OS, coming online. You can store your music , movies and games (?) online. With the advent of megabit broadbands, all of us can expect this medium to spill over into the portable device scenario too.

What does Wikipedia want $6 million for??...Simply Outrageous!!!

2008-11-08T18:35:00.000+05:30

I was a fan of wikipedia, and its open mind theology until 3 minutes ago. I saw a banner on the site which said "Wikipedia:Making life easier", with a Donate Now button. It also showed a progress bar marking $2 million and odd, and that its goal was to raise $6 million!!!

Please interrupt me if Im wrong here, but arent all of wikipedias' articles written by commoners like you and me? So, its a collective effort isnt it? They shouldnt be asking for donations unless to pay for server bills!! SO, WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO DO WITH $6 MILLION?? Are you donating to wikipedia? If so please STOP!! Stop this insanity in the name of free knowledge.

Wikipedia has 20 odd workers, all doing what.. building a CMS thats wikipedia. Sure, its a good source of information and all, but do they REALLY deserve $2 Million???

If your answer is YES, please check in to your nearest mental hospital. You are in need of medical attention.

Is Google really a leader in technology?

2008-11-07T11:40:00.000+05:30

Its a common misconception that any company that does things differently is supposed to be leading a certaing segment of technology. This seems to be true in the case of Google. Now, it may be a technology giant, but the products they make are far from perfection. Each and every one of their flagship products except other than their propreitery search engine technology ofcourse, is still in BETA. Do you know what that means? The services may go offline anytime, and may be entirely scrapped if not for Googles' ad based exploits. Most of their products are plagued by inconsistensies, and lack of basic support for their other products.

Take Google Chrome for example. Its supposed to be a a "revolutionary" piece of software, and they havent yet integrated their own Google notebook with Chrome.Google offers better support for IE than for chrome right now. Now, does that say anything about their competancy, and their development practices?Clearly, Google is very farsighted in its business practices and would be outstaged and outplayed in the coming years for sure.

Blogger VS Wordpress

2008-11-06T21:58:00.002+05:30

Last week, I decided to try out wordpress because of all the eye candy. The themes there are pretty good. The sign up page was enticing and a good experience I must say, but after that things started going downwards. The following is a list of things thats wrong with wordpress:

>Wordpress serves its own ads on your blog instead of letting you earn money by blogging. Who runs a blog just to pass time anymore,anyway?

>Doesnt let you edit your CSS unless you pay $26 per month.

>Doesnt stop serving ads until you pay for the hosting, and that too without your own domain. So, basically you'll be stuck with yourname.wordpress.com for the rest of your life!

Things blogger lacks(that wordpress revels in):

> Themes. OOO shiny blog.Me like shiny blogs!

> closeness to the user. The ambience around the site is well maintained, and welcomes the user to try out things out on his own.

Well, thats it! It also allows for importing your "OLD" blogger blog into your wordpres blog, but I wont mention that because of anomolies in the posts when importing them

Are we all ready for multimedia compression?

2008-11-02T18:40:00.000+05:30

If you download pirated games, and warez, youll already be familiar with UWE HERKLOTZs' UHARC. If you arent, look it up on the web. Its the highest ratio compression technology ever! It can compress games of around 1 GB to around 150 MB. Thats why its called multimedia compression in the first place. I havent found songs, and other media compressed with this. I have been using it to compress data that I dont really need right now, and burning such stuff off to DVD's for later use.But you gotta ask, if its such a good compression technology, why wont WinZip or Winrar use this?

>For one, it takes a whole day to bring down 1.5 GB of data to 150 MB, not all of us may be THAT patient.

>It eats up all your processors' bandwidth to do its job.

>Compression sometimes depends on the amount of RAM available. Since Winzip and winrar are used by people who may choose to work on pentium 3's, its not gained importance...yet..

>There is absolutely no guarantee that the output would be the same as the input. Though it works for a majority of the cases, it may fail too.

Calling JavaScript functions from C#

2008-10-27T18:15:00.000+05:30

There is perhaps no way available to do this, nor should there ever be one. This is because your C# code runs in the code behind, a repository of code to handle post backs, while your JavaScript is executing on the client side. If at all client side javascript was let to be executed from C# code, then it would be similar to AJAX RPC's! A better way to call Javascript functions is by using hidden fields. The following logic demonstrates how:

|
|-->set a hidden field

|
|-->check the value of the hidden fields for changes, if any write logic which has to execute.

Reverse the above logic, and put the javascript hidden field check so that it executes when the page gets loaded, and VOILA, you have an answer to your solution.

i = i + 1 : A ridiculous way to say increment I !

2008-10-10T12:06:00.000+05:30

How many of you have coded in C, C#, Java or even JavaScript for that matter? If you have, then you'd probably know i=i+1 as one of your best companion when dealing with loops. Yet, I call the practice ridiculous...Why do you think that is?

For one, any programmer with a basic understanding of math would have puzzled over this question: isnt i->i+1 more meaningful than i=i+1 in a programming context? Why then do all programming languages follow the pattern of variable = variable +1?? I have no clue whatso ever, but I would reckon it is a reminiscent of the age when there were no standardized charecter sets for various programming languages and all vendors defined their own charecter sets, and standards.

And, to add to this mess, every programmer, no matter how experienced uses the counter variable named i, instinctively. Of course, he'd have to use an alternate variable to nest loops within other loops, he'd have to use another variable, and the second variable would instinctively be named j. I do not know if the collective conciousness of all programmers is at play here, for I have seen the same pattern repeating with every coder I have met over the past decade or so.. Even with me ! As we all pave way for new programming languages and techniques, I also hope that this hideous practice will be stopped, for all our sakes.

The environment?...Naah, who cares...

2008-10-08T12:37:00.004+05:30

We humans are a filthy lot. I say this because from time immemorial, there hasn't been any one species which has filthed its own nest.. Until now. Humans are everywhere. With the unknown world shrinking and even the most remotest of remote places being explored, we arent far from colonizing every habitable patch of land on the planet. "Just because we can, we will" seems to be the attitude of our beloved fellow homosapiens.

Between all the colonization and resource exploitation, we all manage to turn a deaf ear to the environment which is literally crying for help around us. Utter stupidity if you ask me. If there is no earth, there are no humans.

We dont know half the things there is about earth that we ought to know, and yet, our kids know a lot more about alpha centauri than our earth. There have been talks of migrating out of earth and taking the human race with us, because by the time this plan solidifies, earth will be all but a nuclear waste ground. With all this knowledge and profoundness, we still continue to haunt the earth, and pollute the environment with reckless abandon. All this being said, even I myself am one of the filthy lot.

I don't use a public transport because I would then lose my convenience. I still travel to work everyday in a bike which guzzles up more fuel than the neighbors car. Im writing this in my blog because we humans will always be selfish. We never admit our mistakes and will surely not do anything to rectify what wrong we have done. All that being said, I wish all of us could switch onto more efficient means of energy such as solar / hydroelectric / Nuclear energy, all of which are limitless. But until our scientific communities can put their differences aside, and the pope can agree that physical attraction is not a crime, we will all just delay our days in cold hell...

Wow..what a life!!!

2008-10-03T14:44:00.003+05:30

I just bagged myself a job in the .net domain... I landed a job in a company called Asclepius (name of the greek god of medicine) consulting. And I must say I was very overwhelmed by the work environment. Everyones very friendly, and people dont make a fuss of everything. This actually goes against conventional corporate culture where you are just a sheep in the crowd, and thus, no one knows you. When you enter a big company, chances are you would be oblivious as to what to do, or whom to ask...

That is just not the case with Asclepius. The timings are very flexible, and all the bosses(YES, there are three founders) are asking is for me to do my job and go home. Currently, the companies is expanding rigorously, so theres no doubt about job guarantee and some such thing. The bosses said they wanted me to be with the company for atleast 2 years. There is no concept of control at all in the company. All in all, Im very happy that the tech lead knows my name and is happy everytime I speak...

What more would you ask in a company when its your first job?

Alternatives to resource hungry programs

2008-09-14T20:05:00.000+05:30

Who better at a job, to use a tool, than a man who created the tool right? WRONG! I have seen many cases of this.

>First off, is Adobe's acrobat reader. The resource hungry proggie does little to enhance readability, and takes long times to load images within a PDF file. Moreover, the reader doesnt even provide a PDF "document printer", that other open source proggies provide, which enable users to "print" into PDF files from any other format. I stumbled on a software called "Foxit Reader". Better than Acrobat Id say...

>This isnt an isolated case. I have found OpenOffice .org to be much more flexible than MS office, simply because it is free, and platform independent. So, I dont have to use an emulator on a virtual machine within my linux box to get the same environment.

>Adobes' Photoshop finds a worthy alternative in Gimp, which comes bundled with most Linux distros these days. Its free, as in freedom :) in addition to being very fast, and responsive..

So, tell me brothers and sisters of cyberspace, would you go about using a proggie that hogs up all of your memory, and is not free, as opposed to open source, FREE alternatives that are both fast, and compatible with their paid rivals' file formats?

Googles Chrome

2008-09-12T22:10:00.000+05:30

Chrome? Nice nomencleature for a sub-standard browser Id say. What do you want in a browser? Not a funky GUI, not a browser integrated with an advertising campaign, to make the parent company richer by a million dollars, and certainly not a DOM inspector! Googles chrome is less of a browser and more of an advertising campaign if you ask me! It has Googles search engine built-in, and you get to search and type in URLs in the same bar, but whats the use? Its like re-inventing the wheel... Chrome doesnt have what firefox and IE or even Opera for that matter, havent had yet.. Google claims its faster than all other browsers, and even goes onto give a "task manager" option which shows the memory consumption, possibly per tab of both Chrome, and all other browsers that are open. But I could SWEAR that the chrome was a lot slower than Opera. Im not an opera fanatic or something like that, but yeah, Opera is simply THE BEST window to the world wide web around. It uses full bandwidth when browsing, and even has a built in download manager, and adding to this, is its bit torrent protocol support ! Opera even has an option to pause downloads, even though, rarely, the downloads dont resume properly, but a decent attempt has been made! Now, what would you equate Chrome to? Show of hands kids?? "JUNK".. very good!!

Just got myself a job in the Java/J2EE, AJAX domain!

2008-09-01T11:29:00.003+05:30

I am elated that I found a job in a company called kingslake. Its based out of Sri Lanka and is looking for a foothold in India. It has major clients in Malaysiya and Singapore...

The US recession is nothing but hypothetical in a sense that not all software firms have run out of business, and not everyone is asking their employees to leave. I was appaled at the fact that Sapient didnt even ask us to go in for training, as it was running out of projects. And to think, I hadnt been recruited through some walk in interview. I had been recruited on campus. I didnt go to them, they came to me. This further testifies the appaling conditions of jobs in India, especially jobs in the software domain. BPO s have been the major winners in this race because a majority of people who find it hard to get into a software firm would get into the BPO jobs. Thanks a lot America!

My base salary might not be THAT good, but I have some hopes pinned on the future. I enjoy working with AJAX and this will provide me with an excellent opportunity to work with it, adding some weightage to my resume/ CV.

Time Scale theory: Are software companies producing obselete software?

2008-08-23T20:13:00.000+05:30

First of all, I would like to thank IOLO for making a wonderful software (System Mechanic). But with new versions getting released everyday you have GOT to ask yourself. Is the software you're buying worth the money? Sure, you get future upgrades for free. Im not denying that. But what is it about the future upgrades that makes you WANT to buy the software so much? Possibilities:

> Better user interfaces

> Better functionality

> Faster (?) than previous versions

> Supposed "overall" upgrades

Personally, I just stick to the first version of any software I use (that is barring windows of course!). Similarly, I was very impressed with System Mechanic 6.0 when it first came out. Even though IOLO came out with System Mechanic 7.0 and version 8 is on the docks, I still love the UI in System Mechanic 6.0 . Why? Due to the simple fact that I found this software worthwhile, unlike its
successors. This isnt just the case of IOLO and System Mechanic. Its the same with Nero 8. The software is jam packed with features that I dont use, and these end up hogging memory, installing shell extensions that I dont use, and in turn, I have to labor hard to uninstall these to keep my installations to the bare minimum. So, Why not just stick to the previous versions?This goes for each and every software I have used.
There is a theory I recently made up. Its called the "Time Scale Theory".It goes something like this:

"There is a peak in every software company's production cycle. At this peak, the software company has built up enough reputation to sell its most endorsed product in quantities of millions. It makes a lot of money and repute. After this peak time is over, the company merely survives on its earlier reputation. Any software produced henceforth will be completely obselete and will add features to make users' experiences worse than the previous versions."

The same thing goes for IOLO(System Mechanic 6.0), MicroSoft(Windows XP-Current, excluding windows Vista), IBM(The peak time seems to be neverending!, but it will end nonetheless!), Google(In its peak right now).

Google? Hell NO!!!

2008-08-16T20:45:00.002+05:30

I am sick and tired of using Google as my search engine. If you use it at all, I suggest you check out the others available on the net. Many of these are free services which will provide you with higher quality search results.

General
Alexa Internet
Ask.com (formerly Ask Jeeves)
Baidu (Chinese)
Cuil
Exalead (French)
Google
Live Search (formerly MSN Search)
Sogou (Chinese)
Sohu (Chinese)
Wikia Search
Yahoo! Search

Geographical limited scope
Accoona, China/US
Alleba, Philippines
Ansearch, Australia/US/UK/NZ
Araby, Middle East
Baidu, China
Daum, Korea
Guruji.com, India
Goo (search engine), Japan
Leit.is, Iceland
Miner.hu, Hungary
Najdi.si, Slovenia
Naver, Korea
Onkosh, Middle East
Rambler, Russia
Rediff, India
SAPO, Portugal
Search.ch, Switzerland
Sesam, Norway, Sweden
Walla!, Israel
Yandex, Russia
ZipLocal, Canada/US

Accountancy
IFACnet

Business
Business.com
Nexis (Lexis Nexis)
Thomasnet (United States)

Enterprise
See also: Enterprise search
AskMeNow: S3 - Semantic Search Solution
Dieselpoint: Search & Navigation
dtSearch: dtSearch Engine(SDK), dtSearch Web
Endeca: Information Access Platform
Exalead: exalead one:enterprise
Expert System S.p.A.: Cogito
Fast Search & Transfer: Enterprise Search Platform (ESP), RetrievalWare (formerly Convera)
Funnelback: Funnelback Search
ISYS Search Software: ISYS:web, ISYS:sdk
Microsoft: SharePoint Search Services
Northern Light
Open Text: Hummingbird Search Server, Livelink Search
Oracle Corporation: Secure Enterprise Search 10g
SAP: TREX
TeraText: TeraText Suite
Vivisimo: Vivisimo Clustering Engine
ZyLAB Technologies: ZyIMAGE Information Access Platform

Job
Main articles: Job search engine and Employment website
See also: Category:Job search engines
Bixee.com (India)
CareerBuilder.com (USA)
Craigslist (by city)
Eluta.ca (Canada)
Hotjobs.com (USA)
Incruit (Korea)
Indeed.com (USA)
Monster.com (USA)
Recruit.net (International)
SimplyHired.com (USA)
TheLadders.com (USA)

Legal
WestLaw
Lexis (Lexis Nexis)
Quicklaw

Medical
Bioinformatic Harvester
Entrez (includes Pubmed)
EB-eye EBI's Search Engine EMBL-EBI's Search engine
GenieKnows
GoPubMed (knowledge-based: GO - GeneOntology and MeSH - Medical Subject Headings)
Healia
Searchmedica
WebMD
PubGene
Nextbio (Life Science Search Engine)

News
Daylife
MagPortal
Newslookup
Nexis (Lexis Nexis)
Topix.net
Yahoo! News

People
PeekYou
Ex.plode.us
InfoSpace
Spock (website)
Spokeo
Wink
Zabasearch.com
ZoomInfo

Real property
Fizber.com
Home.co.uk
HotPads.com
Properazzi
Rightmove
Zillow.com

Video Games
GenieKnows
Wazap

By information type

Search engines dedicated to a specific kind of information

Forum
Omgili

Blog
Amatomu
Bloglines
BlogScope
IceRocket
Sphere
Technorati

Multimedia
blinkx
FindSounds
Picsearch
Podscope
SeeqPod
Veveo
YouTube
Pixsta

Source code
JExamples
Koders
Krugle

BitTorrent
These search engines work across the BitTorrent protocol.
Btjunkie
Demonoid
FlixFlux
Isohunt
Mininova
The Pirate Bay
TorrentSpy

Email
Nicado
TEK

Maps
Géoportail
MapQuest
Live Search Maps
Yahoo! Maps

Price
Kelkoo
MSN Shopping
MySimon
PriceGrabber
PriceRunner
Shopping.com
ShopWiki
Shopzilla (also operates Bizrate)
TheFind.com

Question and answer
Answers.com
AskMeNow
BrainBoost
eHow
hakia
Lexxe
Lycos iQ
Powerset
Live Search QnA
Uclue
Yahoo! Answers

By model
Open source search engines
DataparkSearch
Egothor
Gonzui
Grub
Ht://dig
Isearch
Lucene
Lemur Toolkit & Indri Search Engine
mnoGoSearch
Namazu
Nutch
OpenFTS
Sciencenet (for scientific knowledge, based on YaCy technology)
Sphinx
SWISH-E
Terrier Search Engine
Wikia Search
Xapian
YaCy
Zettair

Social search engines
ChaCha Search
Eurekster
Mahalo.com
Rollyo
Trexy
Wink provides web search by analyzing user contributions such as bookmarks and feedback

Metasearch engines
Brainboost
ChunkIt!
Clusty
Dogpile
Excite
HotBot
Info.com
Ixquick
Kayak
Mamma
Metacrawler
MetaLib
Mobissimo
Myriad Search
SideStep
Turbo10
WebCrawler

Visual search engines
ChunkIt!
Grokker
Kartoo
Pixsta
PubGene

Based on

Google
AOL Search
CompuServe Search
MySpace Search
Netscape
Ripple

Yahoo!
AltaVista
AlltheWeb
GoodSearch
Rectifi

Live Search
A9.com
Tafiti
Ms. Dewey

Ask.com
Hakia (semantic search)
iWon
Lycos

Defunct search engines
BRS/Search (now OpenText Livelink ECM Discovery Server)
Google Answers
Infoseek
Inktomi
Lotus Magellan
Overture.com (formerly GoTo.com, now Yahoo! Search Marketing)
PubSub
Singingfish
Teoma
WiseNut
World Wide Web Worm
Excite (now a metasearch)
WebCrawler (now a metasearch)

And you say you dont have a choice when it comes to GOOGLE?? WAKE UP!!!

Alt3rn4t|v3 s comment on Bux is scam post

2008-08-13T18:12:00.005+05:30

I got a mail from blogger telling me that someone left me a comment on this post. I came to check it out, and found this, and the reference was with respect to a post I made earlier.
This post has "Alt3rn4t|v3"s comments in quotes and my comments in ">>>>"...Lets answer some questions.

"Hi.

Before I start, let me be clear on something - although I'm a staff at Bux.to, it doesn't stop me from being objective."

>>>>"Well ofcourse it doesnt...you, unlike the rest of us, are paid to scam others"

"As both a staff and a normal member, I do not condone the excessive waiting times nor the irresponsibility displayed now and then, but there's nothing I can do about it."

>>>>How can a staff be a normal member? Im willing to ignore that fact...for now. Of course you, being a bux.to staff member cant do "anything" about it. Who else were you expecting to make a change?...Pink Panther? Oh, did I forget?? BUX pays its employees to do NOTHING about complaints...We cant blame you,you poor thing.

"Having said that, I can only say that your post is filled with biased dejectiveness and dosen't serve as an objective (or even correct) understanding of your own situation."

>>>>"biased dejectiveness" ? YES, 'cause I had half the people I know joined Bux.to and they'r probably cursing me thinking I scammed them. Pardon me, but we are all simple minded citizens, who fail to understand how bux.to or any other company can refuse to pay, when we havent use autoclickers or used our technical mindset to scam them! (I run a technology blog afterall, and Im more than certain, I could up my earnings if I even tried!)

You make accusations like "though I cant imagine what that could be, other than PayPal refusing to support scam sites!", which is not true. Since you seem to have checked the forums before, you should probably do some searching before posting. That's the rule of the thumb for a blogger.

>>>>Yes, Paypal DID refuse to support scam sites and Pay per clickers such as BUX! Being a staff member YOU of all people should know that! Besides I just think you're playing naive though I cant think of a better explanation of what you have said. Thanks for the advise BUB!! But I think I have scanned the forums for possible explanations, and Im much more thorough with the forums than some admins....EXACTLY the reason I run a BLOG!!! DUH!!!

Now tell me, when was - "Next, they tell me they have a 'MAJOR' problem with the sites' script" - said?

>>>>The question is "When was it NOT said!!!". I hear that they were changing their scripts 3 times in a row over the span of a month. Their website went down, and some of the clickers found that their balances had MYSTERIOUSLY reduced to nothing..It doesnt take einstein to put 2 and 2 together.

"they even have a calculator for that, for crying out loud!!!" - For crying out loud, Bux.to doesn't have a calculator. Your post was made in late July. We abandoned the "calculator" (which wasn't even official in the first place) MONTHS ago.

>>>>IF you have visited the forums atleast once, you will find the admins "recommending" the calculator even TODAY!! This generally happens when some non-premium member asks when he's gonna get paid, and loads of "have patience" posts later.

"On top of that, they post fake success stories every now and then." is probably one of the worst accusations you made, though.

Oh? Then why would you be responding if I faked the fact that you were faking fake posts? :)

Don't be surprised if they manage to find this post that you made, see the fake accusations that you've made about them and use their "freedom to remove you at the outset of any circumstance" clause to deny you your payment. You don't have any reason to call Bux.to a scam then, because by then, it's self-pwn - no one's fault but yours.

>>>>This is exactly why I wrote this post...only one word describes it best....."hippocracy" !

To "Alt3rn4t|v3"...

> You're handle is lame.

> You stink.

> insert derogatory term here: _______________________

> Thank you as always for a patient read.

Opera 9 rocks!

2008-08-01T16:48:00.002+05:30

I have been using Opera 9 since my last windows installation, and I must say, Im very impressed.Here are the features and why I liked them :

> The toolbar is better than menus in most browsers.

> Integrated email reader : You get to compose mail and send it, or read other mail without waiting for minutes to login to your inbox. This comes as a boon to many of us Gmail users, as it takes a long time to login. Whats more? You can specify multiple mail accounts to draw your mail from, all within your browser. You will be instantly alerted to any mail in your inbox.

