Hacking and Security

Annoying mobile spamming

2011-08-06T11:01:00.003+04:00

Most of mobile phone users face the irritating spam phone calls. How we can get rid of such annoying phone calls. Spam call are many types
1. Robo calls
2. Phishing calls
3. Rings and hangs
4. Call back spam
5. Spam text message
6. Spam voice message

What's a ROBO Call?
Ok, sir, then what's a phishing Call?
So, what do you mean by "Rings and hangs" then?

So what you can do against this?
Just share such frauds with others in the internet fraternity.
Or just share it through your own blog as I did in this blog!
Never take the phone when a fraud call come to your phone in the second time. First time you probably may not know whether the call is genuine or not. So once you identified a fraud number never take it in the next time. There are lots of effective methods to put an end these annoying phone calls. Join in the National Do Not Disturb Registry is the most effective method. But choosing this you cannot identify the spammers' numbers. Use your own phones Reject List. Most of the modern phones has such a feature like Reject List. Find out your own phones RL feature. And publish that numbers to the net.
Here I am publishing a list of numbers which fetched from my handset. Most of them are came through Tata Docomo Mobile Service Provider from Kerala Circle in India. All these spam calls are Robo Calls offering many services like caller tunes, song download etc.

Reject List as shown in Samsung C-5212 Mobile

   1. +918891255013
   2. +918891255031
   3. +914772251697
   4. +918891255024
   5. +914067309330
   6. +918891255028
   7. +918891255017
   8. +911402015009
   9. +917002019000
10. +918714155064
11. +918714155065
12. +918714155067
13. +918714155063
14. +913366064950
15. +918714155062
16. +913366064890
17. +913366065130
18. +917736355056
19. +917736355057
20. +917736355058
21. +914067305210
22. +914067305330
23. +917736355061

How to access internet so cheap?

2011-06-21T23:36:00.003+04:00

In one of my previous post, I have written something about a cost-effective method to access internet via GPRS. Many people use it in their own mobiles and rarely in their computers. To use internet through GPRS in computers with MS Windows platform, one has to install third party programme to access the GPRS Modem inside your mobile phone. (For Nokia phone, users has to install Nokia PC Suit.) But in GNU/Linux systems, all you need to install a tiny dialler programme named "wvdial". In this post I'm explaining how to access internet with TATA.DOCOMO.GPRS PREPAID DATA.PLAN in SAMSUNG C-5212 Model phone.

Required items

Tata Docomo is the cheapest GPRS pack
Samsung C-5212 model is the cheapest phone having GPRS MultiSClass 10

Note: Samsung C-5212 supports upto GPRS MultiSClass 10.

Computer having GNU/Linux OS
the package named "wvdial" must be installed

Notes: To install wvdial, just go to the terminal and give the following command sudo apt-get install wvdial

The phone must have the usb cable. Connect the phone with computer with USB Cable.

Check which SIM is default

SIM Cards Management	Settings > SIM Cards Management. Which SIM do you want to use as GPRS Mode, make it default. Because wvdial direcly seek the default SIM to find GPRS modem.
Browser profiles	6. Application settings > 5. Browser > 9. Browser profiles. You can see lots of profiles are listed in there. Select a profile
Browser profiles in detail	Click on the active profile you set for GPRS modem. In my case it is TATA DOCOMO INTERNET. The following sub sections are there
1. Set name	TATA DOCOMO INTERNET
2. HOME url	http://internet.tatadocomo.com
3. Bearer	GPRS Only
4. Proxy	off
5. GPRS Settings	DNS1: 0.0.0.0 DNS2: 0.0.0.0 Access name: TATA.DOCOCMO.INTERNET User id: empty password: empty

Why I explained all the details about the browser profile, is for a clear understanding on how it works. Generally you need not to care much about it. All the configurations will be done automatically when you receive the configuration sms from your mobile service provider.

Follow the following steps

Execute the code in your phone *2767*927#

Please wait during the lsave wap reset E2P wap reset This will reset all the browser profiles from your phone.

Execute the code in your phone *#4777*8665#

Select EGPRS MultiSClass > Select MultiSClass 10 GPRS Setting > EGPRS Mode

Almost preparations done. Now just call Tata Docomo Customer care centre 121
When the IVR Menu comes press in the following order
3-2-1-2-1
3 for Wifi, internet
2 for Internet, DIVE-IN
1 for Internet on mobile
2 for Internet settings
1 for SMS Settings
After you pressed the last digit you will be informed that an sms will be sent to your mobile shortly.
When the SMS reaches your mobile, please install it.

Preparations are ready. Now start on. Connect your mobile to PC through the USB Cable.

In the terminal, type the following command
wvdialconf
and then edit the wvdial.conf file
nano /etc/wvdial.conf

The following lines has to add in /etc/wvdial.conf

Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET"
Phone = *99*#
Password = internet
Username = internet
Baud = 57600
stupid mode = 1

Preparations in the computer also is finished. Now start on your internet by the following command

wvdial

Add contact form in Blogger

2011-05-27T22:33:00.009+04:00

For so long, I was searching for a "contact form" gadget in blogger. Very coincidentally I got a clue that there is a method to add a fine contact form in google docs. Here is the step by step info to add the contact form in your blogger.

