Ins and Outs - Information You Need ...

KOOBFACE virus Warning for FaceBook, MySpace, hi5, Bebo, Twitter etc social netwarking users

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:26:48 PST

Hello Everyone

A Religious festival and New Year festival is up coming on 25 and 31st December. The Christmas day and New years day. On this event people normally sent e-greetings to there friends family or love ones. So Internet security experts are saying that A virus named "Koobface" may attack social netwarking sites like FaceBook, MySpace, Hi5, Bebo, Twitter etc users. Users of that social networking sites may get a message & link to see their video, which might be a false message. If anyone try to download the video file or click the link then they will be attacked by "KOOBFACE" virus.

My suggation and request is to be sure about opening any type of links in unknown sites or even sites you know partialy. This is just a warning post to my dears to be clean on comming days.

To know more about this Koobface virus, you may visit the link or do a Google search.

Happy Christmas to All.

Ahamed Bauani

Clenup Email Queue on Postfix Mail Server based on From or Recepent (RCPT) address

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:58:29 PST

Removing Queued Email from Postfix queue based on From or Recipient (rcpt) address.

We, administrators of Postfix mail server sometime need to remove email based on From address or Recipient (RCPT) address and we know how much time can kill when any virus / spam email / warm etc relay email on SMTP servers. I found a easy script to remove all targeted email from queue. Here is that script, writen on perl:



#!/usr/bin/perl -w
#
# pfdel - deletes message containing specified address from
# Postfix queue. Matches either sender or recipient address.
#
# Usage: pfdel 
#

use strict;

# Change these paths if necessary.
my $LISTQ = "/usr/sbin/postqueue -p";
my $POSTSUPER = "/usr/sbin/postsuper";

my $email_addr = "";
my $qid = "";
my $euid = $>;

if ( @ARGV !=  1 ) {
die "Usage: pfdel \n";
} else {
$email_addr = $ARGV[0];
}

if ( $euid != 0 ) {
      die "You must be root to delete queue files.\n";
}


open(QUEUE, "$LISTQ |") ||
die "Can't get pipe to $LISTQ: $!\n";

my $entry = ; # skip single header line
$/ = "";  # Rest of queue entries print on
  # multiple lines.
while ( $entry =  ) {
if ( $entry =~ / $email_addr$/m ) {
 ($qid) = split(/\s+/, $entry, 2);
 $qid =~ s/[\*\!]//;
 next unless ($qid);

 #
 # Execute postsuper -d with the queue id.
 # postsuper provides feedback when it deletes
 # messages. Let its output go through.
 #
 if ( system($POSTSUPER, "-d", $qid) != 0 ) {
  # If postsuper has a problem, bail.
  die "Error executing $POSTSUPER: error " .
     "code " .  ($?/256) . "\n";
 }
}
}
close(QUEUE);

if (! $qid ) {
die "No messages with the address <$email_addr> " .
  "found in queue.\n";
}

exit 0;

### End of Script ####

I don't know the name of the writer of script above. But found in URL:

http://www.ustrem.org/en/articles/postfix-queue-delete-en/

Use it and hope it will save your times. Good Day.

Google Will Send Your Holiday Greetings to any US Postal Mail Address

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:33:49 PST

A very interesting news for Google / Gmail Fan. Now You can use Google Service to Sending Holiday Greetings in non digital way, mean via US Postal Service to any US Postal Address!!! If you have friends and family members in the US whom you would like to send greeting cards this holiday season, here’s something really interesting for you.

To send a card, visit http://gmail.com/holidaycard. We'll only
be able to send cards to U.S. addresses and to a limited number of people (due
to limited Gmail elf availability), so be sure to request one soon. - The
Official Google Blog

Here’s how the personalized greeting card that your friend will receive via Google would look like – the version below uses the default Gmail template but there are about half a dozen more to choose from. Enjoy!

Image cradit goes to Mr. Amit Agarwal and his professional blog site labnol.org.

Send Holiday Greeting Cards via Snail Mail US Postal Address

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:17:11 PST

Google Will Help you to Send Greetings Card of Holiday via US Postal Service Free!!!

Now Google can be used to send snail-mail (Non-Digital Regular Postal Cards) at any US Postal Address. If you have friends and family in the US whom you would like to send Holiday Greeting Cards on this Season, this is really interesting for you.

This holiday season, as a token of our appreciation to our most enthusiastic fans, we'll snail-mail a free holiday postcard on your behalf. Yes, through the mail and everything. - Official Google Blog

Yep that’s right Google will send one card on your behalf to any member of your family, all you have to do is visit http://gmail.com/holidaycard choose from six pre-made holiday cards and write whatever you want.

To send a card, visit gmail.com/holidaycard. We'll only be able to send cards to U.S. addresses and to a limited number of people (due to limited Gmail elf availability), so be sure to request one soon.

Postfix Alias send Duplicate or Twice Mail

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:59:26 PST

Dear Mr. Bauani,

I have an alias like this,

info: peter,heloise

and somebody sends a message addressed to both info and peter, then peter receives the message twice. When I used Sendmail it detected the same mail going to the same user twice and prevented it. How can I do the same with Postfix?

I need your help. Please help me.

Thanks,

Md.Shohel Rana

Dear Mr. Rana,

This is a common problem on postfix. But I am not going to tell it as 'bug', this is a fetcher.

Some people will complain that Postfix sends duplicate messages. This happens whenever one message is mailed to multiple addresses that reach the same user. Examples of such scenarios are:

One message is sent to the user, and to an alias that lists the user. The user receives one copy of the mail directly, and one copy via the alias.

Some people will even argue that this is the "right" behavior. It is probably more a matter of expectation and of what one is used to.

This can be "fixed" only by making Postfix slower. In the above examples, Postfix would first have to completely expand all distribution lists before starting any delivery. By design, Postfix delivers mail to different destinations in parallel, and local delivery is no exception. This is why Postfix can be faster than sendmail.

If you want to "fixed" this problem, I will suggest you to stay in sendmail.

Swine Flue is spreading all over Bangladesh

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:02:18 PDT

Now Swine Flue is spreading all over Bangladesh at very alarming rate. Every day almost 20-25 people are being detected as H1N1 virus positive in Dhaka . Still many people are suffering from fever and they don't even know if they are positive or not.

Let's have a look what are the Main Symptoms that you can suspect it as H1N1 positive.

1. Sudden fever for 2-3 days with temperature of 101-103 deg and it doesn't come below 100 deg even after taking medicine.

2. Running nose with sneezing frequently with slight cough.

3. Slight pain all over the body

4. Breathing problem (complicated case)

5. Feeling very weak after fever rise.

Untreated Swaine Flue even cause for anyone's death

What should we do after being caught

1. Go to any specialist immediately and take suggestion from him.

2. Take a lot of fluid

3. Sleep as much as you can

4. Take a lot of good food

5. Take complete bed rest for at least 7 days

6. Isolate yourself from others in a room for 7 days

Where you will get HELP

In Dhaka you can get help from this below places

1. Dhaka Medical College Hospital

2. Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital

3. Shorawardi Medical college Hospital

4. Shastho Odidoptor Mohakhali Dhaka

5.Bangobandhu Medical College

6. Birdem

IN MOHAKHALI SHASTHO ODIDOPTOR ( Ground floor, Red Building ) ( beside Mohakhali Rail gate ) you can get free test of Swaine flue and Medicine with proper Guideline for 24 hours. Contact with them in this number +8801937000011

If your patient is seriously ill they will collect sample from your home.