> Opera uses full bandwidth : I have a dial-up connection. Surfing the web was a pain until opera came by. Unlike Internet Explorer, Opera uses my full bandwidth, and thus makes surfing a breeze.

> Built in bit torrent client, download accelerator : Opera can handle downloads and file transfers with ease. whats more? Forget your port forwarding worries if Utorrent conflicts with your firewall, cause opera identifies itself as a browser and thus doesnt get blocked.

> Lots of widgets to choose from.

> Write notes within your browser and set times to get alerted!

> And now, the greatest advantage of all : ITS FREE!!!

Get it here http://opera.com

Are older softwares better than newer ones?

2008-08-01T16:38:00.002+05:30

with new versions of photoshop and flash coming out every 2 months, you have got to ask yourself, "Are the newer versions worth my money? Do I really need the newer versions when I have got used to the older ones?".

I recently switched back to photoshop 7 and I must say I have been very efficient with it.I found myself at home with photoshop with 7. The UI is simple and intuitive, and it doesnt take a genius to make out what the "accented edges" filter does.

I have always been a critic of new software, and have always advocated the older ones. Photoshop 7 continues to be the most productive tool in Adobes galleria, as I am told. This goes for windows XP too! How many times have you thought "Man, it really sucks that vista is running so slow on my 2 week old PC" ?

What is the need for you to use newer software when you're god darned efficient with the previous one?

Western Digitals 500GB external drive

2008-07-28T08:13:00.001+05:30

I just brought a new external hard drive(Western Digitals 500GB external drive),and I must say, Im quite impressed! The drive doesnt make a noise, the transfer speeds are neat, and to top all that, its got a shiny blue LED lighting to show when the drive is working and when its not.

I think the external hard disk is an internal hard disk in a USB casing, or so it seems. I could be wrong. The coolant does its job flawlessly. There was barely any heat after 4 hours of data transfer and over 148 GB was downloaded into the drive. That makes it 37 GB per hour! Quite impressive!

Im completely impressed with the drives functioning, and would gladly recommend it to all my friends in need of a drive space. It provides 500 GB of space. And, believe me, its not as small as it sounds. You'll start running out of things to fill it with, but its only a matter of time before I get that filled up too.

WWW = World Wide Wait?

2008-07-26T19:52:00.001+05:30

I have been working with the internet for a few years now..maybe 6 years or so. In all these years, I have seen the internet evolve from the equivalent of a fish to the equivalent of a whale in terms of speed and reliability. These days, the speeds that computers households get are in the average of 2-3 Mbps worldwide.

But in all the hurry to increase the speeds are we forgetting some of the basic concepts which were the founding principle of the internet?

The internet was born out of necessity. The US military was the first organized network. But why do we find people still connecting to the internet through 56k modems?why doesnt everyone have broadband? Even though broadband is affordable these days, there are millions who are still using dial up connections. I would say this is mainly due to corporate incompetence.

The "big" companies such as AT&T want to make profits by giving the customers nothing but crappy speeds. Until and unless there is a revolution in the way companies think, the equivalent of a 56k modem will always be around.

And, to add to all this, the service providers have started providing internet connectivity to mobile systems, whose speeds are even more pathetic. Suddenly, there seems to be a big leap of faith towards the mobile computing platform.

Internet downloads remain pretty much a dream to people such as myself. It takes a lot of time to download even an Mb...

Bangalore bomb blasts

2008-07-25T17:51:00.000+05:30

I would like to take a moment off my busy schedule of writing about technology and condemn the blasts in bangalore, India. I am a resident of bangalore, and I must say, this day shall go down as one of the darkest days in bangalores glorious history.

Over the years, Bangalore has been giving entrepreneurs and politicians major boosts in terms of infrastructure. IT industries flourished in what was once a deserted and barren city. I am put up in the outskirts of the city right now. But this fateful day, I happened to commute through 4 of the 6 blast sites. And I must say, the scene was horrible. I wanted to play hero, and go help with some of the rescue work. But the cops wouldnt let me, nor the others who wanted to help. They were busy chasing off people.

I saw a city weep today. I stopped at a restaurant on my way home, and I heard an old timer say, "These terrorists wont let us live in peace". How true. What a statement. This city, which has inspired millions upon millions to take up careers in the IT industry has suffered a fatal blow, in that, all these days, one could roam around in Bangalore like a free bird. This will no longer be so.

North India was the only place where the terrorists let their kind flourish. Such barbarism, and malice was unknown to us South Indians. Yet, terrorists have spread their fatal roots in Bangalore, and if you ask me, it will take all our efforts to weed it out.

Ive seen this city smile.Ive seen it weep. Ive walked with gods, and wept with angels. Rock on Bangalore city.

Social bookmarking in opera: A dream?

2008-07-23T19:50:00.000+05:30

Hey guys.I use StumbleUpon for bookmarking my sites, and must say that the service and the quality of sites bookmarked have been very good. Except for one thing- There are no social bookmarking toolbars available for opera 9.5 !

Now, I know Opera might be a little low on plugins unlike your Firefox, but still, I felt that the opera developers left out this major chunk of my internet experience!

I have been told that social bookmarking sites take up almost 2% of the internets total traffic. At first glance, 2% is not such a big deal. But then, do you realise how many websites and URLs this may run into. Heck, this may run into billions for all I know!

So, a question to all you opera developers out there: Why no support for plugins?

And a warning to all you social bookmarking addicts out there: This is just not the right time to switch to opera!

Update: There is one method by which you can do this in opera. Goto OperaStumbler.com

Is Bux.to scam? well of course it is!!

2008-07-22T23:33:00.000+05:30

What else were you expecting from a site which runs in a foreign country, doesnt respond to its own ticket system, AND ignores users' grieviences??

Yes, I was a kid with dollar signs flashing in my eyes. Not until BUX.to burst my bubble. Now, I have around 194 dollars in my BUX.to account. All for what? What use is money that you cant withdraw?

First I was told that they had a major problem with PayPal (though I cant imagine what that could be, other than PayPal refusing to support scam sites!). Thus, I got myself an AlertPay account. Now, the site wont let me login! Next, they tell me they have a "MAJOR" problem with the sites' script (can't Imagine what that would be!!), and thus ALL payments are delayed! Recently they tell us, they're gonna clear it all within 4 WEEKS. Are these people kidding me??!!

On top of that, my requested amount of $10 hasn't yet arrived(after 4 months)! The moderators at the forum said that the payments would arrive for non-premium members after 2 months, and they even have a calculator for that, for crying out loud!!!

On top of that, they post fake success stories every now and then. Old members and new apply the theory stated below, and they keep clicking, thus making HUGE profits for the people at BUX.to.

We are the sort of people that say "Aw look honey, there are mangy looking aliens in the front yard. Hope they're here for the neighbors!!Lets all pray they really are here for the neighbors!". This continues until the aliens themselves catch you by the throat and then you try to warn your neighbors who are gonna say the same thing. So, Im telling you now, stay away from this site! Its a total scam!

What a novel way to run a scam! On top of all this, the moderators at the forum, have the audacity to tell me that no lawsuit can reach them because they're in another country.

SCREW YOU BUX!!

Common Firefox myths

2008-07-22T07:59:00.000+05:30

Firefox is faster than IE:
WRONG!! Firefox is in fact slower than IE. The fastest browser in loading and in performance is Opera 9.5 !

Firefox is a non-profit organisation:

WRONG!! Firefox has a tie in with google refferals. Thats why you see so many websites supporting firefox.

Firefox's plugins dont slow my pc :

WRONG!! Firefox slows down with the first plugin you install. Overall, for a simple HTML page, it consumes about 20 MB of memory as opposed to 15 by IE and just over 7 MB by Opera!!

Firefox is very safe:

WRONG!! There have been many security loopholes detected over the years in Firefox. They(Mozilla foundation) dont release patches very often. Now which browser is safer IE(which gets constant updates and patches) or Firefox? I would say Firefox is just as vulnerable as any other browser is!

Firefox is open source:

WRONG!! Do your own research as to why this is not so.

Firefox is the only browser available for Linux:

WRONG!! Konquerer is an excellent browser available on all flavors of Linux.

Record movies in HL2/CS:S efficiently?

2008-07-21T21:51:00.000+05:30

Ok, it seems many people don't know how to do this, so I will explain how this is done. All you need are the game itself, VirtualDub , and the trial of DivX Pro, which can be downloaded. NOTE: When I say to type something such as "record [filename]" in the instructions, I mean type it without the quotes. When I say click 'File > Open video file', I mean click the File menu, then the next option, which would be 'Open Video File' in that case.

Step 1: Recording the Movie in Half-Life 2 / Counter-Strike : Source as a Demo
(If you already have the demo file you want, skip to Step 2)

Open the game, and when it's time to record, open the console by pressing the tilde (~) key. Type "record [filename]" and press 'Enter'. Replace '[filename]' with whatever you want the demo to be titled. When you're done recording, open the console again and type "stop".

When you're ready to leave the server and start Step 2, read on.

Step 2: Converting the Demo to TGA Files

Change your video resolution in-game to whatever size movie you'd like. I use 640x480 since no larger is really necessary, and a single 640x480 frame is 900KB, which means 1/3 of a second of a 30FPS movie is 9MB. 1 second = 27MB. Huge, huh?

Then change your audio (if you want the audio to be recorded at all) to 2 speaker, and not headphones or 5.1 or whatever. You can leave the Options window open if you'd like.

Open the console. Type "host_framerate #" and press 'Enter'. Replace '#' with however many FPS you want the movie to be. I suggest 30 - it's rare any higher is necessary, and again, 1 second @ 30FPS = 27MB. Higher FPS = higher movie size.

Then in the console, type "startmovie [filename]", and hit 'Enter'. Replace '[filename]' with whatever you want the movie files to be called. This can be the same as the demo name, it doesn't matter.

While still in console, type "playdemo [filename]", and hit 'Enter'. Replace '[filename]' with the name of the demo you want converted. At this point, the demo will start, the frames will be rendered slowly (you'll experience 5 to 20 FPS most likely), and will be saved off as TGA images (many of them... host_framerate X length of demo in seconds).

When the demo is done and you're back at the menu, open console and type "endmovie", and hit 'Enter'. This will end the capture. If you don't enter this command, the menu of CS:S or HL2 will be recorded as additional 900KB+ frames. We don't want that, now do we?

Close the game. Go to Step 3.

Step 3: Putting the TGAs Together into an AVI

At this point, I'm assuming you downloaded and extracted VirtualDub. If not, go back to the top of this page.

Open VirtualDub, and click 'File > Open video file'. Navigate to the folder of the game (in CS:S, this will be the cstrike folder). Make sure 'Image Sequence (*.bmp, *.tga)' is selected in the 'Files of Type' drop down menu. Double-click the first image of the record sequence. There will be HUNDREDS (maybe thousands) of these images, double-click the first one.

VirtualDub will read them and begin piecing together a movie. We're not done yet, though!

Choose 'Audio > WAV Audio...'. If you can't select it, choose 'Audio > Full processing mode' first, then 'WAV Audio...'. In the same folder as the TGA image sequence, there will be a WAV file titled similarly to the images. Double-click this WAV file. VirtualDub will attach it to the movie.

Now, if you want to chop out parts of the movie, do so by finding the beginning frame of the part you want chopped and press 'Home'. Then find the last frame of that part and press 'End'. Then press 'Delete'. Do this with all useless / pointless parts of the movie. The WAV will also be chopped up, which is why it is important that the WAV be inserted before chopping!

Once you're done editing, it's time to set compression. If you don't want to compress, or want to use another program to do it (WM Encoder, for example), just click 'File > Save as AVI' and you're done. But if you want it to be small, and not the 500MB+ file an AVI itself is, you need compression. So, make sure DivX is installed, then continue.

Choose 'Video > Compression'. Choose the DivX codec, and click 'Configure'. Select 'Slow' from 'Encode Performance' - this will yield a slower processing time, but a better quality video with better compression, which means a smaller file to download. Click 'OK', then 'OK' again to leave the VDub compression dialog box.

Now choose 'Audio > Compression'. Choose 'MPEG Layer-3' from the list on the left, and a bitrate (preferrably stereo of some sort) from the right and click 'OK'.

Choose 'File > Save as AVI'. Locate where you want it saved, and what you want it called, and click 'Save'. VirtualDub will now work on compressing the video into a nice little DivX-based AVI file. Enjoy!

How to remove worm/autorun.blw virus?

2008-07-19T21:06:00.000+05:30

First of all, update your antivirus

If say, the drive d has the virus, open notepad, goto open and type d:\autorun.inf

If there is a text block displayed then your system has an autorun virus, removing which is simple.

Open notepad,Create a blank file as autorun.inf. just drag and drop this file into the drive d, after opening my computer. DO NOT COPY AND PASTE!!

As the trojan depends on autorun.inf to do its job, a blank autorun.inf will disable it!

Why dont HCL and HP give you backups of your device drivers?

2008-07-19T21:03:00.000+05:30

I have had many friends asking me to search for them, device drivers for their newly purchased desktops/laptops. What I dont understand is the fact that HP and HCL (2 of the major computer assemblers in the US) dont provide device driver CD's / DVD's with the computers that they sell. I understand that these PC's have genuine windows versions installed on them, but why not provide drivers?

Some of my friends wanted me to bring this up on my blog, cause this might serve as an early warning system to all of you people considering to buy a previously assembled PC.

One of my friends ran into a certain trojan problem on his HCL PC, and wanted me to re install his windows (since Im the guy in the know-how). I tried formatting the disk, and re-installing windows on it, but guess what! It simply refused to install on his PC. Thats when I threw in the towel and told him to call up the HCL guys, and ask them for help. Three frustrating hours of troubleshooting later, they decided to send one of their own to look into the problem. And guess what he does, after he gets there! He takes out a windows XP CD out of his backpack, and it installs like nothings been wrong with the PC! I was surprised to find out that even the drivers come bundled with his version of windows XP so he doesnt have to install it seperately.

Asked if we could have a copy of his disc in case there was a future failure, we were told his boss would have his head if he found out, but the nice guy agreed anyway! I got into all the technical details of the CD copy, and found out that HCL has a special windows disc, licensed exclusively to them (of course!!!) by Microsoft.

Now, what this disc did was, it read the hardware device configurations from the ROM, and only upon finding that this was a genuine HCL PC, and not a lookalike, did it start installing windows.

No wonder the HCL, HP guys wouldnt give you the discs!

Trojan in DotaKeys !

2008-07-14T13:45:00.000+05:30

If you are an avid fan of DotA AllStars, you'd probably know that farming is one of the most important parts of the game, other than pwning other heroes' heads. But farming is difficult for newbies. I hit upon this software called "DotaKeys" made by a guy who called himself "Fucko". I didnt have any problem with this guy, until I updated his software. The software downloads a backdoor trojan which might compromise your computers' security to this guys whims. I googled the problem and I came upon this post. Here, this "Fucko" dude goes about bashing anyone who tells him hes given them a program with a trojan.

He argues its open source, and even provides a link for its source. SURE its open source, who denied it!! All Im saying is that the program itself doesnt contain malicious trojans. These appear once you update the program.

And just for all of you people who are thinking how he made this program, there is a software called Autohotkey. A pretty nifty program that has its own language, a compiler, and what not, all under 2 MB !

Im working on an alternative to this program, and am going to release it maybe by this months' end. Thanks as always for a patient read

Blogger is behaving strangely these days!

2008-07-14T13:31:00.000+05:30

Yeah, I just wanted to add some more content to my other blog, and I clicked on the add html/javascript link in my blogger accounts' "Add new page content". Blogger came up with a "ERROR 404 Page cannot be found". The main cause of this problem is that blogger uses redirection to take you to different pages. 404 occurs on web pages that do not exist on servers. Yet, if you try after a minute or two, it will show up with the content. How can a page, non existant 2 minutes ago appear all of a sudden? Thats because, the server to which it redirected is probably under heavy load, because of bloggers like you and me, clicking the same link. There is no other solution other than waiting for sometime and clicking the link again.

Please correct the errors on this form.

Your request could not be processed. Please try again.

This is another one of those errors that I keep getting these days. If you're getting this error too,I recommend you do the following :

> Turn off any download accelerators and stop ALL downloads

>Do not load other sites when saving

Google runs on AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) and so does Blogger. It doesnt need to refresh the whole page. Doing so would take up bandwidh, and is reliable, but AJAX involves making a "non-interrupting" call to the server. Thus, only a single fragment of a message needs to be sent to the server. If the call to the server times out, the message will not reach it, and thus the message. That was why I recommended having enough bandwidth availableto let that "small fragment of a message" through.

SKYPE ON A SPEAKERPHONE

2008-07-14T08:14:00.000+05:30

Polycom makes some of the best speakerphones. So a compact VoIP product from the company piques my interest. The polycom communicator is not just for hands-free skype conversations but also great for small conference rooms.

All you need is a notebook, a broadband connection and Skype. The device is plug-and-play, but you dont need Skype to use it;I used it with Google talk and it worked seamlessly without any extra software. You need the polycom software though.If you want to use the soft-buttons on the device.This device is equipped with two micro-phones that are strategically placed on the two bottom corners which catch sounds from the remotest corners of a small room. I tested the product from a distance of up to 3m(11 feet) and experienced no voice quality problems. The sound was free of any distortions. The speaker which paced in the center, produces a significant volume of sound-enough for a few people to hear the other party clearly. Since this is a USB-powered device, you dont need a seperate power adapter.

The device has four buttons that are used to connect to Skype, start a call, control volme, or mute a call. There is a headphone jack too, if you want to hold a more private conversation. Flip the device over, and it reveals an extremely smart cable management system. The lid on the storage bay acts as a stand once opened. This allows you to easily pack and carry the communicator.

This product is extremely capable, works well and is ideal for VoIP users but for a hefty price tag.

Price:Rs 7,740
roughly 190 dollars.

Stupid reasons why JAVA beats .NET :

2008-07-12T14:47:00.001+05:30

The answer is a BIG "yes" if you ask me! Though some might argue that these
so called frameworkswere built for different purposes, there are a few
applications that can be built with both. For example web applications.
JAVA has the J2EE libraries and .net has, well ASP.net . Java counters with
JSP if I forgot to mention.

So, why do I like JAVA more than .net?

Reason #1: JAVA suppports an open source mindset, .NET does NOT

Reason #2: With all the inherant complications, JAVA seems like a tough nut
to crack. Ever heard the saying, girls dig complicated guys?? Something like that

Reason #3: .NET just makes things even more complicated by providing an IDE with
drag and drop, and at the same time introducing complex concepts such as assembly,
GAC's and what not. Im thinking of removing .net from my resume', you know why?
Ive never heard a saying which goes "Girls dig overly complex, nerds".

Reason #4: JAVA always gave me options, for example, if I wanted to develop a web
application, I can do it with a JSP page, or an HTML page with a servlet back end.
Yeah, .NET does it too, with its ASP.net, but I never got to use the full functionality
of the libraries, simply because, there are complex types which profess to do stuff, but dont,
or there are variables where there should have been none. If you're an avid .NET programmer you'll know.

Reason #5: JAVA was made by SUN microsystems, whose SOLARIS isnt that much of a money grabber.
And, .net you know, was made by Microsoft...Oh, I always hated Microsoft! Corporate dominance
makes me sick to my stomach!

If you were expecting a complete technology comparison like I do everytime, sorry to disappoint you,
wasnt in the mood today!!

OPTIMIZE YOUR NOTEBOOK

2008-07-11T11:41:00.000+05:30

Network garbage is like desktop garbage, only worse: All that excess activity saps your systems' resources. Anything that unnecessarily drains your laptop battery deserves to get dumped. Aa quick
tune upcan make any notebook more energy efficient.

A POWER MAKEOVER

Choose the right pwer scheme for your work stule. Click Start->Control Panel-> Performance and maintainence->Power options. Under this, pick Max Battery and click OK.
This setting shuts off your monitor after 1 min and puts your notebook in standby if you dont use it for 2 mins. If thats too soon, repeat the steps and choose the portable/laptop power scheme which goes into standby after 5 mins.

Another way to reduce your notebook's power consumption is by dimming the screen. Unfortunately, every notebook manufacturer seems to have a different technique for dimming, so you may have to go digging in your owners manual.

A notebook's built-in wireless card sucks up power as it looks for access points, so disable yours when you're not working on a network. Other laptop power grabbers that you should unplug when you don need them are USB devices and PC cards.

CLEAN OUT THE BACKGROUND

Give autostart programs the heave-ho when you're running on battery power. In addition to following this step, right click icons in your system tray and shut down programs you dont need. They'll start up again the next time window loads.

STANDBY OR HIBERNATE?

Win XP's standbymode stops your HDD and monitor, but everything in your systems memory stays there, using a little trickle of power. Hibernation mode writes everything in memory to the hard drive and shuts down the machine completely.
Windows spriings back quickly from standby mode, but it takes much longer to come back to a working state. If you will be gone for a short while, it makes sense to leave your system on standby, else, leave your system in hibernation.

AUTOMATIC UPDATES

2008-07-08T09:52:00.001+05:30

Have you updated your computer's anti virus software today?Have you configured your desktop to automatically download and install its security updates?

Presumably, your answer is yes. But there is a problem with many updating systems, as a recent paper by three researchers at the university of Massachusetts makes alarmingly clear.

Many update systems, it seems, are themselves riddled with security vulnerabilities. In the paper, professor Kevin Fu shows that update systems in popular software packages like McAfee VirusScan and Mozilla Firefox can actually be used to take over a computer thats trying to update itself!

The so-called secure update problem is twofold, say the researchers. First and foremost, programs need to have some way of authenticating some their updates to establish their legitimacy. But it is also critically important that programs have an authenticated connection to the update server.

THE CODE'S SOURCE

An authenticated update means that there is some way for the software doing the update to assure itself that the update is an authentic version from the intended source. Without authentication, a clever attacker can arrange for the program doing the update to download and run the exploit instead.

In practice, updates should be authenticated with a digital signature-they should be signed with a private key. The matching public key should be embedded inside the application doing the update. Before the update is run, the application should verify the digital signature. If the nature doesn't verify, the update should be deleted.

The UMass researchers discovered that many programs don't authenticate their updates. This may not be so surprising-lots of software has security vulnerabilities, after all. But what is surprising is that among products that didn't have digitally signed updates were McAfee VirusScan and McAfee Virex, to antivirus, malware programs.

