Thursday, August 14, 2008

Portable Apps

All Portable Apps at this site: http://portableapps.com/
List of Apps: http://portableapps.com/apps

The list goes something like this :)

Applications

Accessibility

Development

Education

Games

Graphics & Pictures

Internet

Music & Video

Office

Operating Systems

Utilities

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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Analytic Functions

Kichu has been telling for quite some time about the power of Analytic Functions.
Today, saw a few sites explaining them. Here are they

Hope to try them soon and truly feel better for knowing about them.

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Your Work and Your Money

Here are two useful, personal productivity, websites (both from the same founders, I guess).
I spotted via the TechCrunch blog.

1. An expense register - Expensr
2. A work log - that is sharable - iDidWork

Of the two, I think iDidWork is pretty much in infancy. For example, you can't log that an event happened at a given time. You can only log a duration. Like, for example, you can't log, I met him at 4.30.

But I liked Expensr a lot. The interface is very good, with a lot of cool features, like recurring trans and auto-categorize. Have always thought such a website would be great.

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Monday, August 11, 2008

C#

While browsing to get hands on something which can help learn C#, found few sites, which contain tutorials in a palatable way.

  • Tops the list: MSDN (Web) It contains tutorials - Videos, Transcript, Project Code Files, Study Guide and Exercises with a link to download everything. It is divided into 3-Tiers. 1st Tier is for beginners, 2nd Tier for inbetweeners, and 3rd Tier for Advanced Skilled persons
  • A Blog
  • Tuts on ASP .NET. This site even contains some Starter Kits and some projects which can be embedded into our projects

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Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Vlog

All of us have heard of Blog which is a sandhi for WeB+Log. Similarly, there has been generation of new terminologies (like Vhishing, an upgrade for Phishing logged as an update at this post).

Vlog is a Video Blog. On further dissemination, Video Blog is Video+WeB+Log all together. When a Video is embedded as a post on Blog, it becomes a Vlog

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Speed-up Menulist-population in Windows

Want a faster loading Menu (like All Programs), you need to just change one value in Registry, shown below and done!

If you're at all unsure of yourself in the registry editing arena, it may be a good idea to back up your registry. (Once you're in the Registry editor, just hit the File menu, Export to make a backup copy)
1. Hit the Start button, Run .
2. Type: regedit 
and hit Enter (or click OK if you prefer)
3. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop 
Once you open the Desktop folder, scroll down to the " MenuShowDelay " item on the right.
(If you don't see a " MenuShowDelay " item, you can make one. Just right-click a blank area in the right hand pane. Select New, String from the resulting menu)
Next, type in: MenuShowDelay
Exactly as shown. Once that's done, you can proceed to the next step:
4. Double-click the " MenuShowDelay " item and change the value to a lower number (default is 400 or 500 depending on the system). I like 100 myself (enter 0 for instant menus). Oh, those numbers are in milliseconds, in case you were worried about it. Be sure to enter something here if you had to create the value using the special note above! 
5. Hit OK , exit the registry editor, and restart your computer .
Now check the performance :)

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Tuesday, August 5, 2008

SQL: GROUP BY CUBE(column1, column2,..., column n)

Had one query where we have to give count of Surgeries done in the order of Speciality (Department), OT type, OT Category, OT Sub-Category. We wrote a simple SQL Query with Group by clause. So we were getting records like: (Example)

Speciality         Type             Category            Sub-category                 count
CTVS      Closed Heart      Congenital        Interrupted Aortic Arch        456
CTVS      Closed Heart      Congenital        Ventricular Septal Defect      678
CTVS      Closed Heart      Ischemic           Interrupted Aortic Arch        123
CTVS      Closed Heart      Ischemic          Ventricular Septal Defect       465
CTVS      Open Heart        Congenital         Interrupted Aortic Arch        138
CTVS      Open Heart        Congenital        Ventricular Septal Defect       615
CTVS      Open Heart        Ischemic           Interrupted Aortic Arch        513
CTVS      Open Heart        Ischemic          Ventricular Septal Defect       908


So, how to get Counts at all the three levels: Type, Category and Sub-category?
The trick was in use of CUBE
Syntax: group by cube(column1, column2, column3,...,columnn)
and then it gave the output, the way we wanted

