Technology & technical blog from Nepal

RQ-170 drone and Iran

2011-12-16T10:22:00.000+05:30

Well, looks like either Iran is bluffing or they were successful in hijacking the drone as they have claimed. Technically it is indeed possible to interfere with GPS signal and make the plane think they are in certain location when they are not.

Reference:
LINK

Fashion crashes Target website

2011-09-14T01:05:00.000+05:30

Time to change hosting plan for Target!

More: HERE

How safe are cars with remote keyless system

2011-09-13T19:14:00.001+05:30

Turns out modern thieves don't need to even break car windows or doors to steal. Apparently the radio signal emitted by remote can be eavesdropped and later reprogrammed with another unit. It is almost as if someone gets hold of the key and make a duplicate without you even knowing. This happened to someone I know who was traveling to Italy. All the valuables inside the car were swiped clean while the vehicle was parked in the rest area.

(Photo courtesy: Ford Motor via Wieck)

More HERE and HERE

Less landfill thanks to Internet based services

2011-09-03T03:06:00.000+05:30

Gone are the days people would buy physical media like cassettes, CDs, books, etc. in great numbers. Thanks to Internet based services, CD sales and book sales have actually not gone up as they should have. This results in less items in landfill. I have recently been seeing lots of VHS movies, LP music disks, CDs in trash.

Which GPS receiver to buy for Nepal?

2011-07-15T02:23:00.000+05:30

GPS signals cover all over the globe. Even though it is a military creation, nowadays civilians use GPS based receivers extensively. Theoretically, if you know the coordinates of a location, you can get there with the help of a GPS receiver. For example, this LINK provides coordinates along with elevation near Mt. Everest. According to the above link, Lukla's coordinates are 27° 41.285' N Latitude, 86° 43.856' E Longitude and 2822 meters elevation.

Most GPS receivers available at discount prices in US are only good for road driving within US and Canada. They have built-in map database of each and every motorable roads along with major (and advertised) points of interests like coffee shops. Most will give voice directions and great color display. They will accept the addresses in Human Readable format and not in Latitude and Longitude like the example above. And, the battery life of such receivers will be not more than couple of hours.

Such receivers will be of no use in Nepal. As a matter of fact they won't work within US for hiking purpose either. Different breeds of receivers are required for this purpose. For instance, Garmin has eTrex line of receivers that work anywhere in the world. You may have to purchase custom base map designed for certain area though. For example this site even street maps of Kathmandu.

References:

WIKIPEDIA

QR code update

2011-06-23T00:59:00.000+05:30

I have been working on a project that required QR codes on a product sample instead of just plain text. The first thing to decide was what exactly needs to be embedded in the QR code. Instead of putting bunch of texts, I decided to embed URL. That way when the code gets scanned, the user will see the landing page related to product. Then within that page there will be link for additional details like price code, color, drawer number etc.

I used following website to create QR code:
LINK

Now my goal is to create a landing page that is optimized for smart phones.

High profile hacking news

2011-06-09T23:24:00.000+05:30

First it was Sony. Then news about Lockheed Martin surfaced and now Citi says Credit Card Customers’ Data Was Hacked. More on the news in the link below:

SecurID hack

2011-06-08T00:37:00.000+05:30

If someone gets hold of your email's password, they will be able to check your email. Such authentication is not quite enough in critical situations like in military or big businesses. Instead they rely on one additional authentication like SecurID. In addition to knowing usual username/password, one has to enter the number displayed by SecurID to gain access. SecurID numbers keep changing randomly every few minutes. Unless you have access to SecurID device, there is very little chance someone would be able to login using your credentials. But if someone knows how to reverse engineer SecurID algorithm, then there is a big problem!!

Now it turns out, hackers may have breached SecurID. According to news report:

"The move came three days after Lockheed Martin, the nation’s largest military contractor, confirmed that hackers had breached its network in May, partly by using data stolen from RSA in a separate hacking attack in March.

Lockheed’s was the first intrusion that was known to result from the hacking at RSA, a division of the EMC Corporation. RSA said in March that the hackers had stolen data that could compromise a company’s SecurID system in a broader attack."

