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October 2008
Submitted by vismaya on 20 October, 2008 - 17:01
Some new technologies are little
more than shiny toys, but others change your life. Some of them can
even change the world, spawning entire new industries and making
everyone slap their heads and go "duh! Why didn't we think of that?" The
following 20 technologies range from the tiny to the shiny, but they've
all got one thing in common: they've had, or will have, a massive
impact.
1. The Transistor Without the
transistor, pretty much all the techno-toys we take for granted
wouldn't exist - or if they did, they'd each be the size of Belgium.
The basic building block of everything electronic, the transistor is
widely credited to Bell Labs' William Shockley, who based his own
research on findings by John Bardeen and Walter Brattain in 1947.
2. The IBM PC The first IBM PC
was powered by an Intel 8088 microprocessor, was the size of a portable
typewriter and packed 16K of RAM. It cost $1,565. It might look
horribly dated now, but if it weren't for this first PC we might not
have computers at all. Read more..
Submitted by vismaya on 20 October, 2008 - 16:41
There are lots of tools around to help people carry out ARP-related
exploits and if a malicious, Wi-Fi enabled neighbour decided to find
out more about your network, this could be an effective way to do it. 
The
good news is that there are some defences out there. The bad? They can
be costly and don't always deliver the protection you might expect. ARPDefender is a good
example. It's a solid-state security appliance that you simply connect
to your network, then leave to look out for ARP poisoning attacks. It
would be excellent if not for the fact that it costs almost £300 and,
even if it does detect an attack, will do little more than make an
entry in your system logs. There is free software to monitor ARP traffic for suspicious signs. ARPDefender runs one of these, in fact: ARPWatch. Unfortunately, these tend to be dated, or focused on Linux users. There's very little for Windows. Your
own router or software firewall may have some kind of ARP protection.
It's worth checking the documentation or set-up screens to find out,
but don't expect too much. Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro
comes with something called Smart ARP Filtering, for instance, where an
ARP reply is only accepted if that system has sent a request. It's a
step forward, but the program will still accept the first ARP reply and
it doesn't know if that's from one of your systems or an attacker.
You're still at some risk. Read more..
FTP is an easy way to transfer files over the Internet and in this guide we'll explains the basics of using it, and how to set up a home FTP server in Windows XP - Version 1.5.0
If you've ever tried to share a large number of files over the Internet, you've no doubt noticed that it is not the easiest thing in the world to do. Sure you can use MSN messenger to send things… One file at a time. You could email, but that's slow and limited by the size of your mailbox. Create a website? Doesn't seem worth the effort, and besides what if you want to receive files as well as share them? What if you want to make several directory's worth of your files available to yourself over the Internet while you are traveling? You could use remote desktop
software, but that typically has anemic file transfer options and slow performance. What's the solution? Why FTP of course!
What is FTP? FTP simply stands for File Transfer Protocol. As you might guess, it's a method of transferring data over a network or the Internet.
As far as basic operations are concerned, it's very similar to HTTP or Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the protocol that brings you your daily diet of (PCSTATS) web pages. It requires a server to serve the information, and client computers must connect to the server at the correct port, provide the correct credentials and be using software that can understand the data to be transferred.
In the case of HTTP, you use Internet Explorer, or an alternative Web Browser like Netscape or Mozilla. For FTP, you require FTP client software like Bulletproof FTP, WSFTP, or CuteFTP. Read more..
Submitted by Sajeev on 20 October, 2008 - 14:14
Modern PCs need plenty of RAM to
deliver decent performance, especially if they're running 32-bit
Windows Vista. A system with 2GB of RAM can easily run short if it's
configured poorly, for instance. So you might install 4GB of RAM, only
to discover the PC can only access about 3GB. Where's the memory gone,
and are there any ways in which you can get some of it back? Installing
64-bit Windows Vista can make a real difference if your hardware is
also up to the task (see the Microsoft help and support page), but if that's too drastic a step then there are other tAweaks that can help. Here's what you need to know. 1. Control Startup programs
The path to memory mastery starts by taking greater control over the programs you're running. Browse
the Start > All Programs menu and uninstall any software you don't
use, then launch MSCONFIG.EXE and click the Startup tab to see what's
configured to run when Windows starts. If you see something you no
longer need, then uninstall the program or change its settings so it
doesn't load automatically when you log on. Application add-ons
for browsers, Microsoft Office and so on can also consume surprising
amounts of RAM. Check your current browser add-ons (Tools > Manage
Add-ons in IE, Tools > Add-ons in Firefox) and disable (or ideally
uninstall) any that you don't use any more. 2. Disable unwanted services
Read more..