Exploiting the flaw is actually a lot easier than you might think. Most of these unsecured update systems simply goto a web or FTP server, check the time stamp of the most recent file and download the file if it's new enough.

The address of the server is usually hard-coded into the program doing the update, although occasionally it is stored in a configuration file.

To exploit flaw, all the attacker needs to do is send the program doing the update to a server thats run by the attacker. One way to send the program to the wrong site is by using a DNS-based attack.

Though signing updates with a digital signature doesn't prevent hostile code from being downloaded, but it does prevent the code from being run. Unfortunately, this is only half the battle. Even if updates are signed, an attacker capable of intercepting DNS requests or diverting internet traffic can still use an update service to take over an unsuspecting victims computer.

Another way that an attacker can subvert the update process is to run an update server that always responds "No updates today!" clients will then connect, find no update, and disconnect, and never will they know that they have been deceived. A well placed attacker could prevent an entire organization from installing updates for a period of time, then attack all vulnerable machines

Warcraft III screen garbled? Resolution problem?

2008-07-07T11:51:00.003+05:30

Is your warcraft III game screen garbled, or reverts to some unknown resolution each time the game starts? Cant see anything on the screen except colored lines?...I have the solution!

I experienced the same problem a while ago, and was jubiliant when I discovered the solution. The method, in 10 steps is as follows :

1. Goto Start -> Run

2. Type "regedit" without quotes. This is to open the registry editor.

3. you would be presented with a screen with 2 panes. The left most pane will have items such as HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,etc

4. Expand "HKEY_CURRENT_USER", then expand SOFTWARE

5. You should see a key called "Blizzard Entertainment", expand that too

6. Now expand Warcraft III then expand Video

7. We'r almost there!! You should see a series of blue colored keys on the right pane.

8. Double click on reswidth. *Click Decimal* THIS IS IMPORTANT! Then,type in 800

9. Double click on resheight. *Click Decimal* THIS IS IMPORTANT! Then,type in 600

10. We are done now! Go ahead and start the game, the resolution should be fine now. I have demonstrated with 800x600 resolution. You can try it for any resolution you want I have also tried it with 1024x768 and it works!! Just replace 800 by 1024 and 600 by 768. That should do it!

The call of convergence

2008-07-07T11:49:00.002+05:30

Not long ago, things were fairly simple. To get a landline phone, you went to one service provider, and for a mobile phone, to another.Cable TV services were run by your neighborhood operator,and the phone service provider was your ISP. Choice was limited-if it existed at all-and there was little recourse if you were unhappy with the quality of service or the tariffs.You either put up or shut up.

Over the last few quarters, there has been a big, but largely unnoticed shift in the communications landscape. We are seeing wider availability of services from one operator, and pilot runs of new technologies.Powering this change is the use of new generation technologies that are flexible, scalable- and considerably cheaper for operator deploy.Chief among them is the Internet Protocol(IP), which all service providers have embraced since it provides a cheaper and more efficient way to move data on networks.

Using IP, a telecom network can be configured to handle telephone conversations, internet access and data transfers, video conferencing and even television-all on the same physical link. In fact, IP technology can be used to integrate wireless and wired networks and deliver advanced services to mobile phone users too. The attraction of IP to service providers is patently obvious-it eliminates the need to build multiple dedicated networks for each service, and makes the addition of new services quick. This is one reason why you see cable operators offering internet access and telephony, and telecos promising you television over the telephone line.Device and equipment manufacturers have already jumped on the convergence bandwagon. Think media center PCs, VoIP phones, home theater amps that can connect to the internet and mobile phones that can receive TV broadcasts. For consumers this technological convergence between consumer electronic products and computing devices, and between diverse communication and entertainment services is interesting.For one, it obviates the need to buy multiple specialty gadgets and gizmo's, and second, it reduces obsolescence. For every new service, you don't need a new device, just a software.

On the infrastructure front of convergence will increase competition between service providers and provide the economic incentive to craft and deliver innovative services. For instance, wouldn't you like a mobile phone that automatically switches to a landline or a WiFi network when you go home ,or enter your office-even retaining its identity? How about a video phone service at your desk? or perhaps secure payments at cinema halls with your mobile phone instead of a credit card or even cash? convergence will also enable smaller companies with good ideas bring us useful services, and perhaps even greater personalization of the services we have today.

List of service providers who provide servlet hosting

2008-07-04T23:53:00.001+05:30

The Adrenaline Group maintains
a list of over 50 ISP's who host Java Servlets (http://www.adrenalinegroup.com/jwsisp.html) . Another list is at http://www.servlets.com.

I have had "very happy experiences" with
Silicon Valley Web Hosting (http://www.svwh.net/)
for several clients.

Horus Networks - http://www.horus.ch/servlets.shtml

(http://www.servlets.net)
is an ISP geared towards hosting servlets.

http://www.ebpcs.net

http://www.mycgiserver.com is free (!) and does EJB too

http://www.tricreations.com

http://www.webappcabaret.com

http://www.cwihosting.com (see comment below)

http://scorpions.net/

Rage Media

Rimu Hosting

A few ISPs have also said that they can host Java applications:

The Sphere (http://www.thesphere.com/)

Centralogic (http://www.centralogic.com/)

Electronaut (http://www.electronaut.com/)

Anonymizer

2008-06-30T17:55:00.001+05:30

Want to surf the internet without revealing your IP address, cokies or any other information about the sites you visit? use the free anonymous browsing service on Anonymizers' home page, and it displays the page you want!

www.anonymizer.com

Rollyo

2008-06-30T17:54:00.001+05:30

Rollyo is short for "roll your own search engine", which means, you can create a custom selection of search engines and topics and then share the resulting "roll" with others. The free site provides logged-in users some starter rolls of its own, as well as lists of topic targeted rolls created by celebrities and other "high rollers". You can add your Rollyo search rolls to Firefox's search engine toolbar and post your roll on your own blog or web site just by copying and pasting some HTML code.

Trend Micro HouseCall

2008-06-30T17:50:00.001+05:30

If installing antivirus and antispyware isnt an option on your pc - or if you use the machine at an internet cafe, do yourself a favor, and visit this site. Trend Micros' software runs in your browser to scan and eliminate malware in your computer.

Panda Activescan

2008-06-30T17:48:00.001+05:30

If your antivirus software is on the blink, dont despair. Just stop by panda softwares' site for a free system scan. You'll have to download an applet, surrender your e-mail address, and use internet explorer (or firefox with the activeX plugin, if there is one!) for the duration of the scan.Panda detects and disinfects most forms of malware and will alert you to (but not fix) spyware infestations.

Get it here :

www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htm

Made in china? Bye bye logitech!

2008-06-30T17:45:00.001+05:30

I am writing this article from my new keyboard, because the keyboard I have been using for the last 14 years had stopped working!I miss my old keyboard a lot, and the noise it used to make when I typed in glorious abandon. Anyways, the old keyboards not what this article is about. Its about the new keyboard.

I went to a couple of hardware stores today, and was fascinated at the variety of keyboards available. "Give me a keyboard thats cheap" is what I told the store guy. "Right away sir", he said, with a huge smile. I finally got my hands on my new keyboard. "How much?" I asked. "150" came the reply. 150 rupees is like $4 !I quickly opened the box, to find a fairly handsome piece of hardware in my hands.I was awestruck that such a good piece of hardwares' cost was so low. I turned over the keyboard to find the words "Made in China" written.

As soon as I saw that, I decided it must not be worth the money. So, I asked for a "branded" keyboard. "Logitech will do" I told the store keeper. I was flabberghasted to find the price of a basic keyboard was 450 rupees!! I went for the chinese model, and Im happy I saved myself the 300 rupees!

The moral of the story is that though "top brands" claim to produce quality hardware, there are many other vendors who are never noticed. These companies mainly cater to people like me, and what a bunch of happy customers we are!! Ive promised never to turn to logitech again. Oh, and did I mention?...The keyboard has a warranty of 5 years. Thats good enough for me!!

This is Why piracy is rampant :

2008-06-23T20:39:00.003+05:30

I have heard the DMC (Digital Millennium Copyright) act didn't get on well with the pirates of cyberspace. Piracy is rampant through out the world right now, and worse, people don't even know they are involved. People think that there are no "legitimate" softwares and that every copy of windows comes for free. Maybe in western countries such as the United States, there is an awareness and a prosecution to take care of extreme cases, but in eastern countries such as India, Malaysiya, and pakistan, there are absolutely No anti piracy laws in place. This ensures that cybercrime is limited to duping people as in siphoning off funds from others' bank accounts. Its only such activities that are considered a crime. Piracy?? hell, even government employees use pirated software/operating systems, because the government outsources the work to private companies, and they being private companies would want to save a few bucks here and there, and would install the same copy of the OS on multiple systems with the same product key. Unless its an open source OS, ( A rare case these days, cause everyone is addicted to WINDOWS) its a crime. Even crime cells use the same method.

Adding to that is the notion that being bad is actually good! Yes, its like going up to ones' girlfriend and telling her you robbed a bank, in which case she would try to get away from you as soon as possible, and report to the police and later testify against you in court or whatever. But this is different. When you tell somebody you are into software piracy, the listener actually starts looking upto you, as if you are some uber geek persona. So, there are a lot of posers out there, and some really talented programmers who are on the wrong side. Some of them that are noticeable are :

> CORE : Challenge of reverse engineering

These guys are living legends. These guys came to the scene at a time when reverse engineering was the field of uber geeks, thats not to say these guys aren't!

> Deviance

Another group which is very good at releasing cracked unreleased games! Yes, sometimes you will find a game on the pirate bay that you haven't ever heard of. You try to get a proper review of the game before downloading it, but Google doesn't seem to have a clue! You download the game, and the next month when youre watching TV, this games' trailer is being shown! WTF?!

> Dopeman

Does this guy need an introduction? If you are a regular to the bay, you'll know him!

> AxxO

An article on piracy is never complete without a mention of this guys' name. Another living legend in the movie piracy circuit.
I personally dont blame people for downloading crap off the internet, but I really do encourage them to pay for the software they use, maybe its a small amount, but developers need it to continue their work... Atleast thats MY perspective!!

This is Why piracy is rampant :

2008-06-23T20:39:00.001+05:30

I have heard the DMC (Digital Millenium Copyright) act didnt get on well with the pirates of cyberspace. Piracy is rampant throught the world right now, and worse, people dont even know they are involved. People think that there are no "legitimate" softwares and that every copy of windows comes for free. Maybe in western countries such as the United States, there is an awareness and a prosecution to take care of extreme cases, but in eastern countries such as India, Malaysiya, and pakistan, there are absolutely No anti piracy laws in place. This ensures that cybercrime is limited to duping people as in siphoning off funds from others' bank accounts. Its only such activities that are considered a crime. Piracy?? hell, even government employees use pirated software/operating systems, because the government outsources the work to private companies, and they being private companies would want to save a few bucks here and there, and would install the same copy of the OS on multiple systems with the same product key. Unless its an open source OS, ( A rare case these days, cause everyone is addicted to WINDOWS) its a crime. Even crime cells use the same method.

Adding to that is the notion that being bad is actually good! Yes, its like going up to ones' girlfriend and telling her you robbed a bank, in which case she would try to get away from you as soon as possible, and report to the police and later testify against you in court or whatever. But this is different. When you tell somebody you are into software piracy, the listener actually starts looking upto you, as if you are some uber geek persona. So, there are a lot of posers out there, and some really talented programmers who are on the wrong side. Some of them that are noticable are :

> CORE : Challenge of reverse engineering

These guys are living legends. These guys came to the scene at a time when reverse engineering was the field of uber geeks, thats not to say these guys arent!

> Deviance

Another group which is very good at releasing cracked unreleased games! Yes, sometimes you will find a game on the pirate bay that you havent ever heard of. You try to get a proper review of the game before downloading it, but Google doesnt seem to have a clue! You download the game, and the next month when youre watching TV, this games' trailer is being shown! WTF?!

> Dopeman

Does this guy need an introduction? If you are a regular to the bay, you'll know him!

> AxxO

An article on piracy is never complete without a mention of this guys' name. Another living legend in the movie piracy circuit.
I personally dont blame people for downloading crap off the internet, but I really do encourage them to pay for the software they use, maybe its a small amount, but developers need it to continue their work... Atleast thats MY perspective!!

Got a dial-up? Listen to internet radio

2008-06-23T18:41:00.001+05:30

Ive got a dialup and am experiencing speeds that are right next to pathetic. Now , what do I do for entertainment? I listen to internet radio!

I had a broadband all these days, and I used to download movies, and songs during happy hours. I had a download limit of 2.5 gb per month. I recently shifted to a place where the telephone company didn't have land line connections.

I went in for a wireless telephone with a built in modem. And believe me, it was well worth the effort. For about 5.29 dollars /250 Indian rupees, I get unlimited download, and now what do I do with it? Its too slow for downloading movies, and itll probably take ages.

I hit upon this software called "boombox". Its a handy piece of software that has a listing of all major internet radio stations. There are various genres to choose from including comedy and 80's. I found the software to be very versatile. Although the software doesnt have a built in player, it can utilize your default player such as windows media player or winamp. Whats more, you can even select the bit rate to be sure you can play it with relatively fast buffering.

24 - 32 kbps radio has ought to serve the purpose.

As I do not have a download limit, this just manages to keep me entertained all day long.

One of my favorite radio stations is "Social Crime"

Im going freelance!

2008-06-23T10:48:00.001+05:30

Finally, I found myself a means of income, that doesnt involve working for somebody, who is always breathing down your neck. Yes, Im talking about freelancing. Its the newest buzz on the internet. Maybe you should try it to supplement your income, or better yet, make it your sole means of income!

How it works :

> Firstly, you need to get yourself an account on any of the freelancing sites such as

Elance [ Pretty good, has been in the field for a while ]

workbuggy [ Extensive ! ]

freelanceswitch [ Good... ]

There are many others, that are better, but these are my favorites.

>Secondly, start trolling for projects on these sites. Generally, they offer a limited amount of "credits", or "connects" to get you started. These are the tokens that you can use to "bid" on projects. Bidding is a process wherein you, the "provider" are going to "quote" a price for a project that interests you. Make sure you quote the lowest price, so that you get the project. Once you get a hold of things, you can quote higher prices.

>Thirdly, start building projects after deciding the means of payment. And remember, the more money you spend on memberships, the better your earnings will be. The site will start listing your name in premium categories, so that customers will be able to easily get in touch with you.

It amazes me that people/companies are willing to spend upto $500 - $1000 for a simple web page project. NO dynamic pages, NO complicated flash, for just pure HTML and a couple of images, that they will provide you.

Well, Im off to freelancing, until I can find myself a suitable job. Im considering it an important career option.

The hunt for a job ...

2008-06-22T12:39:00.001+05:30

These past few weeks have been a roller coaster ride for me, so haven't been able to get myself to write articles for this blog.

The job offer I had got from Sapient, is almost a distant dream now, as they have "postponed" the joining dates to NEXT july! This comes as a shock to me and many of my friends who were looking to get our BE degrees and go onto join companies as software developers. Our previous batches which had got placed in other companies have been asked to go "home", thanks to the US Dollar recession.

We've been waiting at the tips of our toes to join the companies and what do the seniors tell us?..That they have been kicked out of the companies for no reason whatsoever. The companies are quick to ascertain that their companies arent the only ones doing it... Its like the whole industry has come crashing down!

I got a call 2 weeks earlier from Sapient informing me of this "unfortunate" situation. I asked the HR person to honestly tell me whether or not I would really get a job as promised by them. She said in a confident manner that my employment with them was valid for life, unless I was caught for bad behavior, or ill performance, both of which cannot occur since I havent yet joined their company!

Weeks, After getting a satisfactory answer from them, I got a letter which said, all the things I mentioned above, and went on to drop a bomb at the end :

"......

But your employment with Sapient cannot be guaranteed. Thank you. ..."

Now, I have decided to bring into action my contingency plans. I had almost completed a GNIIT course which guaranteed me a developers job. It was a 3 year course and Ive already completed the 2 years. The third year is supposed to be an industry orientation, in which we'll be sent to a company for onsite projects, and if lady luck shines, we'll get placed in the same company. Im just waiting for my degree, after which I can do this...The results ought to come out by the next month...

How to Move from Windows to Linux

2008-06-09T15:31:00.001+05:30

Choose a Linux Distro. Research is key.
Look into what distribution of GNU/Linux would be best for you.
Everyone is different, and all Linux distributions are different,
but there will probably be one (or two) that appeals to the most.
If you're new to the operating system, it's probably best to go for
something PCLinuxOS,
Mandriva or Ubuntu - these
distributions of Linux are aimed at inexperienced users and will
help you along the way. The Ubuntu distribution will send you a set
of CDs free of charge, there are other sites on the internet which
charge a small fee for postage.
Try the "Live CD" versions first, assuming your computer will
boot from the CD drive; most will. Most distributions offer Live CD
ISOs on their website, which you can burn to CD. A Live CD means
that Linux will run entirely from a CD and will not touch your
Windows installation - this allows you to test out some of the
functionality Linux offers without wiping your existing Windows
install.
Use Linux applications that have been ported over to Windows.
Fine example are Inkscape and the
GIMP. Using these will get you used to the kind of applications
available on Linux (Although there is a school of thought to the
effect that the GIMP is a bad piece of software). Using open source
applications will be a real boost when you actually switch over, as
it will be relatively painless for, say, an XChat user to use XChat
on his new system, rather than a mIRC (Or other Windows-only IRC client) user having
to learn an entirely new program.
Back up your important data before you do anything else. If you
make a mistake while installing Linux, it's possible you'll have to
format your hard drive to put things right. In which case, you will
lose all data on it. It is very important you back up if you need
to.
Get hold of a Linux install CD - when you boot from this, it
will take you through the steps required to install Linux. Some
distributions, like Ubuntu, actually install from the Live CD, so
you do not need to download an additional CD image.
Partition your hard drive into two partitions, one containing
your existing Windows install, the other containing the Linux
installation. Under Windows, this can be easily done with various
partitioning tools (Partition Magic, Paragon Partition Manager and
others) preserving both Windows installation and existing data.
Note that Windows Vista comes with a partition tool.
Choose which operating system to boot into when once the Linux
installation has finished. This is called dual-booting. It is wise
to do this before completely converting to Linux to give you
something to fall back on if something goes wrong.
Get comfortable with Linux. As time goes on you will find you
need to boot into Windows less and less. Using Linux is a learning
experience, make sure you make the most of the "community" help
which is available from most distributions of Linux. There is
usually a wide community which you can ask questions and there will
be people more than willing to help you out with any problems
you've got. Make sure you use Google and the "search" functions on
community websites because people may get irate at answering the
same questions all the time in forums and on irc. Visit your
distribution's support page or FAQ.
Wipe your Windows partition (devote your entire hard disk to
Linux) once you're comfortable with Linux. You'll probably never
look back!

Ever dreamt of becoming a graffiti artist?

2008-06-01T23:34:00.001+05:30

Did you ever felt within yourself when you saw some graffiti, the
desire to spray one by yourself? But you don’t want to spray something
at other people buildings, or you don’t have the money to do so. Or you
even want to stop to do it, then here is the website for you.

The Website Vandalsquad.com

I just found today this cool website, VandalSquad
,by accident. It have been around quite awhile, since 2002 to be
correct. On their website you have the possibility to spray graffiti.
The site is made like a Blacklist of Graffiti sprayers which are
searched by the LRPD, you can view at their website also 2 million
graffiti(as they tell) created by other sprayers, the graffiti can also
be voted. The more popular you’re the more you’re searched…

Spray the hell out of yours

You have two possibilities to spray, the first one is online and the
other one is as application which you have to download before.

Spraying Online

The online Graffiti spraying somehow didn’t work, but as much as I
have read it should be the same as the download version, just with one
limitation that you don’t have that much graffiti backgrounds.

Spraying Offline

After you downloaded and installed the Software, you can start
spraying. You have just one graffiti Background, which should be enough
for the beginning to see if you like to spray graffiti. If you want to
make more graffiti after the first one you can go online and grab
around 20 different surfaces for it. Most of them shows trains or
buses, but you have also a helicopter, tank, and a so called wallman
available for download.

You can have the choice out of around 50 colors, which can be
sprayed in different thickness as well as distance. And you can use a
pen to make more filigree jobs. If you sprayed something wrong, that’s
not worse you can simply undo it.

At any time you can preview your work to see how it will look as a
whole, as most graffiti Surfaces are too big to fit in as whole.

When you’re finish with your work you can Save it, which will just keep
it local on your hard drive but not as jpg or so. It’s stored within
the surface file or so in some format you can’t use. You also have the
possibility to upload your graffiti it to vandalsquad.com so other
sprayer can view your masterpiece, and maybe you get the most wanted
graffiti sprayer once?

BOOMBox rocks!!

2008-06-01T20:32:00.001+05:30

I got my hands on the BOOMBox software today. Im stuck with a dialup connection, and felt I had a broadband when presented with what BOOMBox had to offer!! Man...This thing ROCKS!!! Take it from me...I dont give that rating just to any software I come across.

Though, the software doesnt have a bundled player, it does a good job of indexing various radio stations throughout the internet. Whats more? It allows you to search according to the genre you're interested in!

It indexed radio stations that winamp, and real player missed out on!.This is the real deal.

Check their site here.

Iam recommending this software to all my friends and to you! Until the next article, chao!

Ford Offroad Racing??

2008-05-31T21:04:00.001+05:30

I recently got my hands on Fords Offroad racing game. This isnt a new title, but I thought of picking it up anyway...

The gameplay is good, though the AI doesnt give up much of a competition. I found the handling pretty smooth. The responsiveness is good too.

There isnt anything more to say about this game...Its just your typical offroad racing game, in which all the cars were Fords Land Rovers!!

The game gets a 2 out of 5..

Registry error loading key 'Warcraft III\InstallPath'

2008-05-29T16:06:00.001+05:30

1) Retrieving the cd-key

So u lost the game manual with the cd-key on it... There are a non-legit programs to retrieve lost cd-keys from the game.

So u still have v1.18.

For the cd-key grabber: http://www.securegamers.com/shadowfr...abber11800.exe

Of course u can get another key from Blizzard the Legit Way.

2) Just move the game back to C:\Program Files\

3) To have it where ever u want:

So ur game is still on the other partition/harddisk.

U can config a lot o stuff with regedit, especially in Windows itself, by the way.