Speciality         Type             Category            Sub-category                 count
CTVS      Closed Heart      Congenital        Interrupted Aortic Arch        456
CTVS      Closed Heart      Congenital        Ventricular Septal Defect      678
CTVS      Closed Heart      Congenital................................................... 1134
CTVS      Closed Heart      Ischemic           Interrupted Aortic Arch        123
CTVS      Closed Heart      Ischemic          Ventricular Septal Defect       465
CTVS      Closed Heart      Ischemic...................................................... 588
CTVS      Closed Heart......................................................................... 1722
CTVS      Open Heart        Congenital         Interrupted Aortic Arch        138
CTVS      Open Heart        Congenital        Ventricular Septal Defect       615
CTVS      Open Heart        Congenital.................................................... 753
CTVS      Open Heart        Ischemic           Interrupted Aortic Arch         513
CTVS      Open Heart        Ischemic          Ventricular Septal Defect        908
CTVS      Open Heart        Ischemic....................................................... 1421
CTVS      Open Heart ........................................................................... 2174

Cool...So, now no more struggling with multiple totals :)



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Spammers blast Social Networking Sites

An article on how bots are being used to create fake accounts on Social Networking Sites, starting with AOL in mid 1990s, and then phishing with user's data. A fair article here

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Security Jargons: Bots, Zombies, Virus, Worms, Trojan Horse & Phishing

Bots: A bot is a type of malware which allows an attacker to gain complete control over the affected computer. [SOURCE]

Zombie: Computers that are infected with a bot are generally referred to as zombies. [SOURCE]

Virus: A computer virus is a small program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user. A virus must meet two criteria:

  • It must execute itself. It often places its own code in the path of execution of another program.
  • It must replicate itself. For example, it may replace other executable files with a copy of the virus infected file. Viruses can infect desktop computers and network servers alike.
Five recognized types: File infector viruses, Boot sector viruses, Master boot record viruses, Multipartite viruses, Macro viruses [SOURCE]


Trojan Horse:
Trojan horses are impostors—files that claim to be something desirable but, in fact, are malicious. A very important distinction between Trojan horse programs and true viruses is that they do not replicate themselves. Trojan horses contain malicious code that when triggered cause loss, or even theft, of data. For a Trojan horse to spread, you must invite these programs onto your computers; for example, by opening an email attachment or downloading and running a file from the Internet. Trojan.Vundo is a Trojan horse. [SOURCE]

Worm:
Worms are programs that replicate themselves from system to system without the use of a host file. This is in contrast to viruses, which requires the spreading of an infected host file. Although worms generally exist inside of other files, often Word or Excel documents, there is a difference between how worms and viruses use the host file. Usually the worm will release a document that already has the "worm" macro inside the document. The entire document will travel from computer to computer, so the entire document should be considered the worm W32.Mydoom.AX@mm is an example of a worm [SOURCE]

Virus Hoax:
Virus hoaxes are messages, almost always sent by email, that amount to little more than chain letters. Following are some of the common phrases that are used in these hoaxes:
  • If you receive an email titled [email virus hoax name here], do not open it!
  • Delete it immediately!
  • It contains the [hoax name] virus.
  • It will delete everything on your hard drive and [extreme and improbable danger specified here].
  • This virus was announced today by [reputable organization name here].
  • Forward this warning to everyone you know! [SOURCE]
Phishing:
Phishing is attacks using “spoofed” e-mails and fraudulent websites with the attempt to trick unsuspecting Internet users into divulging confidential personal information such as credit card numbers, account usernames and passwords, social security numbers, etc. [SOURCE]

Update-1

Vhishing:

In a vishing scam, people are sent spam mail, as in Phishing, but instead of being directed to a Web site, they are given a phone number to call. If one calls the number, it will seem like one is calling the company that sent you the e-mail. They have all of the automated messages, hold music and even long wait times. When one finally reaches a representative, they will ask one for ones' account information.




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Monday, August 4, 2008

CAPTCHA

CAPTCHA stands for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart".

Official CAPTCHA site is http://www.captcha.net/







In simple words, CAPTCHA is a program that can generate and grade tests that:

  • Most humans can pass, BUT

  • Current computer programs can't pass

Quite sometime back, I had read a general article on how people broke of Yahoo Security by creating automated bots to read these captachas and create innumerable mail ids. Today found some very good site with analysis, where Gmail has got hit. All the articles and links below.



Gmail CAPTCHA busted: Very informative article, completely describes the CAPTCHA hacking process, their discovery of the host machine, use of two bots than one since Gmail CAPTCHAs are tougher than others, etc. etc. (implies spam coming from Google's IP addresses!) Spammers are able to create still only with 20% success rate (I realize its quite huge, but compared to Hotmail at about 60%, this is better)

An article on Breaking Gmails' Audio CAPTCHA



Yahoo CAPTCHA security broken. Another article on Yahoo security broken. One more here.



