Biology in Engineering

A lecture that I heard at our orientation program laid stress on the importance of Biology in Engineering. The importance is explained by an interesting example is as follows.

An employee of the famous and frontier company named OIL (Oil India Limited) once called up his mate (who is currently a professor in Gauhati University) to find a solution to his problem. His problem, a bacterial component poses threat to some of the oil component standing as a challenge to the mass production of oil. The solution as given by the professor was simple. Just introduce a microbe into the bacterial component, the bacterial dies and the problem gets solved. The employee of OIL then calls up his higher notch to know if the microbe is available in OIL laboratory. He then learns that the microbe was bought from a private firm at a cost of 45 lakhs.  

According to the professor, who heads the Biology department in Gauhati University, the microbe could be simply made in a culture for just Rs.15

By the above example the professor makes everything clear, biology can’t be neglected in engineering studies; else an engineer can be cheated.

Some of the engineering colleges in India have introduced Biological Science as a subject in Engineering and others might follow. Student often neglect this subject thinking he/she has nothing to do with it but the example as explained above shows the brighter side of biology.

News Channels in North East India, a headache.

There are around 4-5 Private News channels in north east who instead of delivering NEWS, deliver their views on almost all issue of society. They prefer to judge news as a case, create some stupid debate over it by paying and inviting eminent personality of North East. These eminent personalities can’t even turn down the invitation fearing public defamation of them in the same channel which invited them. Yes, such is the position of a news channel in north east.

Some common stupidity of these news channels include playing a background music of a bollywood movie in the so called news item, publicly supporting a particular political party, avoiding to air news which include allegations and wrong doing of a particular political party, introducing debate where the anchor speaks like a parrot. I even feel that most of the host/anchor tries to copy the style and accent of some of the renowned anchor/host of prominent NEWS channel in national and international platform.

Not only that, the worst scenario is when the anchor or the editor of the news channel interrupts a renowned personality saying, ‘I think your statement has no point since. . .’, or, ‘We are running out of time, kindly make it short’ 

My question is, what does the anchor, or editor of the news channel think of themselves compared to the eminent personality sitting adjacent or front of them. The way this anchor/host speaks, as if their no one a greater then him/her.

These News Channels even play blame game, when they no it’s not their job. They fail to understand that their main purpose is to deliver NEWS and nothing else. Debate can be created but not the way they do.

I feel pity for the entire aspiring journalist because more than half of them will be joining a private news channel and their purpose of journalism stops right there even if they earn their living.

Also, not to forget, these private news channel disclose their rivalry between them (between one news channel and the other) by creating a defamation news against their rival channel, isn’t it shit .

Who are keyloggers? How to stay safe from them?. . . A guide to all newbie.

Keyloggers are those people who can track what you type over the keyboard when you’re connected to the internet. A keylogger can thus keep a watch of which sites are you visiting and track what is being typed by you. This also means that when you type your password to access any online service, a keylogger can attempt to steal your password.

It is clear from the above Para that a keylogger is also a hacker. And if you are not destined well then you may loose everything you have over the internet.

How to protect oneself from keyloggers?

Since a keylogger can benefit by what you typed, especially when you type your password, so let’s address the protection here.

Suppose your password is, innate96p now don’t type the password in one go. Firstly type tep then with the help of your mouse keep the cursor between e and p , now type 96 , now again keep the cursor before t and type nn , following the same technique by moving the cursor again before n , type i and lastly by keeping the cursor between second n and t , type a

This way the keylogger records your password as tep96nnia whereas your actual password is innate96p.

Though the process seems time consuming but let me assure you that its not. Once you’re habitual to it, you can do it easily thereafter. The above password which I have shown is just an example and you need to follow the same technique with your password.