Reference:

PC World

Security Firm Offers to Replace Tokens After Attack

QR code

2011-05-20T03:09:00.002+05:30

I have seen those square box with black and white patterns before. Even the advertisement flyers came with such patterns. Apparently they are called QR (Quick Response) codes and each code can have multiple things embedded within it. Some of the items that can be embedded within QR code are:
1. URL
2. Phone Number
3. Email address
4. Google map location

Apparently QR codes are hit in Japan and Korea. You will need a smartphone like iPhone to decode QR code. Here is the sample of QR code I made:

REFERENCE

Bin Laden's death

2011-05-06T11:21:00.002+05:30

Well, after almost 10 years of searching, US finally got hold of Bin Laden hiding in Pakistan and shot him to death. Few things that are worth noting about this whole event are as follows:

The event took place on the new moon night apparently to disguise helicopters from being seen
Pakistani radars didn't pick up the choppers probably because radars were jammed in addition to being stealthy
5 computers and 10 hard drives were taken from Bin Laden's residence. Encryption, if there were any, would probably be decrypted by NSA
Bin Laden was smart not to use telephone and Internet to avoid being spied upon
Twitter user unknowingly reported Bin Laden attack

References:
'Stealth helicopters' used in Bin Laden raid
Twitter user unknowingly reported bin Laden attack
In Bin Laden’s Compound, Seals’ All-Star Team
CIA spied on bin Laden from safe house

Software that remembers your password

2011-04-16T04:26:00.001+05:30

We have all been there. Browsing the Internet requires remembering literally hundreds of passwords for sites like Hotmail, Facebook, PayPal, eBay and list goes on. One solution is to have the same password for everything. I used to do that. However, the danger is if someone hacks your one password, they may hack all your other sites too.

Other option is to use different passwords for each site. That is easier said than done though. You will go crazy trying to remember all your passwords. You may let the browser remember your passwords but that's not a smart thing to do. Plus you will still need to remember all the passwords when you travel. Well, there is one software solution. The software is called LastPass and once you install it on your computer, it will remember all your passwords! The best part is if you ever travel, the passwords travel with you once you log in to the LastPass website. Of course you will need to remember password for LastPass!

Here is the website:
LINK

ISPs shut down internet for one hour

2011-04-11T10:21:00.000+05:30

Here we go again. ISPs claim that they should not be held responsible for the misuse of their service by customers. Illegal call bypassing is costing the state loss of revenue and crackdown is being stepped up. More of the story here:
LINK

Incandescent bulb to be phased out

2011-03-12T20:42:00.000+05:30

It will start with 100 watts bulbs. Personally I have no problems with Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFL) for most of the time. But what about the possible environmental problems from chemicals used in manufacturing such bulbs? And electromagnetic interference from CFL bulbs?

More on the news below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/business/energy-environment/12bulb.html

Post office -- no need to go to mail a package

2011-02-23T04:57:00.000+05:30

It used to be fun going to post office to drop a package then I discovered I could do everything from the comfort of my own place. All I needed was a scale, computer, printer and a credit card. Digital scale is recommended for accurate reading. You could purchase one from local post office or order one for FREE from stamps.com (but you still need to pay shipping/handling fee). The scale that stamps.com sends needs to be hooked to the computer with a USB cable and needs a software to run. It is recommended to get a scale that has a digital display so you can run it independently.

Once you find out how much the package weighs, just go to USPS website to find out how much postage will cost. Then you need to enter your credit card information to pay for the postage and you can print the label as shown below. If you don't have a printer or the ink ran out, you can use a PDF creator software to save the label as PDF file to print from different printer.

That's almost it. You can schedule a postman come pick up your package from your home by clicking here (you need to create account with USPS for free).

Best thing about all this is it costs less for postage than going to post office and you don't have to leave home. Only disadvantage is you cannot print postage for non-priority packages.

