Vichu- For the greater good....

Startup of Flexing-Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Okay.... now getting directly into the core of the discussion...As specified in my earlier post, the bottom line of Flex was to provide a great,effective and efficient RIA's , which can indeed be provided by Flash also. What is the specific need of a new Framework for just building a rich internet app?

This indeed is one of the most common question that Flash designers have, and also a good one because, when there is already an established product in the market, for building RIA's then why go for a new product and spoil its market?

This question is a must answer because this decides what makes Flex different from Flash.This might give you a clear idea whether to choose Flash or Flex for your RIA project.

Flex is also a Flash-based technology, but to be more specific.....Flex is not designed to make advertisements and banners.It is fundamentally used to design web app , a web app which looks more as a desktop application.

So if you are more of a designer than a developer then Flash is the tool you must work on, meaning that Flex is all about developing RIA not just designing them.So if your project is a design oriented one then Flex is not the correct tool for you.So all that we discuss here are under the impression that you are a developer not a designer!!!

I now get into the prerequisites for Flex

The first thing you need when you want to know Flex is that ,you need to enjoy programming.
Flex basically uses two languages namely MXML and Actionscript 3.0, although it is not necessary to know them , if you are familiar to Object Oriented Concepts then it is not really tough to program in actionscript. All you need to know is the basic syntax of actionscript.
MXML is actually a XML markup language which is used to define the basic components in the application.This makes flex concentrate on UI and programming saperately instead of embedding everything in progamming language.

Flex API consists of the following packages and softwares

Opensource Components of Flex :

Flex Compiler
Flex Framework
Flex SDK

Non-Open Source components :

Flex Builder (or) Eclipse Plugin
Flex Charting
Live Cycle Data services

In the next series of my post i'll elaborate on each and every components specified.Till then its Vichu signing off!!!...

Startup of Flexing... Part-1

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:36:00 +0000

Okay now...as i've said in my previous post, i now start the real technical aspect of so called Flex.....So...get ready to flex urself!!!.....

I dont want this post to get that big....bcos i'll have to handle the nerve of my readers....i'll post this in two different ones!!!.

Before we start up....let me tell you for what is Flex mostly used.....

Flex is generally opted for those application(Both web and desktop App's) which require a great user interface(For Desktop App's) and awesome RIA's(Rich Internet Applications for web applications)...This is the main bottom line of the origin and the development of Flex...And as always Adobe being one of the front runners in the field of user interface enhancement and the efficient graphic applications, tried their hands on the enhancement of their improvising the RIA's over the internet!!!...This lead to the development of an entirely new framework FLEX.

Flex gives you just what you need for transforming a traditional web user interface into a great user experience.And simultaneously they've even achieved a proportionate success in the field of desktop applications by using Project Apollo more Commonly called AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) .One of the most interesting feature of flex is that the output of the application is just a SWF file....the native file extension used by the Adobe Flash Player.So you need not have any complex platform to run your application...all you need to do is to have flash player...which is mostly inbuilt in most of the recent Operating Systems. In this way Flex also handles the Platform independence which most of the new frameworks rely upon......Next thing what added up to the success of FLEX is that it is a Open Source Framework!!!...meaning that you are free to use the framework and contribute to the change you need to the existing framework for its greater good!!!.....

Now as an act of getting inspiration i would now like to list out some good websites which use Flex framework to enhance their RIA's......

Sony Ericsson http://www.sonyericsson.com
MercedesBenz http://www.mbusa.com
Volkswagen UK Used Car Locator http://www.volkswagen.co.uk
Toufee Online Flash Video Maker http://www.toufee.com/

And also Yahoo Sites have now completely changed to the flex framework....ie all the new look of the yahoo is because of Flex!!!

I would like to stop this post here and continue the rest in the next post where I'll briefly describe the working of the Flex platform and in what way is it different from the normal web applications.

Flex with a bang!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:26:00 +0000

Hi folks....I am R.Viswanathan and i'm back with a bang.....and guess what lead to this bang....."I know flex!!!".....hahaha...seems very funny..but folks believe me its more than a tool which could take you anywhere...Its a complete package with lots of fun and programming!!!.....all you need to have if u wish to hav the same fun ....as i am having now....is just have some basic programming knowledge....else will be taken care by Flex........All the geek stuff which take ages to make it possible..in formal languages(like Java, .NET,etc...)....just takes a drag and drop in flex...and believe wad.....it just bridges the gap between the Markup languages and Scripting Languages.......Yes...Flex is such a frame work...which enables the programmer to use the efficiency and the ease of the markup language and along with that provides the advantage of the programming capability of the scripting language....which makes flex a really flexible architecture/framework

And this makes me share with all of you the magic and the essence of the new framework .....THE FLEX.....
In my next post i'll elaborate what actually is Flex in a very technical way!!!....till then...its Viswanathan AKA Vichu signing off!!!...bye!!

