Saturday, 26 February 2011

How to protect your computer from hackers and viruses

The Computer has become an essential part of our life in this modern age. More than 65% of world population is now using computers. A hacker is a person who will try to enter into your computer and try to steal the information in it.

Once you connect to the internet through your computer, it is possible for other people in the internet to have access to your computer. Hackers will always try to attack your computer if you are connected to internet. Hackers normally try to collect your personal information like bank account passwords, by creating virus softwares to damage your computers.

But if you take a few steps to protect your computer from these kind of hackers and viruses, you are safe and your data is safe. Let us see the ways in which you can protect your computer.

Use Firewall: A firewall can be a software or a hardware which can protect your computers from hackers and virus and malwares. So you can use firewall so that it prevents others to access your computer.

Use Anti Virus softwares: Installing a good anti virus software is a must to protect your computers from malwares. Windows 7 does not have any in-built anti virus programs. You have to install an anti virus yourself.

The viruses or worms or trojan horses are the softwares created by hackers. These programs use the internet as the medium to infect and damage other computers connected to internet. The trojan horses normally hide inside a program like games, or screen savers. Trojan horses are very dangerous and can completely erase the hard disk or disable your computer.

The anti virus softwares scan the email attachments and other files in your computer from virus, worms, trojan horses. If any virus is found, the anti virus software will either isolates it, or deletes it completely so that the files in your computer are not damaged.

The most popular anti virus programs are given below:

1. AVG anti virus - This is a very nice anti virus and is completely free
2. Avast anti virus - This is also a nice one and is free
3. Norton anti virus - This is not a free version, but you need to buy it.

Every day new viruses are being identified, so it is very important that you should install an anti virus program which automatically updates itself every day.

Update Windows automatically: Microsoft regularly gives important updates to Windows which are needed to protect your computer against new virus and threats. It is better to turn on automatic updating so that you receive these updates from Microsoft so that your computer is safe. The updates are automatically downloaded when ever you are connected to the internet.

Always use standard user account: There are three types of user accounts in your computer -- Standard, administrator and guest account. It is always better to use standard user account for normal working like internet browsing etc. This is because even if the hackers gain access to your computer, then cannot tamper with the security settings or change other user accounts. So your computer is more secure if you use the standard user account. You can use the administrator account if you want to make some changes to the security settings, or some important activity.

Install only trusted softwares: Please do not install the software that you are not sure of. It is better to install softwares from popular sites like Microsoft, Adobe etc.

Thanks & Regards,

"Remember Me When You Raise Your Hand For Dua"
Raheel Ahmed Khan
System Engineer
send2raheel@engineer.com
sirraheel@gmail.com

http://raheel-mydreamz.blogspot.com/
http://raheeldreamz.wordpress.com/

Antivirus: How it works?

Yesterday just installed a new antivirus Total Internet Security 2010 Quick Heal to prevent viruses on computer. I thought how many people know how it works? So I decided to write an article on this methods of work and it is here. Antivirus software can be defined as software that we use to remove computer viruses and malicious code from the computer. There are basically two approaches when the operation of an antivirus program:

1. Virus Directory
2. Suspicious Behaviour

Virus Directory:

In this method, files are scanned when the virus refers to a dictionary containing a list of known virus definitions. If the code matches one of these definitions, then either the file is deleted or moved to quarantine the virus, so that other programs can not access the code.

Because of this reason alone you need to update the virus definitions of your antivirus software regularly. This method is said to be effective, but the developers of viruses are one step ahead. They have developed polymorphic viruses that can encypt its malicious code or modify its code to look like a valid software.

2. Suspicious Behaviour

In this approach, to monitor the behavior of various antivirus programs and whether the software can be found trying to write an executable file is declared as suspect. In this case, the user has called for further action. This approach is very developed compared to the method of the dictionary, because it offers some protection against brand new viruses

But since this gives a lot of virus warnings, the user gets irritated and then accept, in any case. Therefore, this approach has little application. Some other approaches are emulation code at the beginning of each new executable file before running it. If the file is the property of self-change as it is supposed to be a virus.