Submitted by Sajeev on 20 October, 2008 - 12:13
Every day new computer viruses are created to annoy us and to wreak
havoc on our computer systems. Below are ten viruses currently cited as
being the most prevalent in terms of being seen the most or in their
ability to potentially cause damage. New viruses are created daily.
This is by no means an all inclusive list. The best thing you can do is
to remain vigilant, keep your anti-virus software updated, and stay
aware of the current computer virus threats.
Virus: Trojan.Lodear
A Trojan horse that attempts to download remote files. It will
inject a .dll file into the EXPLORER.EXE process causing system
instability.
Virus: W32.Beagle.CO@mm
A mass-mailing worm that lowers security settings. It can delete
security-related registry sub keys and may block access to
security-related websites.
Virus: Backdoor.Zagaban
A Trojan horse that allows the compromised computer to be used as a covert proxy and which may degrade network performance.
Virus: W32/Netsky-P
A mass-mailing worm which spreads by emailing itself to addresses produced from files on the local drives.
Virus: W32/Mytob-GH
A mass-mailing worm and IRC backdoor Trojan for the Windows
platform. Messages sent by this worm will have the subject chosen
randomly from a list including titles such as: Notice of account
limitation, Email Account Suspension, Security measures, Members
Support, Important Notification.
Virus: W32/Mytob-EX
Read more..
Submitted by Sajeev on 20 October, 2008 - 12:07
Our society is maintained by information: information about who we
were, who we are, and in some cases who we will become. We live in the
Information age, a time where movement of information is faster than
physical movement. Some say that we live in a new type of society
called an Information Society, in which the creation, distribution and
manipulation of information has become a significant economic and
cultural activity. Matthew Lesko, a columnist, made this point clear
when he wrote, "Information is the currency of today's world." Sir
Francis Bacon an English statesman from the 1500s proclaimed wisely
that, "Knowledge is power." His words echo today in the familiar
truism, "Information is power."
In our lives today we experience how the personal information
that we keep, that we share and that we lose, moves us through a waxing
and waning dance of power and powerlessness. Keep your information safe
and you protect your home, your assets, your family and maybe even your
life. Share your information and in return you hope to receive valuable
goods and services. Lose your information and the things that you enjoy
and love can come crumbling down around you. Today, instead of on
paper, most of our private information is stored in electronic format
on hard drives. This technology allows our world to do business as
never before imagined. Business is faster, less expensive and requires
far less labor than even one generation ago.Read more..
Submitted by Sajeev on 20 October, 2008 - 11:52
 Government's secret Celldar project will allow surveillance of anyone, at any time and anywhere there is a phone signal
Secret radar technology research that will allow the biggest-ever
extension of 'Big Brother'-style surveillance in the UK is being funded
by the Government. The
radical new system, which has outraged civil liberties groups, uses
mobile phone masts to allow security authorities to watch vehicles and
individuals 'in real time' almost anywhere in Britain. The
technology 'sees' the shapes made when radio waves emitted by mobile
phone masts meet an obstruction. Signals bounced back by immobile
objects, such as walls or trees, are filtered out by the receiver. This
allows anything moving, such as cars or people, to be tracked.
Previously, radar needed massive fixed equipment to work and
transmissions from mobile phone masts were thought too weak to be
useful. The system works wherever a mobile phone can pick up a
signal. By using receivers attached to mobile phone masts, users of the
new technology could focus in on areas hundreds of miles away and bring
up a display showing any moving vehicles and people. An
individual with one type of receiver, a portable unit little bigger
than a laptop computer, could even use it as a 'personal radar'
covering the area around the user. Researchers are working to give the
new equipment 'X-ray vision' - the capability to 'see' through walls
and look into people's homes. Read more..
Submitted by Sajeev on 15 October, 2008 - 12:33
HOW TO MAKE A
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD
This is a step-by-step guide on how I
make PCB's.
Read more..
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Submitted by TinuThomas on 14 October, 2008 - 17:52
The speed at which your hard drive transfers data is very important,
right? Especially if you need to copy a 20-gigabyte file, like I did.
My laptop was initially copying the file at 2 MB/s because it was
transferring in PIO-only mode, which would have taken almost three
hours. Not only is PIO terribly slow, it consumes lots of CPU power.
While copying that 20-gigabyte file, my CPU usage stayed at 100%.
Therefore, I tried to figure out the best way to increase the transfer
rate. I changed the transfer mode to UltraDMA-6, speeding it up by 600%
to 12 MB/s, and the 20-gigabyte file copied in a little over 30
minutes. Plus, my CPU usage was only about 20-30%. So, how did
the drive get lowered from UltraDMA to PIO-only mode in the first
place? Well, because Windows has a particularly dumb way of handling
transfer modes for storage devices. After six cumulative (all-time
total) errors while reading or writing a storage device, Windows will
automatically lower its transfer mode. Worse, it never goes back up
unless you reinstall the device. This is bad if you put in a scratched
CD, causing those six-in-a-lifetime errors happen all at once. Even
your hard drive will experience an occasional hiccup, so eventually its
transfer rate is not safe either. However, there is a setting to
force Windows to only lower the transfer rate after six consecutive (in
a row) errors, and then raise it back up when the errors stop.
