Microsoft offers Ahmedabad boy $180,000 package

An Amdavadi boy who attended school in Shahibaug and interned at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Ahmedabad, has landed one of the highest pay packages offered to an engineering postgraduate - $1,80,000 USD plus incentives. The offer was made by Microsoft to 23-year-old Priyanshu Kumar Jha, who earned a master's from Singapore. Priyanshu will work for Microsoft's Bing search engine as development engineer.

Priyanshu will head to the Microsoft headquarters in the US next week. He is the youngest of the batch of students who appeared for placements at the National University of Singapore this year, where he studied for the master's degree in software engineering. He has secured a bachelor's degree in information technology from UV Patel College of Engineering, Ganpat University, Mehsana.

Priyanshu's father, Prabhat Kumar Jha, is a zonal director (central zone) National Small Industries Corporation, ministry of medium, small & micro enterprises. Priyanshu's mother, Ranjana, is a homemaker. Priyanshu completed his schooling from Central School, Shahibaug.

"As an engineering student, I always aspired to work for Microsoft at some point in my career," Priyanshu said. "But to have my first job, at this age, as an engineer in Microsoft is a dream come true." Being the youngest achiever in his group has been Priyanshu's habit. He was the youngest to be chosen for the master's programme in Singapore. "I had to put in a lot of extra work to keep up with my batchmates, who had a minimum of two years of work experience," he said. "I was the only one with no work experience, but my top scores always gave me an edge over the others."

Priyanshu told TOI that he had been exposed to computers since 1994. "My dream is to work for corporations for a while and use my learning to launch my own company after coming back to Ahmedabad," he said. "I want to give back to society which has given me so much."

As for the interview with Microsoft, Priyanshu said it consisted of six rounds with each one lasting six hours. But he said the interactions were always relaxed.

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True Caller hacked, 1 million Indians’ data at risk

Global phone directory app True Caller has been hacked by activist group Syrian Electronic Army (SEA). The hacking group announced this in a post on Twitter, along with an image that showed details of some users of the app.

Syrian Electronic Army broke the news via a tweet saying, "Sorry @True Caller, we needed your database, thank you for it." The hackers openly released True Caller's database host ID, username and password via another tweet.

True Caller app is available on Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and Symbianplatforms. The app's databases have access codes to Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn and Gmail accounts of millions of users globally. Reports say that True Caller website went down for a while but is now back online. In June this year, True Caller announced that its user base has touched the 20-million mark, representing growth of 100% in a period of five months. It said that it has 1 million users in India in March.

The Syrian hacking collective revealed that it exploited the TrueCallerwebsite as it is based on outdated Word press platform, which gave them access to the admin panel. Speaking to E Hacking News, the SEA hackers said that they have hacked into the phone directory's servers and downloaded more than seven databases. The biggest database has data worth 450GB.

Syrian Electronic Army is behind several high profile hackings, including those of Associated Press, BBC and The Onion.

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Infosys is my life: SD Shibulal

Despite the solid performance in first quarter of the current fiscal year, Infosys has adopted a "cautiously optimistic" stance and left its full-year growth forecast unchanged. In the third quarter of the last fiscal also, the Bangalore-based company delivered a surprisingly robust performance, only to slump back in the quarter after that.

Acknowledging the volatility in performance, in an interview with N Shivapriya and Akanksha Prasad, chief executive officer SD Shibulal cautioned against drawing conclusions about a secular trend based on a single quarter's performance. While he described analysts as "experts", Shibulal refused to comment on why they are getting Infosys estimates wrong quarter after quarter. Edited excerpts:

In the last three quarters, including this one, analyst forecasts have failed to get Infosys' performance right. In your view, why is this happening?

Our performance has been volatile in the last few quarters. Even at the end of Q3, we said that a single quarter's performance cannot be taken as a secular trend. This quarter we have done reasonably well and we have not changed our guidance. We have a few challenges which we are trying to address - high quality growth is one of them, plus there are also challenges on the cost side because salary increases will have an impact. We have to mitigate these through various methods. I do not want to comment about why analysts are getting it wrong; they are the experts. I do acknowledge that our performance has been volatile. This is one of the reasons why we are optimistically cautious and have not changed our guidance. Our guidance is a statement of fact and not a statement of hope.

Does this quarter's performance feela vindication for you?

If we look at this quarter, we have achieved 2.7% growth. On constant currency, the growth is around 3.4%, which means we lost around $40 million due to currency volatility for the quarter.

You referred to certain steps the company undertook earlier that are showing results now. What are they?

Part of the overall Infosys 3.0 strategy was to grow the consulting and system integration business, which is now strong. The second aim was to achieve balanced growth. The Business IT Services division was growing below the company's average, so we brought in a lot of focus into that segment. Our target is to bring it on a par with the company's growth rate although as a percentage of the overall revenue it may not increase because other divisions are growing faster.

What is your strategy to win large deals?

We are working on multi-tower solutions and alliancesthe one we have with IPSoft. Since business IT services is price sensitive, we need to ensure that we bring tools, automation, and operational efficiency. It is tough to balance margins and growth, but we have done it for many years and we will do it again.