Issues:

Method to encrypt the malicious softare struck antivirus market dramatically by using it you can easily spread.The viruses known solution is to educate people about the safe use and practices that carry unknown software to control. Sometimes, I doubt that these antivirus companies have even spread of the virus and find solutions. Do not you think? Anyway keep your computer and a final question: Would you still buy an antivirus?

This is the list of the top 20 antivirus applications

01. Kaspersky version 7.0.0.43 beta
02. Kaspersky version 6.0.2.614
03. Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.308
04. ZoneAlarm with KAV Antivirus version 7.0.337.000
05. F-Secure 2007 version 7.01.128
06. BitDefender Professional version 10
07. BullGuard version 7.0.0.23
08. Ashampoo version 1.30
09. eScan version 8.0.671.1
10. Nod32 version 2.70.32
11. CyberScrub version 1.0
12. Avast Professional version 4.7.986
13. AVG Anti-Malware version 7.5.465
14. F-Prot version 6.0.6.4
15. McAfee Enterprise version 8.5.0i+AntiSpyware module
16. Panda 2007 version 2.01.00
17. Norman version 5.90.37
18. ArcaVir 2007
19. McAfee version 11.0.213
20. Norton Professional 2007

How to keep computer data safe?

You might be obsessed with online threats. Here I give to ideas to defense your computer threats.

Follow the steps...easy and simple:-

step-1 :-

update your operating software (OS)

Whether you use the windows or Mac operating system, you must update it regularly to improve your computers defense mechanism. How will you do that?
Okay I tell you. On your PC go to 'windows Update' under the 'start' icon and click to install all security related updates. This was in windows. Now it's for Mac... Go to 'Software Update' in your system preferences like OS X or under control panelsthat is OS 9. You must set the features to update automatically each week.

step-2 :-

Install a firewall

If you don't have firewall then hackers can enter your computer. I suggest you best idea when ever your computer accesses the web an alarm that is Zone Alarm will warn you. It is trail to use.http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/home.htm?lid=en-us

step-3 :-

Install antivirus software

Antivirus is must. You need the most up to date antivirus programs not to infect your hard drive and your emails. There are many antivirus types of software available in the market. Go for the branded one and don't download through net. Always buy from market (shop). Run the software weekly.

step-4:-

Remove spyware

Spyware enters your computer when you are online and reports your activities to companies that then try to sell your products. To remove spyware download an anti-spyware program and run the program daily.

step-5:-

change web browser

I said you to change web browser because viruses that enters your computer through internet explorer can do serious damage. So, use Firefox which is free to download or you can go for others who don't have much virus attack.

In this way you can shield your home computer from online threats in easier way you have ever thought of.

Tips for accessing the Windows XP operating system

The principle of accessing data from another computer or from server computer in an unauthorized manner involves certain steps and configuration settings that can be carried out with the support of the third party softwares. The Third party software requires certain configuration settings and they have some requirements according to which the hardware and software settings of system could match the settings of the third party software. For example- Some external softwares are blocked by the windows firewall or anti-virus softwares. Therefore, firstly close the parallel running applications at the time of installation of this third party software pack because many of the security software consider it as a tool trying to access your system in an unauthorized manner and do not allow it to install in the system.

The common issue that occurs during the installation of this software packs are configuration settings which I have discussed above. So, disable the softwares which does not allow its entry and then reinstall them again and once this third party software is installed in the system then you can moves further for another steps which is discussed below-

When the windows is in working state then you can easily reset the password but in this article, I am not talking about accessing the system with reference of changed password but I am concerned with the type of access which does not involves the interaction with the user accounts authentication. Such type of access can be carried out without changing of account password and all you have to do is to get the access of the physical disk drive of system such that the booting priority of the system must be CD/DVD.

