Archive for May, 2008

Mind your computer!

Posted in Computers, Internet, Security on May 26, 2008 by techuptodate

No doubt the Internet has brought us many joys but sometimes also disappointments. First of all I mean various viruses just choosing a moment to harm our computers.

According to Nielsen one of the most popular social networking sites in the U.S Facebook is currently vulnerable to a critical XSS, allowing the injection and execution of malicious scripts within the popular site, the harmless injected scripts in the demonstration successfully load, making it possible to abuse the trust relationship between Facebook and its users, in order to use the site as an infection vector. The security folks at Facebook have been notified, live fix is pending.
Be careful, mind your computer!

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Computer Virus Top 20 for April 2008

Posted in Computers, Internet, Security on May 20, 2008 by techuptodate

Position Change in position Name Proactive Detection Flag Percentage
1. 0 Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.q Trojan.generic 40.58
2. +1 Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.d Trojan.generic 8.18
3. +6 Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.y Trojan.generic 7.62
4. +3 Email-Worm.Win32.Bagle.gt Trojan.generic 6.64
5. +1 Email-Worm.Win32.Scano.gen Trojan.generic 6.47
6. +2 Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.aa Trojan.generic 5.81
7. New! Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Agent.ica downloader 3.08
8. -5 Email-Worm.Win32.Nyxem.e Trojan.generic 3.01
9. New! Net-Worm.Win32.Mytob.x Worm.P2P.generic 2.94
10. New! Net-Worm.Win32.Mytob.r Worm.P2P.generic 2.68
11. -1 Email-Worm.Win32.Bagle.gen Trojan.generic 1.73
12. +3 Email-Worm.Win32.Scano.bn Trojan.generic 1.19
13. -2 Email-Worm.Win32.Mydoom.l Worm.P2P.generic 1.07
14. New! Net-Worm.Win32.Mytob.bk Worm.P2P.generic 0.91
15. -13 Email-Worm.Win32.Mydoom.m Trojan.generic 0.89
16. +1 Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.c Trojan.generic 0.70
17. Return Net-Worm.Win32.Mytob.c Trojan.generic 0.69
18. 0 Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.t Trojan.generic 0.62
19. New! Email-Worm.Win32.Bagle.dx Trojan.generic 0.47
20. New! Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.ac Trojan.generic 0.47
Other Malicious Programs 4.06

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Free Image and Graphics Hosting Services.

Posted in Computers, Free, Internet on May 13, 2008 by techuptodate

If you are looking for free and handy image and graphics hosting services to use them to host images for Web sites, message boards, forums, blogs, eBay auctions and more here is the list of services which can help you on the way. They support the Web’s major image formats, including GIF, JPG and PNG. So I have decided to start to check them out from freepichosting.com. If you already have used some of them please feel free to let me know which of them, by your opinion, are the best. In case you have any other recommendations please leave me a comment.

So, right now I’ve made an offhand sketch then placed it on PicAttic.com. You can see the result, it seams it is as sharp as a needle:-) No wait, no registration.

PicAttic.com
This is an easy-to-use free image hosting service. PicAttic.com supports files up to 2 megs in size. Files types permitted here include JPEG, JPG, GIF, PNG, ICO, MPG, MPEG and BMP.

Super File Hosting
A free file hosting service with an easy-to-navigate interface that lets you upload an unlimited number of files. Each file you upload can be up to 25 megs in size. Your files will be stored here permanently (as long as they’re downloaded at least once every 30 days).

Upload2.net
A popular free file and image hosting service that lets you upload and share files up to 25 megs in size, with no bandwidth limits or restrictions on file types. Upload2.net stores your files on its servers for one year and there is no limit on the disk space you can use.

FasterUpload.com
This is a speedy, easy-to-use image and video hosting service that requires no registration and lets you host files up to 100 megs in size. FasterUpload.com allows all file extensions and split files are permitted.