What are the preventive measures to protect yourself

1 .Use mask for 24 hours specially when you go to public area like market, bus stop etc.

2. Don't shake hands with others or don't touch the patients who are infected.

3. Wash your hands with soap frequently

4. Put your clothes in Detergent Water for 10-15 mins after coming from outside

5. Take a complete shower with soap after coming from outside

6. Don't touch your face and nose when you are outside of home or beside any patients

7. Try to avoid public place as much as possible

Don't be afraid when you are detected as H1N1 Virus positive. Although direct medicine is not invented yet but proper bed rest partial medicine and good care can make you well fit for work again.

NEGLEGENCY IN TREATMENT CAN DAMAGE LUNGS WHICH CAN LEAD TO DEATH.

If you are in fever please go immediately to MOHAKHALI for free test and free medicine.

Plz inform to all of your near and dear.Be safe and take care of urself.Almighty god will help us.

Thanks To All

Taskina Yeasmin Amey

IPv6 Enable OS by default and Current Security Risk

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:04:50 PDT

Do you know whether your computers are actively using IPv6 or not? Better check, as the bad guys probably already know.

Wind of change is blowing. Network Providers are preparing themselves to migrate there network from IPv4 to IPv6. It is still in a position like egg and chicken mean the stage where providers are waiting for response from there customer and customer are waiting for there providers signal to migrate their network with new technology. This is true that IPv6 will be the next generations networking specially Internet network technology. Internet Giant's like Google Inc or Yahoo! already offering there service on IPv6 network.

Big OS vendors like Microsoft along with other professional OS vendor including Redhat's Linux or Sun's Solaris and other operating system vendors are shipping their Operating System with IPv6 Enable by default. But still at this moment IPv4 is main stream protocol on Internet Data Transfer.

Before saying that IPv6 Enabled OS is a security risk now a days, we need to know what is IPv6 or IPv4. In 60's or 70's Internet Technology was available to public, TCP/IP(v4) was the protocol to communicate on Internet Networking. At that time it was expected that the available IP address on that technology is enough to run the entire Internet for a long time. But that was wrong. On early 80's, Internet scientist found that the growth of Internet is too havvy and resource like IP address are going to finish soon. So they innovated a new protocol/technology called IPv6 which is having virtually unlimited numbers of IP address for individual system connected to Internet.

Currently there is 2 protocol running on Internet. IPv4 is in production line and IPv6 is on development line. Though IPv6 is now mature enough to migrate 80% of Internet Service on it, providers and end users are still waiting for first steps from each others to start the migration process. As on Internet, IPv6 are running parallely with IPv4, there is no direct connection between these 2 protocols. But to give the test of IPv6 another technology call tunneling is there to transfer data between 2 protocols.

What are we talking about and what is the size of risk?

The number of computers running IPv6 is staggering. Carolyn Duffy Marsan in aNetworkWorld article quoted Joe Klein as saying:

“We’re probably talking about 300 million systems that have IPv6 enabled by default. We see this as a big risk.”

What I’m wondering, is how many of the people using the 300 million computers realize IPv6 is enabled or know what it means?

What’s being exploited

In a concurrent article, Marsan asked experts what they considered the most serious issues of running a dual stack comprised of IPv6 and IPv4. Here’s what they said:

Rogue IPv6 traffic: Attackers realize that most network administrators aren’t monitoring IPv6 traffic or they can’t. Because existing firewalls, IDS, or network management tools aren’t IPv6-aware. Therefore, an attacker can send malicious traffic to any computer running IPv6 and it will get through.

IPv6 tunneling: Protocols such as Teredo and Intra-Site Automatic Tunnel Addressing Protocol (ISATAP) encapsulate IPv6 packets inside IPv4 packets. The morphed packets can easily pass through IPv4 firewalls and network address translation (NAT) equipment, defeating perimeter defenses purposed to sense and drop IPv6 packets.

Rogue IPv6 equipment: Because IPv6 uses auto-configuration, an attacker can gain considerable control over computers running IPv6, simply by placing a rogue device capable of issuing IPv6 IP addresses on the network under attack. To make matters worse the device could have router attributes. Forcing all traffic to transit through it, allowing attackers to snoop, modify, or drop traffic at their whim.

Built-in ICMP and multicast: Unlike IPv4, IPv6 requires ICMP and multicast traffic. That fact will significantly change how administrators approach network security. Right now, blocking ICMP and multicast traffic on IPv4 networks is the accepted practice. That will no longer work and complicated filtering of ICMP and multicast packets will be required to maintain some semblance of security.

Leave IPv6 enabled or not

Whether to leave IPv6 “enabled or not” is about as clear as mud. There’s the yes camp and there’s the no camp with the whole gray area in between littered with other opinions. I thought I’d let the experts introduced in Marsan’s article present their views:

Tim LeMaster: Director of systems engineering for Juniper’s federal group mentions:

“If you’re not prepared for IPv6, then the prudent thing to do is not to allow it into your network,” LeMaster says. “But you shouldn’t be blocking all IPv6 traffic for the next five years. You should only block it until you have a policy and understand the threats.”

Lisa Donnan: Vice president of advanced technology solutions at Command Information has a different viewpoint:

“

We don’t recommend that you block IPv6 traffic. We are recommending that you do an audit and find out how many IPv6 devices and applications are on your network. If you have IPv6 traffic on your network, then you’ve got to plan, train, and implement IPv6.

”

Sheila Frankel: Computer scientist in the Computer Security Division of the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) expresses a middle-ground viewpoint:

“Companies need to acquire a minimal level of expertise in IPv6, which will help protect them against threats. The other thing they should do is to take their outward-facing servers, those that are external to the corporation’s firewalls, and enable IPv6 on them. That way, customers from Asia with IPv6 addresses will be able to reach these servers and their own people will acquire expertise in IPv6. This will be a first step in the process.”

Frankel continues:

“IPv6 is coming. The best way is to face it head on and to decide you’re going to do it in the most secure manner possible.”

As soon as I started receiving computers with IPv6 enabled, I turned the protocol off. My rational was why take a chance when it’s not necessary. Apparently, my choice is paying off, as my client’s computers aren’t vulnerable to these new exploit vectors.

That works for me for the time being at least. I don’t pretend to think my choice will work for everyone. From the above opinions, the only thing I do know for sure is that getting up-to-speed on IPv6 is important. As that knowledge will help you determine what’s in your network and computer systems best interest.