After that download the third party supportive software in the system and then unzip the files and then you are provided with the file of extension ISO and burn that file using any burning program and restart your system after setting the CD/DVD on the first priority booting mode which will show you notification of windows setup that will load files in the system when you restart your system.
Once you have completed loading of the files using that windows setup then burning files will be recognized by the system, the setup files of third party software will also be recognized by the system and then Press ‘R’ key to install the third party software.

Then Backup the file sfcfiles.dll from the system and after that copy the accessed file into system32 folder using the command line interface which makes use of the DOS commands and then type exit on the DOS shell to reboot the system again.

Once the system is rebooted then you will be provided with the password field in third party software in which you are now with the password option and you can set the password of your own choice and then select the graphic option to go to password option field and then note the default password and then click on Ok to access the windows XP operating system.

Moreover, one thing to be noted is that, I have mentioned one basic method of accessing the Windows XP OS which I know, there are so many other techniques as well but for that you must know how to interface with command line interface.

Different ways to lock/hide your folders without using any software.

Here i am going to show you some tricks by using which anyone can easily hide their important or personal informations(folders). Although we have a number of softwares to provide the security to informations. But here i am going to show you something new and cool for which you do not need any software.

1. By using command prompt:

It is very simple trick just follow the instructions and you can easily hide your folders.
1. Goto Run type "cmd"
2. Specified the Drive(c,d,e), where your folder is located, you can
change your drive by using "cd\" then "d:"
3. Type "attrib new folder +s +h" press Enter. Here i have supposed my
folder name as "new folder" so i have used this. you can use your
folder name which you want to have safe and secure.
4. Thus your folder will be invisible for all.
5. To get it back just type "attrib new folder -s -h"
6. Please ignore quotation mark.

2. By using Locker:

Here you can make your own lock under which your folder will be fully protected from anyone else it is very easy and simple to do but it gives you high security for your folder.
Open notepad paste the code "ren tech.{0000031D-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" ,save it as unlock.bat.Again repeat the same for the code "ren tech tech.{0000031D-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" ,save it as lock.bat.Now put the both folder lock and unlock with your folder inside the new folder now you are ready to lock and unlock.

3. By making your folder invisible for all:

Create a folder and rename it by pressing "Alt+0160" the folder will be of no name now change the property of the folder and use the folder icon "Empty Place"
thus, your invisible folder is ready you can hide anything in this folder and nobody can see or open your folders.

5 essential tips to protect your Laptop

Now days the theft of laptops has been very serious issue, It is common nowadays to use a laptop for work away from home or office. Unfortunately, the mobility and technology that made the laptops easy to carry and handle to its owner as well as the thefts around the world.
If your laptop is stolen, the personal informations will be exposed to that thieve and he may use your information for illegal works.

In this article I'll give you 5 essential tips to keep your laptop more secure.

Keep your password safe : Never leave any of your passwords on the box / bag where you keep the laptop . If you keep your passwords with your laptop is like leaving the keys attached to the car. Remember that without your passwords, it will be difficult to open your computer and access your personal information.