It is highly recommended that you follow the above procedure whenever you log in to any website through a shared computer. (eg. Cyber café)

 The article above is written by me but the actual idea was given by a thinkdigit forum member few years back. All credit to the particular member of the said forum

NPTEL...a light for engineers

Being into first semester of engineering, I was looking for resources online that could facilitate my engineering study. And to my expectations I found many and most helpful among them was the resources provided by the IITs and IISc.  Video lectures and materials on almost all subjects of engineering grouped systematically for specific branches of Engineering. Not only that, theirs even material (mostly video lectures) for semester 1 and semester 2 students. Videos are hoisted over Youtube. For the mobile browser the videos are available in 3GP format. Other format includes MP4 & FLV. Written materials are available in HTML and PDF format. These resources are a fruit of the Project named NPTEL funded by the Government. NPTEL or National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning is a project whose main purpose is to make India an Engineering Knowledge stronghold. Not only that, the site claims to deliver industries and teachers with resources which they can put into use. Since these video lectures and written materials are from the IITs and IIS Bangalore, no doubt that they would deliver the best. One can even download the videos and PDF format of materials.

Know more at www.nptel.iitm.ac.in

Similar to NPTEL project in India, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been delivering free courses on engineering for more a decade now. These MIT materials are available at http://ocw.mit.edu ,why should I continue, simply visit the site and judge yourself. I bet you would find it zakkas

You don’t enroll into any course when you visit these sites. The MIT Courseware includes forum discussion and we can expect NPTEL to follow soon.

Hope to see lot more from NPTEL. Cheers ! !

Safety in Facebook....the neglected but important part

Facebook has some inbuilt feature which goes a long way in protecting ones privacy and ensuring safety. Well, not everyone is aware of all these services by Facebook and here I am to write a post on all those services. If you don’t know about ‘secure browsing in Facebook’ and/or if you are really concerned about your privacy and safety in Facebook then read on. . .

To avail all these features it is always recommended that you register you personal cell phone with Facebook.

1. Secure browsing using HTTPS: Facebook allows its user to switch from Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). HTTPS is secure mode of browsing then HTTP.

If your browser address bar shows that you are in http://www.facebook.com/home.php    then it means that the connection between the Facebook server and your computer is unsecured.

To switch to HTTPS, Click ‘Accounts’ then ‘Account Settings’ on you Facebook homepage. Under the ‘Account Setting’ page click ‘Security’ and enable ‘Secure Browsing’.

      

            Click on the above image to get an enlarged view

A line from the famous Wikipedia explains:

HTTP is unsecured and is subject to man-in-the-middle and eavesdropping attacks, which can let attackers gain access to website accounts and sensitive information. HTTPS is designed to withstand such attacks and is considered secure against such attacks.

 

The above image shows a secure HTTPS connection to Facebook.Click on image to enlarge

2. One-Time Password: This feature can be very helpful at times. Suppose you are opening your Facebook homepage in a public computer, say in Cyber Café or in School or Office. It is a smart option not to input your normal password to prevent password tracker, key loggers etc. to open your profile, better it would be if you ask Facebook for a special password to open your page. Simply send a SMS as ‘otp’ (without quotes) to 32655 from your registered mobile number. Your will soon receive a special password which remains active for only 20 minutes and can be used only once.

3. Login Approvals: Another social service by the social giant. You can configure login approvals and I recommend that you configure it NOW. This ensures that other unrecognized devices don’t login to your profile. Suppose you log in to Facebook from your own cellphone or your personal computer or both then you can keep these two devices under recognized devices. If ever you log in to Facebook with a different device other then these two devices then you will be asked to enter a access code which will be sent to your phone via sms. This is to ensure that the log in attempt is not fake or a jailbreak.

To go to recognized devices, Click ‘Accounts’ >> ‘Account Setting’>> Under Account Setting Page click ‘Security’ and add any recognized devices under ‘Recognized Devices’.

EXTRAS

Friend Listing In Facebook: Ever if you wanted to chat in Facebook but wished one of those irritating friend stayed away from your chat box. Or if you ever wanted to share something only with friends you trust most and not your cousin or teachers. Well, that’s always been possible in Facebook, but it is unlike Google+ where these feature is easy as a cup of tea.

You can Create LIST in Facebook. On your Facebook Homepage, click on ‘Accounts’, then click ‘Edit Friends’. Here you can see ‘Create a List’

You can create list according to your convenience, for example, create a list named ‘Teachers’ and add all your teachers in that list. Similarly create a list named ‘Cousin and Family’ and add your entire cousin in that list.

Now whenever you are online, you can customize to which list you would like to show yourself online. Or, if you share something, you can customize to which list your sharing would be visible too.