Final thoughts

This is definitely a thorny subject and full of surprises. Just like every new and untested technological change. I can accept that. What’s hard to accept is that security once again appears not to be a main consideration. I hope it’s just a temporary oversight.

Ref: Part of this article is directly tacken from Articles by Mr. Michael Kassner published on URL: IPv6: Oops, it's on by default

Running Virus Program on Linux Operating system using Wine

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:37:45 PDT

'Wine' is a greate program to run your fevarate windows program while still using Linux Operating System. 'Wine' is a individual Open Source Software for running Windows applications on other operating systems, specially on Linux. Other OS like BSD, Solaris and Mac OS X also support wine to run programs which was developed for run on Microsoft windows Operating System.

Someone has post a questen on Another Linux Dristro Ubuntu Bangladesh Mailing list about 'Wine' and virus code. Mr. Ashiqur Rahman Angel post a answre for that question. His writing on 'Running Virus Program on Linux Operating system using Wine is quoted bellow:

subject Re: [Ubuntu-BD] wine দিয়ে virus রান করানো সম্ভব কি?
mailing list ubuntu-bd.lists.ubuntu.com
hide details Jul 20 (1 day ago)
It ll depends, if the virus uses a kernel issue, changes are small
it'll work on Wine (as the change of having exactly the same mistake in
both windows kernel code and wine code is small. But if it's
using bugs of the program being run than it might work just the same as
on a real windows environment.

Using a fake windows directory is encouraged as Wine might otherwise
have troubled with windows registeries being filled with unknown trash;
also by using one or multiple fake windows directories, you can avoid
loosing any real information caused by virus activity. Then, if you got
infected, you'd just remove the infected directories and grab the fresh
copy. Overall, it doesnt effect ur Linux system at all.

2009/7/20 I am aero <aero4k@gmail.com>

> উবুন্টুতে থাকাকালীণ পেন ড্রাইভে থাকা newfolder.exe অথবা যো কোন ভাইরাস
> যদি wine দিয়ে রান করাই তাহলে কি ঘটতে পারে?
>

--
Angel
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Angel
0DF8 3CD4 AFE3 68C6 2CDA 9F17 14B8 1A15 E5F7 73C2

Fedora -- Freedom² and rapid innovation
Sent from Dhaka, Bangladesh
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/marie_von_ebnereschenbac.html>
- "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day."

Mobile Phone VAS Health Service (Fun)

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:59:56 PDT

Dear readers, I just receive this picture (Bangla Language) of a conversation between a user of Value Added Health Service in Bangladesh. Sorry this is in Bangla Language. I will try to convert it in English Language if I can manage time. Bangladeshi Readers, Have fun...

Ubuntu-bd.org: Announcement from Mr. Shahriar Tariq

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:32:56 PDT

Mr. Shahriar Tariq recently announced lunching Bangladesh Ubuntu website on Ubuntu Bangladesh Mailing List

Original Posting is quoted bellow:

After months of working, trial&error, nagging, emailing etc
etc.Ubuntu-bd.org site is up again.

Thanks to the people behind it and also to Canonical :)

cheers

--
Thanking you
Shahriar

Volunteer, Bangladesh Linux Users Alliance http://linux.org.bd
http://forum.linux.org.bd

Marketing & Contents Officer, Ubuntu Bangladesh
http://www.ubuntu.linux.org.bd

Endorsement: আমাদের প্রযুক্তি ফোরাম http://forum.amaderprojukti.com/ and
মুক্ত.অর্গ http://mukto.org
--
Ubuntu Bangladesh | http://ubuntu.linux.org.bd
ubuntu-bd@lists.ubuntu.com
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bd

Google start fighting with fake email sender with new Technology name 'super-trustworthy'

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:42:39 PDT

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: The super-trustworthy, anti-phishing key

Accordingly Official Gmail Blog, google lunch a new 'anti-phishing' policy to stop phishing email targeted to get user ID and Password from innocent user. Google named this project as 'super-trustworthy'.

On this new policy GMail will not accept email from any unauthenticated user unless sender is verified by Gmail's own technology.

Unfortunately it is still on Google Lab and available for PayPal and Ebay.Com. Hope this new policy will protect user from those innocent user who used to click on any link on email without any extra care and gave away there password on any website ask for it!!!

IPv6 deployment statistics iPhone App, Widget, Gadget from Hurricane Electric

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:16:49 PDT

Hurricane Electric have just released a free iPhone App, Webpage Widget, and
Google and Windows Desktop Gadgets that report the growth of IPv6
deployment and the exhaustion of IPv4.

The iPhone App, Webpage Widget, and Desktop Gadgets are available at:

http://ipv6.he.net/statistics

Thank you and we hope you enjoy the additional toys. Any questions,
bugs or comments, please send email to ipv6@he.net

---
Hurricane Electric IPv6 Tunnel Broker Project
http://tunnelbroker.net

Hurricane Electric IPv6 Certification Program
http://ipv6.he.net/certification

Tell a friend about Hurricane Electric

Some Very Basic Pigeon Facts

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:10:17 PDT

Pigeons mate for life and rear their broods together, although if one dies the other will take a new mate. Once the simple nest is built, the female lays an egg and then another a day or so later. The incubation period for common pigeons is 17 to 19 days. The female sits on the egg from late afternoon through the night until about 10AM. The male then takes over and does the day shift. Once the eggs hatch, both parents feed the young squabs. The first food is pigeon milk or crop milk, a cheesy substance that appears in the crops of the parents at hatching time and is fed for a week or so. Then the adults start regurgitating partially digested grains for the young. By the time the squabs are ready to fly, about 4 weeks, the father is doing most of the feeding. The squabs are fed for another week to 10 days after they are free-flying.

Ref: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Pigeons/BRKPigeon.html

Pigeons Blogs

Make Vodka - by Your Hand in Home!

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:00:23 PST

How to Make Vodka

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Vodka is a neutral spirit that is without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color[1]. These properties are developed during the distillation process or by treating crudely distilled spirits with activated carbon or other materials. Finely distilled vodka may also be further purified and refined by treatment with activated carbon and other materials. Vodka is usually not aged and can be made from grains, potatoes, sugars, fruits, and just about anything else that can be fermented to produce alcohol. This makes vodka an economical spirit that can be made easily in a short amount of time from readily available materials.