Hotmail CAPTCHA cracked. Another good article: Hotmail CAPTCHA broken in 60 secs



Accidentally, found this site: WebSense which has its SecurityLabs. In its own words:



"Websense Security Labs discovers, investigates, and reports on advanced Internet threats that traditional security research methods miss."


This seems to be a site which needs frequent revisits from now on. Especially after observing their analysis on Breaking GMail Captcha.

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Tuesday, July 29, 2008

IBMDeveloperWorks

This site gives tutorials in multiple areas. I have gone through some tutorials like LPI & Regular Expressions. The authors write it very clean, in simple language making it very easy to understand. First site to go to, to get any tutorials.

Site: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/

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Friday, July 25, 2008

Knol - a Unit of Knowlege: Google

Google has got Knol, its answer to Wiki and About.com, out of beta last wednesday. They claim the feature that takes home win against others is Authorship. An author is stated against each Knol, which can have multiple authors. Other features include rating of knols, featuring of best-rated knols on homepage, etc. etc. Many exist that can be explored with a Knol account.

It supports three licensing for knols.

A post on Google's Official Blog about Knol.

Now this is interesting - Wiki on Knol.

There exists a community on Knol for exploring, discussing, learning and taking advantage of Knol, Googles' Open Encylopedia. It is http://knolstuff.com/

Past: This was the post made at TechCrunch in December regarding its conceputalization.

Naams may like 'other knols by this author' feature, which I remember he seemed to miss in Community on Orkut (as other posts by this user).

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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

SketchUp

For quite sometime now, we had been searching for a software that would help in 3D modelling. Maya and 3D Studio Max 9 come as the obvious answers to these needs. But these are licensed (not for OpenWorld :(  Though there are trial versions available and also there are free versions available with lesser functionalities).

Continued on this endeavour and found scores of free softwares lined up for 3D modelling. Search was narrowed down by asking for softwares that are recommended for Architectural use. Found some softwares called Animor, etc etc. I dont even remember now. Downloaded them few days ago.

But finally, the search had to stop at SketchUp, to be precise, Google SketchUp. It has grown from what it was about half an year ago, when I had first downloaded and tried out. But, the way in which people have used it, I am amazed. Some Architectural sites like this, are hosting tutorials for Google SketchUp (Unimaginable!!!). They believe, its the most easiest and most capable software to create simple to complex structures. An Architects' Blog containing tutorials on SketchUp also exists.

Google itself has provided lots of tutorials, video tutorials to understand and learn using GSketchUp. It has now got a huge repository of additional 3D models that can be imported directly in GSketchUp. There are also some additions to SketchUp created by third-parties (fans). One such is V-ray by asgvis.com. Plus there are Ruby Scripts that can be used to add required effect provided by GSketchup themselves, available here.

There are two versions, Google SketchUp 6 and Google SketchUp Pro 6 (paid version available for US$495) with 8 hours trial version availble for trying out.

Google SketchUp 6 (free version) can be downloaded from here.

First Edit : Forgot to say about Video Tutorials. One can download video-tutorials (compatible with Macromedia Flash Player) at this site (Sketchups' homepage). To download from Googles' site on Sketchup, following jugglery is required.

  • The SketchUp 6 videos are available on this page. Open it in any web browser and view the HTML source code.
  • You will see filenames like V6_PhotoMatch_1.swf, V6_Styles.swf, etc. These correspond to the various tutorials that you see in step 1. Below the filenames, you'll see a "path variable" that shows the location of the web server where these tutorials are located.

    // path to where videos are hosted (with trailing slash)
    var path = "http://download.sketchup.com/videos/gsu6videos/";
  • Just create the full path of the file by appending the file name to the above path (like http://download.sketchup.com/videos/gsu6videos/V6_Text.swf) and paste this in your download manager.
  • Now the real trick - Once you have downloaded the tutorials in SWF format, rename these files to .FLV and play them inside any the free Riva or FLV Player.
 More descriptively explained here.

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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Hide Mouse Pointer while typing...

Below Screen shot explains everything.

Description:
Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel , then double-click on Mouse . (XP Users: Start / Control Panel / Printers & Other Hardware / Mouse.)
On the Mouse Properties window, click on the Pointer Options tab and you will see where it says Hide Pointer While Typing (again, note that not all systems have this feature). Give a check mark in the box. Click Apply , then OK and your on the way to less distracting typing!

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Self Screen Saver

Want to get a Screen Saver at your command and not automatically after a particular interval? Then create a Shortcut Key to your favourite Screen Saver on your desktop and click on it whenever you wish to run that screen saver!