What are some of the changes you are making?

There have been changes and it is part of the overall strategy. Despite competition getting aggressive and poaching people, in the last two years, we increased our sales force800 to 1,200. It depends on the way you look at the glass - half full or half empty.

For Narayana Murthy, Infosys isa middle child. What is Infosys to you?

For me, Infosys is life. Most of my life has been spent here.

With your term ending in 2015, has the company set in motion the succession planning process?

We have a nominations committee, which has the responsibility for it. They are looking at it.

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7 tips avoid Facebook hack

People who do have little or no time to maintain Facebook profiles, can do seven things to at least minimize the damage when their account gets hacked, a report has said.

Firstly, change your name. If you tweak your name just a little, or use a nickname, it will be easier for you after the inevitable hack.

Opening more than one account can also help. It violates Facebook's terms of service, but 80 million accounts already do it, says privacy expert John Sileo.

Secondly, stop geotagging your photos. Geotagging includes the latitude and longitude where a picture was taken, the Huff Post reports.

Thirdly, lie about your age as it is a key piece of information needed to steal your identity.

The fourth and one of the most important rules is that do not store your credit card information on the site, the report said.

According to the report, another important step is to 'have some boundaries'. Foe example when Facebook asks you where your photo was taken, keep it to yourself.

Don't brag about new cars, especially if your photos show where you keep the keys in your kitchen, the report said.

The sixth important step is to go through your timeline and remove posts that provide personally identifiable information.

Lastly, deactivate your account. You can't get hacked if you don't have an account, the report said.

And the most important 'bonus Pro Tip' according to the report is: 'Don't use your Facebook password anywhere else. That's making it way too easy for the bad guys.

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Instagram boasts 90 million monthly active users, 40 million photos per day

Instagram might have gotten some crazy backlash from its policy changes back in December, for which they pulled an about face and returned it back to normal. However, a lot users were done with the service at that point, and vowed to switch to an alternative. Then again, that doesn’t seem to be scaring Instagram too much, as the company has reported 90 million monthly active users, as well as 40 million photos being posted per day.

AllThingsD notes that the service’s monthly active user base is actually up 10% from last month, so it seems that the privacy policy debacle wasn’t a huge deal for its users after all. Instagram’s Kevin System says that the company “continues to see very strong growth around the world.”

Along with those 40 million photos being posted every day, Instagram says that its users are liking photos at a rate of 8,500 per second and are posting 1,000 comments per second as well. This actually marks the first time that Instagram has posted statistics on its user base, but detailed numbers are still scarce.

According to AppData, Instagram use on iOS and Android actually rose quite a bit late last month, but with use on Facebook falling by 25%. Furthermore, according to AppStats, Instagram apparently saw their active user numbers cut in half to 40 million, but according to Instagram’s own numbers, that’s clearly not true.

Story Timeline

• SlashGear 101: Does Instagram own my photos?
• How to Ditch Instagram
• Five Instagram Alternatives you're going to love
• Instagram co-founder responds to user outrage
• Amid Instagram Madness, What Terms of Use Should Take for Granted
• Instagram updates its terms of service after massive backlash
• Instagram took the lazy, sneaky way out
• Instagram iOS and Android update adds new filter, support for 25 languages
• Instagram Privacy Policy prodded with Class-Action lawsuit
• Foursquare makes Privacy tweaks, wary of Instagram-style backlash

Instagram boasts 90 million monthly active users, 40 million photos per day is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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Facebook‘s annual hacker competition opens for registration

Social networking giant Facebook has opened registration for its third annual Hacker Cup, set to begin from January 25.

The top prize will be $ 10,000 (approx. Rs 5.5 lakh) as against $ 5,000 (Rs 2.75 lakh) last year and as many 25 of the best hackers will be taken to Facebook's headquarter in USA, a statement said.

The Facebook Hacker Cup is an annual worldwide programming competition where hackers compete against each other for fame, fortune, glory and a shot at the coveted Hacker Cup.

"The competition will be held in two rounds starting with an online qualification, out of which 25 of the best hackers are then flown by Facebook to their headquarters inMenlo Park, CA," Facebook said.

"The preliminary round will be held between January 25 and February 16 while the onsite final round is scheduled for March 22-23, 2013.

Contestants will be judged on accuracy and speed as they race to solve algorithmic problems to advance through up to five rounds of programming challenges," it added.

Last year, the Hacker Cup attracted 8,000 participants from 150 countries, with the winner- Roman Andreev, hailing from Russia, Facebook said.

"Hacking is core to how we build at Facebook. Whether we're building a prototype for a major product like Timeline at a Hackathon, creating a smarter search algorithm, or tearing down walls at our new headquarters, we're always hacking to find better ways to solve problems," Facebook said in its Hacker's Cup page.

Facebook said that those who registered for a previous year are automatically registered for the competition year, however, they still need to check their information is up-to-date.