Prerequisite

You must have google docs with your google account
A blog. Or site

Now look at the screenshots and the captions

Step 00: Open your google docs > Create new > Form


Step 01: Define each field such as name, email, message etc


Step 02: Edit the fields by clicking this icon


Step03: Add each fields carefully. Click "Done"

Step04: In More action > Embed

Step05: Copy the embed link

Step06: Now open blogger and create a new page

Step07: In the EDIT HTML paste the embed link

Step08: Check it in the COMPOSE Mode

Step09: Now publish the page

Step10: Go back to Googledocs and open the file


Step11: Set up Tools > Notification rules

Step 12 : In blogger you can reduce the width.

In this section please tick against "Any changes are made" and "Email right away" after that "Save"
Yes you have almost set up the Contact form. Now just check yourself whether it is working or not. If everything works well, you will get a notification in your gmail inbox where the googledocs is associated with.

Cost effective Portable Broadband Internet

2010-10-05T14:35:00.008+04:00

Many friends frequently asks about a smart / cost effective way to access internet in their laptop. There are lot of portable Broadband Internet Service Providers world wide. Here in Kerala there are Reliance, Tata Tele-services and lots of mobile service providers have introduced such broad band internet services. But when and performance matters, there is very little options in Portable Broadband Internet Services. Very recently I was happened to know a comparatively-good option in Portable Internet. This particular internet connection is based on EDGE technology in mobile phones.

What is EDGE

EDGE stands for Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution. It is a digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM. It is also known as Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS). Basically EDGE is a superset to GPRS and can function on any network with GPRS deployed on it, provided the carrier implements the necessary upgrade.

TATA-DOCOMO's EDGE based internet plan

Yes. In Kerala, Docomos internet plans are so cheep. Rs. 48/- for 2 GB download per month. If you are using it with GNU/Linux operating system its performance is really great. A file can be downloaded 15-30 Kbps which means you have a bandwidth of 120-240 Kbps. And most amazing is, if you have a good signal strength, you will get a stable internet. Please do not compare the speed with leased lines and fixed DSL lines.

Instructions for TATA-DOCOMO internet using with Gnu/Linux
As the old times, what we did for dial up connections. We used wvdial. Yes! wvdial reloaded.

Use wvdialconf to set up the modem.

nano /etc/wvdial.conf and add the following things

Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET"
Phone = *99*# [ Phone = *99# for normal phones | *99***1# for Nokia phones]
Password = internet
Username = internet
Baud = 57600
stupid mode = 1

TATA-DOCOMO provide Linux support for GPRS!

Last time when I called TATA Docomo's call centre, they told me that they can support GPRS users in Gnu/Linux platform. However, there will be minimal issues you will face when you use such a connection through Gnu/Linux. Here is a list of the issues I faced

I am using a dual sim phone. There may be conflicts of default SIM.

The service provider has to send us a configuration sms which has to be installed in your handset. If the configuration file corrupted, you won't be able to connect the internet.

Here is a sample of /etc/wvdial.conf

[Dialer Defaults]

Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET"
Modem Type = USB Modem
Baud = 57600
New PPPD = yes
Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
ISDN = 0
Phone = *991#
Password = internet
Username = internet

How to retrieve youtube videos from your browser's cache?

2010-09-29T11:29:00.005+04:00

I'll tell you some working methods to download youtube videos withoug having any particular software. But before that just read about the main issues.

I know you have tried many ways to download your favourite youtube video to your hard drive. you may have used many tools for that. But suddenly on one day, your fav tools stop working. Why? Because, youtube changes their technology time to time in caching the videos in your browser. There are many Gnu/Linux based application to download youtube. Clive, gvdown are best examples. My favourite application was Clive. Anyway Clive is no longer works in my machine. To use Clive any longer, I have to upgrade it or re-install it. So I decided to get them without any software. How could I do that?

Whatever file to run in your computer from the internet, it has to cache it first in the local system. May it be a png or gif, flv or mp3 it has to do so. So the site, caches the file in the temp location of your system. In the case of youtube video, you have to find where the file is cached in your local system. Its that simple. Once you find where is the file is cached, you almost got the file. Before proceeding you have to understand the following things to operate.

Find out the way to view all cache files in your Mozilla Firefox browser
Find out the way to view all cache files in your Computer (Gnu/Linux or Windows or Mac etc)

As of today, you can retrieve the video simply if you correctly follow the following steps

Open Mozilla Firefox and in the address bar type as "about:cache" (without quotes)
In "Memory cache device", click on "List Cache Entries"
Using Firefox "Find" tool, locate your youtube video.
Click on a "Key" heavy file size. (say 3725647 bytes)
Then you will get enough info on that particular key. Just Right-click on the key and save to the hard disk
By default, the file name will be "videoplayback". Rename it with a .flv extension
Play it with Mplayer or vlc player
If you wish to convert as mp3 or any other formats, use ffmpg.
The command to convert as
ffmpeg -i inpuvvideofile.flv outputaudiofile.mp3
Thats all. Any doubts?

Interaction with RMS

2010-09-15T14:18:00.005+04:00

It was on 9th of September 2010. I was anxiously waiting for this day to attend the function in which Richard Matthew Stallman delivering a speech at St. Joseph's College of Engineering and Technology, Palai. The speech was great. I Started from home very early along with my friends at ILUG Cochin. We reached there some hours before the speech. The function was organized amazingly by the Computer Engineering Students. The students started a FSUG (Free Software User Group) in their college and they named it as Swathanthra.in
RMS explained concepts and philosophy of the revolutionary os GNU/Linux. His two hour lecture was really great. He talked about Free-software. He talked about freedom. The ceremonial funny drama had taken place here too, RMS wore a black gown and an old CD as cap and said “I am St. Ignucius of the Church of Emacs and I bless your computer, my child. Long may you run.” In the Q&A session, I wrote a question to him and he answered it very passionately. The question was this -" you totally against to Open Source initiatives and FOSS. The question is asked in the background of a project like OPEN DRM". He answered that he is not AGAINST. Whatever the term may be, the core issue is FREEDOM. After answering the question, he added that "This is a good question". And I did know that he may comment something good to that question, because I have read there were a project like "Open DRM" was in serious consideration in some open source communities, which RMS clearly expressed his strong disapproval against such stupid projects. Even there were some Open Malwares! That question can be extended to such distros like Damn Vulnerable Linux (DVL).