Steps

Get or make a still. Vodka is a distilled, highly refined product. It is usually distilled with a column (reflux) still, but pot stills can also be used. Column stills produce purer alcohol because they essentially redistill the alcohol in a single pass, and therefore further purification with a carbon filter (activated carbon) may not be needed. The distilled vodka can be redistilled additional times to produce a very pure product. Pot stills produce a crude product that contains flavor and aroma compounds that will need to be removed by treatment with a carbon filter and/or by additional distillations.
- Column stills are more complex and sophisticated than pot stills. They can can be purchased or, depending on the still design, built using readily available materials. However, column stills and pot stills work in a relatively similar manner. It is important to understand that cooling water is usually circulated through a sealed compartment in the distillation column, causing the vaporized alcohol and other substances to condense in the column. This means that such a still must be attached directly to a faucet or a mechanical pump to move water from a supply into the still must be used. If not recirculating water from a single supply, thousands of gallons of water may be used to make a small batch of vodka. If water is recirculated from a central reservoir using a pump, about fifty gallons of water can be used, but the water will heat up and become less effective. See Sources and Citations below for detailed, high-quality instructions for the construction and use of column stills.
- Simple pot stills are akin to pressure cookers that are attached to piping or tubing. They can be constructed very easily and cheaply. Unlike column stills that are essentially vertical columns, pot stills may utilize bent or coiled tubing or piping that can be submersed in a vessel of cooling water. Pumps and large volumes of cooling water are not required, but can be used. See Sources and Citations below for detailed, high-quality instructions for the construction of pot stills.
Choose the medium to be fermented and distilled. Vodka is commonly made from wheat, rye, barley, corn, and potatoes. Sugar and molasses can also be used alone or added to other ingredients. Rogue distilling makes an innovative vodka from Pinot Noir red wine. Whatever you choose, it must be (or have been) fermented by yeast so that alcohol is ultimately produced. When making vodka from grains and potatoes, a mash must be made that contains active enzymes that break down the starches from the grains or potatoes and makes fermentable sugars. Fruit juice already contains sugars so starch-degrading enzymes are not needed. As with fruit juice, vodka made from store-bought sugars need only be fermented, thus bypassing the need for a mash. When already fermented mediums such as wine are used, the medium can be distilled right away into vodka.
Formulate a mash. A mash is necessary when using grains or other sources of starch such as potatoes that need to be converted into fermentable sugars. There are some basic principles to consider:
- Grains and potatoes are sources of starch. Starch must be broken down into sugars that can be fermented by yeast and converted into alcohol.
- Malted whole grains such as malted barley and wheat are rich in natural enzymes that break down starches into fermentable sugars. The enzymes can act on the starch when the malted grains are cracked open with a mill and added to a certain amount of hot water that is held at a specific temperature for a certain amount of time. Milled, malted grains can be used alone, as they contain starch, or added to a starchy, enzyme-poor mash. The enzymes from the grain will break down the starches into sugars. It is also important to choose malted grains that are high in enzymes so that more starch can be broken down. Wheat malt is higher in enzymes than barley malt, and lighter-colored barley malt is higher in enzymes than dark-colored (highly kilned) barley malt. In fact, highly kilned barley malt may contain no enzymes. Also, the variety of barley that is referred to as six-row is higher in enzymes than the 2-row variety.
- Food-grade amylase enzyme powder can be purchased from a homebrew shop and added to the mash to convert the starch into fermentable sugars. Use the recommended amount for the amount of starch to be broken down. There is no need to use malted, enzyme-rich grains such as malted barley or wheat when using enzyme powder.
- For enzymes to be able to break down starches, even the starches of malted, enzyme-rich grain, the starches must first be gelatinized. Flaked (rolled) grains are often already gelatinized. Ungelatinized ingredients such as potatoes and unrolled or malted grains are heated in water to the gelatinization temperature of the particular starch that is used. Potatoes are usually boiled to gelatinize the starch before adding crushed malted grains or other sources of enzymes. However, the gelatinization temperature of potatoes is actually about 150F, and barley and wheat gelatinize well at about the same temperature, so a potato mash should only need to be heated to 150F. However, if a low temperature is used with potatoes, they should be finely shredded before adding them to the water.
- Starch-degrading enzymes only work at specific temperatures and are destroyed at high temperatures. A temperature of 150F is common, but temperatures above 158F will result in the destruction of the enzymes. The absolute maximum temperature is 165F, and while enzymes will work for a period of time at this temperature and it can be used, much of the enzymes will be destroyed rather rapidly.
- Refined sugar and molasses may be used solely or added to starchy mashes to add additional fermentable material.
Make the mash. There are many possible mash recipes, and specific recipes will be easier depending on the availability of specific ingredients in your area. These basic recipes ultimately result in about five gallons of fermented, distillable liquid.
- Wheat mash recipe: in a 10 gallon metal pot with lid, heat 6 gallons of tap water to about 165F. Add two gallons of dry, flaked wheat and stir. Check the temperature and ensure that it is between 150F and 155F. Stir in one gallon of crushed wheat malt. The temperature should be about 149F. Cover and let rest for 90 minutes to two hours, stirring occasionally. The starches should convert into fermentable sugars during this time, and the mixture should become much less viscous. After 90 minutes to two hours, cool the mixture to 80 to 85F. Use an immersion chiller for rapid cooling or just let it cool overnight, but don’t let it get much below 80F.
- Potato mash recipe: clean 20 pounds of potatoes. Without peeling, boil them in a large kettle until gelatinized, about one hour. Discard the water and thoroughly mash the potatoes by hand or with a food processor. Return the mashed potatoes to the kettle and add five to six gallons of tap water. Mix to blend and bring mixture to just over 150F. Add two pounds of crushed, malted barley or wheat and stir well. Cover and stir periodically over the course of two hours. Let cool overnight to 80 to 85F (letting it cool for a long period of time also gives the barley malt enzymes more time to break down the potato starch).
- Corn mash recipe: make a mash as with the wheat mash recipe, but substitute flaked, pre-gelatinized corn (maize) for the flaked wheat. Alternatively, sprout your own corn over the course of three days and make a mash from it without added malted grain. A root about two inches long should sprout from each grain. The sprouted corn will contain enzymes that were formed during the germination (sprouting) process.
Prepare the fermentable medium.
- Fermentation is conducted in clean, sanitized vessels that are open or sealed from the air and lasts for three to five days. Fermentation is also possible in vessels that haven't been cleaned or sanitized, and the distilled product will yield drinkable alcohol, but the fermentation may result in a high level of unwanted flavor compounds and higher alcohols due to the action of unwanted yeast stains and bacteria. Oxidative cleaners such as B-Brite are available at homebrew shops, as are sanitizers such as iodophore. Five gallon batches of strained mash can be fermented in a 7.5 gallon food-grade bucket or in 6 gallon carboys. Lids can be affixed to buckets and drilled rubber stoppers to carboys, but when using a lid or a stopper, never seal the vessel completely, as pressure from carbon dioxide production will create explosive pressure. Therefore, affix an airlock to lids and drilled rubber stoppers. The airlock will allow CO2 to escape but won’t let air in. When fermentation is conducted in open vessels, put a cheesecloth over the vessel to keep out bugs and other undesirable things.
- If a mash was made, strain the liquid with a fine mesh strainer from the mash into a cleaned and sanitized fermentation vessel. Try to splash the liquid and pour it from a distance so that it is well aerated. Yeast needs air (oxygen) initially to grow and start a quality fermentation. This is because yeast makes cellular material in the form of lipids from oxygen. However, oxygen is not desired after this initial growth stage, as yeast produces alcohol in the absence of oxygen.
  - As an alternative, ferment the mash without straining. However, the fermented mash should still be aerated in some manner, possibly with an aquarium air pump and an aeration stone. The mash will also need to be strained before it is added to the still, and it may be more convenient to ferment the smaller volume that results from a strained mash, as the fermenting mash may overflow the vessel.
- If a sugar solution is to be used, prepare a solution as described in Make Alcohol from Common Table Sugar. Also aerate by pouring from a distance into the fermentation vessel.
- If juice is to be fermented, aerate by pouring from a height through a sieve or strainer into the fermentation vessel.
Add yeast to to the fermentable medium. Hydrate the appropriate amount of dried distillers or other desired yeast and add it to the liquid. Stir with a clean, sanitized spoon to evenly disperse the yeast. If using an airlock, the airlock will bubble during active fermentation, and the bubbling will slow dramatically or cease altogether as the liquid becomes completely fermented. Keep the fermenting liquid in a room that is about 80 to 85F to facilitate good, efficient fermentation, or use a heating belt in cold areas.
- Distillers yeast will ferment cleanly, produce a high amount of alcohol (ethanol), and produce a relatively low amount of unwanted compounds such as alcohols other than ethanol. The amount of yeast used will depend on the specific brand or type of yeast used. Nutrients may be included with the yeast in the yeast packet. Yeast nutrients are needed when fermenting a medium that is low in nutrients, such as sugar solutions, but they can also improve fermentations when used with nutrient-rich mediums such as those made from grains.
Collect the fermented liquid (the wash). Siphon off the fermented, alcoholic liquid (called the wash) into a cleaned and sanitized vessel or into the distillation apparatus. Leave the yeast sediment behind in the fermentation vessel, as it can scorch when heated in the still. The siphoned wash may also be further clarified by filtration or other means before distillation.
Distill the wash.
- Before using a still, consider how stills work. They are used to heat the fermented, alcoholic wash to a temperature that is greater than the boiling point of alcohol, yet less than the boiling point of water. In this way, the alcohol is removed from the bulk of the water, but a certain amount of water as well as other substances will be distilled along with the alcohol. The vaporized alcohol along with the vaporized water and other substances condense inside a column, pipe or tube that is attached to the vessel that contains the fermented medium. External cooling in the form of cold water is applied to the column, pipe or tubing, causing the vaporized alcohol and other substances to cool and condense back into liquid. This alcoholic liquid is collected and becomes vodka.
- Heat the wash in the still to begin the distillation process. Depending on the type of still used, gas burners, wood fires, or electric hot plates can be used. A temperature of about 173F at sea level is desirable, and the temperature must be kept below the boiling point of water (212F at sea level). As the wash becomes heated, alcohol and other substances will become vaporized and condense in the water-cooled area of the still. The first distilled liquid (called the “heads”) that is recovered from the still will be rich in harmful methanol. For five gallons of wash, discard at least the first 2 ounces of distillate[2]. After this is discarded, the collected distillate will contain the desired alcohol (ethanol) plus water and some other compounds. This is the “body”. During this time, if using a column still with flowing cold water, the water flow can be adjusted to control the distillate output and purity. Try to shoot for two or three teaspoons of distillate per minute. Increased distillate output results in decreased purity. Towards the end of the distillation process, the “tailings” are collected. The tailings may be undesirable and can be discarded.
Check the alcohol content and purity of the distillate. Cool a sample of the distillate to 68F and use a alcoholmeter to measure the percentage of alcohol of the distillate. The distillate may be too dilute to serve as acceptable vodka (weaker than 40 percent alcohol), or may be more concentrated than desired (perhaps higher than 50 percent alcohol). Vodka is usually diluted before bottling, so the distillate can have a very high alcohol content. The distillate may also be too flavorful and aromatic and require additional distillations or carbon filtering.
Redistill the distillate if necessary or desired. This increases the alcohol content an further purifies the distillate. It is common to redistill the distillate three or more times to achieve vodka that has a high purity.
Treat with a carbon filter (activated carbon) if necessary. Pass the distillate through a carbon filter, such as those available at homebrewing shops, to remove unwanted volatile flavors and aromas. Carbon water filters can also be modified to purify the distillate.
Dilute the vodka to the desired strength. Add purified water to the distillate to attain the desired alcohol percentage. Use an alcoholmeter to measure the alcohol percentage.
Bottle the vodka. Fill bottles using a gravity bottle filler setup and cork or cap the bottles. Label the bottles with custom labels if desired. Some gravity fillers may consist of a 7.5 gallon bottling bucket (with spigot), vinyl tubing, and a simple spring-loaded plastic bottle filler. Multiple-spout wine bottle fillers can also be used.