3D Flag tutorial using photoshop cs3 xtended!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:57:00 +0000

This is an easy tutorial which teaches you to convert a 2D flag into a 3D flag in a fabric texture!!!....Although this is a simple tutorial but is somewhat lengthy!!!

The basic effect of the tutorial is shown below!!!

2D Flag(Before the effect!!!)

2D flag converted into a 3D flag!!!(After the effect!!!)

The prerequisites for this effects are
1.Photoshop Creative Suite(Preferably CS3 Xtended or above)
2.Flag image(The image shown first!!!)
3.Satin Texture like the one shown below!!!(you may use this one itself!!!)

4.Generally prefer the fabric texture larger in size than that of the Flag image!!!

Now lets see the procedure for creating the effect!!!

Step 1:
Start your Photoshop application and open the Fabric texture and the Flag image.

Step 2:
Select your flag image and follow this
Image---->Image Size(alt+ctrl+i)

note the pixel dimension of the Flag image.
in my example my flag image pixel dimension is 639px x 426px.

Step 3:
Repeat the same procedure for fabric image also and set the pixel dimension's width to the width of the flag image.Here in my example i set it to 639px.The height of the fabric image will proportionately change, don't worry about that we'll adjust that later!!!...

Click on the below image to have a better idea!!!

Step 4:
After changing the image size of the fabric image, now we need to remove the color from the fabric texture!!...so we must desaturate it first!
For desaturating follow the below give procedure having selected the fabric layer!!!

Image------>Adjustments------>Desaturate(Shft+Ctrl+U)

now your fabric image is desaturated!!!

Step 5:
Now we are going to adjust the height of the fabric...Actually we are going to crop the fabric to the height of the flag image!!!...To do that we select the crop tool in the tool bar having selected the fabric image and in the top of your photoshop window you can see the set width and height values!!...set them to the size of your flag image!!!
Then drag the crop selection from one end to the other end as shown!!!

Click on the image to get better idea!!!

Hit return after selecting the fabric image using crop tool!!!...

Step 6:
Now Save this fabric image with .pdd or .psd format!!!

File----->Save As----->(Format:-psd or pdd)

Step 7:
Select the Flag image and following steps
Filter---->Distort----->Displace
Settings-
Horizontal Scale:10
Vertical Scale :10
Stretch To Fit
Wrap Around

Step 8:
Now it'll ask for a PSD file!!....select the file which you hav saved in step 6.
Your flag image must be some what distorted!!!...

Step 9:
Now drag the fabric layer onto the flag image layer!!!...
and change the Blending option of the fabric layer to Hard Light

Now you must have the image in the similar manner!!! as shown below!!!
Click on the image to have a clear overview!!!

Step 10:
Now you are almost ready!!!....All you need to do is adjust the Levels of the resultant flag image!!!...

Your 3D-Flag is ready now!!!...Please leave comments so that it would be helpful for the other tutorials!!!!

Resultant Image!!! looks like this

Photograph to a Pencil Sketch using Photoshop CS3 Xtended

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:52:00 +0000

Now this tutorial teaches you how to convert a photograph to a pencil sketch!!!

the above image will be changed to the pencil sketch shown below!!!

now lets start the tutorial!!!

Step 1:

Open the Photoshop Application and open your desired picture which you want to change into a pencil sketch.

Step 2:

Now create a duplicate of the existing layer(background layer) and Invert(ctrl+i) the duplicate layer.

Step 3:

Now desaturate both the layers(shift+ctrl+u).At this moment your picture should look similar to this!!!!

Step 4:

After this change the blending mode of the top layer to Color Dodge.
Then use Gaussian Blur and set the radius accordingly so that it looks like a pencil sketch.I used radius as 2.3 pixels.

After this your picture should look like this!!!!

Wall Graffiti using Photoshop CS3 Extended!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:39:00 +0000

The basic goal of this tutorial is...

let me start with the basic requirements for this effect!!...

All u need is a stock image of a wall texture and photoshop (cs x) recommended.

This is a very easy effect to produce!!!

Step1 :

First start your photoshop application and then open your wall texture stock image...you can get loads of such textures in Google!!!...just search for wall texture in Google Images!!!....
i've choosen my wall texture as the below given image!!!