After the speech, ILUG Cochin got a chance to meet RMS in person. We took some photographs with him. Anyway, it was my first experience with such an eminent person in the Free Software Community, and the experience was great.

How to recover your grub?

2010-01-12T08:52:00.011+04:00

In a GNU/Linux installed system, the default boot record is handled by GRand Unified Boot Loader or GRUB. Originally written by Erich Boleyn, Grub is considered as one of the best boot loaders available. In many circumstances, a boot record can be changed, i.e., another OS installation is one among them. For example, if you install /upgrade Windows 7 in a GNU/Linux installed machine, the GRub will be replaced by Windows' own boot record. From that point you will not be able to load GNU/Linux from your system. Because Windows' boot loader will never load another OS. However, you can easily recover your grub with only two or three lines of commands. It's very easy, it's not so techy. All you need is to have is a Live CD/DVD of GNU/Linux such as Knoppix. Here is the way to recover your grub.
Note: This weblog is written for Debian based text mode GRub recovery

1. Boot the system with Knoppix
2. type fdisk -l Hit enter to get a rough idea about your partitions and corresponding file systems. And just note down the Linux file systmes in a piece of paper.
3. Type grub
4. Type find /boot/grub/stage1 Hit enter
Note: If you get error message (Error 15: File not found) try another location as,
find /grub/stage1 Hit enter You'll probably get a reply from either of these commands just like (hd0,6)

Note: (hd0,6) is an example. hd0 is the drive; ,6 is the partition.
5. Type setup (hd0) Hit enter
Note: you only give drive number only; not the device number
6. You'll see some lines of codes like
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists ... no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists ... yes
Checking if "/grub/stage2" exists ... yes
Checking if "/boot/e2fs/stage1-5" exists ... yes
Checking if "/boot/e2fs/stage1-5 (hd0)" exists ...
17 sectors embedded succeeded
Running "install /grub/stage1 (hd0)(hd0)1+17P (hd0,6) /grub/stage2 /grub/menu.lst"..
succeeded
Done

IF you can read this message, your grub has recovered.
Now reboot your system.
Remove Knoppix CD.
Boot your hard disk.
Congratulations.
You have recovered your GRand Unified Boot Loader.

andLinux. A great step to Linux-for-all

2010-01-07T09:37:00.006+04:00

As an ardent Linux fan, I was always behind Debian for more than last 5 years. I loved the free software concept. And I tried my best to use only free software. As a graphic designer, this would not been always practical. So I had to make compromises several times. I am working in an advertising agency, where they are using only Windows client machines to do the graphic part. I was the person who initiated to move the network system under Linux (Debian). Everybody were happy in using a trouble-free networking environment.
But I had to use Windows to run some graphic software like Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash etc. Even a dual boot system has its own limitations. It is not practical to switch your system frequently. I was dreaming of a virtual Linus inside Windows, just like Wine. There may be a Line as a counterpart for Wine, I thought and even I googled for Line. I heard about cygwin. Tried to load it to run fontforge. However I kept a Knoppix 5.3 DVD always in my table draw. Whenever I want for Linux, I load it.
One of my favourite Linux applications was Kmymoney2. This software taught me the way to track my income and expenses and helped me a lot to control the spending. I could use Kmymoney only in my home because it does not have a Windows version (but Gnucash has). I inspired many of my friends about Kmymoney and some of them got in tune with it. One day Mr. Saju George (he was my teacher in Debian) called me up and told me that a link has been forwarded to my inbox. The link was of a new distro of Linux which can run inside Windows so that I can use Kmymoney2 in my office computer.
I downloaded it and installed it immediately. Great. Everything was really great. It was not a Virtual Machine as I expected. It was a clean Linux. You can add packages with apt-get install. I installed Kmymoney with its console. But a problem. To run andLinux, you must have admin rights in Windows. Normal user can only get the FLTK console only. I tried all the possible methods, but could not run in normal user mode. But still I think, this can be configured soon. I am really happy anyway. Its a great step in spreading Linux to commoners...

Tanatos.m or Sality Virus attack: Here is a good solution

2009-09-04T13:34:00.004+04:00

Disable system restore service before you start these steps.

1. There is a utility supplied by trendmicro. Its name is SysClean.com. Download SysClean.com from here
2. There are virus pattern files from Trendmicro. Download those Virus Patterns Information here. Note: Download all available virus patterns and download it to one single folder where sysclean is located.
3. Download Spyware Pattern here (somewhere at the middle of the page)
4. Put all files in one folder
5. after downloading reboot your system
6. Boot your system to Safe mode as System administrator
7. Run SysClean.com from where you save it
8. Don’t do anything while the cleaner is in process.
9. After its finished scanning and cleaning open report file to see the viruses.

