Techiesss Blog | Your Technology Guide

Improve Parallels performance for Windows OS running on Mac

2020-08-20T07:03:00.002+05:30

If you are using Parallels for mac to run Windows OS for development purpose then these tips can help you to slightly increase the performance.

I am a full stack developer which means I have to work on different tools and IDEs day-in and day-out. While those tools and IDEs are there to help us develop quality products, they sometimes go crazy and decrease our productivity by taking more resources than they are actually supposed to take. Similar kind of thing was happening with me from quite some time when I was running Windows OS on the Parallels for Mac.

I had to run multiple instances of Visual Studio (mostly 3) along with MongoDB, SQL Server, Git bash and Postman. After running all this when I used to start my services to debug, chrome instances for swagger UI and command windows used to pop open further decreasing the Parallels performance running with 4 GB ram and 2 CPUs. Running local Kafka for EDA was cherry on the cake.

So we came up with a solution that we will run MongoDB docker container instance on Mac to run a local instance of MongoDB. Similarly, we decided to run a local instance of Confluent Kafka on Mac (will provide the setup details in my upcoming blog).

Though this proved to be really helpful still there was a lot of lag while debugging the services on Visual Studio. With Mongo and Kafka out of Parallels, I was left with SQL Server, Git bash, Postman and Chrome. Then I thought let's try and get rid of the last two as well. I didn't need the Swagger UI to remain open in Chrome because I was using Postman to hit the services. Also, I questioned myself if I can run Mongo on Mac and hit it from the services running on Parallels then why can't I hit the services from Postman running on my Mac?

And oh yes I forgot to mention it earlier I was working on .net core services and following the micro-service architecture (hence had to run multiple services).

I was able to answer my questions followed some simple steps and believe me, it has made my life much simpler. So here's what I did:

1. Stopped the swagger UI to open every time I started my web service

Open the solution in Visual Studio. Find and open the file launchSettings.json under the Properties folder of your startup project. Locate the "launchBrowser" property in that JSON file and make that false.

2. Changed the web-service application URL from localhost to the Parallels IP

This is needed for the next step to work perfectly.

Find the Parallels IP by running ipconfig command in the command prompt. In my case, it was 10.211.55.3. Again open launchSettings.json, locate "applicationUrl" property and replace localhost with the IP. It will look something like this:

"applicationUrl": "http://10.211.55.3:50352"

3. Enabled port forwarding for Parallels

It is needed to communicate to the services running inside Parallels from Mac. To achieve this open Parallels preferences by using a combination of Command Key (⌘) and comma (,) while on Parallels desktop or by clicking on || symbol on Mac's menu bar and by selecting Preferences...

It will look something like this...

Unlock this if it is locked by clicking on the small lock at the bottom left of the screen and authenticate.

Go to the Network tab (1) and select Shared network (2). Next, click on Plus sign (➕) under Port forwarding rules (3). Add the port on which web-service is running along with the Parallels IP which we noted in the previous step. The source port is Mac's port and destination port is Parallels port.

Hit OK and close the Parallels Desktop preferences.

You can add multiple port forwarding rules if you have to connect to multiple services from Mac. In my case, I had to connect to just one service which internally communicated with other microservices through Kafka.

4. Run Postman on Mac

This was it. I was all set-up and ready to test.

I ran the web-service in Parallels using Visual Studio. Open Postman on Mac and hit the web-service using http://localhost:<service port>/<endpoint> or http://<Parallels IP>:<service port>/<endpoint>

I have tried to put in as many details as possible. I hope this was helpful.

Cheers!!