It would be better if you choose a dark colored(preferably grey and rough) wall rather than a light colored one!!!!.....

Step 2:

Then after opening your Wall Texture..
Choose Horizontal Type tool and then write your desired text on your wall texture or you may even place your desired image if you wish in a new layer upon your wall texture!!!...

Step 3:

After you finish placing the image or writing your desired text on your texture!!!...
then set the blending mode of your text layer or your image layer to Overlay

Now your image should luk like this!!!

This is the basic idea of creating your own graffiti anywhere!!....now play with your imagination and enjoy photoshopping!!!
!!!

Bye for now.....meet you with more tutorials in the time ahead!!!!!........

GoogleShare!!.....Find out your share!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:19:00 +0000

Googleshare (also called mindshare) is one of the most powerful
approaches to have fun with mining the web for data, and answers.
Here’s how it works; when you enter a single term or phrase into
Google, you get a certain page count. For example, you enter “Rolling
Stones” as phrase search and Google tells you there are about
10,500,000 pages on the web containing this phrase. Now you combine
this query with one of the Rolling Stones singers, searching for:
“Rolling Stones” “Mick Jagger”

This results in 1,470,000 pages. The percentage the second value has in
relation to the first is its “googleshare.” So Mick Jagger has a
googleshare of 14% with the Rolling Stones. This is very high; Keith
Richards only has a Rolling Stones googleshare of 5%. This makes
Mick Jagger the most popular in the band. Peter Smith, on the other
hand, has a googleshare of only 0.006% with the Stones – because he’s
not a band member, of course.

Here are some more googleshare examples:

Full House:

Ashley Olsen 1.46%
John Stamos 1.07%
Bob Saget 1.04%
Mary-Kate Olsen 0.97%
Dave Coulier 0.58%
Jodie Sweetin 0.56%

Tom Cruise:

Nicole Kidman 20.80%
Katie Holmes 16.34%
Penelope Cruz 7.51%
Mimi Rogers 0.57%

source:-55 ways to have fun with google

Google Embedded Calc!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 07:20:00 +0000

The Google calculator is included in Google.com’s normal web search.
So instead of entering words you want to find in web pages, you can
simply enter math queries like the following:

10 + 7 * 3 – 12

The Google result will then display the solution: “10 + (7 * 3) - 12 =
19.” That’s already a little more fun than using a normal calculator (and
incredibly helpful too, at times), but there’s much more to it. Let’s start
with an Easter Egg – a hidden function within a program that makes it
do something unexpected and interesting – and enter the following:

answer to life, the universe and everything

Entering this will result in the Google calculator showing you the
answer “42.” This is a reference to a mythical number from Douglas
Adams’ sci-fi opera “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” I won’t
spoil its meaning here, but instead suggest you simply read this great
book (or, watch the movie). This isn’t the only connection between
Google and Douglas Adams, by the way. Completely coincidentally, the
word “Googleplex” – the name the Google employees gave their
California headquarters – appeared in the Hitchhiker’s Guide:

“And are you not,” said Fook leaning anxiously forward, “a
greater analyst than the Googleplex Star Thinker in the
Seventh Galaxy of Light and Ingenuity which can calculate
the trajectory of every single dust particle throughout a
five-week Dangrabad Beta sand blizzard?”

The calculator fun doesn’t stop there. The following are just some
more examples of what’s possible, and often these different queries
can be combined to larger formulas:

seconds in a year (result: 31,556,926 seconds)
15 USD in EUR (12.74 Euro)
120 pounds * 2000 feet in Calories (77.77 kilocalories)
furlongs per fortnight (0.000166309524 m / s)
speed of light in knots (582,749,918 knots)

Source:-55 Ways to have fun with google

Virtual Operating System(VirGeniOS)

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:12:00 +0000

For decades,in this evolving world of computers.Life has been changed due to the evolution of the computer technology.Almost every work now has become automated.Many (I guess almost all) big organizations run only with the help of computers.

But for this computer to run, there is a vital software which makes this automation of everything possible.We call it as an Operating System.There are several producers in the field of Operating Systems, but in India, I feel that there is a monopoly of MICROSOFT WINDOWS existing, let me put up a scenario of an organization having about 40,000 employees who require a system (Personal Computer)to work on.Let us say that they require Vista Business Edition, which costs around $279.00 (13871.6253 Indian rupees)even an upgrade version would cost about Rs 9000.00 INR. Just imagine spending about 13000 rupees for each employees license. This would cost about Rs 554865012.00/-.Even after spending this much amount of money there are problems in the network connections, security,etc, and each and every software which are required are charged separately for each user.