Video

A tour of a distillery that makes vodka, along with a detailed description of the process.

Tips

The pH of the mash may need to be adjusted with gypsum or other compounds in order for the starch-degrading enzymes to work efficiently.
Vodka can be infused with flavor.
Home distillation and therefore the production of vodka in one's home is legal in New Zealand.
Excellent small stills are manufactured in New Zealand.
If fabricating a still, be aware that chemicals from plastic and rubber as well as lead from solder and metals may leach into the distillate during the distilling process.

Warnings

It is illegal to distill drinking alcohol in many countries without government approval.
Distillation apparatuses can build up pressure and explode.
Alcohol is flammable and potentially toxic.
Distillation apparatuses are heated by open flames and other means that can cause bodily injury and result in explosions, especially due to the flammable nature of alcohol.
Production and consumption of alcohol while under the age of 21, in many localities, is illegal.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

Column still designs: http://www.moonshine-still.com/
Column and pot still designs: http://www.homedistiller.org/designs.htm
Create a mash from agricultural products:http://herkes.org/html_files/fermentation.html

↑ http://www.probrewer.com/resources/distilling/vodka.php

↑ http://www.home-distiller.com/alcohol_distillation.htm

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make Vodka. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

4 Tips to Put Your Money Making Website Into Overdrive

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:29:56 PST

Author: John Baril

There are many people these days who are trying to earn a living on the internet, but do not have a money making website. There are millions of blogs and websites out there that are not profitable at all. Most of these people eventually give up and they will leave the internet business forever.

In this article, there are four tips to jumpstart your money making website so you are not another Internet business failure.

1. Put your emphasis into getting back links to your website. A back link is a road map pointing to your website.

The website which gets the most traffic is usually the one with the most backlinks. You can get traffic by buying it, or you can use the many free methods available. Regardless of how you choose to accomplish it, do what you need to get your website address on somebody else's website as many times as possible.

2. Feature a sign up form to a free report that you are giving away. Regardless of the type of internet business that you have, you can use this strategy to your benefit.

Your goal very simply is to build a list of names and email addresses that you can follow up with in the future. This is another way that you are going to make money off of your website. This mailing list can be worth several thousand dollars to you every month as you develop it and learn how to use it correctly.

3. Simplify your website so that it is easy to get around in. Decide what the focus of your website is going to be and create your navigation around this. Offer your visitors a way to bookmark your site so they can come back in the future.

4. Cut down the number of products that you are selling. Most websites are cluttered with so much information and products that people leave feeling overwhelmed.