Find total number of islands in javascript

2020-08-07T03:42:00.000+05:30

A rectangular map consisting of N rows and M columns of square areas is given. Each area is painted with a certain color. Two areas on the map belong to the same country if the following conditions are met: The map can be described by a zero-indexed matrix A consisting of N rows and M columns of integers. The color of each area is described by the corresponding element of the matrix. Two areas have the same color if and only if their corresponding matrix elements have the same value. For example, consider the following matrix A consisting of seven rows and three columns: A[0][0] = 5 A[0][1] = 4 A[0][2] = 4 A[1][0] = 4 A[1][1] = 3 A[1][2] = 4 A[2][0] = 3 A[2][1] = 2 A[2][2] = 4 A[3][0] = 2 A[3][1] = 2 A[3][2] = 2 A[4][0] = 3 A[4][1] = 3 A[4][2] = 4 A[5][0] = 1 A[5][1] = 4 A[5][2] = 4 A[6][0] = 4 A[6][1] = 1 A[6][2] = 1 Matrix A describes a map that is colored with five colors. The areas on the map belong to eleven different countries (C1−C11), as shown in the following figure: Write a function that, given a zero-indexed matrix A consisting of N rows and M columns of integers, returns the number of different countries to which the areas of the map described by matrix A belong. For example, given matrix A consisting of seven rows and three columns corresponding to the example above, the function should return 11.

Solution:

const checkNeighbourCountry = (A, B, i, j, N, M) => {

if(B[i][j] === -1) return;
B[i][j] = -1;
if(i+1 < N) {

if(A[i+1][j] === A[i][j]) {

checkNeighbourCountry(A, B, i+1, j, N, M);

}

}
if(i-1 >= 0) {

if(A[i-1][j] === A[i][j]) {

checkNeighbourCountry(A, B, i-1, j, N, M);

}

}
if(j+1 < M) {

if(A[i][j+1] === A[i][j]) {

checkNeighbourCountry(A, B, i, j+1, N, M);

}

}
if(j-1 >= 0) {

if(A[i][j-1] === A[i][j]) {

checkNeighbourCountry(A, B, i, j-1, N, M);

}

}

const solution = (A) => {

let sum = 0;
const N = A.length;
const M = A[0].length;
if (N === 0 || M === 0) return 0;

// To copy array destructuring doesn't support deep copy. Hence, [...A] will not work here
const B = A.map(inner => inner.slice());

for (let i=0; i<N; i++) {

for (let j=0; j<M; j++) {

if (B[i][j] >= 0) {

checkNeighbourCountry(A, B, i, j, N, M);
sum += 1;

}

}
return sum;

}

console.log('sum', solution([
[5,4,4],
[4,3,4],
[3,2,4],
[2,2,2],
[3,3,4],
[1,4,4],
[4,1,1]
]));

DR. ALOK GUPTA - CONSULTANT URO-MEDICAL ONCOLOGY | PROSTATE, KIDNEY, TESTIS & BLADDER CANCER SPECIALIST

2017-11-14T01:45:00.004+05:30

Dr Alok Gupta is presently working at MAX Super Specialty Hospital, Saket, New Delhi as Consultant Uro-Medical Oncologist. He has worked at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi as Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology. He did MBBS from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University followed by MD in Internal Medicine from King George Medical College, Lucknow. Thereafter, he did DM in Medical Oncology (Super-Specialization in Cancer Management) from Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai.

Dr. Gupta has over 40 research publications in various National and International Peer Reviewed Journals. He has presented his work in several National and International conferences. He is also a member of American Society of Clinical Oncology, European Society of Medical Oncology and Delhi Urological Society. He has received various awards including fellowships from Indian Council of Medical Reaserch (ICMR) and Department of Science and Technology (DST), India; and certifications from Australia and Asia Pacific Clinical Oncology Research Development (ACORD) Group, Australia and Society of Critical Care Medicine, California, USA.

He firmly believes in practicing Evidence Based Medicine. His area of expertise is diagnosis and medical management of urological cancer, including use of chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immuno-therapy and hormonal therapy in cancer management. Among all cancers, he has special interest in the treatment of prostate, urinary bladder, testes and kidney cancer.

STAY SAFE EVERYONE..!!

To learn more about types of cancers and their treatments visit:

http://www.oncologydelhi.com/

Revamped Way to connect with PM of India

2014-07-01T13:08:00.003+05:30

With a lot of people from India counting on their new Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, we have a found a revamped way to connect with PM of India.

I think that it might be the first time in history of India that the definition of Democracy "government of the people, by the people, for the people" is becoming true in the country. BJP, sweeping away every other political party, formed a non-alliance central government. And it has been possible because of only one person Shri Narendra Modi.

Many people also believe that many BJP candidates were not strong enough as compared to other party candidates but still they won because people want to see NaMo to be the PM of India.