Now let me tell u about our solution for this problem.Actually before getting into our idea.I would like to introduce our team called Indomitable Wizards to you.We are a team of four doing our II year(In 2008-2009 academic year) Engineering in the field of Information Technology.We have an idea to eliminate the cost spent by the organization on each user by virtualizing the Operating System.We think that, we can acheive this by using the cloud computing.

An organization is provided with a cloud space,which the organization distributes among its employees(User).The virtual OS is installed in the main server of the Organization.Each employee added or a new user created, a particular cloud space is allotted to him and a copy of the virtual OS is copied into his cloud space.Any changes done to the cloud effects all the user.Here in our idea, the personal computer of the user is used only for storing the user files.

As the user is under the influence that the Operating System is installed in his computer, this Operating System is called as Virtual Operating System.Due to this idea the cost incurred on each employee for his license is reduced. As a change done to the cloud is effecting all the system. The organization can have a uniform platform.Even Networking becomes easier.

This Virtual Operating System is similar like opening an email account as soon as you switch on your computer.As the future technology is all about wireless .This type of Operating System can provide a vital twist in the tale, and change the trend of the Operating Systems.

As an Initiative of this idea, we the Indomitable Wizards, have started to work on this project by developing a prototype(An Applet sort of thing)called VirGeniOS(Virtual Genius Operating System) for this project.For this we need suggestions of various experts who can provide us with the necessary pros and cons of this idea.

Hence criticism is mostly welcome, as this can lead to a fruitful idea and change the way in which the Operating Systems are today.Any criticism is welcomed as a comment to this post or can contact directly with the team members via email.

VirGeniOS Team Email address:
virgenios@gmail.com

Another Set Of High Definition WallPapers!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:02:00 +0000

What might have driven women out of Computer Science?

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:13:00 +0000

Ellen Spertus, a graduate student at MIT, wondered why the computer camp she had attended as a girl had a boy-girl ratio of 6:1. And why were only 20% of the computer science undergraduate at MIT female? She published a 124-page paper

Why are there so few Female Computer scientists?

, that cataloged different cultural biases that discouraged girls from pursuing a career in the field, The year was 1991.

Computer Science has changed considerably since then.Now, there are even fewer women entering the field.Why this is so remains a matter of dispute.

What particularly puzzling is that the explanations for under-representation of women that were assembled back in 1991 applied to all technical fields.Yet women have achieved broad parity with men in almost every other technical pursuit.
When all science and engineering fields are considered, the percentage of bachelor's degree recipients who are women has improved to 51% in 2004-5 from 39% in 1984-85, according to surveys. When one looks at computer science , the proportion of women has has been falling.In 2001-2, only 28% of all undergraduate degrees in computer science went to women. By 2004-5 , the number declined to only 22%.

Jonathan Kane, a professor of computer science at the University Of Wisconsin-Whitewater, recalls the middle 1980's , when women made upto 40% of students who majored in management computer systems.

But soon after, the number of students majoring in the program had fallen about 75%, and the number of women fell even more."I asked at department meeting," His theory is that young women earlier had felt comfortable pursuing the major because the male sub-culture of action gaming had yet to appear.

Justine Cassell , director of Northwestern University's Center for technology & Social behavior , has written about the efforts in the 1990's to create computer games that would appeal to girls and, ultimately ,increase the representation of women.

Ms Cassell has now written on the failures of these efforts , "The girls game movement failed to dislodge the sense among both boys and girls that computers are 'boys toys' and that true girls didn't play with computers".

She identifies another explanaton , which is linked to the pejorative figure of the "nerd". She said that this school of thought was: "Girls and young women don't want to be that person".

-NYT

AMD's new 45-nm Processor

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:16:00 +0000

The newest processor from the AMD stable, quad core Opteron , until recently codenamed 'Shanghai' , was launched in Bengaluru on Thursday, simultaniously with its global launch.and , in fact, much ahead of the launch date that AMD anounced earlier-Q1 of 2009.
Some 25 global computer OEM's are expected to offer Enterprise and small middle business customers system configuration based on the new processor by the end of the year.
Building on the strengths of the original quad-core Opteron processor, the new processor delivers upto 35% decrease in the power consumption at idle, when compared to the previous generation the company says,

AMD's 'Smart Fetch' technology can help reduce power consumption by allowing cores to enter a halt state during the processing idle times, with zero impact on application performance.It complements the company's CoolCore technology, which reduces power to unused section of each processor core to further reduce power consumption. AMD said its India Engineering centre in Bengaluru had led the design efforts for the processor along with a team in United States.