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HTML5 Features Can Drive Up Mobile Websites' Usage By Up To 28%

If your mobile site still mostly consists of static pages, maybe it's time for an upgrade. According to new data from Usablenet, adding just a few interactive elements could increase your users' or readers' engagement with your site significantly. Usablenet, which describes itself as a 'technology platform for mobile and multichannel customer engagement,' says that when brands on its platform started using HTML5-enabled features like interactive galleries, location services, overlays and expandable (or collapsible) boxes, their pageviews increased by 11% and their bounce rates decreased by 15%.

In total, sites using these features experienced about a 28% increase in overall usage. Usablenet's customers include major enterprises like Expedia, Tesco, Amtrak, American Airlines, OfficeMax, ShopNBC and online fashion marketplace ASOS.

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VGA to RCA Cable_Connector

The length of this HDMI to VGA is 5ft and there will non be any problem in connecting through two devices. There is golden plate in the HDMI to VGA adapter and it make the high-speed data transfer. If you want to do a presentation on a big screen for hundreds of people then you will need special adapter to convert the video and audio from a small twist to a big screen and the HDMI to VGA is one of the best employed adapter which has ability to show more clear images with high resolution of video quality. Some connectors have the trouble of hardness and in that case it becomes very hard to wrap the cable but this HDMI to VGA adapter has got moderate softness that one can easy fold it while putt inside the bag or while adjusting the wire in a small space if there is extra while connecting.

You power have faced the problem of slow video or cutting video or even auto-pausing effects while transferring the video on a big screen through a connector because those are non that much efficient but ‘HDMI to VGA and 3 RCA Audio Video AV Adapter Cable‘ has extremely high working performance and there will non be any deceleration or cutting video or auto-pausing problems. This can be the best thing to entertain with the family members; you can use this HDMI to VGA connector in connecting the high-definition DVD player and the projector and finally enjoying the high quality display effect on a big screen with your family. The materials used in making this HDMI to VGA adapter is of high quality and so it is durable for long time, there will non be any problem at all during its usage time.

The design and coloration of HDMI to VGA and 3 RCA Audio Video AV Adapter Cable is amazing and this is why attraction is also an extra feature included in this cable. HDMI toVGA cable is portable and can be put inside your bag; you can take it out whenever its use is required. The reasonable price is another nice aspect of this HDMI to VGA cable. If you are provision on having this amazing fellow then it is guaranteed that you will get lots of features just spending little money. You will get money-back policy while ordering the product from Dinodirect.com, returning can be done if you are not slaked with the product.

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How to install android OS on PC

Recently, we’ve been hard at work improving Android Market to give you new ways to find great applications and games, purchase books, and rent movies. Today, we’re releasing a new version of Android Market which makes all of these available on phones (Android 2.2 and higher).

In the U.S., you’ll be able to rent thousands of movies, starting at $1.99, right from Android Market on your phone. With the Videos app, available in Android Market, there’s no more waiting for downloads, syncing, or worrying about storage space. Simply sign into Android Market with your Google account, and you can rent movies from anywhere – the web, or your Android phone or tablet – and start watching instantly. You can also download movies to your device so they’re available for viewing when you don’t have an internet connection.

Also in the U.S., you can now purchase books from Android Market on your phone. Like movie rentals, books are linked to your Google account, so they’re instantly available across all of your devices – computer, phone, or tablet – without the need for wires or downloads.

You’ll be delighted to find we’ve overhauled Android Market to make it faster, easier, and more fun to discover great apps, movies, and books. We’ve created more space to feature some of the most interesting content of the week on the home page. We’ve added more top charts, with newer, more relevant items, and we’ve made it easy to swipe through these charts as you browse the store. We’ve also introduced new collections of great content, like staff picks and Editors’ Choice apps.

The new Android Market will be rolling out in the coming weeks to Android 2.2 and higher phones around the world. You don’t need to do anything - the update is automatic on supported phones. If you’re in the U.S., you’ll also be able to download the Videos app, rent movies, and buy books once you receive the new Android Market.

Your phone is about to get a lot more interesting! Enjoy the new Android Market.

How to Install Android on Local Desktop Computer

First of all open this link and Download Android V 0.3 download here:

 http://code.google.com/p/live-android/downloads/list as per Above Video.

Posted by Paul Montoy-Wilson, Product Manager

 

Sanket Barot

http://jmdcomputerindia.com

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China renews operating license of Google

China said that it has renewed Google's license to operate in the world's largest online market, after the US company last year moved its Chinese search engine overseas in protest over censorship.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology named Google's China website operator, Beijing Guxiang Information Technology Co. Ltd., as one of 137 firms whose licenses were renewed following adjustments in their operations.
The ministry had ordered the adjustments after some firms had changed shareholding structures without official permission, provided services beyond their approved business range or had lax information security controls.
The ministry, which posted the license renewals on its website, did not specify the kind of changes individual companies had to make.
Google spokeswoman for China Marsha Wang confirmed to AFP that the company had been granted the license renewal.
"We have passed the 2011 annual assessment (of the license)," she said.
This means Google's Internet content provider license in China has been extended for one more year, she said.
Google said in March last year it would no longer bow to government censors and effectively shut down its Chinese search engine, re-routing mainland users to its uncensored site in Hong Kong.
Google has maintained that such an approach complied with Chinese law.