Dropfiles.net
An easy-to-use free image hosting service that gives you 250 megabytes of storage and 1 gig of bandwidth per month. The individual files you upload here can be up to 2 megs in size.

SnapDrive.net
A handy free service that lets you upload, share and save files in an online hard drive. The service is easy to use and you’re not even required to register. Anonymous uploading is limited to 20 megs per file. Registered users get 2 gigs of storage and can upload files of up to 100 megs.

ElectronicFiles.net
A free image hosting service that gives you 5 gigs of storage space and 5 gigs monthly bandwidth. You can upload individual files of up to 10 megs in size. All file formats are permitted.

Alkaspace.com
A free image hosting service that offers lots of useful features, including an auction gallery, portfolio, slideshow and a “spin 360″ option. Alkaspace.com gives you 99 megs of disk space and is suitable for image hosting for Xanga, MySpace, eBay, blogs, message boards, and more. Here, you can host JPG, GIF and PNG files.

Piczs.com
This versatile image hosting site (which is available in a free version) lets you share photos and other images with your friends and family, as well as host images for online auctions. Piczs.com lets you create image portfolios, auction galleries, slide shows, and more.

Free My Image
This free image hosting service offers an online photo album that lets you share photos with your friends and family. Here, you get a control panel that lets you easily manage your images. You can also password-protect your images, if you want.

Free Image Home
Here’s a free image hosting service that gives you 20 megs of space and offers 250 megs of monthly bandwidth. Free Image Home lets you browse your uploaded images and the service supports JPG, GIF and PNG image formats.

Img4Free.com
Here’s an easy-to-use free image hosting service that gives you 20 megs of storage space and 200 megs of monthly bandwidth. Image formats supported are JPG, GIF and PNG.

PhotoServer.us
A free image hosting service that gives you 555 megs of disk space and 1,000 megs of monthly bandwidth. At this site, you can create image portfolios, slide shows and auction galleries. Supported file types include JPG, GIF and PNG.

ImageUploads.
Account Types:
Free Account - $0.00/month
Get 10MB of disk space and 100MB of bandwidth absolutely free!
Silver Account - $2.99/month
Get 50MB of disk space and 1,000MB of monthly bandwidth.
Gold Account - $5.99/month
Get 100MB of disk space and 2,500MB of monthly bandwidth.
Platinum Account - $9.99/month
Get 1000MB of disk space and 10,000MB of monthly bandwidth.

FreeImageHosting.net
This is a new free image hosting service that is easy to use. FreeImageHosting.net is useful for posting images on message boards, online auctions, online classifieds, and sharing pictures with your friends and family. The service supports GIF, JPG and PNG file extensions.
And more, and more…

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Free Antivirus Software.

Posted in Computers, Free, Internet, Security on May 7, 2008 by techuptodate

All of us use antivirus software for save computing. There are several excellent paid professional antivirus software like Norton Antivirus, McAfee, but they are expensive software and require yearly subscription fees for regular antivirus updates. So if some of you prefer to use free ones here is the list of free antivirus software that are available to download right now.