Always keep your laptop with you: The theft of a laptop is a crime of opportunity. Always take your computer with you, take a look regularly. For example, if you're meeting someone, you leave your laptop in a safe place and out of sight. The farther the better, try not to leave your laptop in an accessible area, such as a hotel desk. If you have a safe or a safety cable to use it.
Encrypt your data : Do you have sensitive data in your laptop? Encrypt it. If someone gets your laptop and have access to your files, Data encryption can give you an extra layer of protection because, the thieves can not see Encrypted data they can see the data in cryptographic texts. Only you can decrypt the data and get back if it needed. Encryption softwares such as TrueCrypt, Steganos Safe, do the job very easy and they also comply with the highest data encryption standards. Windows users can use the encrypted file system (EFS) to encrypt files and folders.
Password protects your systems : Every laptop user should protect their laptop with passwords launch. Put the BIOS password to lock the system before the OS even begins, If the Operating system starts then the thieve easily crack the password. But you have to note down that password if in future you lost your password then its very difficult to get back the password. Its very hard to get information saved in Password protected laptops are hard to Windows users can set a password to start Windows. Remember that passwords launch prohibit any access to the computer at all (in theory).
Choose a good password - uses letters, numbers and ASCII characters. Difficult to guess the only way to avoid thieves guess your password. If your laptop has biometric authentication, you must use your fingerprint instead of a password.
laptop theft tracking software:If the worst happens and your laptop was stolen, It would be great to get it back? You should know how to recover stolen laptop, how to trace/locate stolen laptop with stolen laptop tracking softwares. There are many companies who provides laptop theft tracking software (Laptop anti theft softwares )which allows the stolen laptop to send its location (for example, LaptopLock, Security Suite etc.) This will help us to locate stolen laptop. Unfortunately, It also has a drawback such as, these programs work only when the computer laptop connects to the Internet.

Keep in mind these 5 Essential Tips will save your laptops from laptop thieves.

What are the types of computer virus?

Types of Computer Virus:

A computer Virus is known as the abbreviation for the word "Vital Information Resource Under Siege". It has nothing to do with the medical terminology of Virus we read in medical sciences. The computer Virus has got multiple definitions like for example, Trojans or Tracking cookies etc. In this article, we will discuss about the various definitions that a Computer Virus can have.

1. Adware: This is a program installed in your computer without your consent. This program is used for collecting data about your Internet browsing in your computer. Using the data on your Internet browsing, this Adware will start exhibiting various advertisements depending on your taste. The trouble will not end here; this program will occupy much needed Hard Disk space and CPU's activities of our computer. Programs like "Tracking Cookies" will be classifiable under this category.

2. Backdoor Santa: While using Internet, you will identify many programs in there and will download the same and start using it. During such installation, the same program you have downloaded will be collecting data about your computer usage, the Websites you frequently visit and the items you buy through Internet etc. without your knowledge. You may not aware that the program you are using is still performing such stupid tasks. Programs like "Alexa" and "Hotbar" are classifiable under this category. If you happen to see any of these Tool bars in your Web browser, then it is sure that Backdoor Santa is available in your computer. Immediately you should use the following option in your Control Panel viz., Add/Remove Programs and remove it.

3. BHO or Browser Helper Object: This browser helper object program will start, once you open your web browser. Some of the BHOs are helpful to us. But many of the BHOs will redirect your browser to some of the worst adult sites in the web world. If this program hijacks your computer, then your computer will slow down. Some of the Trojan Viruses can use this BHOs to finish their task.

4. Blended Threat: The attack from these types of program will be worst and intolerable for your computer. This program will function as a combination of a Virus and a Worm. This program will also spread Virus through E-mails. One of such attack is named as "Nimda". This program will propagate Virus in connected computers at a faster rate.

5. Botnets: When a Network of computers have been captured by hackers, they are called as "Botnets". Hackers can control these computers as per their whims and fancies. This network will function as "robot network" in the hands of hackers. Therefore, they are called as "Botnets".

6. Browser Hijacker: This program will hijack you while browsing Internet from the websites you are visiting to the websites from which this virus was fired. We can't come back to our previous websites since the browser will be under hijack. This program will also change, the browser settings of our Internet browser also. Even if we try to manually reset the browser settings, this program will change it including the Homepage settings of our web browser.

7. Adware Cookies: Generally, cookies are known as small files installed by some of the websites for enhance our browsing experience of their websites. These cookies are generally used for sending your computer information to the websites concerned. However, some of the websites install "Adware tracking Cookies" in your computer. This Adware tracking Cookies" will send the data about the tasks you undertake in the Internet to the original website. Based on this data, the original website will be disturbing you with many advertisements once you open your web browser. At the same time, we can't conclude that Adware Cookies are that much harmful to the computers but however, it will definitely slowdown your computer.