When u move the game to an other directory the registry files remain unchanged.

The v1.19 patch at least needs to know where the game is located(from InstallPath).

So u need to use the Registry Editor and just rename those registry files' directories.

But if u don't know how to do this stuff ... well ...

Guide:

Start -> Run Type: regedit
My Computer -> HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Blizzard Entertainment -> Warcraft III

Warcraft III:

InstallPath = from C:\Program Files\Warcraft III in D:\Warcraft III for example.

Program = from C:\Program Files\Warcraft III\Warcraft III.exe in D:\Warcraft III\Warcraft III.exe for example.

War3CD = E:\ no change needed.

Warcraft III -> DelOpt0(Savegames)

Path0 = C:\Program Files\Warcraft III\save

Path1 = C:\Program Files\Warcraft III\save

Path2 = C:\Program Files\Warcraft III\save
Warcraft III -> DelOpt1(Replays)

Path0 = ...
Warcraft III -> DelOpt2(Logs)

Path0 = ...

Path1 = ...

Path2 = ...

Path3 = ...
Warcraft III -> DelOpt3(Errors)

Path0 = ...

The rest of those registry files u see there are fine.

Slave hack??

2008-05-27T17:35:00.001+05:30

I just ran into this online game when browsing online. I was fascinated by the name itself. I ran a search on google and found out, it was a terminal based hacking game within a web browser!

This game runs within a web page, and installs no spyware on your pc, as no software download is required at all! I have played many other terminal based hacking games before, and have found the genre interesting. I decided to give this a try.

Im still a n00b at this, and will update this blog, as and when I reach advanced levels on this game, meanwhile, I would reccomend you signup for this game at here.

Until next time!

Using your Flash memory as RAM in XP

2008-05-26T20:50:00.005+05:30
People have been fascinated by Microsofts idea of using a flash memory as a RAM in its Vista OS. Id say Im not surprised at all! Thats because Ive been doing the same thing with XP for about 2 years now!!! Yes, Ive been using my pen drive as RAM ! I would suggest backing up your XP installation before trying this out. Create a restore point if you can.

Heres how its done:

1. Insert your flash memory, and wait until you can see the icon for it in My Computer.

2. Right Click on My Computer, goto properties.

3. Goto Advanced.

4. Click the first settings button.

5. Select the advanced tab.

6. Click the change button

7. select the flash memory and type in the new size for the paging file (Yes, the amount of RAM you want added), take care this must not exceed the size of the drive.

8. Click the set Button, then the OK button. When asked to restart, do so...and VOILA, your XP got much MUCH faster...you wont find a difference in the amount of RAM displayed, but you'll find a performance gain for sure!

CAUTION: You will have to disable the paging file on the flash memory, before removing the flash memory, failing which, your Windows installation will fail to startup and you'll get the dreaded BSOD!!

Open Source alternatives to MS OFFICE?? Are you kidding me?

2008-05-26T20:23:00.003+05:30

Writer A word processor similar in look and feel to Microsoft Word and offering a comparable range of functions and tools. It also includes the ability to export Portable Document Format (PDF) files with no additional software, and can also function as a WYSIWYG editor for creating and editing web pages.

Calc A spreadsheet similar to Microsoft Excel with a roughly equivalent range of features. Calc provides a number of features not present in Excel, including a system which automatically defines series for graphing, based on the layout of the user’s data. Calc is also capable of writing spreadsheets directly as a PDF file.

Impress A presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. It can export presentations to Adobe Flash (SWF) files allowing them to be played on any computer with the Flash player installed. It also includes the ability to create PDF files, and the ability to read Microsoft PowerPoint's .ppt format. Impress suffers from a lack of ready-made presentation designs. However, templates are readily available on the Internet.^[12]^[13]^[14]

Base A database program similar to Microsoft Access. Base allows the creation and manipulation of databases, and the building of forms and reports to provide easy access to data for end-users. As with Access, Base may be used as a front-end to a number of different database systems, including Access databases (JET), ODBC data sources and MySQL/PostgreSQL. Base became part of the suite starting with version 2.0. Native to the OpenOffice.org suite is an adaptation of HSQL. While ooBase can be a front-end for any of the databases listed, there is no need for any of them to be installed.

Draw A vector graphics editor comparable in features to early versions of CorelDRAW. It features versatile "connectors" between shapes, which are available in a range of line styles and facilitate building drawings such as flowcharts. It has similar features to Desktop publishing software such as Scribus and Microsoft Publisher.

Math A tool for creating and editing mathematical formulae, similar to Microsoft Equation Editor. Formulae can be embedded inside other OpenOffice.org documents, such as those created by Writer. It supports multiple fonts and can exp

Procedure used to recover data from a quick-erased CD-RW disc

2008-04-22T07:42:00.000+05:30
1. Make a file of exactly the size of the cdrw disc's capacity (650MB in my case).
(this step may not be needed)

2. With Nero I created a new project and added the file to it so that I have the disc filled. I gues you can also fill up the disc with other files.
The reason why I fill the disc is because I want Nero to make a session that uses the entire disc. Like I wrote earlier in this thread I experienced that my CD-Drive refuses to read off the disc beyond the session's boundaries. When you quick-erase a disc there is no session anymore so the drive will not read at all. Burning a new session will overwrite the data and burning only a small session will NOT make the drive read the other data that is still on the disc.
The reason why I used the one big file is so that I could later on recognize which part of the disc was overwritten by this file because this file contained all zeros (0x00).

3. I pressed burn and selected disc-at-once. Then while Nero was burning the leadin I pressed cancel. My CD-Drive finished writing the lead-in and Nero reported an error.
This is what was accomplished however: Now the disc contains a session that says that the used disc size is the complete disc. Nero did not get to writing file because I cancelled it. Good thing because I don't want Nero to write any files because my old data will get overwritten!
I gues it works the same with different writing software. Another method that I used during a test was simply press the reset button of the computer when the burning software was done with writing the lead-in and started with the files.

4. I had to restart the computer after cancelling burning.
With the cdrw disc inserted I saw in "my computer" that windows recognized that the disc was 650MB, clicking on it gave an error. Good so far!

Now with IsoBuster you can extract the sectors from a disc to a file. This is what I did.
I gues that if you have data-recovery software at this point it will be usefull because now (if all went well;)) the CD-Drive WILL read data from the entire disc. Anyway, I used ISO-Buster because the files that I needed to recover where a bit odd for nowadays (.XM, .S3M, .MP3):
In IsoBuster I had to do several steps:

Step 1: Find out from and to which sector the drive will read
By choosing "Sector View" you can look at any given sector.
Here I found out what the first and the last sectors where that are readable. (Hint I used the method for the old game: "Gues a number below 100, I'll tell if it is higher or lower than what you gues")
Step 2: Extract the actual sectors
By choosing "Extract From-To" you can extract any given range of sectors to a file. My disc was a data-disc so I choose the first extraction type "User data, 2048 bytes/block...".

In the end I got a .tao file which was about 650MB. I ran several programs on it to look for files inside a file by searching for file-header-paterns:
1. Multi Ripper 2.80 (for DOS, for the .XM files. It does many other file formats as well (jpg,png, bmp,wav,etc,etc +100). Try google with this query: Multi Ripper 2.80. I still had the file from good old days but I saw several good search results)

2. Winamp for mp3.
Winamp will scan any file when you give it the extension .mp3 and play it as one big song (so I renamed the .tao file to .mp3). I used the discwriter to get a .wav and the Adobe Audition to manually cut and save my songs. I looked at the MP3 file format and it is hard to find an mp3 file in a big file because it has no clear header just a bunch of mpeg-frames in most cases for me . A lot of my files had no ID3v2 or ID3v1 tags... But after a couple of hours I recovered everything.

Finally a list of used stuff:

Software:
- IsoBuster v1.5
- Nero 6.3.0.3
- Multi Ripper 2.80
- WinAmp v5.02
- Windows XP Pro NL (patched up)

Hardware:
- NEC DVDRW ND1300A 1.06

Disc:
- some old 4 speed cdrw

Convert Stubborn Webpage To .pdf

2008-04-22T07:41:00.000+05:30
I have come across some websites that i wanted to save the page for later review. I found that i was having some problems with certain sites. I found a way around it.

what you need:adobe acrobat 6 pro or better
popupcop

there may be a simpler way to do this but i found that this works:

when at a webpage that you want to copy (YOU MUST BE USING IE AND HAVE BOTH POPUPCOP INSTALLED AND ADOBE ACROBAT 6 PRO OR HIGHER, ACROBAT ICON MUST BE IN IE TOOLBAR TO CONVERT TO .PDF), slide popupcops popup intensity bar to the far left, now click on adobe acrobat icon to convert webpage to .pdf document. I have yet to find a webpage where this trick does not work.

Outsmarting System File Protection

2008-04-21T07:35:00.000+05:30
Tested in Windows 2000 sp2, Windows 2000 sp3 with and without IE6 sp1. Should work fine in XP and XPsp1

------------------------------

A lot of people are having troubles with System File Protection (SFP for short). This can be a major pain in the butt unless you know the tricks to it. Having only tweaked Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 I figured out a few things about SFP and replacing files:

1) TaskManger is your best friend when replacing files in 2k/XP.
When you open task manager you can do just about as much as you can do with Explorer just by going File>NewTask(Run..). From here you can either use the Run Dialog to launch programs one at a time, or select 'Browse' and explore. Using right click menu commands to do the bulk of your work (Copy, Paste, Rename). Problem is often times you can't replace items do to the fact that your browse is making calls to things you want to delete.

2) CommandLine or Cmd.exe is like that other friend you have that likes to help out.
One plus this has over TaskMan is you don't use the file you are trying to replace. A minus is that it can be a pain if you aren't an experienced DOS user.

3) Backups are your ace in the hole.
Always back your files up prior to doing anything (sometimes I don't bother and wish I did.). Keep It Simple Stupid applies here. Save yourself a few keystrokes and place your backups in something like C:\back\

4) SafeMode is the rest of the hand.
Windows2000 and XP (I believe) can both be booted into SafeMode. When your computer is first booting up, after your bios screen but before the Windows is Starting screen (I could be slightly wrong here seeing how I don't know the timing for sure.) you hit F4 or F8 to get the SafeMode menu. Select 'SafeMode with CommandPrompt'. Welcome to "DOS" on 2k/XP. Anything that can't be replaced while Windows is running can be replaced here. (url.dll) Syntax would be Copy c:\url.dll "c:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\" quotations allow you to put spaces in the path (I didn't know this)

...

Here we go. System File Protection, of Sytem File Checker is a neato feature of Windows meant to protect Joe Computeruser's PC from being ruined. When a needed System file is being replaced your File Checker says "Wait a minute this isn't mine." While this can be great in the long run, it's not a positive thing in Windows Hacking. The trick is to replace the files it uses to replace files.

...

1) First up you need to find the file you want to hack and then replace. Start>Search>Files and Folders>dllname. It's good to actually search for the file so you can find out all of the locations of all copies. Let the search finish just in case. If you have installed any service packs you will have probably have copies of the file in:

\winnt\servicepackfiles\i386\ (Win2k)
\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\ (XP)

As well as:

\winnt\system32\dllcache\ (hidden folder in Win2k)
\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache\ (hidden folder in XP)
\winnt\system32\ (win2k)
\windows\system32\ (XP)

2) Now that you have all of the locations, write them down on paper or your forehead just to be safe (backwards so it shows up in the mirror).

3) Make a backup (remember K.I.S.S.)

4) Hack your file and save it c:\ for simplicity.

5) Open TaskManger (Right click on your taskbar and select TaskManger)

6) Go to the 'Processes' Tab and find 'Explorer.exe' highlight it and push the 'End Process' button. Say Yeah to the popup.

7) Go to the first tab in TaskManger and select 'File>NewTask>Run>Browse' from this Window navigate to c:\ and higlight your hacked file. Right clic on it and select 'Copy' (don't Cut it.)

8) Nagivate to your Windows directory, open the \servicepackfiles\i386\ folder. Paste your hacked file and replace the copy that is in that folder.

9) Navigate to your respective dllcache folder, paste the file there too.

10) Replace the normail copy in system32 finally (or wherever it might be).

11) Reboot. Don't LogOff , Reboot.

Now chances are this won't go that smoothly. Either the file you want to replace is in use, or your pal and mine SFP will pop-up. It can mess with you in odd ways. I've replaced the servicepackfiles version and the dllcache files, then had SFP grab the normal and replace the other two with it. This can be frustrating. Or maybe the file is in use. This is where the Command Prompt comes into play. If you already replaced the files and rebooted to no change, launch TaskMan again, kill explorer.exe, then go 'File>NewTask>Run>Cmd.exe' Use the DOS commands to try to replace all of the copies of the file in that order using your hacked version in C:\

This is usually where you get the message from SFP telling you it's alive and kicking. You will get a rather urgent looking pop-up telling you that a file that Windows needs is being replaced by a different file. It will then ask you if you want keep the modified files. Say 'yes'. Next it will prompt you to insert your Windows cd to retrieve a copy of the file it needs. Click 'Cancel'. As a good rule of thumb, when you get this message replace what you need then reboot!

If your file still isn't changing, boot into SafeMode with CommandLine. Wait for Windows to take it's sweet time loading. Then just type copy c:\file.dll c:\winnt\servicepackfiles\i386\. Rinse and Repeat. Then reboot. This has worked for me 100% of the time, if followed it will work for you as well.

http://pixelarmy.org

Cracking Fiiles tihe easiy way

2008-04-21T07:33:00.000+05:30
1) Don't try to modify a prog by editing his source in a dissasembler.Why?
Couse that's for programmers and assembly experts only. If any of you dumb kids
try to view it in hex you'll only get tons of crap you don't understand.
First off, you need Resource Hacker(last version).It's a resource editor-
very easy to use.

Resource Hacker Version 3.4.0
CODE
http://delphi.icm.edu.pl/ftp/tools/ResHack.zip/

Help File
CODE
http://www.users.on.net/johnson/resourceha...eshack_hlp.zip/

2)Unzip the archive, and run ResHacker.exe. You can check out the help file too,
if you want to be a guru.

3)You will see that the interface is simple and clean. Go to the menu File\Open or
press Ctrl+O to open a file. Browse your way to the file you would like to edit.
You can edit *.exe, *.dll, *.ocx, *.scr and *.cpl files, but this tutorial is ment
to teach you how to edit *.exe files, so open one.

4)In the left side of the screen a list of sections will appear.
The most common sections are: -Icon;
-String table;
-RCData;
-Dialog;
-Cursor group;
-Bitmap;
-WAV.
*Icon: You can wiew and change the icon(s) of the program by double-clicking the icon section,chossing the icon, right-clicking on it an pressing "replace resource". After that you can choose the icon you want to replace the original with.
*String table: a bunch of crap, useful sometimes, basic programming knowladge needed.
*RCData: Here the real hacking begins. Modify window titles, buttons, text, and lots more!
*Dialog:Here you can modify the messages or dialogs that appear in a program. Don't forget
to press "Compile" when you're done!
*Cursor group: Change the mouse cursors used in the program just like you would change the icon.
*Bitmap: View or change images in the programs easy!
*WAV:Change the sounds in the prog. with your own.

5) In the RCData,Dialog,Menu and String table sections you can do a lot of changes. You can
modify or translate the text change links, change buttons, etc.

TIP: To change a window title, search for something like: CAPTION "edit this".
TIP: After all operations press the "Compile Script" button, and when you're done editing save
your work @ File\Save(Save as).
TIP: When you save a file,the original file will be backed up by default and renamed to Name_original and the saved
file will have the normal name of the changed prog.
TIP: Sometimes you may get a message like: "This program has a non-standard resource layout... it has probably been compressed with an .EXE compressor." That means that Resource Hacker can't modify it becouse of it's structure.

Remember! This is only a small example of what you can do to executables with Resource Hacker.

Advanced Shell Coding Techniques

2008-04-21T07:31:00.000+05:30
Introduction

This paper assumes a working knowledge of basic shellcoding techniques, and x86 assembly, I will not rehash these in this paper. I hope to teach you some of the lesser known shellcoding techniques that I have picked up, which will allow you to write smaller and better shellcodes. I do not claim to have invented any of these techniques, except for the one that uses the div instruction.

The multiplicity of mul

This technique was originally developed by Sorbo of darkircop.net. The mul instruction may, on the surface, seem mundane, and it's purpose obvious. However, when faced with the difficult challenge of shrinking your shellcode, it proves to be quite useful. First some background information on the mul instruction itself.

mul performs an unsigned multiply of two integers. It takes only one operand, the other is implicitly specified by the %eax register. So, a common mul instruction might look something like this:

movl $0x0a,%eax
mul $0x0a

This would multiply the value stored in %eax by the operand of mul, which in this case would be 10*10. The result is then implicitly stored in EDX:EAX. The result is stored over a span of two registers because it has the potential to be considerably larger than the previous value, possibly exceeding the capacity of a single register(this is also how floating points are stored in some cases, as an interesting sidenote).

So, now comes the ever-important question. How can we use these attributes to our advantage when writing shellcode? Well, let's think for a second, the instruction takes only one operand, therefore, since it is a very common instruction, it will generate only two bytes in our final shellcode. It multiplies whatever is passed to it by the value stored in %eax, and stores the value in both %edx and %eax, completely overwriting the contents of both registers, regardless of whether it is necessary to do so, in order to store the result of the multiplication. Let's put on our mathematician hats for a second, and consider this, what is the only possible result of a multiplication by 0? The answer, as you may have guessed, is 0. I think it's about time for some example code, so here it is:

xorl %ecx,%ecx
mul %ecx

What is this shellcode doing? Well, it 0's out the %ecx register using the xor instruction, so we now know that %ecx is 0. Then it does a mul %ecx, which as we just learned, multiplies it's operand by the value in %eax, and then proceeds to store the result of this multiplication in EDX:EAX. So, regardless of %eax's previous contents, %eax must now be 0. However that's not all, %edx is 0'd now too, because, even though no overflow occurs, it still overwrites the %edx register with the sign bit(left-most bit) of %eax. Using this technique we can zero out three registers in only three bytes, whereas by any other method(that I know of) it would have taken at least six.

The div instruction

Div is very similar to mul, in that it takes only one operand and implicitly divides the operand by the value in %eax. Also like, mul it stores the result of the divide in %eax. Again, we will require the mathematical side of our brains to figure out how we can take advantage of this instruction. But first, let's think about what is normally stored in the %eax register. The %eax register holds the return value of functions and/or syscalls. Most syscalls that are used in shellcoding will return -1(on failure) or a positive value of some kind, only rarely will they return 0(though it does occur). So, if we know that after a syscall is performed, %eax will have a non-zero value, and that the instruction divl %eax will divide %eax by itself, and then store the result in %eax, we can say that executing the divl %eax instruction after a syscall will put the value 1 into %eax. So...how is this applicable to shellcoding? Well, their is another important thing that %eax is used for, and that is to pass the specific syscall that you would like to call to int $0x80. It just so happens that the syscall that corresponds to the value 1 is exit(). Now for an example:

xorl %ebx,%ebx
mul %ebx
push %edx
pushl $0x3268732f
pushl $0x6e69622f
mov %esp, %ebx
push %edx
push %ebx
mov %esp,%ecx
movb $0xb, %al #execve() syscall, doesn't return at all unless it fails, in which case it returns -1
int $0x80

divl %eax # -1 / -1 = 1
int $0x80

Now, we have a 3 byte exit function, where as before it was 5 bytes. However, there is a catch, what if a syscall does return 0? Well in the odd situation in which that could happen, you could do many different things, like inc %eax, dec %eax, not %eax anything that will make %eax non-zero. Some people say that exit's are not important in shellcode, because your code gets executed regardless of whether or not it exits cleanly. They are right too, if you really need to save 3 bytes to fit your shellcode in somewhere, the exit() isn't worth keeping. However, when your code does finish, it will try to execute whatever was after your last instruction, which will most likely produce a SIG ILL(illegal instruction) which is a rather odd error, and will be logged by the system. So, an exit() simply adds an extra layer of stealth to your exploit, so that even if it fails or you can't wipe all the logs, at least this part of your presence will be clear.

Unlocking the power of leal

The leal instruction is an often neglected instruction in shellcode, even though it is quite useful. Consider this short piece of shellcode.

xorl %ecx,%ecx
leal 0x10(%ecx),%eax

This will load the value 17 into eax, and clear all of the extraneous bits of eax. This occurs because the leal instruction loads a variable of the type long into it's desitination operand. In it's normal usage, this would load the address of a variable into a register, thus creating a pointer of sorts. However, since ecx is 0'd and 0+17=17, we load the value 17 into eax instead of any kind of actual address. In a normal shellcode we would do something like this, to accomplish the same thing:

xorl %eax,%eax
movb $0x10,%eax

I can hear you saying, but that shellcode is a byte shorter than the leal one, and you're quite right. However, in a real shellcode you may already have to 0 out a register like ecx(or any other register), so the xorl instruction in the leal shellcode isn't counted. Here's an example:

xorl %eax,%eax
xorl %ebx,%ebx
movb $0x17,%al
int $0x80

xorl %ebx,%ebx
leal 0x17(%ebx),%al
int $0x80

Both of these shellcodes call setuid(0), but one does it in 7 bytes while the other does it in 8. Again, I hear you saying but that's only one byte it doesn't make that much of a difference, and you're right, here it doesn't make much of a difference(except for in shellcode-size pissing contests =p), but when applied to much larger shellcodes, which have many function calls and need to do things like this frequently, it can save quite a bit of space.

Conclusion

I hope you all learned something, and will go out and apply your knowledge to create smaller and better shellcodes. If you know who invented the leal technique, please tell me and I will credit him/her.

10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements

2008-04-19T19:30:00.000+05:30
Before you spend a dime on security, there are many precautions you can take that will protect you against the most common threats.

1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (_http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates); have your Office CD ready. Windows Me, 2000, and XP users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.

2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate (_www.sygate.com) and ZoneAlarm (_www.zonelabs.com) offer free versions.

3. Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors' Choice ("Spyware," April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy (_http://security.kolla.de). SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies.

4. Block pop-up spam messages in Windows NT, 2000, or XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and you'll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.

5. Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would be f8izKro@l. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.

6. If you're using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.

7. Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you're not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition (Grisoft Inc., w*w.grisoft.com). And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at w*w.pandasoftware.com/activescan and _http://housecall.trendmicro.com.

8. If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.

9. Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Supersite at _http://security.ziffdavis.com, so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.

10. Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don't assume that e-mail "From:" a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it's that person. Don't assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don't give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from "support."

Open Windows Explorer to a Different Default Directory

2008-04-19T19:01:00.000+05:30
When you open Windows Explorer (by choosing the Window key and "E" simultaneously or by choosing Start, all Programs, Accessories, Windows Explorer), you can change the directory that appears by default. If you choose Start, all Programs, Accessories, and then right-click on Windows Explorer and choose Properties, you can modify the "Target" directory. To go to your C: drive, type simply C:\ in the Target box and choose OK. You can also enter a shortcut key on this screen, telling Windows the character or combination of characters you want to type to automatically open Windows Explorer. You can even change the icon or specify that you always want Explorer to open up in full-screen mode.

List Of Sites Not To Go To

2008-04-19T19:00:00.001+05:30
Misspellings or misrepresentation Tactics
----------------------------------------------

http://www.aresgalaxy.com

http://www.edonkey-software.com

http://www.edonkey-mp3.com

http://www.emule-software.com

http://www.poilet.com

http://www.kaaza.com

http://www.kazza.com

http://www.kaza.com

http://www.kazaalite.com

http://www.kazaa-lite.tk

http://www.k-lite.tk

http://www.kazaalite.nl

http://www.kazaa-download.de

http://www.kazaagold.com

http://k-litetk.com

http://www.kazaalite.de - Beware, links on the page prompt for download of star dialer.

http://www.kazaa.de - Same as kazaalite.de. Again, beware of star dialer.

http://www328.ws1.internetservice.com - Same as kazaa.de and kazaalite.de.

http://www.kazaa-file-sharing-downloads.com - Fishy executable present here.

http://www.klitesite.com

http://www.klite.tk

http://freewebhosting.hostdepartment.com/k/kazaalitetk - Redirects to klitesite.com.

http://kazaa.freakin.nl

http://www.kazaa-gold.com - I discovered this site while reading Sharmans copyright infringment complaint to google.com.

http://www.kazaamedia.com

http://www.kazaaplatinum.com

http://www.kazaa-plus.net

http://www.kl-kpp.net

http://www.kazaa.co.kr

http://www.ikazaa.net

http://www.supernova.org

http://www.suprnova.com

http://www.slsk.org - Old soulseek domain, that now links to a mainpeen dialer (scumware).

http://www.sharaza.com

http://www.winmx-download-winmx.com - WinMX based scam.

http://www.musicdonkey.net/

----------------------------------

Regular P2P scam type sites

----------------------------------

http://www.fileminer.com

http://www2.music-download-network.com

http://filmgimp.org

http://www.filesharingfriends.com

http://www.mp3ebook.com

http://www.symynet.com/educational_software/kazaa_light.htm - Looks to me to be just a cheap plug for an amazon.com product (an MP3 CD player).

http://www.bolton-heaton.freeserve.co.uk/kazaa.htm - Not only do they link to yet another scam site, they also link to many forms of adware and spyware including
gator and aluriaaffiliates.

http://www.emp3downloadhq.com

http://www.unlimitedshock.com

http://www.songs4free.com

http://www.mp3u.com

http://download-central.mp3u.com

http://www.americamp3network.com

http://www.mp3university.com

http://www.downloads-unlimited.com

http://www.download-mp3-now.com

http://www.imusicshare.com

http://www.musicdownloadcentral.com

http://www.downloadsociety.com

http://www.mp3musiczone.com

http://www.mp3rocks.net

http://www.247downloads.com

http://www.mymusicinc.com

http://www.mp3advance.com

http://www.songfly.com

http://www.mp3musicworld.com

http://www.charliespiano.com/downloadable_music.php - Links to an existing scam site.

http://www.freeality.com/emusic.htm

http://www.free-mp3-music-player-downloads.com

http://www.mp3yes.com

http://www.mp3.abandonware.nu

http://www.mp3high.com

http://www.mp3shock.net

http://www.mp3advance.com - This one was being displayed on BeatKing through the Google ads

http://www.my-free-music.com

http://www.findanymusic.com - Claims it's legal; obviously a scam.

http://www.xvidmovies.com/ - The main culprit is (http://www.xvidmovies.com/movies/)

http://www.moviedownloadcity.com

http://www.hqmovies.net

http://www.gettingmovies.com/Movies.html

http://www.compareshopsave.com/moviesites

http://k-lite-legal.com - Another claim of legality.

http://www.imovieshare.com

http://www.easymusicdownload.com

http://www.flicksunlimited.com

http://www.completemovies.com/index2.html

http://www.download-mp3-music.com

http://www.freemovieserver.com

http://www.mp3perfect.com

http://www.mp3downloadcity.com

http://www.downloadshield.com

http://www.legacymp3.net

http://www.crazymp3s.org

http://www.21-century-mp3.nu

http://www.greekmusicmp3s.com

http://www.filesharingcenter.com

http://www.unlimitedshock.com

http://www.mp333.com

http://www.mp3madeeasy.com

http://www.mp3grandcentral.net

http://www.mp3-network.com

http://www.morpheusultra.com

http://www.flixs.net

http://www.charliespiano.com/downloadable_music.php

http://www.compareshopsave.com/moviesites

http://www.completemovies.com/index2.html

http://www.ondemandmp3.com

Border And Text Effects In Psp8, For use with PSP8

2008-04-18T07:48:00.000+05:30
Do you want to jazz up your graphics? Want to add a bit of pazazz to your art? Well, this guide features some knowledge, border effects, and even directions to make your own swirlie brushes!

Now, open PSP and get ready to learn! Let's start off with the basics.

-------------------------------------------------
-Border Effects

There are two main types of borders, solid borders, and decorative borders. A solid border is like a colored line that raps around the outside of your image and separates graphics from the rest of the page. You can have borders inside the outside borders to make awesome layer effects. Decorative borders are almost the same, except they are not completely connected. (Example - Dashed Borders)
-------------------------------------------------
Dashed Borders
Open PSP and create an image about 380 x 100 pixels with a white background.

Draw a bit with your paintbrush, just add some color. Now maximize your image.

It should take up the whole page. Now go up to the toolbar on the very top and click "Selections" and go down right below that and click "Select All" There should be a dotted line going around the outside of your image.

We're almost done! YAY! Ok, now look on your keyboard. Go to the very top row next to the F1, F2, F3, F4, and look to the right of the F12 button. It should say "Print Screen". Press it, and it will take a picture of everything currently open on your computer that you can see. Now go to the top toolbar once one. Go under "Edit", move down to "Paste", then move your mouse to the right and select "Paste as New Image"

Now, your image has a dashed border, but you can see all the unwanted parts of your workspace. So go to the left toolbar and click the crop tool. It is the small square with a line through it.

Now drag the segment the crop tool makes just around the image. You might want to zoom in some (Click the magnifying glass on the left toolbar on the spot you want to zoom in). Once you have it fully outlined with the crop segment, double-click to crop it. Wallah! Your image now has a dashed border. So just go to the top toolbar once again, go under "File" and click "Save As". Then, select the spot and name to save it.

-------------------------------------------------
-Font Suggestions and Styles

So you know how to make a cool border for your images. Now what about fonts? Well usually, for siggies, you would put a bigger font saying their name, and a smaller font with sub-text. Look at my signature:

See how it says "Anonymous" in a large font that matches the background; then under it, it says "SOD's coolest member" (my sub-text) in a smaller font? That's the usual format for text on signatures. Of couse, this isn't the only way.

Now, for some font suggestions:

Larger Fonts
Laurenscript
Baby Kruffy (This one is awesome!)
Casual
Chick
Cheri
Walt Disney
Mullet
Dolphins (yippee!)
Jelly Belly
Flubber
Porky's
Gilligan's Island
Cheeseburger

Smaller Fonts
Redensek
Mullet
Georgia
Acknowledge
Tahoma

-------------------------------------------------

Helpful Links

http://peachie.nu
(a few popups though)

Font Places

http://www.dafont.com/en/
http://www.1001freefonts.com/
http://www.fontfreak.com/
http://www.acidfonts.com/

Auto End Tasks to Enable a Proper Shutdown

2008-04-18T07:46:00.000+05:30
This reg file automatically ends tasks and timeouts that prevent programs from shutting down and clears the Paging File on Exit.

1. Copy the following (everything in the box) into notepad.

QUOTE
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop]
"AutoEndTasks"="1"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="1000"

2. Save the file as shutdown.reg
3. Double click the file to import into your registry.

NOTE: If your anti-virus software warns you of a "malicious" script, this is normal if you have "Script Safe" or similar technology enabled.

Boot Winxp Fast

2008-04-18T07:45:00.000+05:30
Follow the following steps

1. Open notepad.exe, type "del c:\windows\prefetch\ntosboot-*.* /q" (without the quotes) & save as "ntosboot.bat" in c:\
2. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "gpedit.msc".
3. Double click "Windows Settings" under "Computer Configuration" and double click again on "Shutdown" in the right window.
4. In the new window, click "add", "Browse", locate your "ntosboot.bat" file & click "Open".
5. Click "OK", "Apply" & "OK" once again to exit.
6. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "devmgmt.msc".
7. Double click on "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers"
8. Right click on "Primary IDE Channel" and select "Properties".
9. Select the "Advanced Settings" tab then on the device or 1 that doesn't have 'device type' greyed out select 'none' instead of 'autodetect' & click "OK".
10. Right click on "Secondary IDE channel", select "Properties" and repeat step 9.
11. Reboot your computer.

SUSE 10.1 Guide :Get your TUX on !

2008-04-17T08:30:00.001+05:30
When you're done downloading and installing SUSE Linux 10.1 OSS, your desktop system is not complete. You might still need support for Java programs, MP3 audio files, and browser plug-ins for Macromedia Flash, Adobe Acrobat, RealPlayer, and Windows Media Video. You may also want to add support for playing DVD videos on your computer, and to try out the new XGL graphical toys. Here's how to effectively make SUSE Linux 10.1 into the perfect desktop OS.

Why you need this guide

SUSE Linux 10.1 OSS -- as the name implies -- is comprised entirely of free, open source software. What you will be doing in this tutorial (with the exception of configuring XGL and Compiz) is installing proprietary add-ons that add functionality. All of the browser plugins are proprietary and will require you to agree to restrictive software licenses. The DVD playback capabilities are in violation of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (and similar laws in other countries), which many believe to be unconstitutional and a violation of consumer fair use rights. (Further information on DMCA reform is available here.)

In other words, installing the DVD decoding software could be illegal where you live; therefore I'm not telling you to do it, but I'll tell you how it's done -- for educational and informational purposes only, of course.

Furthermore, if you morally or ethically disagree with proprietary software and refuse to use it, this guide will be meaningless to you.

If you need a more thorough guide that covers installation and system-wide configuration, I've written one for Sam's Publishing entitled SUSE Linux 10.1 Kick Start. It will be available as an electronic download for a very low cost, starting on June 7.

Prerequisites

This guide assumes that you have already installed SUSE Linux 10.1, and are now seeking to add support for Java, Macromedia Flash, Adobe Acrobat, Windows Media, RealPlayer, ATI or Nvidia graphics cards, XGL/Compiz interface enhancements, and commercial DVD movies. Feel free to ignore the portions of the guide that do not apply to your situation, but don't skip over the parts that show you how to add sources to YaST or any other general instructions.

Furthermore, this guide assumes you are using the default desktop environment, KDE. If you're using GNOME or a window manager, you're on your own as far as getting to the YaST utility and any other KDE-specific instructions listed below. In general, however, the majority of the information in this guide is environment-agnostic.

Lastly, Hacking SUSE Linux 10.1 applies only to the x86 and AMD64/EM64T processor architectures. It does not cover the PowerPC architecture. If someone who has a PPC machine is willing to contribute a section specific to PPC, please email me.

The non-OSS extras CD

The standard SUSE Linux 10.1 OSS CD set (or DVD) does not include the non-free extras CD. This applies to the CD torrent provided by OpenSUSE.org as well -- it only includes the five installation CDs. While this guide recommends using Internet sources for all of your software adding and updating, if you want to do everything from discs, you will need to download the 400MB extras ISO from here (.iso download link). It's good for both AMD64 and x86.

Write that ISO to a CD only if you need to work from physical installation media after the operating system is already installed (like if you don't have a broadband Internet account, or if the computer you're installing to will not have a regular network connection).

Adding sources to YaST

The next order of business is to prepare SUSE to install software from alternate sources. In addition to making this guide easier to follow in the long-run, it also eliminates the need for your physical installation media (CDs or DVD).

Go into the YaST utility by clicking on the green Gecko menu in the lower left corner of your screen. Select System, then click on YaST (Control Center). You'll be prompted for your root password. Go ahead and type it in and press the Enter key.

You're now in YaST, and the Software category is already selected by default. Click on the Installation Source icon. This will bring up a window that will allow you to add software repositories so that you can download the add-on software. You'll notice that your CD or DVD installation media is already listed. Go ahead and disable it by clicking the Enable Or Disable button -- we're going to add an Internet address that will replace your discs. That way if you need to add software from the CDs or DVD, you can get the packages from the Internet instead of putting a disc into your computer. If you need to, you can just as easily enable the CD/DVD source later.

Click the Add button, then click on HTTP in the popup menu. Add the following Internet address to the Server Name field and then click on OK:

packman.unixheads.com/suse/10.1 (or select a mirror from this list)

Now repeat this process and add the following servers to your installation sources:
download.opensuse.org/distribution/SL-10.1/inst-source/
download.opensuse.org/distribution/SL-10.1/non-oss-inst-source/
Without adding the preceding sources, it will not be possible to follow the rest of these steps. You can now close the Installation Source window by clicking Finish in the lower right.

Required packages

Most of the steps below demand that the following packages be installed:
gcc
make
kernel-source
kernel-syms
kdeadmin3
Check the YaST Software Manager to see if they are installed. If they are not, install them and continue with these directions when you are finished.

Atheros wireless network drivers

The original release of SUSE Linux 10.1 OSS did not contain drivers for Atheros-based wireless network cards. There is now a package available, however. Go to the Software Manager in YaST, then search for this term: madwifi

In the right pane, most people will need to select these two packages:
madwifi
madwifi-kmp-default
If you have a multi-CPU, Hyper-Threaded, or dual-core system, select the SMP packages as well. If you're using Xen and need to have Atheros support in your virtual machines, select the Xen-related madwifi drivers. After you have installed these packages, you can load the ath_pci module by hand or just restart the computer to activate your wireless network.

ATI video drivers

SUSE Linux 10.1 ships with the newly revamped open source radeon driver. That may be fine for 2D rendering, but it doesn't do direct rendering for 3D graphics. To get hardware 3D acceleration (and for XGL support), you still need the proprietary ATI fglrx driver.

Go to the ATI website, click on Drivers & Software, then Linux Display Drivers and Software, then on the driver appropriate to your video card. 32-bit SUSE installations need the x86 drivers, and 64-bit SUSE needs the x86_64 versions. After you have clicked the link for your card, yet another link comes up. Click it, scroll down to the downloads table, then right-click the ATI Driver Installer download link and save it to your home directory. You do not need to download any of the other packages.

After the file transfer completes, close all open programs, then press ctrl-alt-F1 to switch to the first virtual terminal. You'll see a text-mode login prompt; log in as root. When you're at the command prompt, type in this command:

init 3

You'll see a bunch of text scroll by, and then a message saying that runlevel 3 has been reached. Press Enter to get the command prompt back, then type the following command in to switch to the directory you downloaded the ATI driver to:

cd /home/username/

Substitute your user name for "username" in the above example. Now you need to change the ATI installer permissions so that it can be run from the command line.

For long file names, you don't have to type the whole name into a terminal window. Instead, just type the first few letters and then press the Tab key, and the file name will be automatically completed for you. This is useful in situations like the one you're in now, where there is a long and complex file name to type in. So type the following command into your terminal, and use the Tab key to complete the ATI driver file name, then press Enter to execute the command:

chmod +x ./ati-driver

That will make the program executable; this must be done before you can run it. Now it's time to run the installer. Again, use tab completion instead of typing the name in. You have to add the ./ before the filename to tell the terminal program that the file you are referring to is in the current directory. If you don't specify that, the terminal will look in other places for the file. It sounds crazy, yes, but that's the way GNU/Linux is (and Unix before it). For the below example, the entire file name is typed in. Please note that this may not be the same file name that you downloaded -- it is only an example. You should use tab completion when you type this command in so that you don't accidentally mis-type the long file name. The part of the example that will not change is the switch statement after the file name (the part with the dashes). Here's the example command for the ATI driver installer for a 32-bit system:

./ati-driver-installer-8.24.8-x86.run --buildpkg SuSE/SUSE101-IA32

And for a 64-bit system:

./ati-driver-installer-8.24.8-x86_64.run --buildpkg SuSE/SUSE101-AMD64

After a few dozen lines of text, a driver package will be created. Go ahead and run it with the following command (the first example is for 32-bit systems):

rpm -ivh fglrx_6_9_0_SUSE101-8.24.8-1.i386.rpm

And for 64-bit systems:

rpm -ivh fglrx64_6_9_0_SUSE101-8.24.8-1.x86_64.rpm

Update your system environment variables with this command:

ldconfig

Next, you need to tell SUSE that you want to use this driver instead of the standard one:

aticonfig --initial --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf

Lastly, you have to tell YaST which driver to load (that's a zero in the example, not a letter):

sax2 -r -m 0=fglrx

Now reboot your computer by typing the following command:

reboot

The next time your system starts, you'll have hardware 3D video acceleration. Please note that every time you update your kernel, you must re-install the ATI video driver.

Nvidia video drivers

SUSE Linux 10.1 no longer includes the proprietary Nvidia graphics driver, nor is it available through YaST anymore. If you want hardware 3D acceleration for your Nvidia-based graphics card, you will have to enable it the old fashioned way -- by going to the Nvidia website; clicking on Download Drivers; then on Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris Drivers; then on your architecture; and lastly, on the driver download itself. Save it to your home directory (or somewhere that isn't too difficult to get to via the command line).

The Nvidia installer demands to be installed outside of a graphical environment. Close all open programs, then press ctrl-alt-F1 to get to the virtual terminal. You'll be prompted for login information; log in as root. After you've logged in, use this command to exit X.org:

init 3

Press enter when it says that init level 3 has been reached, and you'll find yourself at a command prompt again. Navigate to the directory that contains the Nvidia driver (replace "username" with your user name):

cd /home/username/

For long file names, you don't have to type the whole name into a terminal window. Instead, just type the first few letters and then press the Tab key, and the file name will be automatically completed for you. This is useful in situations like the one you're in now, where there is a long and complex file name to type in. So type the following command into your terminal, and use the Tab key to complete the Nvidia driver file name, then press Enter to execute the chmod command:

chmod +x ./NVIDIA

The installer is now executable, so go ahead and run it with this command, again using tab completion to fill in the file name after the first few characters:

./NVIDIA

The installation utility will come up. Choose Yes (or whatever is the default) for all of the options. When the installer is finished, it will bring you back to the command line. Use this command to restart your computer:

reboot

When next you log into SUSE Linux, you should have hardware 3D acceleration enabled. To check, run this program from a terminal program (the computer screen icon in the lower left, between the house icon and the life preserver):

glxinfo

Dozens of lines of text should result from this command. Look near the top for the Direct Rendering line. If it says Yes, you're all set. If it says no, go back and re-check all of your steps to make sure there were no errors, that you downloaded the correct driver for your processor architecture, and that you followed the directions exactly.

Please note that every time you update your kernel, you must re-install the Nvidia video driver.

Java support

To add support for the Java language both for standalone applications and as a browser plugin for Web applets, go into YaST, then select Package Management. In the Search box, type in sun and click Search. A bunch of packages will show up in the right-hand pane. Click the checkbox next to the following packages:
java-1_5_0-sun
java-1_5_0-sun-alsa
java-1_5_0-sun-devel
java-1_5_0-sun-plugin
Note to 64-bit users:
The Java 1.5.0 packages in the AMD64/EM64T edition of SUSE Linux 10.1 are 64-bit, whereas the Java 1.4.2 packages are 32-bit. Since the Firefox package is 32-bit, you will have to install version 1.4.2 if you want to be able to use Java applets. Firefox will use 1.4.2 if you have both versions installed, so you can install both Java 1.4.2 and 1.5.0, though outside of Firefox I'm not sure what effect that will have on Java-aware programs.

There is no harm in selecting all of the java-1_5_0-sun packages (you'll notice that there are a few more that weren't selected), but they are not necessary for running Java programs. If you're a Java programmer you may want at least some of the other packages. When you're done selecting them, click on Accept. When it's done installing, click on Finish in the popup window to go back to YaST. Your computer will now be able to run Java programs and applets.

Flash, Acrobat, Windows Media, MP3, and RealMedia support

Go back into the YaST software manager. In the Search box, type in w32codec-all and click on Search. A single package should appear in the right-hand pane. Click the checkbox next to it if it is not already installed. Some people may see a lock icon there instead; this means that the package is already installed.

Erase your previous search term in the Search box, type in acroread and click on Search. Click the checkbox next to the acroread package in the right-hand pane.

Now search for flash and click Search. Select that package for installation by clicking its checkbox and agreeing to its license.

Search for realplayer and click Search. Click its checkbox. You only need the RealPlayer package itself -- the other search results are not necessary.

Search for mplayer and click Search. Click the checkbox next to mplayerplug-in. You can also install the other package -- MPlayer -- if you want to, but you've already got a number of video players on your computer.

When you've done all of this, click on Accept. Other packages will be dependent on some of these, so you may have to click Continue in the Automatic Changes screen that comes up. After that, all of the packages you just selected will be installed and your Firefox Web browser will have all of the plugins it needs. You'll also have the ability to play MP3 music files. A popup window will appear when it's done -- just click on Finish and you'll be brought back to YaST.

DVD playback on 32-bit machines

You must add the sources listed above and then perform a software update via the ZENworks update tool (from the Gecko menu, go to System, then Configuration, then Update Software). This will replace your Xine libraries with DVD-capable versions from Packman.