Dual-Core Processors

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:13:00 +0000

Dual-Core refers to a CPU that includes two complete execution cores per physical processor.It combines two processors and their caches and cache controllers onto a single integrated circuit(silicon chip). It is basically two processors, (Dual core and Multi Core) in most cases, residing side-by-side on the same die.

Dual-Processor(DP) systems are those that contain two separate physical computer processors in the same chassis. In a Dual-Core configuration, an integrated circuit(IC) contains two complete computer processors.Usually, the two identical processors are manufactured so they reside side-by-side on the same die, each with its own path to the system front-side bus.

Multi-Core:

Multi-Core is somewhat of an expansion to dual-core technology and allows for more than two separate processors.

Dual-core Advantage:

A dual-core processor has many advantages especially for those looking to boost their system's multitasking computing power, Dual-core processors provide two complete executions cores instead of one, each with an independent interface to the front side bus.
Since each core has its own cache , the operating system has sufficient resources to handle intensive tasks in parallel, which provides a noticeable improvement to multitasking.

Complete optimizing for the dual-core processors require both the operating system and applications running on the computer to support a technology called thread-level parallelism. Hyper-Threading is a technology that enables running multiple demanding applications at the same time.

What is Web 3.0?

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:20:00 +0000

Web 3.0 is sometimes called Semantic web, a term coined by Tim Berners Lee, the man who first invented World Wide Web(www).

Web 2.0 came to describe almost any site, service,or technology that promoted sharing and collaboration right down to the net's grassroots as in blogs and wikis, tags and RSS feeds, del.icio.us and Flickr, MySpace and YouTube. Web 3.0 will have 4 main features like a semantic web, where a machine or robot can read a website or check our daily schedules; 3D Web - A virtual walk through unfamiliar places without leaving one's seat.

Media-centric Searches(beyond Keywords) understanding natural language queries or photos, and the Prevasive Web that's everywhere -on your PC, on your cellphone, on your clothes, jewelry, your kitchen , bathroom and office. HP, Yahoo and Radar Networks are going Semantic.

Google and Microsoft are moving 3D.
www.polarrose.com
www.riya.com,
like.com
are offering simple prototypes .Web 3.0 is here for sure.It has to be experienced!!!!

Funky Computer High Definition WallPapers!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:19:00 +0000

Blog, vlog and Moblog?

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 10:48:00 +0000

A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically - like a what's new page or a journal. The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly- from links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea, to diaries,photos,poetry, mini essays, project updates, even fiction.
Blog posts are like instant messages to the web.Many blogs are personal,"What's on my mind" type musings.Others are collaborative efforts based on a specific topic or area of mutual interest.Some blogs are for play.Some are for work.Some are both.

Types Of Blogs

A blog can be defined by its incorporation of media: a blog comprising of videos is called a vlog

Blog can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it.A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA is called a Moblog.

A blog can also be defined by the legal entity of its publishers.A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business purposes.Blogs, either used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing , branding or PR purposes are called corporate blogs!

Energy Star 4

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:07:00 +0000

Energy star 4 is an energy standard that adds value by making it easy for consumers to identify computers that are more energy energy efficient than conventional models.Energy star looks at the total AC power coming out of the wall at the system level, so that one need to look at the power supply, on board voltage regulator on the motherboard, peripherals like hard drives , and the chipsets processors.
The new requirements apply mainly to a PC's efficiency in idle mode, not how well it runs under maximum workload.

Furthermore, desktops, low-end servers and gaming consoles must consume no more than2 watts of power in standby mode, or no more than 4 watts in sleeping mode.Notebooks and tablets must use no more than 1 watt in standby mode and no more than 1.7 watts in sleep mode.
The greatest demand for energy star approved PC's come from government and education customers, who can save the most money through reduced bills for thousands of PC's running through a four year life cycle

WiMAX

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:56:00 +0000

WiMax stands for 'Worldwide inter-operability for Microwave Access'.The term WiMax is named created by WiMAX forum to refer to its definition of 802.16. The WiMax technology supports datatransmission rates of upto 70Mbps with a range of upto 48Km, much faster than Wi-Fi. It ensures compatibility between differnt vendors' fixed-wireless broadband equipment to provide fast wireless data connections between fixed points over long distances.

WiMax is the 802.16x specification for wireless metropolitan area network(WMAN), developed and promoted by the WiMax forum (Comprising industry like Intel,Nokia and AT&T), to standardise it universally , offered by IEEE, the de-facto body to authorise Wi-Fi standards globally ,WIMax will compliment Wi-Fi.