$8,000 Per Gallon.....$2,083 Per Liter

2011-02-13T04:42:00.000+05:30

Well, that's how much it costs for printer ink! It is cheaper to buy a printer than ink. I am sure prince per page from laser printers cost less than traditional ink types. More about this here:
LINK

Remotely using computer via Internet

2011-02-01T08:58:00.000+05:30

We have all heard about globalization and how it has shrunk the world. Internet is definitely one major responsible factor. Recently I had a chance to experience this first-hand by using a software called TeamViewer. After installing a tiny software on a host computer, I could use that particular computer as if I was right there. Windows XP does come with similar feature called Remote Desktop but the beauty of TeamViewer is it is easy to setup and is free for non-commercial usage. The software is made by a German company.

Here are some of the possibilities I can think of how TeamViewer can be used as:

Providing technical support
Using Skype to monitor the location with audio/video
Bypass website blockings
Travel with laptop that don't contain sensitive files and instead access home computer thus not risk losing valuable data if laptop gets stolen
etc....

There are few drawbacks I can think of though. First is what if Internet is not available for whatever reason. Without working Internet at both ends, TeamViewer would simply not work. Secondly, if someone gets hold of your username/password, then an unknown entity can gain access to your system. Thirdly, TeamViewer may snoop over the data since every byte has to flow through them.

Regardless of such risks, I found the program pretty useful. Actually I am typing this on a browser opened from computer in Kathmandu while physically being in USA. Bandwidth requirement for TeamViewer is pretty low unless you are heavy graphics/video file viewer. I found the average bandwidth usage was about 60 kbps.

More information about this wonderful software here:

http://www.teamviewer.com/

Public telephones are tapped

2011-01-29T01:58:00.000+05:30

After 9/11, congress passed Patriot Act and gave broad powers for government to eavesdrop on citizens. Saw this ubiquitous sticker on the public phone in downtown Madison:

"Nepal could become another Burma" -- Wikileaks

2011-01-17T05:12:00.003+05:30

This is the latest wikileak pertaining to Nepal according to Guardian paper:
##################################################
Summary ------- 1. (C) On December 14, Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey emphasized to the Ambassador that HMGN sought a long-term special Nepal-U.S. relationship; Pandey urged the U.S. to change course and use engagement, rather than pressure, with the King. The Ambassador responded that he was authorized to tell the King that if Gyanendra took the right steps, the U.S. would be there for Nepal. However, he noted, the King's course since February 1 had brought the country to crisis. The Ambassador pressed FM Pandey to ensure the issuance of exit permits for buses to carry transiting Tibetan refugees to India; to register the Tibetan Welfare Society; and to respond favorably to our proposal to resettle Tibetan refugees long resident in Nepal. The FM was noncommittal, at times seeming to tie these issues to progress on our bilateral relationship, other times terming these "small issues" that would be easily resolved. Pandey said he planned to notify the Bhutanese FM in Dhaka on the margins of a BIMSTEC meeting that Bhutan should begin repatriation within a few months' time or Nepal would move "to internationalize the issue." End Summary.

LINK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/47745/print

Cyber war of the future

2011-01-16T07:17:00.000+05:30

Wars used to be fought with swords, guns, fighter planes, grenades, bombs. Then came the Nuclear weapon. The future wars, however, will be fought with computers. In a way cyber war is good because it causes less casualty. All modern weapon systems that depend on computers are vulnerable to malicious codes that immobilize them. What good is weapon based on GPS, for instance, if the GPS signal is not accurate (or not available)?

Same with nuclear weapon. To run nuclear power plant, lots of computers are required. If the malicious code (could be called virus) gets in the system, the entire power plant could no longer function. And worst, the code can instruct the centrifuges to self destruct, for instance.

And that is exactly what seems to have happened in Iran. Stuxnet worm "appears to have wiped out roughly a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges and helped delay, though not destroy, Tehran’s ability to make its first nuclear arms." according to this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/world/middleeast/16stuxnet.html

Nepal Telecom active to control illegal VoIP call bypass

2011-01-12T20:34:00.002+05:30

Well, it seems like those illegal VoIP operators keeps sprouting like wild mushrooms in Nepal. The fact of the matter is there is so much money to be made by engaging in this trade. The news article states:

"To control the increasing number of illegal VOIP call bypass, NT has directed the entire service providers to manage their central data within the next three months.