Administrative privilege in DOS in Windows XP

2009-05-08T13:35:00.002+04:00

There are two simple methods to get administrator access in DOS shell in Windows XP. Both methods are too simple and there is no confusions or complications in it. Quite simple. Here is the steps

Method 1

1. Start -> run -> type "cmd"
[DOS shell comes]
2. Type the following
runas /user:computername\administrative user name cmd
eg: if computer name is "system1" and administrative user name is "administrator" then the command will be
runas /user:system1\administrator cmd
[a new DOS Shell will appear and you can execute your administrative tasks]
;-) Too simple, eh?

Method 2

[May be you'll laugh when you read out this one!]
1. Go to c:\WINDOWS\system32\
[click on the "Show the contents of this folder"]
2. RIght-click on cmd.exe and select "Run as..."
[Give administrator user name and password]
Too too tooo simple... ;-) ...?

TAKE CARE WHEN YOU USE USB FLASH DRIVES

2009-03-21T11:36:00.006+04:00

Flash drives are just like whores

If you have a USB flash drive, just have some advice, especially if you are a Windows user. Because a flash drive may present you worst infections. It may steal your valuable system resources. It may cause other machines get infected.
Here is some rules to use USB Flash drives. I will write down one by one.

Rule 1.
Do not completely trust thy anti virus programme. Trust only a system restore.

Anti virus programme is actually designed for dummies. Not for experts. There are lots of anti virus vendors in the software world. Most virus programme codes and codes for such malwares are written by these companies. If you install an antiviurus, it will eat your valuable resources and memory. If you decide to avoid anti-virus, you must create a system restore point.

Rule 2.
Windows helps virus to play
The most ugliest feature of the Windows OS, is autoplay. When you insert a CD or DVD or a USB Flash drive, it plays an executable file plays automatically, if there is an autorun.inf file present. The file is being executed without your permission. Sometimes, you may not know if there is a file is being executed... So you have to remove such auto play mechanism.
Steps to disable autoplay mechanism
> start > run > gpedit.msc > computer configuration > Administrative templates > system > turn off autoplay
• enabled > turn off autoplay on • all drives
This will turn autoplay mechanism on all your removable drives. It will prevent opening of autorun.inf file commands. But the mounting of the flash drive will be done automatically.

Rule 3.
Do not double click in the removable disk icon.
Even if you disabled autoplay mechanism, you must not double click on any of the removable media drive icon. Just right-click and open only. When you double click on a removable drive, it means that you give permission to execute the autoplay. Unless you are sure, you must not double click on a removable drive icon. Only right-click and then open.

Rule 4.
If you doubt that your system is infected, try to remove it manually.
Try to find out which programme is running in the task manager. Search each and every programmes in google or your favourite search engines. If the task manager itself is not working, your system is almost damaged. In this point you can call for a system restore.
If the USB Flash drive contains some trojans in it, you can identify it easily. Just open the flash drive in cmd (Dos shell of Windows.)

There are some commands to check and remove the malware files.
1. dir/ah (to find hidden files): If there is hidden files are present, and the hidden files included in your flash drive without your knoledge and your permission, just delete it. But you have to remove the attributes of the hidden file first.
2. attrib filename.ext : This command shows the attributes of the unwanted file. If the file has SHR attributes you have to remove all attributes, only then you can delete the file
3. attrib -s -h -r filename.ext : This command removes all the attributes.
4. del filename.ext : delete the file from the disk

Just going to enter in the FreeBSD World

2009-03-20T12:58:00.003+04:00

A couple of days, I wandered from sites to sites in the internet. After an hour or two, as always, I fell down in the subject - Open Source. This time I was searching for Unix evolution and finally I reached in the FreeBSD project. I called Saju, my Linux guru, and he told me that bsd is fine, but hard to manage. Almost all experts in the internet say the same opinion. Considering the comparison between Debian and Freebsd, most system administrators conclude that Debian is better in management.
But I always loved the bsd devil. I love its horns... I started download from the official torrentz link. And I am planning to experiment it with a free 10 GB Hdd which is now using as a backup disk. I have also created a sticker for the DVD just exactly as freebsd.org shown in their website. If you want to download it, here is the link.

How to set first post on top in blogger

2007-12-21T12:00:00.000+04:00

Here is some easy steps

1. Go to blogger.com to get your dashboard
2. Select the "Settings" in the desired blog
3. Click on the "Template" tab

4. In "Blog Archives", Select "Edit" Button
5. In options, check "Show oldest post last"
6. Save changes Thus you can sort your first post in top and oldest post in bottom position. Happy blogging!

ORKUT; A FUNNY TROJAN ATTACKS!

2007-07-05T16:27:00.000+04:00

Recently some of my friends called me to fix their orkut from some devil obsession!
I thought it might be something silly. But that was a Trojan activity. I found that there was an mp3 file which lets the sound is playing at the end of the Display of the following lines
" ORKUT IS BANNED,Orkut is banned you fool`,The
administrators didnt write this program guess who did?? "

:: REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS ::
• Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to open Task Manager. Then click on the Process tab.
• Delete the SVChost.exe file that comes with system's user name.
• Ignore the warning messages while doing that.
• Go to C:/Heap41a using RUN option and delete the contents of the folder.
• Now you will be able to use Orkut without any hassles.