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What’s new @ Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail...

All major free email services have added several new features. Hitesh Raj Bhagat & Karan Bajaj tell you how to make the most of it.

Unlimited storage on Yahoo Mail

Yahoo Mail offers unlimited storage for users. No more worrying about how many heavy attachments have been sent to you. With Yahoo, you can send free text messages to cell phones. Simply enter the phone number or choose a contact from your list and type out the SMS. The recipient can reply to the SMS to send a message back. 

It offers the option to view mail, SMS or Chats as a conversation for easy reading and reference. You can attach up to 25MB in a mail, however, Yahoo has tied up with Yousendit.com to send files up to 2GB in a mail.

Attachments are stored on Yousendit servers and can be downloaded for 30days.  You also get 1GB online cloud storage with Yahoo as they have a tie up with ZumoDrive. A quick sign-up is required first time to integrate ZumoDrive with Yahoo Mail. After that, you can upload, download from within the mail window itself.

In terms of social networking, there is integrated Facebook chat as well as a tie up with Sobees.  Sobees allows access to Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Myspace. You can view the feeds from various networks and update status on multiple networks in one go. There are a variety of layout options available as per your choice. Yahoo Mail also has a stationery feature, which allows mails to be created with various custom backgrounds to give it a funkier look. Another tie-up with Fontself allows you to send mail in various fonts. An integrated notepad allows you to save notes to yourself, and sort them into folders for later use.

Gmail-The best there is, with many new features

Gmail’s 7GB+ storage is constantly expanding. Plus, you can purchase an additional 20GB of space for only $4.99. Gmail’s built in audio/video chat is used by many – plus it can save all chat history. Numerous experimental 'labs' features are available to all users. Many useful features like ‘undo sending’, custom keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures can easily be enabled from the labs menu. Completely integrates with  Google Docs, Google Calendar, Picasa, Google+, Google Buzz.

Gmail’s activity tracker lets you track which IP address has accessed your account, to look out for suspicious activity (such as access from another country).  For additional security of your account, Gmail offers free twostep authentication — with a password sent via sms. You can download any Google account data as a .zip file (for backup) or to free up used space in the ‘data liberation’ section.

Gmail’s contact manager has powerful editing features - it also automatically gets synced to any Android device (when you sign in with your Google account).  Advanced email filters, mail sorting features (priority inbox, labels, stars, markers) make it easy to manage emails. You can pull email from any account, but also ‘send as’ from another account.

GMX-Gives you 50MB attachments with each mail

GMX offers unlimited storage, 50MB attachments on each email and an uncluttered interface with a preview pane. You can add widgets to the home page (daily comic strips, Facebook, Twitter, Google Maps, games and so on). These are visible as soon as you sign in. 

The built in mail collector feature can pull in email from various accounts — to read all your mail within GMX itself. Before you decide to go with GMX, you can check for available usernames on the homepage itself — without going through any of the sign up process. GMX includes built in file storage — an additional 2GB of storage for any files.

It essentially works like a virtual drive in which you can create folders, share folders with others and download contents as zip files. Once you sign in, you get access to the GMX forum, where you can post your questions about GMX or read guides and get support on various features. You can open email in tabs within the same browser tab/window. This allows you to read/compose multiple emails at the same time. It integrates with Facebook to allow wall posting and sharing of photos.

Free Pop3/IMAP access is offered, so that you can access mail offline using any email program.  The user labs feature lets you suggest new features and improvements in the platform. Once you’re a part of the community, you can activate experimental features for your account and give feedback. GMX claims to only use clean energy to power data centers.

Hotmail-Integrates with SkyDrive with 25GB free space

Hotmail storage expands as per your need. In theory, this is unlimited storage that keeps growing as you store more mails in your inbox. You can group mails from the same sender in a conversation view. This way if there are multiple emails being sent to and fro, it is easier to follow up and read.  You can connect with Facebook, Myspace and Linkedin to view feeds on the home page of Windows Live.

However, if you have set Hotmail to go directly to your inbox, you will have to go back to ‘Home View’ to view the connected feeds.  Hotmail Plus allows you to create as many different email ids as required with the same username by just adding a “+” sign and some text after that. The mails are delivered to your inbox and can be easily sorted due to the plus mail address.

So, if you want mails from a subscription site, simply register on the site using username+offers @ hotmail . com and it can be set to go to a specified folder.  There is an easy way to view mail with attachments using the Quick Views menu. You can view only the mails that have photos or the mails that have office documents or the ones that have been flagged.  Sweep functionality allows you to quickly move all mails from a specific sender to any folder of your choice. Simply select a mail received and use the sweep function.