The WiMax signal could be sent as signal over a large area.The wireless signal would then be connected to a Wi-Fi box that would broadcast the signal to laptops and PDA's.

Google's New Browser!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:35:00 +0000

The browser war is back on.This time Microsoft's opponent is Google, a familiar foe.On Tuesday i.e on September 2nd 2008,Google will release a free web browser called Chrome that company said would challenge Microsoft's Internet Explorer, as well as Firefox Browser.

The browser is a universal doorway to the internet, and the use of internet software and services is rapidly growing.Increasingly, the browser is also doorway to the web on mobile devices, widening the utility of web and web advertising.

Google analysts say say, cannot let Microsoft's dominant share of the browser market go without a direct challenge.Google already competes with Microsoft in online search and Internet Advertising.They both make operating software for cell-phones.Google is increasingly competing with Microsoft head-on in software that handles basic productivity like word processing spreadsheet, presentation and e-mail programs.Google has web based software in these markets that are low-cost or free alternatives to Microsoft's lucrative desktop software.

Despite the frequent clashes with Microsoft-including the role Google played in Thwarting an attempted acquisition of Yahoo-Google has come out only in search and search advertising.But Google does not have to win the browser war.Strategically , opening yet another front against Microsoft it to divert resources to defend franchises.

Now ,Chrome heightens the rivalry and marks a shift for Google ,which has strongly backed Firefox, the open source browser that has gained about a fifth of the market against the dominant Internet Explorer.

Essential Information about what actually Servers are!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 06:43:00 +0000

Servers are computers on a client/server network from which applications,data and resources are managed.Basically, servers provide servers provide service.Servers should always be high-performance,fast, and efficient computers. A server can be centralized(handles all the single server specific networking tasks) or dedicated(handles all the single/multi-server network).

[Clients are the computers on a network that lets users access the server's information and resources.Client computers can range from diskless workstations to multimedia enhanced,complete desktop systems.What is very important here is its compatibility with the NOS(Network Operating System) and information service software.]

Some features desirable for Server could be
1) That can help prevent problems,
2) Auto server restart,
3) Predict any possible failure and deal with them when they do,
4) A second redundant NIC(Network Interface Card),
5) Backup cooling fans,
6) Multiple power units,
7) Built-in monitors to check internal temperature,voltage,etc and software to give such information to the system administrator,(SMART: Self-Monitoring, analysis and reporting technology),
8) Ability to monitor and manage remote motoring, nad so on.

Servers tend to be put into 3 or broad categories, variously described as entry-level, departmental, workgroup or enterprise systems, though inevitably there is a lot of overlap.What one company might call a workgroup server, another might use to run its whole business.Similarly entry level system could be used to support a departmental network in a large firm or ,run everything in a small professional partnership.

With their increased external cache capabilities-up to a possible 2MB -and enhanced I/O performance, newer chips are ideal to gallop through the data.To execute processor-intensive applications like simultaneous handling of files and printer sharing on a large network, a machine with SMP(symmetric multiple processing) capabilities enables as much of workload as possible away from the CPU.(SMP allows server to run more than one CPU).

In the area of disk storage what is required is not only high speed and capacity but also high availability: a system that warn of faults and tolerates disk failures .There are two types of disks commonly used -EIDE and SCSI.
EIDE is used in the entry level systems.Besides it can have only 4 disks attached to the controller whereas SCSI can have upto 15.SCSI is faster in terms of data transfer rate.The newest SCSI Ultra 2 Spec gives a rate of max 80MB/sec.

Hackers too smart to catch hold of

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:36:00 +0000

In what is being touted as the greatest cyber heist of all times, hackers last week breached the IT defenses of Britain's Best Western hotel's online booking system and accessed the identities of eight million customers.The stolen data included addresses, telephone numbers as well as credit card number details.

The 'masterstroke' could have been acheived by exploiting a variety of vulnerabilities experts say.Technologically, the loophole could have been in the firm's network, the operating system,or at the application level.However modern criminals exploit more than just technical vulnerabilities.

While an enterprise could have secured its network,the peripheral devices as well as user machines, it may not have an answer yet to 'bugs in the human hardware' -manipulating vulnerabilities of the human mind to gain confidential information,often called social engineering.

"If you receive an email from a familiar name with an attachment that says 'Happy Birthday',there is high probability that you would double click on it.Once you double click on
that you might get a download of viruses, or trojans such as Ransomware.

Ransomware is cyberspace's equivalent of abduction,where the Trojan encrypts or holds computer resources such as data or files in its control for a ransom.