Now after a month many people are asking the PM that what he has done in this one month. Many ups and downs are going on since the time NaMo became the PM like railway fares increasing, DU rolling back its Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) as per UGC guidelines. Before that, just appointing Smriti Irani as the Union HRD minister itself created many controversies.

Amidst all these controversies and allegations NaMo led BJP is working towards the betterment of India. On the railway fare hike we got a reply which will prove worthy to the question, "people think of travelling in bullet trains and yet are scared of little price hikes??"

I think we all know that one person can't hear and solve all problems of such a big nation. That's why the government also follows hierarchical approach just as any MNC. But the problem till now was that the public servants were not doing their jobs as per need and believed in "under the table money" and there was nowhere " The Common Man" could go to get solution to their problems.

Taking a step towards eradicating this problem our Hon'ble PM has come up with a website http://www.pmindia.nic.in/. On this website you get to know the Prime Minister of India a little better. You can actually interact, ask questions, give your suggestions, and tell your problems to the PM.

Let's hope all these efforts and practices of our new PM would give us a new developed India with proper clothing, food and shelter for each and every person of the country.

Proud to be an Indian..!!

P.S. I know this post is nowhere related to technology but I think it's important for the people of my country.

https://anurag189.blogspot.com

Smartwatch, Wearable Android Devices: Unwrapping the future

2014-05-18T11:19:00.000+05:30

Android Android Android !!! Everywhere Android... that's what Google wants to imbibe with its new range of wearable android devices like Smartwatch.

The first question that strike in our mind is, what exactly a Smartwatch is ? What's all the fuss about ?

Smartwatch is a watch that works on Google's android operating system and has the capability of communicating with your smartphone or tablet. This would be a wrist watch, easy to wear and would help users to interact with their smartphone or tablet in an efficient and one touch format.

Now, I will explain how the smartwatch will work and benefit you in a lucrative and an inferential manner by correlating common use of a smartphone.

Lets say, one uses smart phone for tasks like phone calls, short messages, social media updates, my calender appointments, navigating to a place, listen to music, watch videos, etc. Now suppose you are driving on your bike to an unknown place and before starting your travel you have started navigation in your phone.

But here comes the problem: How would be able to see the routes with your phone in your pocket and you yourself driving? For that either you have to stop again and again to check the route or you would be relying completely on Google voice navigation commands which can be heard over the ear piece.

Here is the catch: The Google Android Smartwatch here comes to the rescue.

What all you need to do is, just connect the Smartwatch with your Smartphone and then you just need to see your watch like you see the time without stopping.
It makes Life Simpler !!!

Another way to see the effectiveness of this device is; suppose you are in a meeting, you can't attract attention towards you again and again glancing in your phone for messages, updates coming on your phone. The smartwatch again comes as a lifesaver for you by providing all updates on a one touch basis on the dial of the watch. So you can enjoy the boring meeting as well as remain connected to your pals without getting in troubles of finding your phone in your pocket or bag.

Google's Smartwatch also has some add-on benefits. It can track and monitor all your fitness data during any physical activity which spares you the burden of peeping in your phone's display every time. You will get all the data and info with the same accuracy as your smartphone, that too without any lag.

So if you see it that way, Smartwatch works as a remote display for your smartphones and tablets. It can show your appointments notifications, message notifications, and fitness data.

There are also some add on updates available on Smartwatch such as traffic updates, taxi pick-up confirmation, QR code based information, etc. etc. etc.

This was the story till date, but in future, these wearable Android devices might work as remote controls or displays for other devices as well. It may also serve as your TV or DVD player remote, your air conditioner remote or might also give you the ability to launch a playlist on your MP3 player.

Google has joined hands with giant watch-makers like Fossil and with other consumer electronics manufacturers such as HTC, Qualcomm, Broadcom, LG, Intel, Mediatek, MIPS, Motorola, Samsung to mushroom the new device's reach-ability to common man.

Here are some products for you which are all ready to get launched:

1. Samsung Gear-2

2. Motorola Moto 360

3. Sony Smartwatch

4. LG G watch

Overall Pros:

Convenient to use.
Makes life easier and more comfortable.

Overall Cons:

Might add up as one more battery sucking device.