Mail.com-Connects with Facebook for updates, photo sharing

Mail.com offers multiple domain names - you can choose from mail. com, email. com, doctor. com, techie. com and many more for your email ID. You can view emails in tabs, which allows you to read or compose multiple emails at a time. Mail.com offers unlimited storage and 50MB attachment size. Create upto 10 alias email addresses within Mail.com — email for each alias will be delivered directly to your inbox. 

A handy organiser is included, accessed from the menu on top — you can add tasks, events, send email invitations, move tasks around by dragging and dropping. Personalise with various themes, change orientation of preview windows for easy reading.  All the usual features like custom signatures, a vacation auto responder and custom email filters are easily accessible. You can enable a few experimental features like audio alerts for new mail and feedback mode, to help improve the service.

Mail.com offers easy online instructions to configure email with various email clients.  There is complete Facebook integration — you can read/write on walls or share photos to Facebook. You only need to sign in once and allow Mail.com access to your Facebook account. Free and direct customer service is available in case you get stuck with any of the features.

- JMDComputerIndia.com

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How to clean up the junk on your PC

MUNICH: It's a familiar problem for anyone with an older computer: a PC may run lightning-fast and smooth when it's new, but over time it starts coughing up unusual error messages and unidentifiable icons appear on the taskbar.

If the computer also starts getting slower at the same time as well, then it's time for a spring cleaning.

'When any computer is used under normal circumstances, a certain volume of garbage data is automatically produced,' says Harald Goerl, a professor for operating systems and computer architecture at the Bundeswehr University in Munich, Germany. Goerl nevertheless sees no need for routine clean-ups. 'You only need to do this if you can really feel that the speed has been impaired,' he says.

The primary culprit for PC slowdowns is software that is installed and then removed again. That's because many programs actually leave behind digital traces after uninstallation. The most common collection spot where junk data collects is the Windows Registry file. It's a database of information about all installed applications.
Many programs 'forget' to delete their entry in the registry when being removed. That continues expanding the database, which means the computer has to search longer to find a specific entry. 'You can compare it with a telephone book,' Goerl says. 'The thicker it is, the longer it takes to browse through.'

You can get help in cleaning up those clogged registry files with free programs such as CCleaner, Wise Cleaner, and Advanced System Care. They search through the registry automatically looking for unnecessary entries, washing away the junk.

Linux and Apple users are actually no better off in this respect, Goerl says. 'Deleted programs leave traces behind in Linux and Mac OS, too. Because there's no central registry, though, cleaning up can actually be more difficult in some cases,' he says.

Programs that are not properly removed under Windows can create other problems as well. 'When some programs are being uninstalled, they also delete libraries still needed for other programs,' explains Joachim Geiler, dean of academic affairs at the IT working group at the Mittweida University of Applied Sciences in Germany.

Libraries are files with information that multiple programs need to be able to access. If they are deleted by accident, then applications may stop functioning, either partially or completely. This problem can generally be fixed by reinstalling the affected program.

Reinstalling the operating system is generally only needed in exception cases, says Goerl. 'Only in cases involving serious security problems should you have to reinstall the OS,' he says. 'If numerous files have been infected with tough-to-remove viruses, then reinstalling the operating system is probably the only remedy.'

The best recommendation for boosting speed that you suspect has been degraded as a result of application detritus: clean up your hard drive. 'At least 10 per cent of a hard drive's capacity should always be free,' says Joachim Geiler.

Otherwise files have to be split up across multiple sectors of traditional hard drives, and this results in data that is scattered in fragments throughout the hard drive, leading to slower access. The Windows defragmentation utility is needed to bring the files back to a contiguous state.

If you don't push your hard drive to its capacity all the time, then defragmentation need only be a seldom-used tool. 'Routine defragmentation used to be a common thing. Modern file systems like FAT32 create the files intelligently from the start, meaning users don't typically have to get involved,' says Geiler. The exception is for users who frequently work with especially large files, such as those used for video editing.

A clean hard drive is important beyond just the speed of the computer. It also makes work more relaxing. 'It's all about being able to find important files fast when you need them,' explains Joerg Schieb, who authored a book on keeping computers clean and running fast. For this reason he recommends routine cleanups every three months or so.

There are programs to help clean up, too. 'Lay users in particular may be better served by those programs,' Schieb says. Applications like TuneUp Utilities, Twin 7 2.0 from Data Becker, or PC Check & Tuning 2011 from Magix cost between 30 and 40 dollars and offer a number of cleanup options.

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Cyber attack hits WordPress.com, 18 million blogs compromised

Automatic, the company that owns the Word Press.com blogging platform that powers more than 18 million blogs, announced this morning that its servers had been broken into and source code, among other things, could have been exposed.

 

Word Press founder Matt Mullenweg writes 'Tough note to communicate today: Automatic had a low-level (root) break-in to several of our servers, and potentially anything on those servers could have been revealed.'

According to Mullenweg, the break-in was limited but proprietary information could have been accessed:

We have been diligently reviewing logs and records about the break-in to determine the extent of the information exposed, and re-securing avenues used to gain access. We presume our source code was exposed and copied. While much of our code is Open Source, there are sensitive bits of our and our partners' code. Beyond that, however, it appears information disclosed was limited.