Yousendit.com - wonderful file sharing service

2007-04-13T11:51:00.000+04:00

One of the best services in file sharing. If you have a huge file - may it be a video file or high resolution tif file or pdf or mp3 or whatever, normally you cannot sent it as email attachment. There comes yousendit.com. A wonderful file hosting service available in the web. How big may your files be, dont worrry, you can send them via yousendIt, upto 100 downloads or 7 days whichever come earlier, the file will be deleted. A wonderul idea, the only thing is that you cannot permanently host a file. If thats not your intention, its ok ok.

YouSendIt lets businesses, professionals and consumers move big files. If you know how to use email, you can easily use the YouSendIt service. YouSendIt currently has over 3 million registered users across 220 countries and over 13,000 paid users. More than 400 million files have been transferred using the service and YouSendIt is transferring over 1 million files with 30,000 gigabytes daily.

Some emergency or 112 thoughts

2007-04-09T12:59:00.000+04:00

One One Two. What is it? What is the importance of that number of a GSM mobile phone user?
1-1-2 is a toll-free telephone emergency number from any telephone or any GSM cellphone. Originally this number was the single European emergency call number. In most of the GSM handsets, 112 can be called even in Key lock position. But unfortunately in India, this number can be accessed properly from very few service providers. Generally in India, the emergency numbers are not standardized. There is no single emergency call number. Most of the Indian cities use 100 for Police and 101 for ambulance. But while, a major share of people use mobile phones, why don't we turn to use 112 as single emergency number system. This talk must be discussed by agencies like TRAII and GSM service providers.

When to call the 112 ?
Call the 112 only in real life-threatening emergencies like:
• Serious medical problems (unconscious person, important injuries, chest pain, seizure, bleeding)
• Any type of fire (house, car, business)
• Life-threatening situations (crimes, fights, people with weapons, robbery in progress, etc)

Do not call the 112 :
• To test your mobile phone - you may block a real life-threatening emergency call
• To laugh at the operators or to just hang up - respect operators who work under stress to help save lives, do not block real emergency calls by blocking lines
• For non life-threatening emergencies or non-emergencies like property damage accidents, break-in to vehicles, theft of property, vandalism - especially when the suspect is gone - cars blocking the street. Call directly the local police.

Stay calm Stay safe - avoid having an accident yourself.

What to say ?
• Where is the assistance needed (Location)
• Your name and telephone number
• What happened (nature of the emergency) and if it is happening now
• Who needs help or is involved and how many (victims, suspects, etc.)
• Why is the emergency happening (i.e. depression) and obstacles to the arrival of emergency services
• Are weapons involved ? (knives, hand-guns, automatic weapons)

Be prepared.
• To launch a 112 call - observe and exercise mentally
• Get training in your company or in the context of your community as a first aid helper or as a first responder - you will be able to help yourself and your neighbors
• And remember - prevention is always better and more efficient

Some useful Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_case_of_emergency
http://112eu.blogspot.com/
http://www.112.be/view/en/citizen/learn_about.html

PORTABLE APPS

2007-04-04T12:53:00.000+04:00

I But now I got a permanent solution when I get info on Portable apps. Now I can carry my favourite computer programmes with all of my bookmarks, settings, plug-ins, anything and everything with that. All without leaving any personal data behind.
PortableApps.com provides a truly open platform that works with any hardware you like (USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive, etc). It's open source built around an open format that any hardware vendor or software developer can use.

I like to browse web pages in my favourite browser MFf - Mozilla Firefox. But the problem is that most of my friends and relatives has no MFf installed in their machines. Whenever I go to there, you know guys, how much I troubled with the damned IE.

I love Portable MFf more than the real Mff. Because, it has some additional features which real MFf lacks. The auto spell checking plug-in is an amazing feature of Portable MFf. The saved bookmarks will be saved permanently. Forget restrictions of your damned System Administrators.

Browse with Portable MFf, Chat with GAIM Portable, Upload with File Zilla Portable, mail with Thunderbird Portable… Everything.

The Portable Apps Suite™ is free. It contains no spyware. There are no advertisements. It isn't a limited or trial version. There is no additional hardware or software to buy. You don't even have to give out your email address. It's 100% free to use, free to copy and free to share.

There are lots of quality Portable Apps provided by PortableApps.com. Some of them are:

Development
• Nvu Portable & KompoZer Portable - The easy-to-use Nvu web editor
• XAMPP - Apache, mySQL, PHP, phpMyAdmin and more in an integrated package
Games
• Sudoku Portable - the wildly popular and addictive puzzle game
Graphics & Pictures
• GIMP Portable - Photo and Image Editor
Internet
• FileZilla Portable - the full-featured FTP client
• FireFTP Extension (for Firefox) - a lightweight extension
• Gaim Portable - chat with AOL, MSN and Yahoo users in an easy-to-use interface
• Miranda IM Portable - chat with AOL, MSN and Yahoo users in a customizable interface
• Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition - the award-winning web browser that's safe and secure
• Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition - the handy email client
• Nvu Portable & KompoZer Portable - the easy-to-use webpage editor
• PuTTY Portable - lightweight telnet and SSH client
• Sage Extension (for Firefox) - A full-featured RSS extension
Music & Video
• Audacity Portable - A simple audio editor and recorder
• VLC Media Player Portable - An easy to use media player that plays most audio and video formats
Office
• AbiWord Portable - a lightweight word processor compatible with Microsoft Word files.
• Lightning Extension (for Thunderbird) - A lightweight extension for your calendar and tasks.
• Mozilla Sunbird, Portable Edition - Calendar and task management with a familiar interface.
• Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition (Address Book) - Email client's built-in address book with import/export functions.
• OpenOffice.org Portable - word processor, spreadsheet, presentations with Microsoft compatibility.
• Sumatra PDF Portable - a lightweight PDF viewer.
Operating Systems
• Mac-on-Stick - Run Mac OS Classic 7 portably.
Utilities
• 7-Zip Portable - File archiver and compressor.
• ClamWin Portable - Antivirus on the go.
• KeePass Password Safe Portable - Secure, easy-to-use password manager.
• PortableApps.com Backup - integrated backup utility bundled with the platform.
• PortableApps.com Menu - integrated start menu bundled with the platform.
.... Amazing...? Go to the [world of portable apps]
• There is one major Mozilla product is missing in the portable world – SeaMonkey. I hope that Seamonkey will come soon in the family of portable apps