If there is a default screen saver set for your system, then both might run. Hence, disable the default one (set it to 'None'). 'Password-Protect' will still be active.

Steps:


A screen will pop up asking you for a command line. Click the Browse button.
A box will pop up that allows you to hunt for the file you need the shortcut for. By default, it filters results only for program file extensions (.exe). Your screen savers end with the extension .scr , so you'll need to select All Files from the File of type drop down box. Win 2000 users will have a slightly different screen, but it works in a similar way (no drop box - "all files" are automatically selected).








:)

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My Shortcuts on Desktop Toolbar

Desktop Toolbars 

Have you ever had several windows open and needed to get to a shortcut on the desktop? I know I have. You have to minimize all three windows just to start the other program. But there is an easy way to fix this problem. Create a toolbar with your shortcuts in it!

Here's how. First, right click on the windows toolbar on the bottom of your screen. You will get a little menu. Go up to the toolbars option. Another menu will slide out. Left click on “ New Toolbar ”. This gives you a window where we can create your toolbar.

Next, left click once on the word “ desktop ”, so it is highlighted. Then click the button “ New Folder ”. Give the new folder the name you want for your toolbar. Let's say… My Shortcuts . Click OK .

The window will close and you will notice a new folder has been placed on the desktop with whatever name you gave it. Left click-and-drag this folder to the edge of your screen. When you release the mouse button, the folder will magically become a toolbar. Amazing!


You say “So what? All I have is an empty toolbar.” Well, now that we have created the toolbar, all we need to do is to put some shortcuts in it.
To do this, just drag the icons you want from your desktop into the toolbar. If you want some for the start menu, just find them in there and drag them over too.

All right, now you have full toolbar, but it won't go away. Here's what you do. Right click the name on the top of the toolbar. A menu will be displayed. To make the toolbar disappear when your mouse is not over it click on “ Auto-Hide ”, if it is not already checked. Open this menu again and click on “ Always on Top ”, again only if it is not already checked. This will allow the toolbar to be displayed over the windows you are using. With this menu you can also change the view, whether the title is displayed, and if you want text with the icons.


To enhance the use of this tip you may want to create more toolbars (one for each side of your monitor.) This is great for organization. At one time, some had toolbars for documents, games, and Microsoft Office. The only problem is that with multiple toolbars containing lots of icons the start-up time is slightly longer (on a slow computer anyway). In my opinion the wait is worth the ease it provides later.

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Web Page Shortcut keys

Web Page Shortcut Keys
Wouldn't it be cool to have hot-keys for your favorite web pages on your desktop? For instance, if you type Ctrl+Shift+G it would bring up Google while Ctrl+Shift+S would bring up SSSIHMS. Well, by combining a few simple techniques in Windows XP you can.
First, go to the web page that you want a shortcut for and put it on your desktop by right-clicking a blank area of the page and selecting "Create Shortcut".

Now that you have the shortcut for the web page on your desktop, right-click the link and select "Properties" (or Alt+double click).
Under the "Web Document" tab look for "Shortcut key". Put your cursor in the box then type a letter. It will automatically add "Ctrl+Alt+" in front of it. You can also create any combination using Ctrl, Alt, Shift plus a keyboard character by typing them at the same time.

After you're done you can bring up the page with your new key combination any time you need to. Use it for search engines or even your online email. Keep in mind that it will open up in your default web browser.

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Shortcut to Google Search box in Firefox

We all have seen Google Search Engine sitting inside Firefox Browser. Earlier, if I had to search something, I used to create a New Tab (Ctrl+T). Cursor would automatically be blinking in the address bar. Then Tab, so that the cursor moves to the Google Search Engine query box where we can give in the key words to search.

Today, accidentally found out that there is a way to directly go to Google Search Engine query box with Ctrl+E. Ofcourse, opening New Tab remains same. But incase anytime we want to go to that box within same Window or Tab, instead of using mouse, this shortcut would be handy.

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F4 & F5 keys in Windows

F4: Alt+F4 - Closes active window and application
      Ctrl+F4 - Closes active sheet or document within the application (closes one window instead of the whole program)

F5: Refresh button
      Shift+F5 - Cursor jumps back to the location where it was last in Winword

Example: 
Picture this: you’re working on a big document and you’re making some adjustments just on page 17, but you forgot something you needed on page one. So, what do you do? You end up scrolling all the way back up to the first page. Once you find what you needed, you have to go all the way back down to page 17. Aye, make it stop!
Here’s a quick way to solve that conundrum. Simply hold down the Shift key and press F5. The cursor will automatically jump to the exact place where the cursor was before you moved it.
Now, even better. You’re still on page 17 and you save and close the document. When you re-open it, the cursor will be at the very top of the first page. Press Shift+F5 again and you’ll immediately jump right back to where you were on page 17.