Overall review:
This future technological invention overall looks to bring a new revolution like Apple brought with its first Iphone. Thus all techies like us are waiting curiously to get a hands-on once these products are launched.

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https://anurag189.blogspot.com

Motorola Moto E to be available Exclusively on Flipkart in India

2014-05-13T12:25:00.002+05:30

Indian E-Commerce website Flipkart.com is once again all set to sell Motorola Moto E exclusively on their portal for Indian customers. The website is said to have some exclusive partnership with Motorola under which they previously sold Moto G and Moto X.

After the success of Moto G & Moto X, keeping the competition tight, Motorola is ready to launch one more budget phone which is expected to be available from tomorrow on Flipkart.com. The price for this handset is expected to less than its predecessors.

Specs of Moto E were leaked some time ago over the internet, though the company has still not revealed them. And if you believe the sources who leaked the specs then you will get a smartphone well below Rs. 10,000. The handset will come with some inter-changeable back covers in different colors.

Look of this handset will be similar to that of Moto G and it is expected to be powered with 1.2 GHz dual-core processor. Motorola Moto E will have 1GB RAM and 4GB internal memory with a support of microSD card expandable upto 32GB. The device will sport 4.3 inches display with Android KitKat OS. It is also said to have a 5 MP primary camera, and dual SIM slots.

Motorola will launch its new budget smartphone, Moto E, simultaneously in India and the UK today. Lets see how far this new device will take the company in terms of mobile market shares.

You can visit Flipkart to check the phone's availability.

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https://anurag189.blogspot.com

128GB microSD Memory Card By Sandisk

2014-05-07T10:39:00.000+05:30

Sandisk is a giant when it comes to flash storage devices. Recently the company has launched world's highest capacity microSD memory card in India. The users have to shell out Rs. 9,999 to own this 128GB Sandisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I memory card.

The microSD card was first announced in the month of February this year during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Sandisk claims that with this 128GB microSD card the users will be able to interact with double faster speed as compared to memory cards available in the market at this point in time.

Sandisk has designed it for Android smartphones keeping in mind the storage habits of its users. The device is very much suitable for full HD video recordings and can store up to 16 hours of full HD videos. You can also store around 7500 songs, 3200 images and more than 125 apps along with your full HD videos.

To give you this much amount of space and speed in a removable microSD card, Sandisk has developed proprietary technique that has 16 dies vertically, each one to be thinner than a hair strand.

Sandisk has also released a newer version of Sandisk Memory Zone app which is currently available on the Google Play Store in beta version. The app let users to easily interact with the microSD card, and helps them to access and backup all their files and folders from their phones' memory. Sandisk has also added a new feature, OptiMem in the updated version of their app allowing the users to transfer their old files to their microSD card automatically.

The new Sandisk 128GB microSD card not only give you enough storage space and speed to store whatever you want without worrying about running out of memory, it is also waterproof, temperature-proof, X-ray-proof, magnet-proof, and shockproof. It is a class 10 micorSD card that delivers read speed upto 30MB/s during file transfer. The memory card comes with an adapter for camera compatibility also.

These days mostly the high-end android smartphones are coming with 128GB expandable memory support. Till date this Ultra microSD card is the best option, but be careful as device compatibility might create some issues. Just contact your mobile device manufacturer or Sandisk before investing 10Ks in the Sandisk 128GB microSD card.

https://anurag189.blogspot.com

Apple Samsung Patent Dispute

2014-05-01T11:30:00.003+05:30

It has been quite a long time hearing about a technical feud prevailing among the two tech magniloquent company's viz Samsung and Apple.

Apple, claims that Samsung is using their patented software innovations like swipe to unlock, universal search and a few more. As per Apple's attorney in the court trial Samsung owe $2.2 billion to Apple for this damage.

On the contrary, Samsung attorney's obliterates this by rationalizing the fact that what Apple claims as their own innovation, is actually Google's. Yes, you read it right. Google's!!!

As per claims, Google is the first creator of these technologies and this happened even before Apple filed patents for sub tasking them in their products as patented technologies. Every android device regardless of the manufacturer inherits such features. So Samsung does not owe even a Nickel for such accusations made by Apple. In additions to this, the compensation for all patents is just $38.4 million, in contradiction to the amount being claimed by Apple. Adding more details to the controversial case is, Samsung claims that Apple is responsible for two patents infringements and thus Apple owe $6.2 million to Samsung .