HOW TO SAVE SWF FILES FROM MOZILLA FIREFOX

2006-12-01T11:12:00.000+04:00

For so many months I wasn't able to save some cute swf files from my Mozilla FireFox. I could save it easily from Tools -> Page Info earlier, but due to some unknow reasons I was unable to save that method. I got that golden days back again with the help or the following site:
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2005/11/save-flash-from-firefox-and-ie.html
Their method is simple very simple to geeks and Power Users. Just have a look:

a. Type about:blank in the Firefox address bar
b. Now click List cache entries or directly type about:cache?device=disk (Disk cache device)
c. Press Ctrl+F and try to location the flash file by typing some part of website URL or the flash file name or just .swf. After some hit and trial, you should be able to locate the swf file URL
d. Click the SWF URL to open the Cache Entry Information page. Right click on the link and choose "Save link as"

GET YOUR DOMAIN DETAILS

2006-11-20T12:12:00.000+04:00

If you are a domain owner, it’s very important that you keep the domain record up-to-date. It’s really important. There are lots of tools available in internet. You can check your MX Record, CNAME entries, A Record NS Record and everything. Here is some useful list of URLs: Have a look at them:

http://www.dnsstuff.com/
http://www.bigbiz.com/domain.html
http://www.mailenable.com/dnstools
Have fun. Go!

FREE FILE HOSTING @ FILE LODGE

2006-10-31T10:38:00.000+04:00

Want to upload your favourite files to shaer with outhers even without paying? Yes, there is solutions. Just register @ http://filelodge.bolt.com/main.php

Its FILELODGE. A true lodge for your files. May it be light or huge, they lodge your files.
File Lodge is a free file hosting provider especially designed to look after you and your files. They offer a huge 500MB of file storage and support almost all file extensions, such as jpg, gif, mpg, avi, wmv, doc, pdf, mp3 etc. Bandwidth is unlimited.

What is a file host? A file host is a website that allows you to upload files to its servers, you are then provided with links for you to post on your favourite forums / webpages / blogs / auctions / in emails, anywhere you wish!

Perfect for sharing photos/images, music, and video with friends and family. They also provide hyperlinks of the uploaded files too. This allows you to quickly and easily get your files live wherever you are using them.A detailed FAQ is availabe in the site and if your questions remain un-answered, you can email them too.

Here, in this blog I used their services to host some of the pdf files for downloads. [But still I am reviewing the site and their services.]

MAZHA - SACHIDANANDAN

2006-10-30T23:51:00.000+04:00

Mazhayude Nanartham can be translated in English as Synonyms of Rain.
Mazha - thats the most nostalgic word in Malayalam. How many mazhas do you know? Perumazha, podimazha, chattalmazha, etc. Local names are numerous. How many songs are there about Mazha in Malayalam? Impossible to count. Almost all the poets described mazha in their works.
The poem Mazhayude Nanartham, written by Sachidanandan is the notable one about mazha. Wide range of metophers and similies are used abundantly in this poem. After completely read this poem, you will feel that you are wet in a rain. You will feel its cold. Read. Download the Pdf file. To download the file, just right click and choose 'Save Link as' and show a location to save. Enjoy. Have a nice time.

RAJALAKSHMI - MALAYALAM WRITER

2006-10-30T23:21:00.000+04:00

Rajalakshmi (1930-3965) Born on 2nd June 1930, Amayankod family at Cherpulassery, Palakkad. Father Mararth Achutha Menon. Mother Kutty Malu Amma. She committed suicide on on 18th January 1965. As a notable writer she got Kerala Sahithya Academy Award on 1960 for her work “Oru Vazhiyum Kure Nizhalukalum”. Here is her famous poem “Ninne Njan Snehikkunnu”

ASCII TEXT

2006-10-20T14:58:00.000+04:00

Do these crazy characters say something? Can you ever imagine that I have such patience in keying in such crazy characters to form such a self portrait? Probably no. Then how did I create it? There is some online software to convert an image to ASCII formatted text! All you need to do is to create a 60 x 50 pixel file and upload to the following site:

http://www.typorganism.com/asciiomatic/
It will transform the image to ASCII text. Wanna try?

ETTERCAP - POWERFUL ARP SPOOFER

2006-09-16T13:26:00.000+04:00

As I always say, you can never rely your privacy on your system. Anybody can access your data without your knowledge. Especially when you chat, when you send an email, anything you upload to a server. In your LAN, if there is any poisoners, s/he can sniff all your privacy. What is the result, loss of your passwords, loss of your peace of mind, loss of your money. Just watch the following article on ettercap - one of the hot ARP Spoofer.