Update: According to Automatic, this break-in 'affects most of Automatic's services Root level access potentially allows access to everything on the servers."

Tech Crunch's Alexia Tsosis argues that Mullenweg is downplaying the severity of the incident, pointing out that "Word Press.com VIP customers are all on 'code red' and in the process of changing all the passwords/API keys they've left in the source code." Tech Crunch, among other big blogs, is a WordPress VIP customer.

"While Automatic is down playing the leak, site source code includes API keys and Twitter and Face book passwords," writes Tsosis.

Mullenweg says that the investigation is ongoing and that they have "taken comprehensive steps to prevent an incident like this from occurring again."

Mullenweg also suggests that users should use strong passwords, different passwords for each site and, "If you have used the same password on different sites, switch it to something more secure." In other words - change your passwords, folks.

- JMDComputerIndia.com

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CISCO - LINKSYS E-1000

GO WIRELESS AND EASILY PUT THE SPEED AND POWER OF WIRELESS-N TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR HOME…..

PRESENTING LINKSYS E-1000 WIRELESS N ROUTER……..

BEST FOR   : - 

STANDARD, QUICK TO INSTALL, WIRELESS – N CONNECTIVITY FOR SURFING THE WEB, SENDING EMAIL AND FILE SHARING….

BENEFITS : -

Ø WIRELESSLY SURF THE WEB AND SEND E MAIL.

Ø SHARE FILES AND PRINTERS

Ø QUICK SET UP

PASSWORD PROTECTED GUEST ACCESS, PARENTAL CONTROLS, ADVANCED SETTING

HOW WE DO IT :-

Ø WIRELESS N TECHNOLOGY WITH 2 INTERNAL ANTENNAS

Ø 2.4 GHz BAND OPERATION

Ø CISCO CONNECT SOFTWARE

Ø ADVANCED SECURITY AND FIREWALL PROTECTION

Specifications

Ø Standards                              :               802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.3, 802.3u

Ø Ports                                      :               Power, Internet, and Ethernet (1-4)

Ø Buttons                                   :               Reset, Wi-Fi Protected Setup

Ø LEDs                                    :               Ethernet (1-4), Wi-Fi Protected Setup, Wireless, Internet, Power

Ø Cabling Type                           :               CAT 5e

Ø RF Pwr (EIRP) in dBm                :               17.5 dBm

Ø Antenna Gain in dBi                 :               1.5 dBi

Ø UPnP able/cert                       :               Able

Ø Security Features                  :               WEP, WPA, WPA2

Ø Security Key Bits                   :               Up to 128-Bit Encryption

Environmental

Ø Dimensions                           :               7.95" x 1.34" x 6.3" (202 x 34 x 160 mm)

Ø Weight                                   :               9.81 oz (280 g)

Ø Power                                    :               12V, 0.5A

Ø Certification                            :               FCC, CE, IC-03, Wi-Fi, Windows 7

Ø Operating Temperature             :               32 to 104°F (0 to 40°C)

Ø Storage Temperature               :               -4 to 140°F (-20 to 60°C)

Ø Operating Humidity                  :               10 to 85% Noncondensing

Ø Storage Humidity                    :               5 to 90% Noncondensing

Please call for any support or inquiry….

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ViewSonic ViewPad 10 tablet review

The first dual-boot tablet is surely worth a look, but needs a price cut. 

There are a lot of tablets that have been launched in India within the past few months and more are on the verge of being launched. Most tablet manufacturers have chosen to go with Android as the operating system, whereas few others have chosen Windows 7. However, ViewSonic comes with a tablet that dual boots both operating system, that almost provides the user best of both sides.

Looks & Ergonomics
The ViewPad 10 is not the slimmest or the sexiest tablet out there, but its got a vibrant 10.1” display. There are three touch sensitive buttons on the matte finish bezel that extends below the glossy bezel and perform different functions under the two OS. There is a 1.3MP front camera present as well. The tablet has two full size USB2.0 port, mini VGA port, microSD card slot and 3.5mm audio jack and microphone on the side.  The back has a brushed metal finish with the ViewSonic logo printed in the centre with speakers and heat vent at corners.

 

The tablet weighs just under 1kg and was easy to use with two hands. Using the tablet in vertical as well as horizontal position did not pose any problem. The brushed metal back and the matte finish bezel provide excellent grip.

Display
The tablet has a 10.1” capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. We loved the touch response on the tablet and multi-touch worked superbly across windows and android. Of course, like every other tablet out there, the large display is a fingerprint magnet and requires cleaning every now and then.

Hardware & Software
The ViewPad 10 is powered by an Intel Atom processor running at 1.66GHz with 1GB of DDR 3 RAM along with 16GB SSD storage. The SSD provides quick boot up and thought the hardware is more than enough for Android, 1GB RAM makes the overall windows experience slightly sluggish. It comes with WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, 3G and assisted GPS.  The tablet also has a G-sensor, E-compass sensor and an ambient light sensor.