So, in all there are seven patents at issue; five held by Apple and two by Samsung . Apple has accused Samsung of infringing US patents 5,946,647; 6,847,959; 7,761,414; 8,046,721; and 8,074,172. All related to software features, such as "quick links" for '647', universal search for '959', background syncing for '414', slide-to-unlock for '721', and automatic word correction for '172'. Overall, Apple argues that the patents enable ease of use and make a user interface more engaging.

Samsung, meanwhile, has accused Apple of infringing US patents 6,226,449 and 5,579,239. The '449' patent, which Samsung purchased from Hitachi, involves camera and folder organization functionality, and the '239' patent covers video transmission functionality raising implications for Apple's use of FaceTime.

Samsung's product line under infringement includes the top notch products like Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S II, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, where Apple's product line commensurate with ecstatic iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and iPod Touch.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a ruling by Judge A. Posner of the Northern District of Illinois undermining the claims of the two organisations in the race of horses to become the flagship top notched mobile manufacturer of the world with respect to sales and revenues.
52 hours of testimony has spotted light on many things ranging from the invention of technology to total damages that are caused and now the jury will need a refresher to let them towards a verdict.

Anyhow, whosoever might win but the debate will definitely provide new paradigms to the mobile world technology patent procedures and consequences of infringements !!!

https://anurag189.blogspot.com

Internet Explorer Hackers Latest Target: Beware

2014-04-28T23:37:00.002+05:30

Still using Microsoft Internet Explorer or Windows XP to surf and enjoy your daily online stuff?

Do you feel completely safe and secured while using Internet Explorer?

If the answer is “Yes” to my above questions, than you are definitely in the right place to know more closely about security concerns of your favorite web browser IE and operating system.

Recently, Microsoft has published that hackers have found a breathtaking pothole in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Due to this latest security issue, more than half of the world’s web browsers are vulnerable to severe attack.

Let’s just check, which version of Internet Explorer are you using V 6/7/8/9/10 or 11?

As per FireEye, which discovered the flaw, the security glitch lies in almost all the versions from IE v6 to IE v11, but majority of attacks have been found on IE 9 through IE 11 representing 26 percent and IE 6 to IE 11 representing about 56 percent of the total web browser market.

So, beware, if you are using any of them, you can be the prime target at any point of time!!!

You must be curious to know that what kind of activities will attract hackers' attention towards you?
The answer is a well-known flash exploitation technique to bypass Windows Security protection. In simplistic words, it means hacker will trick the user to click on a link or request the user to open an email attachment.

Now the question here arises, what can you do to save yourself?

There are some choices available here. First is to wait for the monthly Microsoft’s security update or a special security update. Opting which you will be dependent on the company which may or may not work in your favor. The second option which I think is the safest one to opt while you wait for an update from Microsoft is switch to any other browser like Google Chrome, Safari or Firefox rather than using Internet Explorer. But, if you don’t even want to do that then Microsoft has suggested to download Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit Version 4.1, which will help you guard against attacks until a patch is released.

As per study, this is one of the biggest security catastrophes for users who are still using Windows XP, for which Microsoft has discontinued support earlier this month. A lot of government organizations, banks, and ATM’s are already under a great risk due to XP as well as this newly found threat. The short term solutions will do no good to old operating systems as Microsoft is not going to provide any patches for them.

Thus, around 10 % percent of government computers which include thousands of classified military and diplomatic networks are on a big security risk.

So, if you are an XP user, then you need to think once again, "do you want to save some bucks and let a security disaster happen or you want to avoid a possible dreadful threat by spending a little bit for Windows 8 or 8.1??"

Think a little more before deciding, as the choice is completely yours and it matters a lot !!!

https://anurag189.blogspot.com

Lumia 30 Series To Be Launched Soon

2014-04-25T03:03:00.001+05:30

Nokia/Microsoft is going to launch Lumia's 30 series soon.