EtterCap is a multipurpose sniffer / interceptor / logger for a switched LAN. It supports active and passive dissection of many protocols (even ciphered ones) and includes many features for network and host analysis.
These features include
1. Characters injection in an established connection: You can inject character to server (emulating commands) or to client (emulating replies) maintaining the connection alive! 2. SSH1 support: you can sniff User and Pass, and even the data of an SSH1 connection. 3. HTTPS support: you can sniff http SSL secured data... and even if the connection is made through a PROXY 4. Remote traffic through GRE tunnel: you can sniff remote traffic through a GRE tunnel from a remote Cisco router and make mitm attack on it 5. PPTP broker: you can perform man in the middle attack against PPTP tunnels 6. Password collector for: TELNET, FTP, POP, RLOGIN, SSH1, ICQ, SMB, MySQL, HTTP, NNTP, X11, NAPSTER, IRC, RIP, BGP, SOCKS 5, IMAP 4, VNC, LDAP, NFS, SNMP, HALF LIFE, QUAKE 3, MSN, YMSG. 7. Packet filtering/dropping: You can set up a filter that search for a particular string (even hex) in the TCP or UDP payload and replace it with yours or drop the entire packet. 8. OS fingerprint: you can fingerprint the OS of the victim host and even its network adapter 9. Kill a connection: from the connections list you can kill all the connections you want 10. Passive scanning of the LAN: you can retrieve info about: hosts in the LAN, open ports, services version, type of the host (gateway, router or simple host) and estimated distance in hop. 11. Check for other poisoners: EtterCap has the ability to actively or passively find other poisoners on the LAN.
Yes. Next time when you get lost into your machine, think about this. Somebody may watching you. Caution! Thats all!

ULTRASHOCK.COM - FLASH DESIGN ENGINE

2006-09-16T12:08:00.000+04:00

www.ultrashock.com
See. One of my favourite web site in flash technology.
Just see the bottom of this blog now. Its a ticker from ultrashock. A very sexy flash ticker I ever saw. The most sexiest. Do you want to have this ticker in your website? Just add the iframe in the appopriate place. Get the page source and copy the iframe code in your site. From now on the latest Ultrashock News Headlines, Hot Forum Topics & Ultra Statistics are available inside this banner. All headlines are clickable and go directly to the corresponding url on Ultrashock.com. This banner is mainly a result of the hard work by Peter Elst (killer coding dude of Ultrashock) and Peter Van den Wyngaert (graphics) and the mySQL headaches cleared by some Miko.
AND YOU SAY HOWZ IT :-)
From Ultrashock.com, you can download uncountable fla sourse files and some killer tutorials. If you are a flash developer, ultrashock is your final resourse. The forum @ ultrashock will clear most of your doubt and will make you confident.

WIKIMAPIA - A NEW MILESTONE IN EARTH MAPING

2006-07-22T13:36:00.000+04:00

Wikimapia. A fantastic projects using google maps API. As they describe themselves it's really "a project to describe the whole planet Earth."You can create hotspots on your favourate landmarks in wikimapia maps. But they humbly request you to avoid adding hotspots like "This my house" stuff marks. The site got attention of the global internet community's attention without making any ad campaigns or any propoganda hypes. Its because of only quality in the stuff. You need using it for only once to understand its userfriendliness. Even any beginner can use that very instantly.

In the early times no search engines brought me any sites with the keyword "wikimapia". But after a couple of days, I got about 47,400 pages with the same keyword. It's growth is really amazing.

The founders of Wikimapia are Alexandre Koriakine and Evgeniy Saveliev, "inspired by Google maps and Wikipedia."

KNOPPIX - WONDERFUL OS

2006-07-15T12:31:00.000+04:00

Ever used Knoppix? Or heard about it. It's a wonderful tool for your system. Its a well known OS in the line of Linux Tradition, which you need not to install in your computer's hard drive. Just insert Knoppix into your CD Drive and boot your system. Amazing? Knoppix will load all the drivers automatically. Knoppix is advised, when hard drive crashes, when a test is needed for your entire system or just for a trial. It has a wonderful scintillating Grafik User Interface too. :-)

KNOPPIX is a bootable CD with a collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a Linux demo, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it.

Knoppix is developed by Klaus Knopper (b. 1968 in Ingelheim) is a German electrical engineer and Linux developer. He received his diploma in electrical engineering from the Kaiserslautern University of Technology (in German: Technische Universität Kaiserslautern), co-founded LinuxTag (a major European Linux expo) and has been a self-employed information technology consultant since 1998.

KNOPPIX can be downloaded from http://knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

TEMPORARY INBOX & ANONYMOUS OUTBOX

2006-07-12T09:10:00.000+04:00

Once there was a world. An internetless world! A googleless world! A boring world! Very slow world... A world without fun... A world without information... We are lucky today. We have all the fun. We have all we wanted. What’s more, whatever we wish for, we will get that from net. These days I had been searching in Mozilla Firefox's extensions. I got a hell of stuff more than I expected. The most interesting extensions I got were something amazing.

TEMPORARY INBOX

If you are a regular internet user, you may have troubled in sometimes to give your own email address to some sites because you fear of spam attack or your privacy Those times, I bet, you would be praying for another email address to submit. You may probably had one, but the usage of it would be very rare so that you forget passwords regularly. Isn't it? So the solution is a temporary inbox. Without logging in to get your inbox. An inbox without password. A handy inbox anybody can use. Easy inbox. A good disposable inbox. yourname@temporaryinbox.com.
Directly go to the site:[Click on the button below]

One of the main drawbacks of this service is, it does not support attachments. And you cannot send a mail from it.