Therefore, you can keep your drives in UltraDMA-6 mode. Read more..
Submitted by Sajeev on 13 October, 2008 - 12:38
What is the next step that you would take if your expensive
mobile phone or iPod gets wet in the rain or your drop it in a wash
basin?
Such accidents are not very uncommon. Since
the warranty for most electronics does not cover water damage, what can
you do to revive that wet gadget ? The answer is in your kitchen. Power off the device (if it’s not off already)
and try to completely cover the iPod or the phone in a bowl of rice. Rice
being a natural desiccant will help absorb the excess moisture. Let it dry for at least 24 hours and DO NOT try to charge the device.  If your gadget has a removable battery, dry it separately to speed up the whole drying process. This home-remedy is cheap and worth giving a try before you rush to the store for a replacement.
Submitted by Sajeev on 13 October, 2008 - 12:29
Feeling hard to press CTRL+ALT+DEL to lock your machine? Try this and Create or you may just press winkey+L in XP or vista but this one is applicable to all versions the icon to lock the machine on your desktop . 1. Right click an empty spot on the desktop, point to New and click Shortcut. 2. In the Create Shortcut dialog box, copy the following into the 'Type the location' of the item text box: "rundll32 user32.dll, LockWorkStation" remove quotes while typing. 3. Click Next. 4. In "Type a name for this shortcut", type LOCK and Click Finish. 5. Now just click on that icon and enjoy.
Submitted by Sajeev on 13 October, 2008 - 12:17
Have you ever wondered how you could set your webcam up as a security
camera and have the images sent to you somewhere else? Maybe you wanted
motion detection or noise detection to turn it on automatically? Or
maybe that's just us, and we're a little paranoid. Regardless, Periscope is a tool that lets you do all of those things with your webcam, and more.  You can trigger it to start recording in several ways: motion
detection, noise detection, via Apple Remote, or with a timer. Once
it's on, it'll capture images and save them to disc or send them to a
few other places for review. It works with Flickr, e-mail, FTP, iPhoto,
and the now-obsolete .mac (presumably an upcoming version will support
MobileMe). You can also time-stamp or add your own logo automatically
to your pictures. Even if you're not interested in the
security applications of Periscope, you might find it useful for making
time-lapse videos. With its ability to capture images at intervals, you
could theoretically capture your entire day at your desk if you had the
disk space. Although we tested it with a built-in iSight, Periscope
should work with other webcams.
Submitted by Sajeev on 13 October, 2008 - 12:05
I'm always on the lookout for apps that can ease my workload or free up
some room in my budget, and open source applications are an excellent
way for me to accomplish both. If you're in the same boat as
me, hopefully you're already utilizing some open source options. If
not, I've put together this list of two dozen great applications that I
can depend on to keep things running smoothly on my office LAN and
customer systems as well. Some of these you'll recognize, but I hope that there are some that are new to you as well.
- PING - I may
be beating a dead horse here with my love of PING, but it's just a
great piece of open source. Drive imaging with network and spanning
support, password blanking, it's just an excellent app.
- NTRegEdit
- The Windows Registry editor hasn't seen many changes over the years.
NTRegEdit offers some great additional features like recursive export,
color coding, improved searching, and quick edit window below the
values list.
- Safarp
- A portable alternative to appwiz.cpl (add/remove programs), it
provides a few extra useful features - like silent uninstalls and
repairs of Windows Installer-based apps. It also opens in a flash,
unlike the clunky appwiz.
- WPKG
- Maintaining software installs on computers in a small business
environment can be a little frustrating sometimes. WPKG gives you
push/pull installs and it can run as a service, so silent installs run
transparently with no user ineteraction.
Read more..
Submitted by Sajeev on 13 October, 2008 - 12:02
Making sure you've got a reliable backup solution is a must for any
user - and more so for an administrator. Why? Well, mostly because your
users probably aren't very good at remembering to back up their own
files. And so it falls to you to provide the right software for the job!