AVG Free edition Free edition of the AVG anti-virus program for Windows and Linux. Tested and recommended by Freebyte.com.
Avira Antivir Free anti-virus software for Windows, Linux, Free BSD and Solaris. Detects and removes more than 50,000 viruses. Free support.
BitDefender Freeware virus scanner for Linux.
Clam AV Freeware, GPL, Linux. Clam AntiVirus is a GPL anti-virus toolkit for UNIX. The main purpose of this software is the integration with mail servers (attachment scanning). The package provides a flexible and scalable multi-threaded daemon, a command line scanner, and a tool for automatic updating via Internet.
ClamWin Freeware, open-source anti-virus program for Windows.
Comodo Anti-Virus Free anti-virus program for Windows.
Cyberhawk Protects against viruses, worms, trojans and other spyware, designed to be a complement to your current anti-virus software. Cyberhawk does not need to know anything about a virus before it can protect you against it. This is because Cyberhawk looks at the behaviour of an infected program (instead of the contents of the infected file). The basic version is free.
Note from the editors: after testing Cyberhawk we found that it generates a lot of false alarms on legitimate software. Nevertheless we think that this program can be useful provided you know how to interpret these alarms.
FProt Free anti-virus software for Linux, FreeBSD and DOS (personal use). Evaluation version for Windows.
HandyBits Free for personal use. Virus ’scanner integrator’. After performing an auto-search for installed virus scanners, it will scan your files using all found installed virus scanners. This can be useful, since some antiviral programs are good for one type of viruses, other programs for other viruses.
PC Tools AntiVirus Free anti-virus program + firewall for Windows.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6 Tops CNET Antivirus Performance Test
Apple Ships Video iPods with Windows RavMonE.exe Virus
VirusTotal Free Online Scan with Multiple Antivirus Engines
Google Pack : Free Essential Softwares Collection

Free Online Virus and Trojan Scanners.
The virus and trojan scanners in this section do not need to be downloaded or installed, they run from inside your Webbrowser.
VirusTotal Freeware online malware scanner. You can upload a single suspicious file which will be scanned by around 30 well-known virus scanners.
GFI online Trojan Scanner Freeware online Trojan scanner. This program runs in your browser (Internet Explorer only, Windows), no explicit installation is required.
McAfee’s Virusscan Online - Online virus scanner by McAffee
Panda Active Scan - Ffree tool for detecting and eliminating viruses from your computer. Installs as an ActiveX control in your Web browser (Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher).
PC Pitstop - is a large number of online computer and Internet related tests, including a virus scan and spyware test. The free virus scanner installs itself as an ActiveX control inside your Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher.
RavAntivirus is online scanner which can also remove viruses.
Symantec Security Check is a number of online tests (run in your Web browser), including a virus scan. Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher required.
TrendMicro HouseCall is free virus scanner which runs directly in your Web browser (Windows only).
The programs below you can try out for free for a certain time. During this trial period they can be very helpful. You need to spend a little bit of money should you decide to use them beyond that period.
Command AntiVirus Useful 30-day trial versions for Windows, Linux, Netware, DOS, Exchange, Lotus Notes
eSafe Anti-virus software for Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP.
InVircible Detects viruses, Worms, Trojans, Hacking tools, backdoors, etc. utilizing generic methods: without needing a virus-pattern database. An example of a generic virus-detection method is: detecting code installing itself to be activated at system startup or ’shell open’. InVircible uses many different generic methods simultaneously.
Solo Detection and removal of viruses. The system integrity checker protects against Internet Worms, Backdoor programs, malicious VB and Java scripts. 30-day anti-virus trial versions.
McAfee 30-day anti-virus evaluation versions.
NOD32 Anti-virus evaluation versions for Windows.
Protector PLUS 30-day anti-virus evaluation versions. Versions for Windows (all flavours), DOS and Netware.
QuickHeal 30-day anti-virus evaluation versions.
Kaspersky 30-day trial versions available for: Linux, DOS, Windows. Protects against: trojans, backdoors, logic bombs, macro viruses, etc.

Norman Anti-virus and firewall trial versions for Windows, Linux, Novell, OS/2.
Norton Anti Virus Anti-virus trial versions.
Panda Software Anti-virus trial versions.

Principal AntiVirus Scans for viruses, trojans, worms, backdoors, adware, spyware and any other type of malware. For Windows.
Sophos Anti-virus trial versions.

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Scroll Concept.

Posted in Technology on May 3, 2008 by techuptodate

The appearance of the scroll blue-sky design concept that takes a format used by medieval town criers have turned it sideways and shoe-horns it into the 21st century by incorporating a mobile phone, hand-held computer, camcorder and sliding LCD screen, gizma.com reports.