ANONYMOUS OUTBOX

I said earlier that you cannot send mail from temporaryinbox.com. So what should you do for an anonymous sending? You wish to send an anonymous mail sending to some of your friends. And there is site for anonymous mail sending. https://www.anonymousspeech.com. As a matter of fact, it is not possible completely, because anybody can trace your ISP's IP address and track you down. But if you are sending anonymous mail just for a fun, nothing will happen. IP address tracking and such tracking will be done only by advanced users and Intelligence agencies. But you will get basic anonymity. And that’s all. After sending a mail in this site, you will get a note like this: This email was sent without our Anonymity Guarantee! AnonymousSpeech.com receives daily inquiries from people, requesting information about sent emails. If you need complete anonymity, please upgrade your account. I dont know what they will give additional options in paid service. I think for basic use free service is enough. Thats all. So, whats the moral? If you have a wish, submit it to google, it will tell you who will satisfy you, irrespective of subjects.

A minimal registration is required in this site. After the registration, you will get access to send mails from a temporary mail id. Bet, you will love it. Start anonymous sending. But never use this service for illegal purpose. That is very important

Do you hate spam? Yes? So do I!

2006-07-04T17:31:00.000+04:00

But sometimes you have to give away your own email address for example at registrations just to activate your account. Now, that's no more a problem! Just enter a temporary email address from temporaryinbox.com and check the inbox on the site to read the mails. After 6 hours the mail will be deleted. Get your free temporary spam email address NOW and you will never have spam in your private account again.

Temporary Inbox 1.2, by pascal, released on Jul 2, 2006

This extension generates random disposable email addresses. Use those email addresses for registration at forums, adult sites or whatever. The email addresses don't need registration. This is an easy way to avoid spam, because the spamer never knows your private email address .. only the temporaryinbox.com email address. And there the mails will be deleted after 6 hours.
Avoiding spam is sooo easy!

Here is a small instruction:

FIRST! There is no registration required!!

1. The situation: You want to signup at a website or whatever. You are at the registration formular and you have to enter your private email address. 2. You don't want to give away your private email address. So you choose to use an email address from temporaryinbox.com. 3. Now click the "random email" button at the temporaryinbox firefox extension toolbar. 4. A random temporary email address has been generated now. 5. Copy it from the toolbar to the email address field in the registration formular. 6. Enter the other things and submit. 7. Now you can check the inbox of your email address on temporaryinbox.com. But it's easier to use the firefox extension. Just enter the email account name you used before and press "Check" 8. Now you were redirected directly to the inbox of your temporaryinbox account. 9. Open the email and click the activation link or copy the password... or whatever. 10. Delete the mail or let it be. However the mail will be deleted after 6 hours.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nearly every content site on the Web requires “free” registration these days, which usually means you need to supply a working email address. All too often, that email address begins to attract spam as companies sell mailing lists to each other or crackers help themselves to poorly guarded customer information.

You can’t protect an inbox completely, but you can reduce your chances of facing a spamfest by being a little selective in handing out your email address. Many users keep an alternate email account on hand for throwaway registrations and other situations where privacy protection looks a little murky.

A free account at a Web-based email service such as Yahoo! Mail or Hotmail does the trick by protecting your “real” email address from unnecessary exposure. However, logging in and navigating through full-blown email sites can be a tiresome way to pick up a new password or confirm a registration; a more efficient method is using a fully disposable email address - Dive into http://www.temporaryinbox.com. And have a nice time

NEED OF NETWORK SECURITY - AN INTRO

2006-06-03T10:56:00.000+04:00

Network security is a complicated subject, historically only tackled by well-trained and experienced experts. However, as more and more people become digital, an increasing number of people need to understand the basics of security in a networked world. This document was written with the basic computer user and information systems manager in mind, explaining the concepts needed to read through the hype in the marketplace and understand risks and how to deal with them.

Most of the common people are not aware about even some simple security measures. They haven’t even heard about it! Most of the people today have a user id and a valid password to open their own emails (mostly free email ids.) Do we really think about its security matters ever? When you open your inbox, or when you chat with an IM program like yahoo or MSN, or when you type your credit card details in an input text field of a particular site to buy something... Your privacy, your security... sometimes security and privacy both gets in danger. You are watched. You are always watched. Always. You hit by a dragon hacker. You die. But you still don’t know that. You are already a dead man. But the matter is you are not aware about it yet.

You may have some simple instructions from this blogspot. It gives you some simple precautions to the right way towards uncompromised security (Oh! Not that! I can only give you some simple instructions only; the rest is your destiny!) Which site you can trust... and what browser you can fearlessly use and what browser you have to avoid. What precautions you have to take when you get into a Wi-fi network.

Watch on
http://www.hackingtom.blogspot.com

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
You will be interested to know who am I.

Networking Security Wizard? Not at all. I just want to share the security issues I encounter day-to-day in my life. See, one day one of my friends told me that he can sniff any messages through the router which I am using and get into our privacy. But I didn’t believe that for the first time. So he gave me a tiny application which was developed under GNU Public. I experienced the reality very soon. That nothing is safe in electronic communication. Especially your privacy. You are being watched. Even in this very moment. But you will never know that. I wanted to tell about it to my friends and colleagues. But nobody found interested. Then I decided to start a blog to express my own experiences to make others aware about it.

Hacking and Security Precautions

2006-06-03T09:40:00.000+04:00

Hacking and security. The main issue a digital being suffer today. I am going to write something about this issue in this blogspot in the coming days. Just wait for it....