Backup software is a difficult category to tackle nowadays as the
distinction between backup and synchronization apps has become a little
blurred. Prices being what they are, my personal choice is to use
external or removable hard drives for my backup chores.  To make sure you've got
plenty of options to choose from, this list into three
different categories so that you can choose from the options that are
best suited to your environment. Integrated Burning Comodo Backup [win]
They do make than a great firewall. Comodo Backup is an excellent free
solution. It has extremely flexible scheduling and notification
options, supports FTP destinations, can burn multisession DVDs, and has
a synchronization mode for quick realtime backups. DFIncBackup [win]
As is the case with most backup applications, there's a free and paid
version. The free one still handles CD/DVD backups, and it also does
incremental .zip jobs as well - only backing up files that have changed
or weren't present in your previous job. SE Backup [win] Read more..
Submitted by Sajeev on 11 October, 2008 - 15:32
Cluster is an allocation unit. If you create file lets say 1 byte in
size, at least one cluster should be allocated on FAT file system. On
NTFS if file is small enough, it can be stored in MFT record itself
without using additional clusters. When file grows beyond the cluster
boundary, another cluster is allocated. It means that the bigger the
cluster size, the more disk space is wasted, however, the performance
is better. So if you have a large hard
drive & dont mind wasting some space, format it with a larger
cluster size to gain added performance. The maximum default
cluster size under Windows NT 3.51 and later is 4K due to the fact that
NTFS file compression is not possible on drives with a larger
allocation size. So format will never use larger than 4k clusters
unless the user specifically overrides the defaults by using the /A:
switch (for command line format) or by specifying a larger cluster size
in the format dialog in Windows Explorer. However, when you
format the partition manually, you can specify cluster size 512 bytes,
1 KB, 2 KB, 4 KB, 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB in the format dialog box or
as a parameter to the command line FORMAT utility. The
performance comes thew the bursts from the hard drive. by having a
larger cluster size you affectivly have a larger chunk of data sent to
ram rather than having to read multiple smaller chunks of the same data.
Submitted by Sajeev on 11 October, 2008 - 15:24
10 Steps to prevent Fake Antivirus Scams1. Use Firefox as your browser rather than Internet Explorer. 2. Keep your computer updated with the late st antivirus and anti-spyware software, and be sure to use a good firewall. 3. Never open an email attachment unless you are POSITIVE about the source. 4.
Do NOT click on any pop-up that advertises anti-virus or anti-spyware
software, especially a program promising to provide every feature known
to mankind. (Also remember: the fakes often mimic well-known brands
such as Grisoft AVG, Norton and McAfee.) 5. If a virus alert
appears on your screen, do NOT touch it. Don't use your mouse to
eliminate or scan for viruses, and DON'T use your mouse to close the
window. Instead, hit control + alt + delete to view a list of programs
currently running. Delete the "rogue" from the list of running
programs, and call your computer maker's phone or online tech support
service to learn if you can safely use your computer. 6. Do not download freeware or shareware unless you know it's from a reputable source. 7. Avoid questionable websites. Some sites may automatically download malicious software onto your computer. 8. Reset your current security settings to a higher level. 9. Although fake software may closely resemble the real thing, it's rarely an exact match. Look for suspicious discrepancies. 10. Check out this list of rogue/fake anti-virus and anti-spyware products. List of rogue / fake antivirus / anti spyware productsAdvanced Cleaner[3] AlfaCleaner AntiSpyCheck 2.1 AntiSpyStorm AntiSpywareBot [4] AntiSpywareExpert AntiSpywareMaster AntiSpywareSuite Read more..
Submitted by Sajeev on 11 October, 2008 - 14:54
A production method to make super-fast computers has been discovered by physicists working in North Wales.
Physicists at the University College
of Wales, Bangor have developed a theory which could make microchips
smaller than normal, increasing the speed of the computer.
"Current high speed computing relies on ever-smaller chips with tiny circuits," said the university's Dr Sam Braunstein.
The physicists have been working on the research with colleagues from the Jet Propulsion Laboratories from the USA.
"The decreasing size of these chips
enables the current to pass through at greater speeds, improving the
number-crunching capabilities of our computers."
The production of a microchip involves etching its surface using a laser light.
The rest of the chip needs to be protected with a stencil - currently these are cut to
400 times thinner than the width of a human hair.
More Details can be found at :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/937536.stm
Submitted by Sajeev on 11 October, 2008 - 14:52
Perfect secrecy has come a step closer with the launch of the
world's first computer network protected by unbreakable quantum
encryption at a scientific conference in Vienna.
 The network connects six locations across Vienna and in the nearby
town of St Poelten, using 200 km of standard commercial fibre optic
cables.
Quantum cryptography is completely different from the kinds of security schemes used on computer networks today.
These are typically based on complex mathematical procedures
which are extremely hard for outsiders to crack but not impossible
given sufficient computing resources or time.
But quantum systems use the laws of quantum theory, which have been shown to be inherently unbreakable. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7661311.stm
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A fundamental rule in technology says that whatever can be done will be done.
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