If you have a handful of favorite products, then feature those. You might even go so far as to feature just one product until you are profitable, and then add another one.

The best way to do that is to promote a product that you have a personal attachment to. Then, just tell your visitors what you like about the product and why they would like it as well.

These are 4 tips to jumpstart your money making website. Anyone who has enough traffic and keeps their website focused and simple will make money. You certainly can be one of them!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/4-tips-to-put-your-money-making-website-into-overdrive-507424.html

About the Author:
John Baril is a career Paramedic and also operates a successful online affiliate business. John lives in Delta, British Columbia, Canada with his wife and 2 young boys. Check out his outstanding free affiliate marketing e-course available at: Simple Work At Home Opportunity

Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters Becomes War Zone!

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:07:43 PST

A fierce gun battle has broken out inside the headquarters of Bangladesh's border security force in the capital Dhaka, police say.

"There has been a huge exchange of gunfire at BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) headquarters complex this morning. We have heard mortar fire," Nabojit Khisa, a local police chief, said on Wednesday. Reports Aljazeera.net

Official sources told AFP that the eruption of the gun battle coincided with a meeting of senior Bangladesh Rifles officers and that the battle appeared to be the result of a problem within the security force and was not a coup d'etat.

Witnesses said they saw army troops moving toward the headquarters as flames rose from the complex and big blasts were also heard.

"The shooting started in the BDR headquarters in the city's Pilkhana area around late morning and hundreds of shots were heard from areas around it," a resident told Reuters by telephone.

BDR spokesman Sajjad Haider said "trouble has been going on but I have no details immediately."

Traffic came to a halt on nearby streets and panic spread across the capital as private televisions reported the gunfire. Reports Reuters

Source: Google News

How do I enable JavaScript in Browser ?

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:58:29 PST

Google Adsense Help has an article on enabling JavaScript on browser. Google Adsense run on JavaScript, preventing imprassion count on different web robot visit. To enable JavaScript on your browser, follow the instructions bellow:

Internet Explorer (6.0)

Select 'Tools' from the top menu
Choose 'Internet Options'
Click on the 'Security' tab
Click on 'Custom Level'
Scroll down until you see section labled 'Scripting'
Under 'Active Scripting', select 'Enable' and click OK

Netscape Navigator (4.8)

Select 'Edit' from the top menu
Choose 'Preferences'
Choose 'Advanced'
Choose 'Scripts & Plugins'
Select the 'Enable JavaScript' checkbox and click OK

Mozilla Firefox (1.0)

Select 'Tools' from the top menu
Choose 'Options'
Choose 'Web Features' from the left navigation
Select the checkbox next to 'Enable JavaScript' and click OK

Mozilla Firefox (1.5)

Select 'Tools' from the top menu
Choose 'Options'
Choose 'Content' from the top navigation
Select the checkbox next to 'Enable JavaScript' and click OK

Apple Safari (1.0)

Select 'Safari' from the top menu
Choose 'Preferences'
Choose 'Security'
Select the checkbox next to 'Enable JavaScript'

Note: Above example are taken from Google Adsense Help

How do I clear my web browser's cache?

Google Adsense Pay You Without Clicking on Advertizement!

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:15:15 PST

Recently bandara has left a new comment on the post "Seeing clicks but no revenue?" that he got earnings on his Google Adsense account without any 'Click' showing on his control panel.

Yes, it is possible. Google has option for 'placement targeting' which allow google adword user to determine where ads can appear. Placement targeting lets AdWords advertisers choose individual spots in the Google content network where they'd like to see their ads displayed.

AdSense has a feature that allows you to define ad placement channels for Google’s site targeting feature. Now when you create or maintain a channel in AdSense Setup -> Channels -> Edit settings, you can check a “targeting” box, and then provide some info about where exactly the ad will appear (e.g. top left on the homepage, or bottom center on sports articles), as well as an ad description. “When advertisers search for places to target their ads using site targeting, they’ll see your placement and description as an option on which they can place their ads,” the Google help explains. Posted on AdSense Ad Placement Channels.

So if you see earnings, but no click, be sure that at least one advertiser has choose your site to display their add and ready to pay regardless of any click.

Routine/Schedule for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Exam 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:27:27 PST

SSC and HSC Education Board

Dhaka, Rajshahi, Kumillah, Joshor, Chattagong, Barishal, Sylhet and Ninazpur Board

Routine/Schedule for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Exam 2009

Subject and Time From 10AM to 1PM	Subject Code	Date
English Compulsory 1st Paper	107	February 15, 2009
English Compulsory 2nd Paper	108	February 17, 2009
Bengal Compulsory 1st Paper Easy Bengal 1st Paper Bengal Language & Culture of Bangladesh 1st Paper	101 103 105	Feb 19 2009
Bangla Compulsory 2nd Paper Easy Bangla 2nd Paper Bangla Language & Culture of Bangladesh 2nd Paper	102 104 106	Feb 22, 2009
Geography Commercial Geography	110 144	Feb 24, 2009
Higher Math ( Theory )	126	Feb 25, 2009
Accounting	146	Feb 26,2009
General Math Compulsory	109	March 01, 2009
Physics (Theory) History Business Study	136 139 142	March 03, 2009
Chemistry (Theory) Civics Business DUUOG	137 140 143	March 05, 2009
General Science Social Science	127 145	March 08, 2009
Arabic sonscrite language Pally Language Kormomukhi Shikka (Theory) Computer Study (Theory) Sports and Others (Theory) Basic Tread (Theory) Arts (Theory)	121 123 124 130 131 133 105 148	March 10, 2009
Islamic Study Hindu Study Buddha Study Christian Study	111 112 113 114	March 12, 2009
Biology (Theory) Economics	138 141	March 15, 2009
Special Attention Bellow for Exam on March 10 at 02AM Time
Subject and Time From 02PM to 05PM	Subject Code	Date
Bengal Language and Literature English Language and Literature Home Economics (Theory) Agricultural Study (Theory) Shangit (Theory)	119 120 129 134 149	March 10, 2009

SSC Examination 2009 Routine Published in Newspaper in Bangladesh

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:29:14 PST

Routine for SSC Examination of Dhaka Educational Board of Bangladesh has been published in Different Daily Newspaper of Bangladesh.

I was looking for this Routine online but failed to find anything! I also tried to visit the Education Board Website but it seems down at this moment. What a mass.

Anyway, I will collect this routine by tomorrow and upload here to help students who are going to sit for SSC Exam for this year. Till then take care.

Update: I have collect the Routine of SSC Examination 2009. You can find it by clicking here.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) nets staggering profit as fuel price not adjusted

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:45:07 PST

In absence of proper retail price adjustment, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is reaping a very high profit of Tk 6 per litre of kerosene and diesel and Tk 30 per litre of octane and petrol.

The BPC is making a profit of Tk 4.47 crore a day with the Tk 6 profit in each litre of kerosene and diesel, says an official asking not to be named.

The government last year significantly hiked the petroleum prices as the international price skyrocketed up to $147 a barrel in July. But the price nose-dived the following month and is now hovering around $40.