Similarly, Avert Labs noticed many Web sites hosting 'Exploit files' after Benazir Bhutto's assassination.Here, hackers wanted to manipulate intrest in news: a search could have directed to Web site hosting malware.

Some main things that Avert Labs has noticed

1) A new wave of 'Fake Alerts'-a Trojan which displays fake alerts on machine being infected.It typically leads to a link for getting the machine disinfected,which results in more malware being installed.

2) MP3 infected virus -adds 'directive' to the music files and prevents media players from displaying codec and then downloads password stealers or other Trojans onto your computer.

3) Malware that users a current (OLYMPICS) or sensational subject line (nuclear war) to propagate, either through e-mails or using networks.

So What can we do!!!!!

1) Constantly update patches for operation systems and applications.

2) Get regular virus updates.

3) Be cautious while opening links/attachments that arrive in e-mails or IM

4) Be cautious while using USB sticks- when plugged to an infected computer, they can pass on viruses. So disable 'autoplay'.

5) Use backups.

What is Linux? And why I recommend Linux.

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:20:00 +0000

Linux...hm mm.. It is my most favorite Operating System.Generally people try not to leave Microsoft and opt for an other operating systems.The main reason for this kind of approach in people is their unknowing love and affection for Mr Bill Gates.I must say that, he(Mr Bill Gates) with his excellent marketing skills brought a wonderful user friendly operating system when there was no operating system of that kind.Probably there was one operating system which was user friendly....but it was very unaffordable for the common man who work on computer's, and that operating system was Apple's Macintosh....At that time this was the only operating system that was some what user friendly....Mr Bill Gates then thought of developing a similar operating system which was more friendlier than Macintosh.He initially started his business with the launch of DOS(Disk Operating System)...which he bought from a seattle(A place in USA) hacker.This operating system was affordable by even a common man....hence this became more popular and got familiar with most of the people.....Then the revolution of GUI(Graphic User Interface) started.
Then Microsoft released its first Windows operating system named as Microsoft Windows 1.0 in 1985....this was followed by

Windows 2.0 in 1987
Windows 3.0 in 1990
Windows 3.1 in 1992
Windows NT 3.1 in 1993.
and so on.....and now presently released Windows Xp Service pack 3...after almost simultaneous release of Windows server 2008 and Windows Vista Service pack 1.

But presently the most famous and widely used Operating system of Windows is Microsoft Windows Service pack 2.As this is the most widely used operating system....naturally it'll have a negative impact on the society.Hackers are the main threat,then comes the viruses.
If someone knows an operating system well and identifies its pros and cons, then he can easily use it in a destructive manner!This is what happened with Windows.There is 90% probability that almost every system that has Windows is infected with virus in it.The virus may have come from the internet,from CD....and also from inserting a normal USB drive.This vulnerability to viruses generally makes common man to change his operating system from Windows to other.There are other reasons for an individual to change his operating but this is most common reason....
In the present day situation man expects to earn lot and lot of wealth from computer,but wishes to spend less on primary things related to computer's such as operating systems.And then if its free and secured....it naturally gains lot of attention and becomes popular......the live example is that of blogger itself......

and in case of Operating Systems its LINUX!!!!!!!!

So lets talk about LINUX now!!!!!!

Linux is a scale down operating system originally developed by a phenomenal extraordinary student of a University in Finland whose name is LINUS BENEDICT TORVALDS....Linux is now used in everything from PDAs,watches,PC's,consumer electronics , servers and supercomputers.
Beginning Linux was originally Minix ,an educational version of UNIX developed by Andrew Tannenbaum.As an interesting aside, we might be talking about Minix today if not for the licensing that Minix required.Few people have heard about Minix today, far less than have heard about Linux.

Early on ,Linux grew as a cheap UNIX that ran on intel-based PC equipment.At the time ,you could purchase UNIX for PC's,but at a high cost(as much as $1500 for a developer's version of interactive UNIX).Linux distributions technically,Linux is really just an OS kernal,produced under the direction of Linus Torvalds. But ,Linux usually comes with a set of utility,desktop, and server programs,including networking suites,web servers,file systems,compilers,and a whole lot more.For example ,Linux includes the XFree86 version of the XWindows system,the GNU C compiler GCC,and code from quite a lot of other sources.But to make things confusing,there's more than one version of Linux.

A number of organizations, commercial and some volunteer,collect together versions of all these programs with Linux Kernel, tests that everything work together and then release what is called the distribution of Linux....