The tablet comes loaded with Windows 7 Home premium and Android OS v1.6 as operating systems, which can be selected, on start-up. We loved the fact that Windows on the tablet performed the same way on a laptop. In fact, when we tried connecting to the Internet using a Reliance Netconnect USB modem, it worked flawlessly. We installed various windows application and other than the slight sluggishness due to low RAM we faced no issues.

It comes with Android is v1.6 and ViewSonic has no plans to upgrade it on the tablet. The performance on Android is fantastic, though due to the older version the number of apps is limited across categories.

Multimedia
Thanks to Windows 7 and the full size USB 2.0 port, the ViewPad tablet provides for the easiest access to multimedia. Like a standard desktop, various codecs and multimedia player could be loaded allowing the user to play any format of video as well as audio. Watching videos on the tablet was superb due to the large sized display. The sound output from the tablet is not too loud, but is higher than that for personal listening. The sound output in the earphones is great though with excellent clarity.

User Interface
ViewSonic has not done any modification across either of the interface than the standard wallpaper change to Viewsonic’s logo. Windows 7 interface is like a standard laptop, instead of physical mouse and keyboard; the user gets an onscreen keyboard and the multi-touch display to work with. In Android, it’s the same basic android interface that was in phones around a year back.

Conclusion
Although, the tablet has excellent hardware with a great touch-screen display, it’s the dual-boot operating system that is the major advantage over competitors here. However, we barely used the Android operating system over windows as it provided more options. The battery backup of the device lasted us just over a day, which is impressive considering we constantly worked on it and it was connected through WiFi constantly.

The ViewPad 10 is priced at Rs 38,000, which is too steep for an average consumer who now has options in terms of the MSI Windpad at 35,000 and the Apple iPad starting from Rs 28,000 in the same screen size.

Specifications

10.1" LCD screen with Capacitive multi-touch screen

1024x600 with LED backlight

220 cd/m2 Brightness

700:1 Contrast Ratio    

Intel Pine Trail N455 1.66GHz processor

DDR3 1GB SDRAM 667MHz

16GB SSD SATA

Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 (optional 3G module) + EDR, 3G and assisted GPS
Windows 7 Home Premium

Android 1.6

0.875 kg

1.3 megapixel camera (front)

G-Sensor, E-Compass sensor and ambient light sensor

Ports-3.5mm audio jack for stereo headset, 2 USB 2.0 ports, mini VGA port, Micro SD card slot

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HP Dreamscreen Review

A fancy desktop with lots of eye candy, but very limited use

Touchscreen tablets are expected to be the top selling gadget this year. With around 100 tablets announced at CES, touchscreen devices seem to be the direction to go. Looking at all the hype, HP has tried to go a step ahead and instead of providing a portable tablet; they incorporated touch-screen into their new desktop offering called the DreamScreen.

The DreamScreen is pure eye candy in terms of looks. This All-in-one desktop has a large 18.5” display with 1366 x 768 resolution. The display has a clear plastic bezel around the display frame that adds to the looks of the system. There is a large indicator right at the front bottom that looks like a power button, but works only as a power indicator. Other controls are placed on the right hand side. All the connectivity ports for USB and card reader, headphones are placed neatly on the left hand side with additional ports at the back. There is also a slot load DVD drive on the right hand side just above the control buttons. All in all, the Dreamscreen looks very good and can easily add to the décor of a room. The only issue is that it takes a wire with an adapter for power that is clearly visible behind the monitor.

The HP Dreamscreen is powered by an Intel processor and comes with a 250GB hard-drive. There is very little information about the hardware that has been shared by HP. It comes with a mouse and keyboard as well even though the onscreen keyboard of the PC is very responsive and easy to use. It has inbuilt WiFi for connectivity and also comes with an Ethernet port at the back.

The desktop runs on a Linux based operating system, which has been heavily customized.  The interface has been tweaked to be touch-interface friendly. The good thing is that HP has provided large icons to use on the desktop for various activities. You can either log in as the administrator or as an student. The student account has limited privileges in terms of installing and purchasing content. HP has tied up with various vendors to provide content on their machine across categories such as News, music, videos etc. Some content is paid, while other is free. Video streaming is free from various channels, whereas to use application for astrology, you need to subscribed etc. The User interface overall is very easy to use and quick to respond.

What we didn’t like was the operating system is too limited and restricted. It will play media of very few formats, does not remember your last sites/applications and does not even remember you WiFi connection password on restart. Moreover, a user cannot install additional applications, which is a major downer.

The HP dreamscreen is priced at Rs 19,999 and is aimed at the mid-level consumer who wants to have a good looking desktop with internet and multimedia capabilities.
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Whats Hot

- Looks
- Easy to use
- price
- touchscreen
-
Whats Not

- restricted OS
- paid subscription model
- limited media support

Estimated Street Price

Rs 19,990/-

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BELKIN Play Max wireless router

One of the best routers available today with just one flaw. The name ‘Play Max’ raised our expectation before we actually tested this IEEE 802.11n based router and when we did it we were not at all disappointed, in fact disappointment came from other features. 