Today it is expected that Nokia-Microsoft deal will be closed and it is still unclear that Microsoft will rename the mobile handset division to "Microsoft Mobiles" or not (though many sources have confirmed that they will rename it). But one thing is clear that Lumia's new series with new hardware is ready for its launch.

After the success of Lumia 525, Lumia 625 and Lumia 925, their successors, Lumia 530, Lumia 630, Lumia 635 and Lumia 930 are expected to be launched in the month of May this year. These Lumia devices will be the first ones to run on Windows Phone 8.1.

The specs and price of Lumia 530 are still not disclosed but it is expected to be a budget phone like its predecessors. Whereas Lumia 630 and Lumia 930 are expected to cost around Rs 11,000 and Rs 34,990 respectively in India.

Lumia 630 will be available in two variants: single SIM and dual SIM. It will be powered with 1.2 GHz Quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and will have 512MB RAM which means that apps with minimum requirement of 1GB RAM will not work on this device. The phone will have 8GB internal memory, expandable upto 128GB. It will have a 5 MP primary camera which will able you to record 720p HD videos but unlike Lumia 625, it will neither have flash with primary camera nor it will have a secondary camery. Lumia 630 will have 4.5 inches IPS LCD display with 221 ppi pixel density and 480 x 854 screen resolution.

Coming to Lumia 930, it will a higher end phone like its predecessors. It will support single SIM only and will be powered with 2.2 GHz Quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. Lumia 930 will have 2GB RAM and 32GB internal memory with no option of expansion. It will have a 20 MP auto-focus primary camera with dual LED flash and a 1.2 MP front camera. Lumia 930 will also have 4.5 inches display but it will be AMOLED with 441 ppi pixel density and full HD 1080 x 1920 screen resolution.

Both the smartphones are good in their category but low RAM and no flash is a bit dis-heartening.

Well first lets wait and see that the devices will be available in market as "Nokia Lumia" or "Microsoft Mobiles Lumia" and if they are released as latter ones then what Microsoft does in terms of marketing their new smartphones will new brand name.

Till then do tell us how did you find the new Lumia devices??

https://anurag189.blogspot.com

Nokia-Microsoft deal to close by Week End

2014-04-22T16:14:00.000+05:30

The acquisition of mobile division of Nokia by Microsoft will complete by this week end and will be renamed to "Microsoft Mobiles".

Nokia confirmed that the acquisition of its mobile devices and services business by Microsoft will be complete by April 25, 2014. The company has received all the required approvals.

The deal worth $7.5 billion was still pending because of the approvals, though the two companies already agreed on it in the month of September last year.

Microsoft also said that not only the mobile devices but it will also manage Nokia's online assets including nokia.com domain. The company also said that they might as well rename the division to "Microsoft Mobiles" even when it has bought the rights to use Nokia brand name for 10 years. It has also bought license and use of company's patents and mapping services along with its employees. Microsoft has also bought the rights to use Lumia and Asha brand names.

Microsoft will have to do some marketing and awareness campaigns to tell people that what used to be Nokia is now "Microsoft Mobiles" if they choose to change the name.

Though, Microsoft has not bought Here maps and network equipment business divisions of Nokia.

The two companies also made some changes to the original deal recently to close the deal.

https://anurag189.blogspot.com

Windows Phone Getting Smarter With Windows Phone 8.1

2014-04-22T13:59:00.001+05:30

Microsoft has released Windows Phone 8.1 developer version. The Windows Phone 8.1 update will be rolled out to Windows Phone 8 devices in coming months.

Nearly four years back Microsoft launched its Windows Phone 7 OS in Nokia devices. It had a unique interface to compete with Android and iOS but when it came to functionality the OS lacked a great bit. It does not even had a simple functionality of copy and pasting text. At that time, being new in market, Windows Phone Store also had very limited apps, again failing to have even some basic apps. The uses had to connect their Phones to computer to even set a ringtone of their choice and file transfer to other phones was out of picture. Though, it was highly appreciated for its interface and ease of operating as compared to the monotonous Android OS.

Within all these years Microsoft have been trying really hard to improve its Phone OS. They made many improvements in Windows Phone 8 version and recently released Black OS update. The interface remained elegant and simple yet users got a lot in terms of functionality. But as it is human behavior, people never stop complaining, same happened with Windows Phone 8. Users were not happy for not having 'notification center'.