After you've installed all software updates, go to your Gecko menu, then select Internet, then Web Browser, then click on Web Browser (Konqueror). When Konqueror opens, copy and paste in this address if you are using 32-bit SUSE Linux:

http://download.videolan.org/pub/libdvdcss/1.2.9/rpm/libdvdcss2-1.2.9-1.i386.rpm

Or just click here if you want a link. Konqueror will ask you what you want to do with the file. Click the Open With button, and in the ensuing popup window, click on System, then Configuration, then KPackage (if you do not have KPackage installed, bookmark the DeCSS RPM, then go back to the YaST software manager and install the kdeadmin3 package, then restart this process). The KPackage program will read the DVD decoding package from the Web. Click on the Install button at the bottom of the KPackage window, then click on Install in the next window too. You will be asked for your root password; type it in and press Enter. Shortly thereafter, the DVD decoding library will be installed. Click on the Done button, then close KPackage and Konqueror.

You now have the ability to play commercial DVD movies on your computer -- put one in and try it, if it's legal where you are. A popup message should appear when you put in a DVD movie. If it asks you if you want to play the movie with Kaffeine, click on Yes and you'll go straight to the video player. In some instances the disc may be recognized as a data disc, and SUSE will ask you if you want to open the DVD with K3b. In that case, click on Ignore, then go to the Gecko menu, select Multimedia, then Video Player, then click on Media Player (Kaffeine). When Kaffeine starts, click on the Open DVD icon.

DVD playback on 64-bit machines

You must add the sources listed above and then perform a software update via the ZENworks update tool (from the Gecko menu, go to System, then Configuration, then Update Software). This will replace your Xine libraries with DVD-capable versions from Packman.

After you've installed all software updates, go to your Gecko menu, then select Internet, then Web Browser, then click on Firefox. When it opens, copy and paste in this address if you are using 64-bit SUSE Linux (there is currently no 64-bit binary RPM):

http://download.videolan.org/pub/libdvdcss/1.2.9/libdvdcss-1.2.9.tar.gz

Select the Save As option, then click on the Home icon in the left pane and save it there. The file isn't very big, so it should download almost immediately. You can close the Web browser now, and open a terminal by clicking the monitor icon in the lower left corner of your screen (it's between the house icon and the life preserver). Now use this command to switch to root permissions:

su

It'll ask for your root password -- go ahead and type it in, then press Enter. Now you need to decompress the file you just downloaded. Type this in:

gzip -d libdvdcss-1.2.9.tar.gz

Then unpack it from its archive by using this command:

tar xvf libdvdcss-1.2.9.tar

The file will un-tar to its own directory, so you can now safely delete the tar arc.

PC Maintenance Guide

2008-04-17T06:34:00.000+05:30
"Take good care of your PC, and it will take good care of you."

It's a nice sentiment, but reality is more like "Take good care of your PC, and it won't crash, lose your data, and cost you your job--probably." Follow these steps to stop PC problems before they stop you.

Your PC's two mortal enemies are heat and moisture. Excess heat accelerates the deterioration of the delicate circuits in your system. The most common causes of overheating are dust and dirt: Clogged vents and CPU cooling fans can keep heat-dissipating air from moving through the case, and even a thin coating of dust or dirt can raise the temperature of your machine's components.

Any grime, but especially the residue of cigarette smoke, can corrode exposed metal contacts. That's why it pays to keep your system clean, inside and out.

If your PC resides in a relatively clean, climate-controlled environment, an annual cleaning should be sufficient. But in most real-world locations, such as dusty offices or shop floors, your system may need a cleaning every few months.

All you need are lint-free wipes, a can of compressed air, a few drops of a mild cleaning solution such as Formula 409 or Simple Green in a bowl of water, and an antistatic wrist strap to protect your system when you clean inside the case.

Think Outside the Box

Before you get started cleaning, check around your PC for anything nearby that could raise its temperature (such as a heating duct or sunshine coming through a window). Also clear away anything that might fall on it or make it dirty, such as a bookcase or houseplants.

Always turn off and unplug the system before you clean any of its components. Never apply any liquid directly to a component. Spray or pour the liquid on a lint-free cloth, and wipe the PC with the cloth.

Clean the case: Wipe the case and clear its ventilation ports of any obstructions. Compressed air is great for this, but don't blow dust into the PC or its optical and floppy drives. Keep all cables firmly attached to their connectors on the case.

Maintain your mechanical mouse: When a nonoptical mouse gets dirty, the pointer moves erratically. Unscrew the ring on the bottom of the unit and remove the ball. Then scrape the accumulated gunk off the two plastic rollers that are set 90 degrees apart inside the ball's housing.

Keep a neat keyboard: Turn the keyboard upside down and shake it to clear the crumbs from between the keys. If that doesn't suffice, blast it (briefly) with compressed air. If your keys stick or your keyboard is really dirty, pry the keys off for easier cleaning. Computer shops have special tools for removing keys, but you can also pop them off by using two pencils with broken tips as jumbo tweezers--just be sure to use a soft touch.

Make your monitor sparkle: Wipe the monitor case and clear its vents of obstructions, without pushing dust into the unit. Clean the screen with a standard glass cleaner and a lint-free cloth. If your monitor has a degauss button (look for a small magnet icon), push it to clear magnetic interference. Many LCDs can be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol; check with your LCD manufacturer. Wipe your LCD lightly: The underlying glass is fragile.

Check your power protection: Reseat the cables plugged into your surge protector. Check the unit's warning indicator, if it has one. Surge protectors may power your PC even after being compromised by a voltage spike (making your system susceptible to a second spike). If your power protector doesn't have a warning indicator and your area suffers frequent power outages, replace it with one that has such an indicator and is UL 1449 certified.

Swipe your CD and DVD media: Gently wipe each disc with a moistened, soft cloth. Use a motion that starts at the center of the disc and then moves outward toward the edge. Never wipe a disc in a circular motion.

Inside the Box

Before cracking open the case, turn off the power and unplug your PC. Ground yourself before you touch anything inside to avoid destroying your circuitry with a static charge. If you don't have a grounding wrist strap, you can ground yourself by touching any of various household objects, such as a water pipe, a lamp, or another grounded electrical device. Be sure to unplug the power cord before you open the case.

Use antistatic wipes to remove dust from inside the case. Avoid touching any circuit-board surfaces. Pay close attention to the power-supply fan, as well as to the case and to CPU fans, if you have them. Spray these components with a blast of compressed air to loosen dust; but to remove the dust rather than rearrange it, you should use a small vacuum.

If your PC is more than four years old, or if the expansion cards plugged into its motherboard are exceptionally dirty, remove each card, clean its contacts with isopropyl alcohol, and reseat it. If your system is less than a couple years old, however, just make sure each card is firmly seated by pressing gently downward on its top edge while not touching its face. Likewise, check your power connectors, EIDE connectors, and other internal cables for a snug fit.

While you have the case open, familiarize yourself with the CMOS battery on the motherboard. For its location, check the motherboard manual. If your PC is more than four or five years old, the CMOS battery may need to be replaced. (A system clock that loses time is one indicator of a dying CMOS battery.)

Look for Trouble

Give your PC a periodic checkup with a good hardware diagnostic utility. Two excellent choices are Sandra Standard from SiSoftware and #1-TuffTest-Lite from #1-PC Diagnostics. Download the free version of Sandra (the full version of the application costs $35) or to download #1-TuffTest-Lite (the fully functional version is $10).

Sandra Standard:
CODE
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,4005,tk,ur,00.asp

#1-TuffTest-Lite:
CODE
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,7725,tk,ur,00.asp

Adding and removing system components leaves orphaned entries in the Windows Registry. This can increase the time your PC takes to boot and can slow system performance. Many shareware utilities are designed to clean the Registry.

Windows stores files on a hard drive in rows of contiguous segments, but over time the disk fills and segments become scattered, so they take longer to access. To keep your drive shipshape, run Windows' Disk Defragmenter utility. Click Start, Programs (All Programs in XP), Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. If your drive is heavily fragmented, you could boost performance. Defragging may take hours, however. Disable your screen saver and other automatic programs beforehand to keep the defrag from restarting every few minutes.

Disk Defragmenter won't defragment the file on your hard drive that holds overflow data from system memory (also known as the swap file). Since the swap file is frequently accessed, defragmenting it can give your PC more pep. You can defragment your swap file by using a utility such as the SpeedDisk program included with Norton SystemWorks 2004, but there's a way to reset it in Windows.

In Windows XP, right-click My Computer and choose Properties. Click Advanced, and then choose the Settings button under Performance. Click Advanced again and the Change button under Virtual Memory. Select another drive or partition, set your swap file size, and click OK.

If you have only one partition and no way to create a second one, and you have at least 256MB of RAM, disable the swap file rather than moving it: Select "No paging file" in the Virtual Memory settings. If you have trouble booting, start Windows in Safe Mode and re-enable this option.

Hard-Drive Checkup
Windows XP offers a rudimentary evaluation of your hard disk's health with its error-checking utility: Right-click the drive's icon in Windows Explorer and select Properties, Tools, Check Now. (Windows can fix errors and recover bad sectors automatically if you wish.) If the check discovers a few file errors, don't worry, but if it comes up with hundreds of errors, the drive could be in trouble.

To conduct a more thorough examination, download Panterasoft's free HDD Health utility, which monitors hard-drive performance and warns of impending disaster:
CODE
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22945,tk,ur,00.asp

The program works only with drives that support S.M.A.R.T technology, but nearly all drives released since 2000 are S.M.A.R.T.-compliant.

Many hardware and software designers humbly assume you want their program running on your PC all the time, so they tell Windows to load the application at startup (hence, the ever-growing string of icons in your system tray). These programs eat up system resources and make hardware conflicts and compatibility problems more likely. To prevent them from launching, just click Start, Run, type "msconfig" and press Enter. The programs listed under the Startup tab are set to start along with Windows. Uncheck the box at the left of each undesirable program to prevent it from starting automatically.

Four Tips for Longer PC Life

1. Keep your PC in a smoke-free environment. Tobacco smoke can damage delicate contacts and circuits.

2. Leave your PC running. Powering up from a cold state is one of the most stressful things you can do to your system's components. If you don't want to leave your PC running all the time, use Windows' Power Management settings to put your machine into hibernation rather than completely shutting down. In Windows XP, right-click the desktop and select Properties. Click the Screen Saver tab and select the Power button. Choose the Hibernate tab to ensure that hibernation is enabled, and then select a time beneath "System hibernates" under the Power Schemes tab. (Note that this option is not available on all PCs.) Computers running older versions of Windows may or may not provide similar power-management features. Look under the Power Management icon (Power Options in Windows 2000) in Control Panel to evaluate your machine's capabilities.

3. Don't leave your monitor running. The best way to extend your display's life is to shut it off when it's not in use.

4. Avoid jostling the PC. Whenever you move your system, even if it's just across the desktop, make sure the machine is shut down and unplugged.

16x Dvd+-rw Dl Dvd Writer Comparison Guide

2008-04-17T06:31:00.000+05:30
Since the introduction of double layer DVD writers, the interest has been quite overwhelming and is why we keep bringing you reviews of these highly popular drives. The anticipation has now turned into down right obsession and it has become a key component in any current or new system build, thanks to the declining prices and continued media hype. Manufacturers are quite aware of the fascination and is why they have each been releasing their own products which excel in at least one area of the testing methodology used in most reviews. This has led to some confusion as to which drive is best suited for the individuals needs. Today, we compare four 16x double layer drives and highlight both the strong and weak points in order to give you a better idea of which drive is best suited for you.

In this comparison guide, we will be looking at four of the top 16x drives to hit the market, the Pioneer DVR-108, NEC ND3500A, Lite-On SOHW-1633s and the new LG GSA-4160B. We will cover everything from design and features to performance and price. Let's begin with a quick look at each of these drives.

As far as the front bezel design goes, the LG-GSA4160B is by far the most attractive drive of the bunch. However, for those who are looking for a headphone jack, the Lite-On drive is the only DL writer offering a headphone jack, as well as volume control. The Pioneer and NEC drives, in my opinion, are the ugliest drives, with a very plain look that just wants to make you hide the drive period. Although we only obtained the 4160B in black, all these drives are offered with both white and black bezels. If you opt for the more expensive Pioneer "XL" model, it has the most impressive looks of any drive in the market. However, this will come at a very hefty price tag, considering they contain different firmware as well that offer a few extra features.

So, we have determined which is the sexiest-looking drive, but what about performance? I've done some extensive testing on each model to determine which is indeed the most impressive of the bunch. But before we show you performance results, let's briefly look at the features and what they have to offer.

Features

Each one of these drives has there disappointments when it comes to features. Let's compare each to see what they really offer.

DVD Writing

DVD+R DVD-R DVD+RW DVD-RW
LG GSA-4160B 16x 8x 4x 4x
Lite-On SOHW-1633s 16x 8x 4x 4x
NEC ND-3500A 16x 16x 4x 4x
Pioneer DVR-108 16x 16x 4x 4x

While all these drives are indeed 16x models, only two will write to both formats at this speed. The LG GSA-4160B and the Lite-On SOHW-1633s only support 8x DVD-R writing. So if you are one who only prefers this format, the NEC or Pioneer would be the best choice. All of these drives support writing to DVD re-writable media at 4x.

DVD+R9 Double Layer Writing

Write Speed
LG GSA-4160B 2.4x
Lite-On SOHW-1633s 2.4x
NEC ND-3500A 4x
Pioneer DVR-108 4x

The major disappointment with both the LG and the Lite-On 16x drives is the lack of 4x double layer writing support. Pioneer and NEC seem to be the only manufacturers to jump in and release second generation double layer drives supporting much faster 4x writing. In fact, the jump from 2.4x to 4x is quite substantial as we will show you a bit later in this comparison.

DVD-RAM Support

Supported Read Write
LG GSA-4160B YES 5x 5x
Lite-On SOHW-1633s NO NO NO
NEC ND-3500A NO NO NO
Pioneer DVR-108 YES 2x NO

Now this is where both the LG GSA-4120B and GSA-4160B shine above the rest. In fact, it is what has made these drives the most popular DVD writers on the market. Unlike the rest in the roundup, it is a triple format burner, offering full support for DVD-RAM media. The other drives do not support it, with the exception of the Pioneer DVR-108 which supports reading of DVD-RAM discs at 2x. I personally don't see the point in offering only read capabilities, but it's at least one extra feature added to distinguish it from the rest. Fast 5x support of the LG GSA-4160 will actually be tested a bit later in this article.

CDR Writing

CDR CDRW
LG GSA-4160B 40x 24x
Lite-On SOHW-1633s 48x 24x
NEC ND-3500A 48x 24x
Pioneer DVR-108 32x 24x

The fastest CDR writers of the bunch are the Lite-On SOHW-1633s and the NEC ND-3500A. With their support for 48x writing, they make a great all-in-one drive for many users. The only drive lacking in this lineup is the Pioneer DVR-108. Why they opted for only 32x writing is still quite puzzling and is actually why I have found that many are choosing the NEC over the Pioneer. The LG GSA-4160B should not be left out of consideration though. We will show you later that the difference in write times between 40x and 48x is not much to brag about.

Bitsetting Support

One feature I've found that is most important for many users is bitsetting support. Let's compare these drives and see what they offer.

DVD+R/RW Support DVD+R DL Support
LG GSA-4160B NO NO
Lite-On SOHW-1633s YES NO
NEC ND-3500A NO YES
Pioneer DVR-108 NO YES

The LG GSA-4160B does not offer bitsetting support out of the box. However, it is very likely that you will be able to obtain support through an excellent third-party tool called DVDInfo Pro. Right now, they only support the GSA-4120B, but I'm confident with the author that support for this drive will be likely. LG firmware is very hard to hack, however some select few have been able to do so. Using Lite-On's booktype utility, you can change the booktype of DVD+R/RW media, however, the firmware does not automatically change booktype of DVD+R DL discs to DVD-ROM like the NEC and Pioneer models do.

Additional Features

As far as other features go, all these drives have a 2MB buffer but offer some sort of buffer under-run protection, which all work exceptionally well. This is especially useful if you will be burning discs at 16x, which I personally don't recommend just yet. As our individual tests of these drives revealed, burning at this speed is quite unstable, with the exception of the Lite-On SOHW-1633s.

Optmizing your broadband

2008-04-16T17:01:00.002+05:30
These settings allow you to boost the speed of your broadband Internet connection when using a Cable Modem or DSL Router with Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create the following DWORD values, as most of these values will not already exist you will need to create them by clicking on 'Edit -> New -> DWORD Value' and then set the value as shown below.

DefaultTTL = "80" hex (or 128 decimal)
Specifies the default time to live (TTL) for TCP/IP packets. The default is 32.

EnablePMTUBHDetect = "0"
Specifies whether the stack will attempt to detect Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) routers that do not send back ICMP fragmentation-needed messages. The default is 0.

EnablePMTUDiscovery = "1"
Specifies whether the TCP/IP stack will attempt to perform path MTU discovery as specified in RFC 1191. The default is 1.

GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize = "7FFF" hex (or 32767 decimal)
Specifies the system maximum receive window size advertised by the TCP/IP stack.

TcpMaxDupAcks = "2"
Determines the number of duplicate ACKs that must be received for the same sequence number of sent data before "fast retransmit" is triggered.

SackOpts = "1"
Enables support for selective acknowledgements as documented by Request for Comment (RFC) 2018. Default is 0.

Tcp1323Opts = "1"
Controls RFC 1323 time stamps and window scaling options. Possible values are: "0" = disable RFC 1323 options, "1" = window scale enabled only, "2" = time stamps enabled only and "3" = both options enabled.

TcpWindowSize = "7FFF" hex (or 32767 decimal)
Specifies the receive window size advertised by the TCP/IP stack. If you have a latent network you can try increasing the value to 93440, 186880, or 372300.

Exit your registry and restart Windows for the changes to take effect.

If you dont want to edit the registry, here's a little TCP utility that is ideal...

http://www.broadbandreports.com/front/doctorping.zip

ANOTHER guide!!

2008-04-16T17:01:00.001+05:30
With my post I would like to share with all of you, my resources when it comes to downloading USEFUL things from the internet. Some of these things are useful to chuck on cds/dvds and others are useful to use he he he

Most of your know about P2P using programs such as kazaa, edonkey and what not. This is what everyone uses. (EVEN ME WHEN THE BELOW 3 FAIL or I want old and obscure stuff that only some weirdo in Kazakhistan may have). If you are going to use Kazaa, use kazaalite as it has no spyware

Before you download any files i recommend that you get the K-Lite Coded Pack that contains in a single file all the codecs for most media file types that you are likely to download and use. The address to the site is
CODE
http://doa2.host.sk/codecs/
. The site also contains alternatives to Apple Quicktime and Real Player which run more efficiently and are less annoying, especially Real player and the forcefull advertising.

People that are serious about downloading useful quality stuff usually don't use those sort of programs.

Your 3 best friends are FTP, IRC & Bittorrents and as of lately DC++!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The tools which you will need are:

An IRC client:
CODE
www.mirc.com

An FTP client:
CODE
www.flashfxp.com

and a bittorent client:
CODE
http://azureus.sourceforge.net/

PART 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I highly recommend DC++?? which you can download from
CODE
http://dcplusplus.sourceforge.net/
its basically like kazaa and similar.

In Aussie Land this is the program that you MUST have if you want to leech at big LANs. everyone shares using this program and you search, browse users shared folders and download. Very Handy.

Even more handy is that fact that you can also use it on the internet to connect to various networks (HUBS) and get stuff from ppl that share 300+ gigs of stuff. yeh AMAZING.

I have played around with this program and highly recommend it now. The amount of content you can get from it is astonishing. The only setting up that you need is to allow a certain port to be open with both (tcp (used for file transfers) and udp (used for searching) allowed. You can specify this in your firewall if you have one, otherwise don't worry (note: winxp has a firewall enabled by default). I also recommend that you share, as many HUBs wil not allow you to connect to them otherwise. When you open up a port you run in Active mode ( others connect to you) you can also run in passive mode (you connect to other people). So why not run in passive mode all the time ? because if 2 people are in passive mode, you will not be able to connect to one another.

When you connect to a hub you and do a search, tick display results with open slots only. and thats it. You can also browse peoples share folders, if you right click on one of their results and select "get file list"

For Help, please refer to About, Help / Newbie Help

Please read this file as it is short, and nicely summarises all the options and available commands. Also just click around (right clicking is good) and see what you can do.

typing /fav in the chat window will add the current hub to your favourites (very usefull)

What I do not like about this program is that, you are not able to download the same file from a number of people, or resume the same file from another person like you can in other programs. In the latest version you are unable to limit your upload rate, and can in this way, slow your connection down to a crawl. Lastly you are only able to get one file (or directory) at a time from a single person, without the ability to queue a number of files (or directories).

So if that person has a lot of things that you may want, it could be very annoying to get them from them. However I do like the fact that you can connect to a number of hubs at the same time, and easily search all of them or only one of them (you can select) with a single search.

PS. this program is made for people on broadband only, in fact i don't think any hubs will even let you connect on a dial-up connection. Bad luck to all you turtles.