 The green circle shows the 6 lists I created. Click the image to enlarge

Sharing Responsibly. Click on 'Customize' to make your sharing visible to only those people you want Click on image to enlarge

Under Chat tab. Click 'Limit Availability' to chat with only those people you want. And make yourself invisible to others.

Clicking 'Limit Availability' pops up the above window. Here you can see the list you created and become online and offline for respective lists.

Also read my earlier article to be secure over Social Network.
Keep your Social Networking Profile Safe
 To know more on Facebook Security visit Facebook's official Security Center at 

www.facebook.com/help/safety/

Sonia goes abroad for her treatment . . . Do we lack hospitals??

(Well, it’s not a tech article but thought to air my view over it.)

Don’t we have enough facility in our hospitals to serve person like Sonia Gandhi. The latest news regarding her visit to US puts a big question mark on the medical service of our country. Well, I personally feel  that we have enough super specialty hospitals especially in the metros but the high profile dignitaries wont agree with that and so they are moving abroad.

Now if Sonia Gandhi doesn’t feel that we have enough hospitals to address her needs then why doesn’t she come up with a world class hospital and research center. After all she and her followers rule our country. The actual fact is something else. In India we do have good (read best) hospitals, like Max, Fortis, Apollo, Ambani, and Medanta to name a few. But the Government’s indifferent attitude towards private hospitals compels her to plan a trip to US for treatment.  Wait a second, where is AIIMS in the list?? Well she is Sonia Gandhi (who in world doesn’t know her) and AIIMS would fail even to cure a minor pain in Sonia’s finger.

Are all these high profile Government official ignorant of common man’s health and so they ignore Govt. medical center like NEIGRIHMS (In Shillong) which is in sorry plight since a year or so?? Is the standard of medication of AIIMS being questioned by Sonia’s visit to US for medical treatment?

Thank God, they did not send Suresh Kalmadi abroad for his health check up. May be that’s because he is a useless leg for the Government now and so he landed up in AIIMS.

I can continue writing but that won’t change anything.However, I wish Sonia Gandhi speedy recovery.

This trend was even seen in the making of the film Robot. The producers and director of the film consulted Chinese firm for special effect. The Indian firm had a limited job to do. Well in one view this is justified because the producers here will look for more and more profit and for that, may be they consulted the best studio according to their choice. But again, even here the standard of animation and special effect studio in India is being questioned.

Are we really developing our India??

Are You Aware of Social Engineering??

Hacking and Social Engineering are conterminous. We often believe that a hacker steals our password, credit card information etc through electronic means or by his/her knowledge & skill in computer world, but things may be different too.

Won’t it be easy for a hacker if he finds your password simply by seeing what you typed?

A social Engineer uses social way to find confidential information. He/she would try to gain as much personal information about his/her target. He/she then uses that information gained to try all combination of password. Thus it will be easy for a hacker to crack your password or credit card details incase those sensitive and confidential words come from something related to you, say name of your pet, name of your girlfriend combined with your vehicle number or name of your teacher etc.

Social Engineering is done by following ways.

Phishing:   A person or group can create a fake website or it will be right to say that they impersonate the original website. By links in email or social network the target is tempted to click on those links (the target or victim thinks it is a trustworthy & know website to him/her) and provide confidential details like date of birth card details etc in the page of the impersonated website.

Shoulder Surfing: Let’s understand it by an example. Suppose you are into a cyber café. You log in into any of your account online. What if a person behind you sees what you have just typed? Because cyber café is a public place so theirs a huge probability that the password you typed is being noted well by a particular person. This is shoulder surfing.

Dumpster Driving: We regularly throw garbage in the dustbin. Now some people (those hackers or fraudsters) go through one’s thrown garbage to learn personal details as very few people take care to dispose of sensitive documents properly. As I told earlier personal details can lead a way to crack ones password.

Thus a social engineer will go to extreme of extent to obtain personal information. The ways may include the 3 points mentioned above and beyond.

Avoid Shoulder Surfing: Shoulder surfing can easily be avoided by tweaking your password a little bit. To avoid, make sure your password contains atleast a letter both in upper case and lower case or/and include a particular letter or number or symbol twice consecutively. This would prevent others from noting what you have just typed as typing a character twice (or more times) consecutively won’t be easily visible or noticeable to the fraudster or hacker.