However, the price fall has yet to leave an impact on the local market. The government has so far made minor cuts in petroleum prices and is likely to further reduce the prices today.

The BPC is also planning to propose to the government for price cut on liquid petroleum gas (LPG) by around Tk 150 per cylinder within a fortnight or so, say the sources.

They add BPC, which was incurring huge loss till last year, is presently making huge profit by selling its existing stock of imported oil procured in late November at $55 (crude) and $70 (refined) per barrel.

With some 159 litres contained in a barrel, each litre of diesel and kerosene now costs around Tk 40, including 15 percent VAT and other costs, and each litre of petrol and octane around Tk 46.

The three marketing companies of BPC are marketing at least 9,000 tonnes of fuel a day. The daily demand of diesel and kerosene is around 70 percent of this quantity or 6,300 tonnes.

One tonne of petroleum produces 1,286 litres of kerosene and 1,186 litres of diesel after processing. On average, there are 1,236 litres in one tonne of kerosene or diesel, which means the daily sale of kerosene and diesel amounts to around 77.87 lakh litres.

"BPC had the scope to reduce the price by Tk 5-6 per litre of diesel and kerosene without giving any subsidy. Reducing the price further may create a scope for feared smuggling of diesel and kerosene out of the country," the official adds.

BPC insiders say currently the corporation has 2.3 lakh tonnes of diesel, 30 thousand tonnes of kerosene, 9,500 tonnes of octane and 9,600 tonnes of petrol in its stock.

Besides, another 1.2 lakh tonnes of diesel and 8,000 tonnes of petrol and octane is scheduled to arrive here within this month, informs a high official of BPC marketing department.

Interestingly, BPC officials in the port city and capital were tightlipped about the price of import fuel oil arriving this month.

The official sources say the price of the fuel oil BPC procured in December ranges between $40 to $55 per barrel.

Meanwhile, BPC witnessed almost "zero" sale of all sorts of fuel oil here yesterday ahead of the expected announcement of price cut, said sources in marketing companies.

The "zero" sale of cylindered LPG of BPC continued for over two weeks since the state-owned enterprise is selling a single cylinder of 14.5kg at Tk 982 against private importers' offer of less than Tk 850.

Earlier, the three marketing companies together could hardly cope with the monthly demand of over 60 thousand cylinders, the sources added.

Asked, BPC General Manager (Marketing) Abu Hanif admitted the fact and attributed the matter to the absence of LPG production at Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), the country's lone refinery located in Patenga.

However, with LPG production already resumed at ERL since Friday, BPC expects to have sufficient supply of LPG and plans to propose price reduction by Tk 130-150 per cylinder within a fortnight or so, the sources said.

The BPC may not avail of the record low international market price of $40 per barrel since it procures a better quality fuel oil from Saudi Arabia and the UAE at a higher price, they claimed.

LankaBangla to open three more branches

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:39:41 PST

LankaBangla Securities, which performed best on the country's two bourses by turnover in 2008, will open at least three more branches in and outside Dhaka this year.

“We will continue our trade expansion by opening more branches to woo new investors to the stock market,” said Mohammed Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, chief executive officer of LankaBangla.

At present, LankaBangla has seven branches across the country -- three in Dhaka and Chittagong each and one in Sylhet.

LankaBangla, an authorised broker for some internationally reputed fund managers, also plans to organise road shows abroad to attract foreign investors to Bangladesh stock market.

“We will urge the stock exchange authorities to be a partner in international road shows,” Chowdhury said.

The brokerage house said it would develop internal resources such as upgrading IT infrastructure and enlarging the capacity and quality of its research team through training.

“We will try to keep up the top position this year -- the same as last year,” Chowdhury said.

LankaBangla retained the most active member position for a third year on Dhaka Stock Exchange and for a fourth year on Chittagong Stock Exchange, according to statistics by the two bourses.

LankaBangla accounted for 15 percent of the total trading on the DSE and 28 percent on the CSE in 2008.

LankaBangla is a subsidiary of LankaBangla Finance, a joint venture financial institution established with multinational collaboration. Sampath Bank of Sri Lanka, First Gulf Asia Holdings, and local entities such as One Bank, SSC Holdings and Shanta Apparels own stakes in LankaBangla Finance.

The other top nine brokers in terms of turnover in the just concluded calendar year on the DSE were ICB Securities Trading Company, AB Bank Foundation, IDLC Securities, Prime Finance and Investment Securities, Multi Securities and Services, NCC Bank, Dhaka Bank, CMSL Securities and Wifang Securities.

There are 238 members on the DSE and 137 on the CSE.

By: Sarwar A Chowdhury <sarwar@thedailystar.net>

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=70934

Biman Bangladesh Scopes Out Financiers for Aircraft Purchase

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:00:30 PST

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is on the lookout for financiers to make pre-delivery payments (PDP) for purchasing Boeing aircraft, aiming to further boost the once-struggling national carrier.

Initially, the airline seeks a consortium of banks to gather the pre-delivery amount that totals about $249 million, which needs to be paid in phases within 2013, the year the first consignment is expected.

The first PDP instalment, equalling to about $32 million, will have to be paid between July and December this year, people familiar with the matter said.

“We are considering options like raising funds from a consortium of banks, to make the pre-delivery payment to Boeing,” Mahbub Jamil, immediate past special assistant to the chief adviser, told The Daily Star recently.

Jamil, who recently stepped down from the reconstituted board of Biman, disclosed that the national carrier plans to start making the PDP from the middle of this year.

Bankers, however, said the move to manage finances through a consortium of banks, without any government guarantee, might be bumpy for Biman.

But on the ground of Biman's projected cash flows, financers are expected to come forward.

Given the turmoil in the global financial markets, it may be tough for Biman to collect funds from global markets, they added.

Gripped by aircraft shortages, Biman sealed a deal worth about $2.5 billion with Boeing in June last year to acquire 10 new aircraft.

Questions were raised as to how the purchase would be carried out without government guarantee, given the carriers' fund constraints.

The carrier paid $ 1.54 million in confirmation fees from its own funds for the purchase of the Boeing aircraft last year.

Biman, a public limited company (Plc) since July 2007, earlier said that it wanted to collect about 85 percent of the required funds, based on the guarantee it would avail from the US-based Exim Bank. It also planned to borrow the remaining portion of money from a consortium of banks.

Officials said Exim Bank might assess Biman's overall performance by 2012 and if performance of the carrier fails to satisfy the bank, it may seek sovereign guarantee.

Jamil hoped that the sovereign guarantee against the bank's guarantee might not be required, as Bangladesh has become the signatory of the Cape Town Convention. Ratification of the treaty means a reduction of risks to aircraft financiers as it allows global lenders to take control of aircraft, in case of default.

“Bangladesh, being the Cape Town Convention signatory, may not need sovereign guarantee,” Jamil pointed out.

Officials hope that the carrier will be better off after addition of the new aircraft to its existing fleet of a dozen , which is currently comprised of leased and decade-old fuel- guzzler aircraft.