All mIRC Commands

2008-04-16T16:49:00.000+05:30
/ Recalls the previous command entered in the current window.
/! Recalls the last command typed in any window.
/action {action text} Sends the specifed action to the active channel or query window.
/add [-apuce] {filename.ini} Loads aliases, popups, users, commands, and events.
/ame {action text} Sends the specifed action to all channels which you are currently on.
/amsg {text} Sends the specifed message to all channels which you are currently on.
/auser {level} {nick|address} Adds a user with the specified access level to the remote users
list.
/auto [on|off|nickname|address] Toggles auto-opping of a nick or address or sets it on or off
totally.
/away {away message} Sets you away leave a message explaining that you are not currently paying
attention to IRC.
/away Sets you being back.
/ban [#channel] {nickname} [type] Bans the specified nick from the curent or given channel.
/beep {number} {delay} Locally beeps 'number' times with 'delay' in between the beeps. /channel
Pops up the channel central window (only works in a channel).
/clear Clears the entire scrollback buffer of the current window.
/ctcp {nickname} {ping|finger|version|time|userinfo|clientinfo} Does the given ctcp request on
nickname.
/closemsg {nickname} Closes the query window you have open to the specified nick.
/creq [ask | auto | ignore] Sets your DCC 'On Chat request' settings in DCC/Options.
/dcc send {nickname} {file1} {file2} {file3} ... {fileN} Sends the specified files to nick.
/dcc chat {nickname} Opens a dcc window and sends a dcc chat request to nickname.
/describe {#channel} {action text} Sends the specifed action to the specified channel window.
/dde [-r] {service} {topic} {item} [data] Allows DDE control between mIRC and other
applications.
/ddeserver [on [service name] | off] To turn on the DDE server mode, eventually with a given
service name.
/disable {#groupname} De-activates a group of commands or events.
/disconnect Forces a hard and immediate disconnect from your IRC server. Use it with care.
/dlevel {level} Changes the default user level in the remote section.
/dns {nickname | IP address | IP name} Uses your providers DNS to resolve an IP address.
/echo [nickname|#channel|status] {text} Displays the given text only to YOU on the given place
in color N.
/enable {#groupname} Activates a group of commands or events.
/events [on|off] Shows the remote events status or sets it to listening or not.
/exit Forces mIRC to closedown and exit.
/finger Does a finger on a users address.
/flood [{numberoflines} {seconds} {pausetime}] Sets a crude flood control method.
/fsend [on|off] Shows fsends status and allows you to turn dcc fast send on or off.
/fserve {nickname} {maxgets} {homedirectory} [welcome text file] Opens a fileserver.
/guser {level} {nick} [type] Adds the user to the user list with the specified level and
address type.
/help {keyword} Brings up the Basic IRC Commands section in the mIRC help file.
/ignore [on|off|nickname|address] Toggles ignoring of a nick or address or sets it on or off
totally.
/invite {nickname} {#channel} Invites another user to a channel.
/join {#channel} Makes you join the specified channel.
/kick {#channel} {nickname} Kicks nickname off a given channel.
/list [#string] [-min #] [-max #] Lists all currently available channels, evt. filtering for
parameters.
/log [on|off] Shows the logging status or sets it on or off for the current window.
/me {action text} Sends the specifed action to the active channel or query window.
/mode {#channel|nickname} [[+|-]modechars [parameters]] Sets channel or user modes.
/msg {nickname} {message} Send a private message to this user without opening a query window.
/names {#channel} Shows the nicks of all people on the given channel.
/nick {new nickname} Changes your nickname to whatever you like.
/notice {nick} {message} Send the specified notice message to the nick.
/notify [on|off|nickname] Toggles notifying you of a nick on IRC or sets it on or off totally.
/onotice [#channel] {message} Send the specified notice message to all channel ops.
/omsg [#channel] {message} Send the specified message to all ops on a channel.
/part {#channel} Makes you leave the specified channel.
/partall Makes you leave all channels you are on.
/ping {server address} Pings the given server. NOT a nickname.
/play [-c] {filename} [delay] Allows you to send text files to a window.
/pop {delay} [#channel] {nickname} Performs a randomly delayed +o on a not already opped nick.
/protect [on|off|nickname|address] Toggles protection of a nick or address or sets it on or off
totally.
/query {nickname} {message} Open a query window to this user and send them the private message.
/quit [reason] Disconnect you from IRC with the optional byebye message.
/raw {raw command} Sends any raw command you supply directly to the server. Use it with care!!
/remote [on|off] Shows the remote commands status or sets it to listening or not.
/rlevel {access level} Removes all users from the remote users list with the specified access
level.
/run {c:\path\program.exe} [parameters] Runs the specified program, evt. with parameters.
/ruser {nick[!]|address} [type] Removes the user from the remote users list.
/save {filename.ini} Saves remote sections into a specified INI file.
/say {text} Says whatever you want to the active window.
/server [server address [port] [password]] Reconnects to the previous server or a newly
specified one.
/sound [nickname|#channel] {filename.wav} {action text} Sends an action and a fitting sound.
/speak {text} Uses the external text to speech program Monologue to speak up the text.
/sreq [ask | auto | ignore] Sets your DCC 'On Send request' settings in DCC/Options.
/time Tells you the time on the server you use.
/timer[N] {repetitions} {interval in seconds} {command} [| {more commands}] Activates a timer.
/topic {#channel} {newtopic} Changes the topic for the specified channel.
/ulist [{|}]{level} Lists all users in the remote list with the specified access levels.
/url [-d] Opens the URL windows that allows you to surf the www parallel to IRC.
/uwho [nick] Pops up the user central with information about the specified user.
/who {#channel} Shows the nicks of all people on the given channel.
/who {*address.string*} Shows all people on IRC with a matching address.
/whois {nickname} Shows information about someone in the status window.
/whowas {nickname} Shows information about someone who -just- left IRC.
/wavplay {c:\path\sound.wav} Locally plays the specified wave file.
/write [-cidl] {filename} [text] To write the specified text to a .txt file.

MoViEBoT #xdcc-help /server irc.atomic-irc.net

Go Free for Legal :

2008-04-14T21:11:00.001+05:30
Here's a list of some commercial software, and their open source equivalents :
Commercial Open source Exists on Windows?

Adobe Illustrator (~$500) Inkscape Yes

Adobe InDesign (~$700) Scribus Yes

Adobe Photoshop (~$600) The GIMP Yes

Adobe Premiere (~$800) Kino, Cinelerra No

Adobe Reader (free) Evince, Kpdf, GV No

Apple iTunes (free) AmaroK, Rhythmbox, Banshee No

Autodesk 3ds Max (~$3500) Blender Yes

Autodesk Maya (~$7000) Blender Yes

Kazaa (free) aMule, eMule Yes

Microsoft Excel (~$200) OpenOffice Spreadsheet Yes

Microsoft Internet Explorer (free) Firefox, Konqueror Yes

Microsoft Office (~$400) OpenOffice Yes

Microsoft Outlook (free) Thunderbird, Evolution, KMail Yes

Microsoft Powerpoint (~$200) OpenOffice Presentation Yes

Microsoft Windows Media Player (free) Mplayer, VLC, Totem, Kaffeine, Xine Yes

Microsoft Word (~$200) OpenOffice Word Processor Yes

MSN Messenger (free) Pidgin, Kopete, aMSN Yes

Nero (~$100) K3b, Gnomebaker No

Palm Desktop (free) Gnome-Pilot, KPilot No

Quark XPress (~$800) Scribus Yes

QuickTime Player (free) Mplayer, VLC, Totem, Kaffeine, Xine Yes

Winamp (free) AmaroK, Rhythmbox, Banshee No

Why is LINUX better?

2008-04-14T21:05:00.002+05:30
>Forget Viruses

>THE MOST STABLE OS's OUT THERE ARE LINUX BASED!!

>Dont pay $300 for your OS

>FREEDOM as in FREE

>Almost no fragmentation of your disk! This results in max performance!

>Tired of restarting all the time?

>GET a LIFE !

OpenSUSE 10.3 ROCKS!!!!

2008-04-14T21:01:00.003+05:30
yaw ppl. Im writing this form within openSUSE 10.3 and I gotta admit, this OS ROCKS!!! Its got everything of what you would expect in windows - the piracy !!

> A gr8 office suite (http://openoffice.org)

> Easy YaST installations, easier than Windows Setup!!

>An intuitive interface that hides the underlying power, yet doesnt compromise flexibility

>Very easy to use even for a novice XP user!

> NOT hard on resources. You can run this OS with 128 megs of RAM!

> Wine compatible. That means, you can run all your Windows games, apps from within Linux!!

Bulk Editing Of .xxx to .zip or .mp3

2008-04-13T08:58:00.001+05:30
let us say you have just download a new album or game
but all the files are .xxx and you need them to be
zip's, rar's, mp3's etc.....
then do the following

-create a new folder
-put all the files needing editing in the new folder
-then goto "run" in the start menu
-type in CMD and click ok

-the next thing needsa few bits of old dos commands
-you need to navagate CMD to the folder whree the files are
-you can do this by 1st getting the total adress of the folder
-and then typing it in cmd with a "cd" in frount
QUOTE
cd c:\xxx\yyy\ccc\

once you in the folder where the files are you can move on
nb u can cheek you in the right folder by typing dir to get a list of files

-now type in....
QUOTE
rename *.* *.zip

Nb change the zip to what ever the extention needs to be (.rar, .mp3 ect)

all done
you should hv now changed the .* to what ever you needed

nb to exit CMD type in "exit"

Burn a BIN without a CUE using NERO

2008-04-13T08:57:00.002+05:30
You've downloaded a *.BIN file, but there was no *.CUE file associated and you still want to burn the *.BIN file using Nero

Your options are:

1) Create yourself a *.CUE

2) Convert the *.BIN to an *.ISO

3) OR use Nero to burn without the *.CUE file!!!

Yes, that's possible... just follow these steps and you will be sorted. No need for *.CUE files anymore

Ok, here we go...

1) Start Nero

2) File -> Burn Image

3) Browse to the *.BIN file that you want to burn and open it

4) A window saying "Foreign Image Settings" will open

5) Check the settings. They should be as followed:

* Type of image: leave it to Data Mode 1
* Select the Raw Data check box
Note ->> The block size will change automatically from 2048 to 2352
* Leave Image Header and Image Trailer unchanged and set to 0
* Leave "Scrambled" and "Swapped" check boxes unchecked

6) Click on burn!

7) Enjoy

This tut was for Nero 5.x.x.x, I was told that "Burn Image" is under "recorder" in Nero 6. The rest of the steps should be the same...
xkalibur

Burn a BIN without a CUE using NERO

2008-04-13T08:57:00.001+05:30
You've downloaded a *.BIN file, but there was no *.CUE file associated and you still want to burn the *.BIN file using Nero

Your options are:

1) Create yourself a *.CUE

2) Convert the *.BIN to an *.ISO

3) OR use Nero to burn without the *.CUE file!!!

Yes, that's possible... just follow these steps and you will be sorted. No need for *.CUE files anymore

Ok, here we go...

1) Start Nero

2) File -> Burn Image

3) Browse to the *.BIN file that you want to burn and open it

4) A window saying "Foreign Image Settings" will open

5) Check the settings. They should be as followed:

* Type of image: leave it to Data Mode 1
* Select the Raw Data check box
Note ->> The block size will change automatically from 2048 to 2352
* Leave Image Header and Image Trailer unchanged and set to 0
* Leave "Scrambled" and "Swapped" check boxes unchecked

6) Click on burn!

7) Enjoy

This tut was for Nero 5.x.x.x, I was told that "Burn Image" is under "recorder" in Nero 6. The rest of the steps should be the same...

BIOS beep code manual !

2008-04-13T08:56:00.001+05:30
Beep Code Manual, Better Than Gold Techies, American Megatrends Int. & Phoenix

(I'm IT, I use these codes to trouble shoot hardware issues at my job. Enjoy) cold.gif

BIOS Beep Codes

When a computer is first turned on, or rebooted, its BIOS performs a power-on self test (POST) to test the system's hardware, checking to make sure that all of the system's hardware components are working properly. Under normal circumstances, the POST will display an error message; however, if the BIOS detects an error before it can access the video card, or if there is a problem with the video card, it will produce a series of beeps, and the pattern of the beeps indicates what kind of problem the BIOS has detected.
Because there are many brands of BIOS, there are no standard beep codes for every BIOS.

The two most-used brands are AMI (American Megatrends International) and Phoenix.

Below are listed the beep codes for AMI systems, and here are the beep codes for Phoenix systems.

AMI Beep Codes

Beep Code Meaning
1 beep DRAM refresh failure. There is a problem in the system memory or the motherboard.
2 beeps Memory parity error. The parity circuit is not working properly.
3 beeps Base 64K RAM failure. There is a problem with the first 64K of system memory.
4 beeps System timer not operational. There is problem with the timer(s) that control functions on the motherboard.
5 beeps Processor failure. The system CPU has failed.
6 beeps Gate A20/keyboard controller failure. The keyboard IC controller has failed, preventing gate A20 from switching the processor to protect mode.
7 beeps Virtual mode exception error.
8 beeps Video memory error. The BIOS cannot write to the frame buffer memory on the video card.
9 beeps ROM checksum error. The BIOS ROM chip on the motherboard is likely faulty.
10 beeps CMOS checksum error. Something on the motherboard is causing an error when trying to interact with the CMOS.
11 beeps Bad cache memory. An error in the level 2 cache memory.
1 long beep, 2 short Failure in the video system.
1 long beep, 3 short A failure has been detected in memory above 64K.
1 long beep, 8 short Display test failure.
Continuous beeping A problem with the memory or video.
BIOS Beep Codes

Phoenix Beep Codes

Phoenix uses sequences of beeps to indicate problems. The "-" between each number below indicates a pause between each beep sequence. For example, 1-2-3 indicates one beep, followed by a pause and two beeps, followed by a pause and three beeps. Phoenix version before 4.x use 3-beep codes, while Phoenix versions starting with 4.x use 4-beep codes. Click here for AMI BIOS beep codes.
4-Beep Codes
Beep Code Meaning
1-1-1-3 Faulty CPU/motherboard. Verify real mode.
1-1-2-1 Faulty CPU/motherboard.
1-1-2-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
1-1-3-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components. Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values.
1-1-3-2 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
1-1-3-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components. Initialize CPU registers.
1-1-3-2
1-1-3-3
1-1-3-4 Failure in the first 64K of memory.
1-1-4-1 Level 2 cache error.
1-1-4-3 I/O port error.
1-2-1-1 Power management error.
1-2-1-2
1-2-1-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
1-2-2-1 Keyboard controller failure.
1-2-2-3 BIOS ROM error.
1-2-3-1 System timer error.
1-2-3-3 DMA error.
1-2-4-1 IRQ controller error.
1-3-1-1 DRAM refresh error.
1-3-1-3 A20 gate failure.
1-3-2-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
1-3-3-1 Extended memory error.
1-3-3-3
1-3-4-1
1-3-4-3 Error in first 1MB of system memory.
1-4-1-3
1-4-2-4 CPU error.
1-4-3-1
2-1-4-1 BIOS ROM shadow error.
1-4-3-2
1-4-3-3 Level 2 cache error.
1-4-4-1
1-4-4-2
2-1-1-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
2-1-1-3
2-1-2-1 IRQ failure.
2-1-2-3 BIOS ROM error.
2-1-2-4
2-1-3-2 I/O port failure.
2-1-3-1
2-1-3-3 Video system failure.
2-1-1-3
2-1-2-1 IRQ failure.
2-1-2-3 BIOS ROM error.
2-1-2-4 I/O port failure.
2-1-4-3
2-2-1-1 Video card failure.
2-2-1-3
2-2-2-1
2-2-2-3 Keyboard controller failure.
2-2-3-1 IRQ error.
2-2-4-1 Error in first 1MB of system memory.
2-3-1-1
2-3-3-3 Extended memory failure.
2-3-2-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
2-3-2-3
2-3-3-1 Level 2 cache error.
2-3-4-1
2-3-4-3 Motherboard or video card failure.
2-3-4-1
2-3-4-3
2-4-1-1 Motherboard or video card failure.
2-4-1-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
2-4-2-1 RTC error.
2-4-2-3 Keyboard controller error.
2-4-4-1 IRQ error.
3-1-1-1
3-1-1-3
3-1-2-1
3-1-2-3 I/O port error.
3-1-3-1
3-1-3-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
3-1-4-1
3-2-1-1
3-2-1-2 Floppy drive or hard drive failure.
3-2-1-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
3-2-2-1 Keyboard controller error.
3-2-2-3
3-2-3-1
3-2-4-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
3-2-4-3 IRQ error.
3-3-1-1 RTC error.
3-3-1-3 Key lock error.
3-3-3-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
3-3-3-3
3-3-4-1
3-3-4-3
3-4-1-1
3-4-1-3
3-4-2-1
3-4-2-3
3-4-3-1
3-4-4-1
3-4-4-4 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
4-1-1-1 Floppy drive or hard drive failure.
4-2-1-1
4-2-1-3
4-2-2-1 IRQ failure.
4-2-2-3
4-2-3-1
4-2-3-3
4-2-4-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
4-2-4-3 Keyboard controller error.
4-3-1-3
4-3-1-4
4-3-2-1
4-3-2-2
4-3-3-1
4-3-4-1
4-3-4-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
4-3-3-2
4-3-3-4 IRQ failure.
4-3-3-3
4-3-4-2 Floppy drive or hard drive failure.
3-Beep Codes
Beep Code Meaning
1-1-2 Faulty CPU/motherboard.
1-1-3 Faulty motherboard/CMOS read-write failure.
1-1-4 Faulty BIOS/BIOS ROM checksum error.
1-2-1 System timer not operational. There is a problem with the timer(s) that control functions on the motherboard.
1-2-2
1-2-3 Faulty motherboard/DMA failure.
1-3-1 Memory refresh failure.
1-3-2
1-3-3
1-3-4 Failure in the first 64K of memory.
1-4-1 Address line failure.
1-4-2 Parity RAM failure.
1-4-3 Timer failure.
1-4-4 NMI port failure.
2-_-_ Any combination of beeps after 2 indicates a failure in the first 64K of memory.
3-1-1 Master DMA failure.
3-1-2 Slave DMA failure.
3-1-3
3-1-4 Interrupt controller failure.
3-2-4 Keyboard controller failure.
3-3-1
3-3-2 CMOS error.
3-3-4 Video card failure.
3-4-1 Video card failure.
4-2-1 Timer failure.
4-2-2 CMOS shutdown failure.
4-2-3 Gate A20 failure.
4-2-4 Unexpected interrupt in protected mode.
4-3-1 RAM test failure.
4-3-3 Timer failure.
4-3-4 Time of day clock failure.
4-4-1 Serial port failure.
4-4-2 Parallel port failure.
4-4-3 Math coprocessor.

BandWidth Explained

2008-04-08T19:33:00.001+05:30

Most hosting companies offer a variety of bandwidth options in their plans. So exactly what is bandwidth as it relates to web hosting? Put simply, bandwidth is the amount of traffic that is allowed to occur between your web site and the rest of the internet. The amount of bandwidth a hosting company can provide is determined by their network connections, both internal to their data center and external to the public internet.

Network Connectivity

The internet, in the most simplest of terms, is a group of millions of computers connected by networks. These connections within the internet can be large or small depending upon the cabling and equipment that is used at a particular internet location. It is the size of each network connection that determines how much bandwidth is available. For example, if you use a DSL connection to connect to the internet, you have 1.54 Mega bits (Mb) of bandwidth. Bandwidth therefore is measured in bits (a single 0 or 1). Bits are grouped in bytes which form words, text, and other information that is transferred between your computer and the internet.

If you have a DSL connection to the internet, you have dedicated bandwidth between your computer and your internet provider. But your internet provider may have thousands of DSL connections to their location. All of these connection aggregate at your internet provider who then has their own dedicated connection to the internet (or multiple connections) which is much larger than your single connection. They must have enough bandwidth to serve your computing needs as well as all of their other customers. So while you have a 1.54Mb connection to your internet provider, your internet provider may have a 255Mb connection to the internet so it can accommodate your needs and up to 166 other users (255/1.54).

Traffic

A very simple analogy to use to understand bandwidth and traffic is to think of highways and cars. Bandwidth is the number of lanes on the highway and traffic is the number of cars on the highway. If you are the only car on a highway, you can travel very quickly. If you are stuck in the middle of rush hour, you may travel very slowly since all of the lanes are being used up.

Traffic is simply the number of bits that are transferred on network connections. It is easiest to understand traffic using examples. One Gigabyte is 2 to the 30th power (1,073,741,824) bytes. One gigabyte is equal to 1,024 megabytes. To put this in perspective, it takes one byte to store one character. Imagine 100 file cabinets in a building, each of these cabinets holds 1000 folders. Each folder has 100 papers. Each paper contains 100 characters - A GB is all the characters in the building. An MP3 song is about 4MB, the same song in wav format is about 40MB, a full length movie can be 800MB to 1000MB (1000MB = 1GB).

If you were to transfer this MP3 song from a web site to your computer, you would create 4MB of traffic between the web site you are downloading from and your computer. Depending upon the network connection between the web site and the internet, the transfer may occur very quickly, or it could take time if other people are also downloading files at the same time. If, for example, the web site you download from has a 10MB connection to the internet, and you are the only person accessing that web site to download your MP3, your 4MB file will be the only traffic on that web site. However, if three people are all downloading that same MP at the same time, 12MB (3 x 4MB) of traffic has been created. Because in this example, the host only has 10MB of bandwidth, someone will have to wait. The network equipment at the hosting company will cycle through each person downloading the file and transfer a small portion at a time so each person's file transfer can take place, but the transfer for everyone downloading the file will be slower. If 100 people all came to the site and downloaded the MP3 at the same time, the transfers would be extremely slow. If the host wanted to decrease the time it took to download files simultaneously, it could increase the bandwidth of their internet connection (at a cost due to upgrading equipment).

Hosting Bandwidth

In the example above, we discussed traffic in terms of downloading an MP3 file. However, each time you visit a web site, you are creating traffic, because in order to view that web page on your computer, the web page is first downloaded to your computer (between the web site and you) which is then displayed using your browser software (Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc.) . The page itself is simply a file that creates traffic just like the MP3 file in the example above (however, a web page is usually much smaller than a music file).

A web page may be very small or large depending upon the amount of text and the number and quality of images integrated within the web page. For example, the home page for CNN.com is about 200KB (200 Kilobytes = 200,000 bytes = 1,600,000 bits). This is typically large for a web page. In comparison, Yahoo's home page is about 70KB.

How Much Bandwidth Is Enough?

It depends (don't you hate that answer). But in truth, it does. Since bandwidth is a significant determinant of hosting plan prices, you should take time to determine just how much is right for you. Almost all hosting plans have bandwidth requirements measured in months, so you need to estimate the amount of bandwidth that will be required by your site on a monthly basis

If you do not intend to provide file download capability from your site, the formula for calculating bandwidth is fairly straightforward:

Average Daily Visitors x Average Page Views x Average Page Size x 31 x Fudge Factor

If you intend to allow people to download files from your site, your bandwidth calculation should be:

[(Average Daily Visitors x Average Page Views x Average Page Size) +
(Average Daily File Downloads x Average File Size)] x 31 x Fudge Factor

Let us examine each item in the formula:

Average Daily Visitors - The number of people you expect to visit your site, on average, each day. Depending upon how you market your site, this number could be from 1 to 1,000,000.

Average Page Views - On average, the number of web pages you expect a person to view. If you have 50 web pages in your web site, an average person may only view 5 of those pages each time they visit.

Average Page Size - The average size of your web pages, in Kilobytes (KB). If you have already designed your site, you can calculate this directly.

Average Daily File Downloads - The number of downloads you expect to occur on your site. This is a function of the numbers of visitors and how many times a visitor downloads a file, on average, each day.

Average File Size - Average file size of files that are downloadable from your site. Similar to your web pages, if you already know which files can be downloaded, you can calculate this directly.

Fudge Factor - A number greater than 1. Using 1.5 would be safe, which assumes that your estimate is off by 50%. However, if you were very unsure, you could use 2 or 3 to ensure that your bandwidth requirements are more than met.