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Toggle Keys

I had heard this terminology for quite some time. But never bothered or cared to know what it meant. But today learnt that toggle key is any key that has more than one functionality (some say, having even one functionality on the keyboard puts up that key as a toggle key). Egs being Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock for they are binary in nature - On or Off

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Mouse-Shortcuts

StrokeIt 

We all have heard a lot about keyboard shortcuts, but have you ever thought about mouse shortcuts? They really can be very useful! You don't even have to look down at your mouse. You just draw whatever you need to with your mouse. It's so cool! Not only does this make you look very professional, but it can save you loads of time too. Now, you might be thinking, "Where can I get a program that lets me do all of that?" Well, don't stop now. Keep reading to find out!

StrokeIt allows you to program different mouse gestures so that you can perform common functions, right within all of your favorite programs!
To get started:
1.) Click here to download StrokeIt.
2.) After you install the program, you will be prompted to restart your computer, so go ahead and do so.
3.) When your computer restarts, open StrokeIt and the program will look like this:'



4.) As you can see in the left pane, there is a list of several programs you have on your computer. Internet Explorer should be listed there as well. Click the listing for that and two sub-entries will appear. They should say Back and Forward.




5.) Click on the Back link and in the right pane, you will see this:



The programmed gesture for Back is drawing a line to the left. If you click the Forward link, you will see that the gesture for going Forward is drawing a line to the right. Let's test those shortcuts out, shall we?!

6.) Minimize StrokeIt and it will appear in your taskbar like this:
7.) Open Internet Explorer and visit two or three Web site. Then hold down the right mouse button and draw a fairly straight line to the left and release the button. A blue line should appear. When you let go, the page should go back to the previous site you were on.


8.) Try the same thing with a line to the right. The browser should go forward. See how easy mouse gestures can be?! You're starting to get the hang of mouse shortcuts now, aren't you? That's great! By the way, all you Firefox fans, these same shortcuts work with Firefox as well.

Now, there are a lot of gestures programmed into StrokeIt, but it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with them right from the start.
1.) To do so, open StrokeIt and go to Edit and then click Learn Gestures.
Try drawing a line to the left and StrokeIt will recognize it as Left.

2.) Next, draw an A and, if you do it neatly, StrokeIt will recognize it.


3.) Now, close that out and then look over the list of programmed gestures. You'll probably see some of your most used programs, like WinZip and Windows Media Player. You can click on them to see the actions and the mouse gestures. How cool is that?!



Next, go up to the very top and click on Global Actions. A large list will then come down, like this:



These are going to be your favorite gestures, because they work in all programs! For example, up is copy and down is paste. Or, a down slash (/) for minimize and so on. There are so many more too. You just have to check them all out!

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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

SitePoint for online tutorials

On pursuit to know about the User Interface elements possible in C# I, as usual, googled. Found this site called SitePoint.com, which has very well categorized in what all terminologies one needs to know before creating a website and then gives tutorials for multiple languages and Web elements. Worth a try

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Watch with Hidden 4GB Flash Drive


A watch with a hidden 4GB USB Flash Drive. This black watch features a removable USB flash drive with a 4GB capacity, allowing you to always have easy access to your most important files.

This watch has a plastic case covered by stainless steel mask with brushed silver finish and convex mineral glass with shiny raised index. The USB flash drive fits inside the watch case flush with the contours of the watch case - ready to hold your data safe and secure.
Watch with Hidden 4GB USB Flash Drive
Features:
  • Japanese quartz movement
  • Black polyurethane strap
  • Luminescent hands
  • 4GB capacity
  • Watch dial size: 1.1 x 1 inches (29 x 25mm)
  • Flash drive size: 1.5″ x .5″ x .25″ (38 x 13 x 6mm)
The Watch with Hidden 4GB USB Flash Drive is available for $59.99 over at the ThinkGeek website.
(Via Geeky Gadgets)
Here is the source. This again was a post at Reuters powered by BlogBurst

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Got a Great Blog...? Here's the media for you...

For all those people there who think that they have got a great blog with content which needs to be easily available for a larger audience, here is BlogBurst. They put blog like yours on major media sites.

Who's featuring BlogBurst bloggers?

BlogBurst places blogs on nearly 100 top-tier news and media sites, including:
more BlogBurst customers »

One post made at Reuters through BlogBurst, that I came across is Can The Videoconferencing Boom Last?

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