The main Distributions include RedHat,Kondara MNU/linux,SUSE(Self CD-loading),Linux Mandrake;Lnnopix;Slackware......and the most important distribution of Linux to be mentioned is of UBUNTU.I personally recommend this because this is free and all you have to do is to register at the site and order a free cd to your home.....I am presently in Linux by UBUNTU.......

The Site where you have to register to get free CD is given below.....please do write your comments on this post...............

http://www.ubuntu.com/

have your own copy of the CD and enjoy in LINUX......Let the future be ruled by LINUX!!!!!!!

Biometric Security - The Unique one!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:45:00 +0000

Biometric Security is a security system that uses measurements of a person's physical characteristics that are difficult to abuse/tamper or evade countrary to old-fashioned password or document-based forms of identification.Some of the methods are:

Voice Recognition.
Face Recognition.
Iris Scan.
Fingerprint
and many more......

Voice Recognition:

Digitised voice prints that are made from a person's speech samples are stored on a "smart" credit-card or passport.This provides an extra level of security beyond the other biometric data already stored on the card's chip.

Face Recognition:

a) A camera captures an image of a face in a crowd;
b) The system adjusts to compensate for the angle at which the photo is taken;
c) Numerical values are assigned to some of the 80 unique featuers to create a profile that can be checked against existing profiles.

Iris Scan:

The features of the colored disc around each person's pupil are unique and cannot be altered without damaging the vision.
Security software uses a mathematical process called demodulation to turn these features into a digital ID code that can be checked against a copy stored in the database.

Fingerprint:

The inexpensive,widely available technology uses either a digital camera or an electric current to create an image of the distinctive features of a finger.
One drawback is that these systems can be defeated by a theif using a cast of the victim's fingerprint-or by a severed finger.

Wireless Access

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:12:00 +0000

Wi-Fi means "Wireless Fidelity".It is the popular term for a high frequency Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)that is generically referred to as 802.11 network,more specifically the 802.11b nomenclature given by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE).It is a part of a series of wireless specifications developed by IEEE.
WLAN is fast evolving and provides benefits in terms of speed,security,quality of service(QoS) and cost.It scores over wired LAN with mobility and ease to setup.Products marked "Wi-Fi certified"(a registered trademark)by Wi-Fi alliance are interoperable with each other,even if they are from different manufacturers.

Wi-Fi Facts:

802.11 refers to a family of specifications developed by IEEE for wireless LAN.The several wireless specifications are mentioned below:

1)802.11:Applies to wireless LANs and provides 1 or 2 Mbps transmissions in the 2.4GHz band either frequency-hopped spread Spectrum(FHSS) or direct-sequence spread spectrum(DSSS).

2)802.11a:An extension to 802.11 that applies to wireless LANs and works on 5GHz frequency spectrum at maximum data transfer rate of 54Mbps.

3)802.11b:Also referred to as 802.11 high rate or Wi-Fi,it is an extension to 802.11 that applies to wireless LANs and provides 11Mbps transmission (with fallback to 5.5,1 and 1 Mbps) in the 2.4GHz band.

4)802.11g:Offers wireless transmissions over relatively short distances at up to 54Mbps and operates in the 2.4GHz range.

As an Indian I would like to share my knowledge in INDIA.In India ,only 802.11b standard working on 2.4GHz frequency range has been delicensed for indoor use.Hence this is the most popular standard currently.The 5GHz spectrum has not been delicensed for se since it coincides with the spectrum used by the police department.

Cache Memory

noreply@blogger.com (Viswanathan R) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:06:00 +0000

Cache memory is relatively small amount (normally less than 1MB) of high speed that resides very close to the CPU.Cache memory is designed to supply the CPU with the most frequently requested data and instructions.Because retrieving data from cache takes a fraction of time that it takes to access it from main memory,having cache memory can save a lot of time.
If the information is not in cache memory ,it still has to be retrieved from main memory,but checking cache memory takes so little time, it's worth it.

Levels of Cache :

Today, most cache memory is incorporated into the processor chip itself;however, other configurations are possible.In some cases, a system may have cache located inside the processor,just outside the processor on the motherboard,and/or it may have a memory cache socket near the CPU,which can obtain a cache memory module.
What ever the configuration , any cache memory component is assigned a "level" according to its proximity to the processor.
For example, the cache that is closest to the processor is called Level 1(L1) cache,the next level of cache is numbered L2,then L3,and so on.

Computers often have other types of caching in addition to the cache memory.For example ,sometimes the system uses the main memory as the cache for the hard drive.It's important to note that the term Cache can refer specially to memory and to other storage technologies as well.