Usually, hosting plans offer bandwidth in terms of Gigabytes (GB) per month. This is why our formula takes daily averages and multiplies them by 31.

Summary

Most personal or small business sites will not need more than 1GB of bandwidth per month. If you have a web site that is composed of static web pages and you expect little traffic to your site on a daily basis, go with a low bandwidth plan. If you go over the amount of bandwidth allocated in your plan, your hosting company could charge you over usage fees, so if you think the traffic to your site will be significant, you may want to go through the calculations above to estimate the amount of bandwidth required in a hosting plan.

Configuring your Bulletproof FTP Server Tutorial

2008-04-08T19:32:00.001+05:30
I am not sure where I found this tutorial, It’s been a while…It might even have been here... ..So if it is one of yours, my hat goes off to you once again....

After reading the excellent tutorial on "Creating an FTP" that Norway posted…

(I would suggest reading and following his tutorial first, then following up with this one)

I thought that perhaps this tutorial might be pretty helpful for those interested in knowing how to configure their Bulletproof FTP Server that don't already know how... Here's how to get started…

This is for the BulletProof FTP Server 2.10. However, It should work fine on most following versions as well.

I'm assuming you have it installed and cracked.

Basics
1. Start the program.
2. Click on Setup > Main > General from the pull-down menu.
3. Enter your server name into the 'Server Name' box. Under Connection set the “Max number of users" to any number. This is the limit as to how many users can be on your sever at any time.
4. Click on the 'options' tab of that same panel (on the side)
5. Look at the bottom, under IP Options. Put a check in the box “Refuse Multiple Connections from the same IP”. This will prevent one person from blocking your FTP to others.
6. Also put a check in the 'Blocked Banned IP (instead of notifying client). VERY IMPORTANT! If somebody decides to 'Hammer' (attempt to login numerous times VERY quickly) your server/computer may CRASH if you don't enable this.
7. Click on the 'advanced' tab
8. At the bottom again look at the 'hammering area'
9. Enable 'anti-hammer' and 'do not reply to people hammering' Set it for the following: Block IP 120 min if 5 connections in 60 sec. You can set this at whatever you want to but that is pretty much a standard Click 'OK'

Adding Users
11. Setup > User accounts form pull-down.
12. Right click in the empty 'User Accounts' area on the right: choose 'Add'
13. Enter account name. (ie: logon name)
14. In the 'Access rights' box right click: choose ‘Add’.
15. Browse until you find the directory (folder) you want to share. In the right column you will see a bunch of checkboxes. Put a check in the following ones: Read, Write, Append, Make, List, and +Subdirs. Press 'select'.
16. Enter a password for your new FTP account.
17. Click on 'Miscellaneous' in the left column. Make sure 'Enable Account' is selected. Enable 'Max Number of Users' set it at a number other than zero. 1 for a personal account and more that one for a group account. Enable 'Max. no. of connects per IP' set it at 1

18. Under 'Files' enable 'show relative path' this is a security issue. A FTP client will now not be able to see the ENTIRE path of the FTP. It will only see the path from the main directory. Hide hidden flies as well.
Put a tick in both of these.

Advanced:
You don't need to do any of this stuff, but It will help tweak your server and help you maintain order on it. All of the following will be broken down into small little areas that will tell you how to do one thing at a time.

Changing the Port
The default port is always 21, but you can change this. Many ISPs will routinely do a scan of its own users to find a ftp server, also when people scan for pubs they may scan your IP, thus finding your ftp server. If you do decide to change it many suggest that you make the port over 10,000.
1. Setup > Main > General
2. In the 'Connection' Area is a setting labeled 'Listen on Port Number:'
3. Make it any number you want. That will be your port number.
4. Click 'OK'

Making an 'Upload Only' or 'Download Only' ftp server.
This is for the entire SERVER, not just a user.
1. Setup > Main > Advanced
2. In the advanced window you will have the following options: uploads and downloads, downloads only, and uploads only. By default upload and download will be checked. Change it to whatever you want.
3. Click 'OK’

While you are running your server, usually you will end up spending more time at your computer than you normally do. Don't be afraid to ban IP's. Remember, on your FTP you do as you want.

When you are online you must also select the open server button next to the on-line button which is the on-line Button

You also have to use the actual Numbered ip Address ie: 66.250.216.67

Or even Better yet, get a no-ip.com address

Broken IE?

2008-04-08T19:31:00.000+05:30
So one of your friends, “not you of course”, has managed to nuke Internet Explorer and they are unsure how they did it. You’ve eliminated the possibility of viruses and adware, so this just leaves you and a broken IE. Before you begin to even consider running a repair install of the OS, let’s try to do a repair on IE instead.

THE REPAIR PROCESS

Start the Registry Editor by typing regedit from the Run box. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Active Setup \ Installed Components \ {89820200-ECBD-11cf-8B85-00AA005B4383} and then right-click the “IsInstalled value.” Click Modify. From there, you will change the value from 1 to 0. All right, go ahead and close the editor and reinstall IE from this location. /http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx

IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG

If messing with the registry and something goes horribly wrong, you can use “Last Known Good Configuration (F8 Safe Mode)” or a Restore Point to get back to where you were before, with your settings. Then you can try again, this time taking care to watch the portion of the registry you are changing. Most people who have troubles with this end up changing the wrong registry key.

Hope this tut helps some members.

Anonymity of Proxy

2008-04-08T19:30:00.000+05:30
The exchange of information in Internet is made by the "client - server" model. A client sends a request (what files he needs) and a server sends a reply (required files). For close cooperation (full understanding) between a client and a server the client sends additional information about itself: a version and a name of an operating system, configuration of a browser (including its name and version) etc. This information can be necessary for the server in order to know which web-page should be given (open) to the client. There are different variants of web-pages for different configurations of browsers. However, as long as web-pages do not usually depend on browsers, it makes sense to hide this information from the web-server.

What your browser transmits to a web-server:
a name and a version of an operating system
a name and a version of a browser
configuration of a browser (display resolution, color depth, java / javascript support, ...)
IP-address of a client
Other information

The most important part of such information (and absolutely needless for a web-server) is information about IP-address. Using your IP it is possible to know about you the following:
a country where you are from
a city
your provider?s name and e-mail
your physical address

Information, transmitted by a client to a server is available (accessible) for a server as environment variables. Every information unit is a value of some variable. If any information unit is not transmitted, then corresponding variable will be empty (its value will be undetermined).

These are some environment variables:

REMOTE_ADDR ? IP address of a client

HTTP_VIA ? if it is not empty, then a proxy is used. Value is an address (or several addresses) of a proxy server, this variable is added by a proxy server itself if you use one.

HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR ? if it is not empty, then a proxy is used. Value is a real IP address of a client (your IP), this variable is also added by a proxy server if you use one.

HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE ? what language is used in browser (what language a page should be displayed in)

HTTP_USER_AGENT ? so called "a user?s agent". For all browsers this is Mozilla. Furthermore, browser?s name and version (e.g. MSIE 5.5) and an operating system (e.g. Windows 98) is also mentioned here.

HTTP_HOST ? is a web server?s name

This is a small part of environment variables. In fact there are much more of them (DOCUMENT_ROOT, HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING, HTTP_CACHE_CONTROL, HTTP_CONNECTION, SERVER_ADDR, SERVER_SOFTWARE, SERVER_PROTOCOL, ...). Their quantity can depend on settings of both a server and a client.

These are examples of variable values:

REMOTE_ADDR = 194.85.1.1
HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE = ru
HTTP_USER_AGENT = Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Windows 98)
HTTP_HOST = www.webserver.ru
HTTP_VIA = 194.85.1.1 (Squid/2.4.STABLE7)
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = 194.115.5.5

Anonymity at work in Internet is determined by what environment variables "hide" from a web-server.

If a proxy server is not used, then environment variables look in the following way:

REMOTE_ADDR = your IP
HTTP_VIA = not determined
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = not determined

According to how environment variables "hided" by proxy servers, there are several types of proxies
Transparent Proxies

They do not hide information about your IP address:

REMOTE_ADDR = proxy IP
HTTP_VIA = proxy IP
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = your IP

The function of such proxy servers is not the improvement of your anonymity in Internet. Their purpose is information cashing, organization of joint access to Internet of several computers, etc.
Anonymous Proxies

All proxy servers, that hide a client?s IP address in any way are called anonymous proxies

Simple Anonymous Proxies

These proxy servers do not hide a fact that a proxy is used, however they replace your IP with its own:
REMOTE_ADDR = proxy IP
HTTP_VIA = proxy IP
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = proxy IP

These proxies are the most widespread among other anonymous proxy servers.

Distorting Proxies

As well as simple anonymous proxy servers these proxies do not hide the fact that a proxy server is used. However a client?s IP address (your IP address) is replaced with another (arbitrary, random) IP:

REMOTE_ADDR = proxy IP
HTTP_VIA = proxy IP
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = random IP address
High Anonymity Proxies

These proxy servers are also called "high anonymity proxy". In contrast to other types of anonymity proxy servers they hide a fact of using a proxy:

REMOTE_ADDR = proxy IP
HTTP_VIA = not determined
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = not determined

That means that values of variables are the same as if proxy is not used, with the exception of one very important thing ? proxy IP is used instead of your IP address.
Summary

Depending on purposes there are transparent and anonymity proxies. However, remember, using proxy servers you hide only your IP from a web-server, but other information (about browser configuration) is accessible!

The 100th POST!!!

2008-04-04T18:42:00.004+05:30
Hi everyone... This is the 100 th post on this blog!!! Thanks for your support all these days.

NOW, back to work!! Ill be writing even more articles from now on guys, so make sure you return. Im determined more than ever to bring you what you want...

If you havent checked my previous articles, check the Archives on the right coloumn of this very blog!

Anonymity

I can see you hiding in the shadows over there and so can the logs of all the web sites, FTP servers and other nooks and crannies you visit on the web. The sort of information gathered by these logs and which is available to the webmasters of the sites you visit include the address of the previous site you visited, your IP address, your computer's ID name, your physical location and the name of your ISP along with less personal details such as the operating system you're using and your screen resolution. If someone was snooping through your dustbin to gather information on consumer trends or tracking your every move to see where it is you go everyday you wouldn't be too chuffed would you. Well the web is no different, it's still an invasion of privacy and a threat to security and you don't have to put up with it.

Proxy servers:
Every time you visit a web site, detailed information about your system is automatically provided to the webmaster. This information can be used by hackers to exploit your computer or can be forwarded to the market research departments of consumer corporations who by tracking your activities on the internet are better equipped to direct more relevant spam at you. Your best defence against this is to use what is known as a proxy server, which will hide revealing information from the web sites you visit, allowing you to surf the web anonymously. These work by altering the way in which your browser retrieves web pages or connects to remote servers. With a proxy server set up, whenever you 'ask' IE or Netscape to look at a web page, the request is first sent through an external server which is completely independent of your ISP's servers. This third party server then does the requesting on your behalf so that it appears that the request came from them rather than you and your real IP address is never disclosed to the sites you visit. There is nothing to download and the whole process takes less than a minute.

There are two different ways to use proxy servers and both have their advantages and disadvantages. The first method is to use a web based service. What this involves is visiting the proxy's home page each time you want to browse a web site anonymously. The core component of such a system is the dialog box where you enter the address of the web site you want to visit. Each time you enter the URL of the site you want to browse via the proxy into this box, your personal information, IP address and so on is first encrypted before being sent to the site allowing you to maintain your anonymity. Two of the best examples of this type of web based proxy service are Code:
hxxp://www.rewebber.com/
and hxxp://www.anonymizer.com/.

Obviously one disadvantage of using a web based service like Rewebber or Anonymizer, however, is that you have to visit the proxies home page each time you want to surf anonymously. You could choose to select this page as your default home page, but it's still quite awkward if you're forever site hopping at the speed of light. The second main 'con' is that you often have to put up with extra adverts on the pages you visit. These are automatically inserted into the pages by the proxy - they have to pay for service somehow. More sophisticated and convenient solutions are also on offer yet they come with a price tag.

The second method you can use to protect your privacy via a proxy server involves adjusting the settings of your web browser so that you can surf anonymously without having to visit the home page of your proxy each time. To do this you will first need to know the name of your proxy server and the port number it uses. This information can be gleaned from either a public proxy server list or the FAQ referring to a private subscription based service. Once you have the name of the proxy server you wish to use, select 'Internet Options' from the 'Tools' menu of your browser. Now select 'Connections' followed by 'Settings' and tick the 'use a proxy server' check box. To finish the job all you have to do now is enter the name of the server in the 'address' box, the port which it uses in the 'port' box and go forth and surf anonymously.

Free, manual proxy servers as advertised on anonymity sites, if you can find one at all, are likely to be highly oversubscribed, and as a result the speed at which they retrieve web pages can deteriorate. In which case you can go in pursuit of a public proxy server list and select an alternative from it, which can then be set up manually. To locate such a list you can investigate sites such as Code:
hxxp://www.proxys4all.com/

however, this method isn't problem free either, so before you get too carried away and go jumping on the anonymity bandwagon there are a few things you should be aware of. It's very easy to use proxies to protect your privacy, but often the disadvantages of using them far out weigh the benefits. You see, the problem is that, like the proxy servers provided Rewebber et al, free, public proxies are nearly all over subscribed and so they can slow down web browsing considerably. Digging out fast reliable proxy servers is an art form in itself and is a skill which takes considerable practice. You could find a list of public proxy servers and then experiment with each one until you find one that runs at a reasonable speed, but this can be very time consuming and frustrating. Instead, your search would be much more efficient if you got a dedicated program to carry out this task for you. There are literally dozens of proxy seeking programs around which can do just that, and many of them are available as freeware. What these do is scan the internet for public proxy servers. These servers are then tested for speed and anonymity (not all of them are truly anonymous, even if they claim to be!) and once you find one which suits your requirements you can select it as your default proxy with the click of a button.

One of the most significant advantages of using an automated tool to locate proxy servers is that you do not have to keep editing your proxy settings manually each time you wish to try out a new one. Instead, what you do is enter 'localhost' or '127.0.0.1' into the 'address' box and '8088' into the 'port' box of your browser's proxy settings menu and then forget about it. All future proxy switching is then orchestrated from within your proxy seeking software, which subsequently relays the information to your browser or whatever type of application you are attempting to make anonymous. For those of you who are curious 'localhost' and the IP address '127.0.0.1' are the names by which every computer on the internet refers to itself.
Here's a good selection of links, which should help you to get started - Code:
hxxp://www.a4proxy.com/ Anonymity 4 Proxy
hxxp://www.helgasoft.com/hiproxy/ Hi Proxy
hxxp://www.proxy-verifier.com/ Proxy Verifier
hxxp://www.photono-software.de/ Stealther.

You may find that even when using these programs you have difficulty finding good proxy servers. It is for this reason that many people choose only to use proxy servers temporarily whilst doing something which may land them in trouble with their ISP, or in a worst case scenario with the law. The most obvious example of a situation in which you would want to cover your tracks is when scanning for public FTP servers and subsequently uploading to them. Most other net activities are unlikely to incur serious consequences so under these circumstances you can safely surf the web without a proxy. If you're really serious about protecting your privacy, however, your best bet is probably to invest in a dedicated, stable proxy such as the ones offered by Code:
hxxp://www.ultimate-anonymity.com/ Ultimate Anonymity

These aren't free, but may be worth the expense if you aren't keen on continuously switching proxy servers.

Before splashing out though it may be worth checking if your current ISP has a proxy server of its own which you can use. These aren't there to help you to commit cyber crimes and get away with it, they actually have a legitimate purpose as well - otherwise they wouldn't exist. You see, proxy servers were originally designed to help speed up web page loading times. Proxy servers contain a cache of all the web pages which have been requested via the browsers of the people using the proxy. When someone surfs the web using a proxy, the proxy first checks to see if it already has a copy of the web page stored in its cache. If this version of the page is bang up to date, it is sent to your computer and appears in your browser. If the page found in the cache of the proxy server is older than the one stored on the server hosting the page, a new request to the web server is made and the page is updated in the cache of the proxy before being sent to you. Because these servers use very fast internet connections they can retrieve web pages at much greater speeds than you can via your modest home setup. If these servers are located physically nearer to your home than the web host servers you wish to retrieve web pages from, the speed at which you browse the web will be accelerated.

Anonymity - Cookies
One last important point you need to be aware of before jumping in with both feet is that different programs have to be setup in different ways before being able to make external connections via a proxy server. For example, you can surf the web anonymously by modifying the settings in Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator as explained earlier in this tutorial, but this will only affect your browser. If you then used Flash FXP to copy a batch of 0-day releases from one FTP server to another, this isn't going to protect you in the slightest. What you have to do is enter the name of the proxy server into each application you wish to make anonymous before making any external connections. This can usually be done by browsing through the preferences of your program to see if there is a 'use proxy server' option available. If there is, make sure you use it!

Cookies:
You have little to fear from the edible variety, but the digital ones can be a major threat to your security and privacy. A cookie is a tiny text file (usually less than 1kb in size), which is created and stored on your hard drive whenever you visit a dynamic (or an interactive if you like) web site. These are used to log your personal details so that you can access members only areas of web sites without having to type in a password every time, or to retain your customised settings so that they are available the next time you visit. If you're using a shared computer, anyone who visits the same site that you have previously logged in to can access your accounts. This is particularly worrying if you have entered your credit card details into a form on an e-commerce site. If your browser is set to automatically fill in these details whenever you
return to a previously visited site, this information could be clearly visible - you don't need me to explain the problems this could entail.

The solution to this problem is to delete any cookies which contain sensitive data once you have completed your transactions. Your cookies will be stored in a different place depending on which operating system you are using so you will have to use your detective skills to find them. As an example, in Windows XP they are located in your 'c:\Documents and Settings\Kylie Minogue\Cookies' directory (that is if your name is Kylie Minogue. Mine isn't in case you're wondering!). If you look in this directory, in some cases it is easy to identify which cookie is associated with which web site, but in other cases it's not so obvious. The cookie which was created when you visited Yahoo.com to check your email may be called kylie minogue@yahoo.txt for example. Unfortunately some cookies refer to the IP address of the site you visited and so look more like kylie minogue@145.147.25.21. These cookies can be selectively deleted one at a time if it's obvious which ones are causing a threat to your security, or you can just wipe out the whole lot in one fell swoop and have them recreated as and when they are required. However, if
you're really struggling to find your cookie jar, you could delete your cookies via your browser's tool bar instead. In Internet Explorer this can be done through the 'Tools' > 'Internet Options' menu items.

If all this sounds like too much hassle, you can always find a labour saving program which will be happy to take the job off your hands. These 'cookie crunching' programs allow you to be more selective when editing, viewing and deleting cookies from your system, and some of them will even prevent cookies from being created in the first place. Yes, I know you're hungry for links so I won't deprive you. Have a look here - Code:
hxxp://www.rbaworld.com/Programs/CookieCruncher/ Cookie
Cruncher
hxxp://www.thelimitsoft.com/ Cookie Crusher
hxxp://www.angove.com/ Cookie Killer
hxxp://www.kburra.com/ Cookie Pal
and
hxxp://www.cookiecentral.com/ Cookie Web Kit.

	Writer	A word processor similar in look and feel to Microsoft Word and offering a comparable range of functions and tools. It also includes the ability to export Portable Document Format (PDF) files with no additional software, and can also function as a WYSIWYG editor for creating and editing web pages.
	Calc	A spreadsheet similar to Microsoft Excel with a roughly equivalent range of features. Calc provides a number of features not present in Excel, including a system which automatically defines series for graphing, based on the layout of the user’s data. Calc is also capable of writing spreadsheets directly as a PDF file.
	Impress	A presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. It can export presentations to Adobe Flash (SWF) files allowing them to be played on any computer with the Flash player installed. It also includes the ability to create PDF files, and the ability to read Microsoft PowerPoint's .ppt format. Impress suffers from a lack of ready-made presentation designs. However, templates are readily available on the Internet.^[12]^[13]^[14]
	Base	A database program similar to Microsoft Access. Base allows the creation and manipulation of databases, and the building of forms and reports to provide easy access to data for end-users. As with Access, Base may be used as a front-end to a number of different database systems, including Access databases (JET), ODBC data sources and MySQL/PostgreSQL. Base became part of the suite starting with version 2.0. Native to the OpenOffice.org suite is an adaptation of HSQL. While ooBase can be a front-end for any of the databases listed, there is no need for any of them to be installed.
	Draw	A vector graphics editor comparable in features to early versions of CorelDRAW. It features versatile "connectors" between shapes, which are available in a range of line styles and facilitate building drawings such as flowcharts. It has similar features to Desktop publishing software such as Scribus and Microsoft Publisher.
	Math	A tool for creating and editing mathematical formulae, similar to Microsoft Equation Editor. Formulae can be embedded inside other OpenOffice.org documents, such as those created by Writer. It supports multiple fonts and can exp

Commercial	Open source	Exists on Windows?
Adobe Illustrator (~$500)	Inkscape	Yes
Adobe InDesign (~$700)	Scribus	Yes
Adobe Photoshop (~$600)	The GIMP	Yes
Adobe Premiere (~$800)	Kino, Cinelerra	No
Adobe Reader (free)	Evince, Kpdf, GV	No
Apple iTunes (free)	AmaroK, Rhythmbox, Banshee	No
Autodesk 3ds Max (~$3500)	Blender	Yes
Autodesk Maya (~$7000)	Blender	Yes
Kazaa (free)	aMule, eMule	Yes
Microsoft Excel (~$200)	OpenOffice Spreadsheet	Yes
Microsoft Internet Explorer (free)	Firefox, Konqueror	Yes
Microsoft Office (~$400)	OpenOffice	Yes
Microsoft Outlook (free)	Thunderbird, Evolution, KMail	Yes
Microsoft Powerpoint (~$200)	OpenOffice Presentation	Yes
Microsoft Windows Media Player (free)	Mplayer, VLC, Totem, Kaffeine, Xine	Yes
Microsoft Word (~$200)	OpenOffice Word Processor	Yes
MSN Messenger (free)	Pidgin, Kopete, aMSN	Yes
Nero (~$100)	K3b, Gnomebaker	No
Palm Desktop (free)	Gnome-Pilot, KPilot	No
Quark XPress (~$800)	Scribus	Yes
QuickTime Player (free)	Mplayer, VLC, Totem, Kaffeine, Xine	Yes
Winamp (free)	AmaroK, Rhythmbox, Banshee	No