Now Microsoft has come up with Windows Phone 8.1. It is currently available to developers and is a very big update when it comes to functionality. The OS has many amazing features: two big ones and few small ones.

First and for most the Windows Phone 8.1 OS now comes with a personal virtual assistant "Cortana" like Siri in iOS. "Cortana" is said to be the best of Google Now and Siri. It can talk back and even say funny things unlike Google Now, and it can also track a courier package or your flights which is very unlike Siri. Though the tracking will not be available in the Indian version of the OS. In fact, Cortana itself is not officially available in India.

Moving on to the 'Notification Center', for which people used to crib a lot. Yes, Windows Phone 8.1 has a 'Notification Center'. I think they named it as 'Action Center' as you can do much more than just seeing the notifications there. The 'center' allows you to access 4 common settings: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane Mode and Rotation Lock (recently introduced in Windows Phone Black update) by default. But it is not just all, if you want to see some other settings in your 'Action Center' then Microsoft has provided that option as well. You can select from a large list of items. You can also choose the apps which are allowed to give notifications and which aren't. The user have to scroll down from top of the screen to open 'Action Center' just like any Android device.

Apart from these two huge features Windows Phone 8.1 offers many more features such as setting tiles background as an image rather than just the basic colored theme. It looks really good but the only problem with this is, if any app tile does not support theme background then its background will not be changed.

Users can now search through their messages. Yet again a simple but very useful feature. The OS also has Swype to type feature which makes typing dramatically faster, once you get used to it. Windows Phone 8.1 also offers a new camera app and a new version of Internet Explorer (IE 11).

Now you can separate the volume levels for ringers, notification and apps. The calender has also been updated with weekly view.

Anyone can get the developer version of Windows Phone 8.1 but you have to compromise with your device warranty. You just have to visit Windows Phone App Studio website and register using your Microsoft account there. Then download the app named "Preview For Developer", open and register yourself using your Microsoft account again. Go to settings, check for phone update and there you go.

To sum up, this update will surely attract more users towards Windows Phone platform. And as I already mentioned earlier that Windows Phone devices will get 'smarter' after this Windows Phone 8.1 update.

https://anurag189.blogspot.com

HTTPS Compromised: Heartbleed Bug

2014-04-21T11:43:00.002+05:30

Now even "HTTPS" is not so secure; credit goes to "Heartbleed" bug.

The Heartbleed bug is a serious exposure in the popular OpenSSL cryptography library, used to implement the Internet's TLS protocol. The weakness allows stealing the secure information encrypted using SSL/TLS encryption.

The Heartbleed bug allows anyone on the internet to read the system's/server's memory resulting in disclosure of secret keys used in encryption of secure information such as username or passwords.

Some 17 percent (around half a million) of the Internet's secure web servers were believed to be vulnerable to the attack. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Ars Technica and Bruce Schneier all deemed the "Heartbleed" bug catastrophic.

The bug is in the OpenSSL's implementation of the TLS/DTLS (transport layer security protocols) heartbeat extension (RFC6520). When it is exploited it leads to the leak of memory contents from the server that is why they have named it "Heartbleed" bug.

David Kennedy, a security researcher and self described ethical hacker calls Heartbleed the bug that broke the internet.
"Everybody was affected by this, Facebook was affected, Yahoo was affected, a number of companies we put our information into every day were affected."

Many experts have given advice to the users to make sure that they do not log into accounts from affected sites until they are sure that the company has patched the problem. Robert Hansen, an ethical hacker said, don't use the same password for different sites. "In light of Heartbleed, probably the first thing you should do is go to a search engine and type in heart bleed check. And if you're going to do business with a website, type in that website's name into that form and see whether it is or isn't vulnerable to heart bleed."

Well these were some precautionary measures the users can take against the Heartbleed bug but apart from that Fixed OpenSSL has been released and now it has to be deployed. Operating system vendors, appliance vendors, independent software vendors have to adopt the fix and notify their users.

The users on their end must make sure that the company has patched the problem. You can check whether or not the sites have patched the problem here.

Well for now, the internet still remains defenseless and only by knowing it best, the people can secure themselves.