Once out of box what you have in hand is a compact clean looking router with hidden antennas and single indicator light and WPS button in front for hassle free secure connection setup. Number of connection ports at back is where Play Max has edge when compared with other similar products; there are 5 gigabit ports (1xWAN, 4xLAN) which would be ample for any wired connection plus being gigabit would mean faster data transfer speeds.  2 USB 2.0 ports are also present at the back for connecting external USB based storage devices with FAT 16/32 and NTFS file system, USB printers are also supported by Play Max giving you ability to convert your USB based printer to network one.

Setting up this router was the simplest of jobs and a mere 3 step process with initial configuration provided in small booklet attached to box. To use most of the features of this router including using USB storage/printer you have to install router management software that would sit in task bar and add to CPU usage, which as per us is a major con of Play Max. The main issue we faced with the router was that it does not support plugging in a 3G USB modem.

To test the performance of this router which supports true dual band in 2.5 Ghz and 5 GHz  band respectively, we carried out two tests. First we used Qucheck 3.0 to test throughput, we connected one machine with wire to router and other wirelessly to N based laptop (both laptop and machine were running Windows 7) and then checked throughput over TCP protocol. Play Max was able to transfer 1000 Kb payload at 64 mbps which is one of the best scores we have seen. In second test we transferred 40 MB of mixed data from machine to laptop; Play Max was able to complete this transfer in 4 seconds which is again very high when compared to other products. We also tried using the router to stream HD videos from a windows media center to an Xbox 360 over WiFi, and it worked great.

Besides performance and features there are number of bundled utilities for different purposes like torrent gene for downloading files to external storage, bit boost for traffic prioritization, music mover for wireless music play from external storage. All in all, a high performing router with not so user friendly bundled software.

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XPRSS – easy to use feed reader for BlackBerry

XPRSS is a fast, clean and easy to use feed reader for BlackBerry smartphone users. There are very few feed readers available in the market which can come anyway near XPRSS.

XPRSS comes preloaded with variety of feed categories. You can easily add new feeds of your choice. Variety of options are available for the user to choose from. One can add feeds to the reader directly using the feed url or just by giving the main website address and it will automatically find the feed location.

The most useful feature of it is it also allows the user to import feeds using OPML. So if you are an existing google feed reader user or using some other software to manage your feeds, you can simply export your feeds and import it into XPRSS.

If you like sharing what you discover then again XPRSS comes handy. It allows you to share articles directly from the post page to almost all popular social booknarking and social media sites. So if you are a BB geek and love to stay updated all the time then XPRSS is a must have app for you.

Download XPRSS for blackberry (Freeware)

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3 free softwares to turn your Webcam into video surveillance camera

There are many situations in which you require to monitor your work area or your home. Here we have few free softwares which can turn your Webcam into a surveillance camera .

1. Rise Sun:

Rise Sun is a free Windows based video security software. Which uses a webcam for motion detection. In case of any movement detection it automatically takes a snapshot and saves it on your hard disk. It can ring an alarm if any movement is detected.  You can read more about this software and download it from here.

2. TeboCam:

TeboCam does the same job as Rise Sun. But it can send you emails also in case of any activity. TeboCam can generate snapshots at regular intervals and if any movement is found it can create emails and send the snapshots to you via mail or it can directly upload it on the website. To know all the features of it just download it and use it . Here is the download link. TeboCam

3. Prog’z WebCamSpy:

Prog’z WebCamSpy is not as good as the previous two softwares mentioned here. But it can be used to make your webcam a spy cam. It is a lightweight software. Does not require much resources to work. It just sits silently and takes snapshots using webcam at regular interval and saves them on your computer. It also can zoom on particular portion while recording so you can use it for monitoring specific areas. Download Prog’z WebCamSpy

If you know any other good software which can be used for the same purpose then please share it with us using comments form below.

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Interesting story behind Trojan Horse

We all have heard about the viruses named Trojan Horse, Trojan Horse is a kind of virus which appears to perform it’s intended tasks, But silently steals all the information from your computer or harms your computer in a way which may be difficult to recover.

Interestingly I got to know a story about the name Trojan Horse virus, Here it goes…

In Greek Mythology they believe there was a city called, City Of Troys & there was other kingdom of Greeks. They fought for about 10 years and the war was called the Trojan War. After 10 years of fight the greeks still had nothing in their hands, it was a fruitless siege , So the greeks declared that they quit from the War.

Now the greeks built a giant horse made of wood & gave it as a trophy of victory to the citizens of Troy called TROJANS. The trojans happily took the horse inside the city. On the same night the trojans were busy celebrating their victory while 30 soldiers who were hiding inside the Giant Wooden Horse came out  & opened the city gates for the Greek Army. The Greek army then destroyed the entire troy city.

Since then everything that causes the target to bring a vulnerable object in to a secured area is referred as a Trojan Horse. Hence the name Trojan Horse is given to viruses that pretend to be something else, but once they are inside the system they start messing up the entire system.

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