“We are looking at all the options and exploring all the possibilities. We are hopeful that we will be able to manage the fund,” said Biman spokesperson Nafees Ahmed Imtiazuddin.

He said Biman is in talks with some banks to collect the money. “It can either be for the entire sum of the pre-delivery payment or a portion of it,” he said, adding that it also has plans to seek global financiers.

Another option available for the carrier, the official said, is to sell off shares to the public through the stock exchange in line with a government plan to offload 49 percent of its stake in Biman.

Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director and chief executive officer of Eastern Bank, said it is possible to finance Biman by syndication.

“We are definitely interested to lend to Biman, which is a prospective company and can generate a healthy cash flow,” Iftekhar said. “Government guarantee is not necessary. Banks can finance assessing Biman's projected cash flow.”

He said Biman has no problem getting passengers, but it faces a severe shortage in aircraft.

If Biman wants loan in a foreign currency, it has to go through a foreign bank. It can also obtain a portion of the loan in the local currency from local banks, said Touhidul Islam, head of the Structured Finance Unit of Prime Bank.

But another banker said bankers may not be confident enough to finance Biman, unless the government offers guarantee.

“It appears that Biman's cash flow may not be healthy enough to repay the loan in the next couple of years. The government guarantee is critical,” the official observed. “If government assures payback, it is possible to arrange the funds.”

However, Biman officials are hopeful that the carrier might not need the guarantee from the government due to improvements in its cash flow. In the fiscal year 2007-08, the national airline was back in the black after four years.

By: Sohel Parvez

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=70483

Impact of the Debian OpenSSL vulnerability on CentOS Box

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:39:10 PST

A severe vulnerability was found in the random number generator (RNG)of the Debian OpenSSL package, starting with version 0.9.8c-1 (and similar packages in derived distributions such as Ubuntu). While this bug is not present in the OpenSSL packages provided by CentOS, it may still affect CentOS users.

The bug barred the OpenSSL random number generator from gaining enough entropy required for generating unpredicatable keys. In fact it appearss that the only source for entropy was the process ID of the process generating a key, which is chosen from a very small range and is predictable. As such, all keys generated using the Debian OpenSSL library should be considered compromized. Programs that use OpenSSL
include OpenSSH and OpenVPN. Note that GnuPG and GNU TLS do not use OpenSSL, so they are not affected.

This vulnerability can affect CentOS machines through the use of keys that were generated with the OpenSSL package from Debian. For instance, if a user uses OpenSSH public key authentication to log on to a CentOS server, and this user generated the key pair with a vulnerable OpenSSL library, the server is at heavy risk because the
key can be reproduced easily.

Additionally, all (good) DSA keys that were ever used on a vulnerable Debian machine for signing or authentication should also be considered compromized due to a known attack on DSA keys.

As a result of this bug, everyone should audit *every* key or cerficicate that was generated with OpenSSL, to trace its origin and make sure that it was not generated with a vulnerable Debian OpenSSL package. Or in the case of DSA keys care should be taken that they were not generated or used on a system with a vulnerable OpenSSL
package. Keys that are potentially compromised should be replaced with strong keys.

The Debian Wiki[2] has a preliminary list of affected application. A tool to detect potentially weak keys is also provided, but it contains an incomplete list of affected keys and can give false positives.

The Metasploit project provides a full list of weak keys in various configurations[3].

Questions on how this may affect CentOS users should be directed to the CentOS users list. List subscription information is available from:

http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

Source: http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos-announce/2008-May/014902.html

BANGLADESH: Homeopathic doctor arbitrarily arrested and detained by the Detective Branch police in Dinajpur

noreply@blogger.com (Bauani) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 07:53:28 PST

I am writing to bring to your attention a recent case I have learned about involving a homeopathic doctor who was arbitrarily arrested by the DB police Sub Inspector of the Dinajpur district and then detained for seven days. According to the information I have received, the SI of the DB police, along with his colleagues, raided a shop and the house of its owner and seized unauthorized goods. The SI fabricated evidence while seizing those goods, thus implicating homeopathic doctor, Dr. Basudev Roy. The police lodged a case against Dr. Basudev with the Kotwali police station for violating sections of the Narcotics Control. They then arrested Dr. Basudev regarding the case and detained him.

I have also learned that the police intimidated the victim and the staff of his shop as well as his family and extorted money from them. Although the alleged key perpetrator was temporarily suspended from his duty following an investigation conducted by the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP), no legal action was taken against him. Furthermore, his associates have not yet been identified or punished. While the victim has been released from detention, he continues to face the charges laid against him, despite the investigation having proven that the charges were the result of fabricated evidence. The victim has not received the money extorted from him by the police nor been granted any compensation.

In light of this, I urge you to take immediate steps to have the charges laid against the victim withdrawn without delay. The money extorted from him must also be returned. I also request that you order a prompt and thorough investigation into the alleged conduct of the police. If it is found that the alleged perpetrators committed crimes against the victim, then they must be made accountable for their actions. If they are found guilty of arbitrary arrest, fabricating evidence, extorting money, harassment and intimidation, then they must be indicted under the prevailing domestic laws of Bangladesh. What is more, if the extortion is found to be true then the DB Police SI must be charged and forced to compensate the victim for the losses he has suffered. During the investigation of the police, protection must be afforded to the victim.

Such action by the police is a matter of deep concern. It would appear that many of Bangladesh’s police personnel are involved in the violation of laws rather than upholding the laws of the country. This reflects the lack of commitment as well as lack of respect for the citizens of the country and the excessive powers the police wield and abuse.

I therefore urge you and other government officials in Bangladesh to consider reforming your current law enforcement system by introducing better training programmes for your police officers and to make them more accountable for the abuses they commit against ordinary citizens of Bangladesh.

I look forward to your urgent intervention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,
---------------

PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Abdul Quayum
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Bangladesh Police
Police Headquarters’
Fulbaria, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-9562054, 7176451, 7176677, 8362552 or 8362553
Fax: +88-02-9563362, 9563363

2. Mr. Dr. Baharul Islam BPM
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)
Rajshahi Range
Office of the DIG of Rajshahi Range
Rajshahi
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-0721-772309 (O)
Fax: +88-0721-775444 (O)

3. Mr. Md. Lutfozzaman Babor MP
State Minister
The Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh
The Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-7169069, 8359000
Fax: + 88-02-7160405, 7164788

4. Mr. Anwarul Karim
Joint Secretary (Police)
Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-7164680, 8953012
Fax: +88-02-7171592

5. Mr. A. J. Mohammad Ali
The Attorney General of Bangladesh
The Office of the Attorney General
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-9562868
Fax: +88-02-9561568

6. Mr. Syed J. R. Mudassir Husain
The Chief Justice
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-9562792
Fax: +88-02-9565058

7. Ms Leila Zerrougui
Chairperson
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
c/o Miguel de la Lama
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: Working Group on Arbitrary Detention)

Thank you.

Urgent Appeal Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Homeopathy Education in Bangladesh