The board meeting of NT on Monday also directed the service providers to keep the detail records of their customers in digital system."

Basically what that means is Internet Service Providers should be held accountable for data that pass through their servers because International calls come to Nepal via ISP. Few years back private ISPs challenged the government to prove they are responsible for illegal VoIP. Lets see what will happen now.

Source:

WikiLeaks and Nepal

2011-01-04T21:49:00.003+05:30

Few weeks ago it was a news leak that Nepalese policemen were bribed by Chinese officials to catch border crossing Tibetans on their way to India where their exiled leader Dalai Lama lives. And today's leak indicates Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar allegedly offered bribe to a member of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to support Nepal Airlines’ bid to buy Airbus aircraft earlier last year. Obviously US wants Nepal to buy Boeing instead of European made Airbus and I am pretty sure bribe was offered by Boeing to concerned parties as well.

Let the drama continue.

LINK
Another LINK
NY Times article with actual cable

$0.01 eBay item with shipping

2011-01-01T03:01:00.000+05:30

It defies every law of economics but there are items available on eBay one can purchase for a mere 1 cent and that includes shipping! Most of the items are sold by Chinese merchants. Even if the item has no value, the shipping cost alone is more than what they receive from the transaction.

Power outage

2010-12-13T20:00:00.000+05:30

I was used to extended power outage. So when the electricity decided to go on December 11 from 9 PM till 2 AM in USA, I was not too panicked. But here are some of my observations:

It is nice to have a candle or flashlight
Cooking stove doesn't work; neither does microwave oven
Hot water supply was okay
VoIP device like MagicJack doesn't work
Room heater didn't function

This is the first extended power outage in 5 months and hopefully the last one.

WikiLeaks shows defiance

2010-12-08T04:30:00.005+05:30

It has been like a "cat-mouse" struggle between the government and a website. In 1873, US government could burn the books that were "obscene, lewd, or lascivious." With the advent of Internet, it is not that easy to stop the flow of information. Wikileaks.org domain name was shut down since Amazon stopped hosting it. PayPal "froze" Wikileak's account. Wikileaks call this move "Digital McCarthism."

However, google would gladly display "213.251.145.96" link as a link for wikileaks. What wikileaks did was reserve wikileaks.ch domain name in Switzerland. Not only that, they started mirroring contents in thousands of other places (mostly European countries).

Only time will tell how successful governments will be shutting wikileaks completely. Technology proved to be a "double-edged sword" for governments tackling with such matters. Internet made it easy to control access of the citizens of certain sites. For instance, ISPs were ordered to block various Maoist websites during the insurgency in Nepal.

The reality is there is no way to censor Internet unless you completely shut down the doors. And by doing so nobody will be able to browse any sites, including the ones that the government wants you to.

Frankly, very few people are surprised about the contents of wikileaks. It is only the fact that how easily secrets were revealed. During world war II, allies basically defeated Germany by cracking Enigma machine since they knew before hand what Germans were up to.

WikiLeaks cut off from Amazon servers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikileaks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine

Update:
Mastercard.com site is under attack and no longer accessible. Here is the group who released this manifesto:

Link: https://uloadr.com/u/4.png

Wiki leaks of US diplomatic cables

2010-11-30T00:08:00.008+05:30

Well, the recent wiki leaks could simply be a psychological tactic used to scare enemies. That's what Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad thinks about this leak. But if this indeed true, then this just proves how vulnerable security is. It is as strong as the weakest link. Safeguarding digital data is not as easy as it sounds. Technically it is possible to retrieve data from burnt hard drive. Passwords can be broken. And people do betray.

Here is the explanation on how to read the embassy cable:

Source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/bild-731441-155734.html

And here is the site that leaked:
LINK

This is what US Embassy in Kathmandu had to say about this news:
LINK