Know more to be secure.

https://anurag189.blogspot.com

Samsung Galaxy S4 Successor "S5" released in India

2014-04-17T17:30:00.004+05:30

Samsung Galaxy S5; Successor of Samsung Galaxy S4 is now available in Indian stores.

Now that the next version of Samsung Galaxy has been launched in Indian markets, the biggest question arises here is that "Is it worth spending half a lakh rupees on the device??"

We have collected various responses for this question and by far the best one is "Samsung Galaxy S5 launched, giving tough Competition to Honda Activa and Hero Splendor... Gadi ke daam mein mobile bechne walo... Janta nahin Karegi maaf iss baar... !"

Lets dig some more deep to know what is it the users will be getting in Rs 51,500.

The new Samsung Galaxy S5 is not powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processor like some other variants offered by Samsung. Instead, it works on an octa-core processor; Combo of two quad-core processors (1.9 GHz+1.3 GHz) which seems similar to the processor on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. So I think the users shall not worry about the performance of this device.

The phone offers a 12.95 cm(5.1") Full HD Super AMOLED screen, 2 GB of RAM and it runs Android 4.4 (KitKat).

The device has a very promising 16 megapixel Autofocus rear camera which empowers the users to click really crisp and sharp images but on the other hand the front camera is just 2 megapixel which is not that impressive. The company claims that the primary camera has the world's fastest autofocus speed up to 0.3 seconds on a smartphone. There is a new selective focus feature as well that allows the users to take pictures with blurred backgrounds.

Now talking about the looks and design of the phone, S5 front looks are very much similar to any other Galaxy device but the difference lies at the back. Now the users will get a perforated back panel unlike to the other Samsung higher-end devices.

Other features on the Galaxy S5 includes dust and water resistance, an Ultra Power Saving Mode which can be used when you need to minimize battery consumption and a Finger Scanner for additional security.

So, even after digging this much deep the question remains the same: "Is it worth spending half a lakh rupees on Samsung Galaxy S5??"

http://anurag189.blogspot.com

3D Smartphone By Amazon: Leaked

2014-04-17T12:27:00.001+05:30

Amazon's upcoming 3D smartphone photos and specs have leaked online.

The smartphone is said to have as many as 5 cameras in front and 6th one at the back with a resolution of 13 megapixels. The phone though, looks like any other smartphones available in the market but Amazon has been working on it since a long time (several years may be). The company will launch the device as a higher-end smartphone section.

Amazon's smartphone has a unique custom 3D interface unlike the ones already available. The 3D effect will be available in app icons as well as other core elements of the UI. It will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and will include 2GB of RAM. It will run on an OS very much similar to the OS of Amazon's tablets, which means basically the phone will be running on Android OS only but it will be highly customized.

The smartphone's display will be 4.7 inches which is a bit smaller than Samsung & HTC phones available currently. The device will have decent pixel density of 720p HD.

3D interface being the key USP for Amazon's smartphone, the company is reported to have created apps and wallpapers that will give users this amazingly unique experience.

It is still unclear when the device will be launched but it said to be unveiled in the coming months.

Anyhow, after Samsung Galaxy S4 successor being released lets see how many people will actually experience this unique 3D interface and 6 cameras.

http://anurag189.blogspot.com

"Sticons" Brought To U By LINE

2014-04-16T17:12:00.001+05:30

LINE is back with "Sticons".

In the fast-growing world of messaging apps, LINE is known for its virtual stickers in many Asian markets.

Till now its users were able to send cartoon images / stickers as messages, but from now users can send a new form of graphics that are half stickers and half emoticons, called "sticons".

"Sticons" can be used in text messages in the same way as emoticons, but they can also be used like stickers as large, individual images. At the moment there are over 1,000 different "Sticons" which are divided in five different categories: faces, animals, symbols, sports, and vehicles. For now “Sticons” are available for free. However, it is unclear if Line has plans to open up a market for its newly released "Sticons".

Unfortunately the new functionality is included in Line’s new Android version update and iOS users have to wait a bit as iOS version of the "Sticons" is in making and will be released soon stated by Line in a blog.

LINE declared that it has crossed 400 million users worldwide and 18 million users in India in mere seven months of its launch in the country.

http://anurag189.blogspot.com