The “what might be” concept by Californian based video production and graphic/web designer Seth Haller envisions a 10 mega-pixel camera, 1080p camcorder, 6 watt speaker, wi-fi and Bluetooth enabled phone (and potentially any functionality that modern consumer electronics can offer) incorporated into a double-ended device that slides out to reveal a “solid state” LCD screen. We like it, although in terms of portability you’ve still got a device that’s the size of two-phones to contend with.

Haller, who used Autodesk 3DS Max to model The Scroll, believes a functional design modeled after his design could one day be possible, but at this stage there are no plans to move the concept beyond the drawing board.
Seth Haller can be contacted via the 13 Tech Design site.

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Technical Trials for Sezmi.

Posted in Computers, Internet, Technology on May 2, 2008 by techuptodate

A startup is betting that people are tired enough of their cable and satellite bills to take a look at an alternative pay TV system that combines a number of different technologies to deliver programming, CNN reports.

Technical trials are starting soon for Sezmi, a company that hopes to bust into the TV business.
Silicon Valley-based Sezmi Corp. is revealing a system Thursday that amounts to a way for phone companies and local TV broadcasters to team up for an end run around satellite and cable. Technical trials are starting shortly, with full-blown commercial trials in some markets, yet unnamed, later this year.
The carrot for consumers: monthly fees that are about half those of cable or satellite, according to Sezmi founder Buno Pati.
Sezmi’s system takes some explaining. At its heart is a TV set-top box that receives video content in three different ways. Two are available through other means: digital over-the-air local broadcasts, the kind that are available to anyone with a digital TV and a rabbit-ear antenna; and Internet downloads through the home’s broadband connection.

The third delivery method would be unique to Sezmi. It plans to have local TV stations use vacant portions of their airwaves to transmit basic cable channels like Nickelodeon and Discovery. Given the limited spectrum available, the stations won’t be able to transmit a full lineup, and only some of it will be in high definition. Sezmi plans to mitigate that by having stations send out the most-watched shows and have the set-top boxes save them on their hard drives, making them available for viewing on demand.

None of these features are completely original. The set-top box combines the feature of a digital TV tuner, a TV-style digital video recorder and an Internet video box like the Apple TV. The additional over-the-air cable content is reminiscent of a service called MovieBeam, which was started by The Walt Disney Co. When it shut down in December after a four-year run, it had 1,800 subscribers.

“The TV space has been waiting for someone to put it all together much like Apple did for digital music” when it combined its iTunes music store with the iPod music player, said Phil Wiser, chairman and president of Sezmi.

Apart from questions about how well the complex system works, consumer confusion could be one of the obstacles to Sezmi’s success. It took years for mainstream consumers to understand what digital video recorders were good for, for instance.

Sezmi is counting on phone companies, and perhaps also wireless carriers, to market the service as a bundle with Internet service. A cheap TV product would give landline phone companies a way to fend off the encroachment of cable companies, who are rapidly signing up people for their voice services.

The largest phone companies, AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., have their own TV services, but they’re expensive to roll out. Smaller companies, like Embarq Corp., have marketing deals with satellite companies, but those yield little in the way of synergies.

Sezmi did not announce any commitments from phone companies, but Jeff Gardner the chief executive of Windstream Communications Inc., said Sezmi creates “a unique opportunity for Internet service providers.” The Little, Rock., Ark., company operates 3.2 million phone lines.

Sezmi executives have a strong pedigree in the technology and media fields. Wiser, the chairman, used to be chief technology officer of Sony Corp. of America. Before that, he founded Liquid Audio, a pioneer in online music distribution. Pati founded Numerical Technologies, which developed a chip manufacturing technology. Other executives have backgrounds at NBC, DirecTV and Clearwire Corp., a wireless broadband provider. On the board is Andrew Lack, chairman of SonyBMG Music Entertainment.

By the way today you can check prepaid phone plans comparison tests online that will cost you less and reveal the ideal plan for you.

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