8. Dialers: This program is a smaller software program. This program will dial up through our modem and will lead you to many unwanted adult websites, without our consent. Mostly, these programs will connect you to the adult websites only. This Virus is known to attack only those who have Internet connection through telephone connection. Though, in India, we have mostly telephonic Internet connection, these type of Virus attacks are known very less.

9. Grayware: This programs is not known as a destructive one to be deleted from your computer, however, it can slowdown our work or it can damage our current task in the computer. Hence it is aptly called as Grayware. Even, we can classify the above Adware Tracking Cookies and Dialers in this category also.

10. Keyloggers: This programs will record all your key movements from the keyboard of your computer to the creators of the program through Internet. We can also use this program to trace out what are the softwares used in our computers by our children, which are all the websites our children visit in our computer etc. In some of the organizations, they use this type of programs to trace out the activities of their employees in computer. Some of the Keyloggers programs are available as free program in the Internet and some others are paid ones.

11. Malware: This is an abbreviation for the word "Malicious Software". All programs which are downloaded in our computer and installed and which do more harm to our computer are called Malwares.

12. Stalking Horse: This program will stay with some of the most popular programs in our computer as leech stays with our body. It will announce that the program has been added for the enhancement of that popular program. But it will track our tasks in the Internet and notify the same to the creators of the program and will also send us unwanted advertisements while we browse the Internet.

World's fastest Super Computer developed by China

China has finally over taken USA in the field of computing. The World's fastest Super Computer was Cray XT5 located in USA till now was able to perform 1.75 pataflops of data at a time ( 1.75 trillion operations per second).

The new Super Computer of China, Tianhe-1A has now over taken the speed of Cray XT5 and this new super computer from China can perform 2.507 petaflops of data which is equal to 2.507 trillion calculations per second. So Tianhe-1A is 40% more faster compared to Cray XT05 super computer.

Tianhe-1A is named after a milky way. Tianhe-1A was developed by Chinese National University of Defense Technology and it was revealed to the general public in October,2009 and it was ranked as World's fifth fastest super computer at that time. Today it is the World's fastest Super Computer. The speed of Tianhe-1A in the beginning was 563 teraflops and today it can perform 2.507 petaflops per second.

What is there in World's fastest Super computer

Tianhe-1A Super Computer is running on Linux Operating System. The Super Computer is equipped with 14,336 Xeon X5670 processors and 7,168 Nvidia Tesla M2050 GPUs (General Purpose CPUs). 2,048 NUDT FT1000 heterogeneous processors are also installed in this Super Computer. The total power consumption of Tianhe-1A Super Computer is around 4.04 Mega Watts. The total area covered by this Super Computer is more than one third of an acre (17,000 Square Feet). The size of this Super Computer is more than 100 fridge-sized computer racks and together they weigh more than 155 tonnes.

Research is going on to build super computers which are much faster than Tianhe-1A in USA and Japan. Already five new super computes are being built by USA and Japan which are four times faster than Tianhe-1A.

Friday, 25 February 2011

Three Reasons Many Businesses Now Favor Windows 7

Nearly forty-two percent of businesses now favor Windows 7 as an OS, and with the continual improvements to this software as a whole, it’s certainly not hard to see why. Still out of the Windows 7 loop? Here are the three top reasons many businesses are turning to this platform over every other choice.
IT Departments See Windows 7 As A Stable Platform.
Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 has had rave reviews since it came out. Many IT departments see this reception as a positive sign, especially if they’re still running on XP. Because the operating system has maintained those positive reviews for the past several months, more and more businesses are inclined to upgrade to this platform than they were with Windows Vista.
Windows 7 offers the same code base for both the server and the client, and that’s a real plus for understaffed IT departments.
It’s a bonus for Microsoft as well because it means simplified testing, and for business customers, it spells a simplified maintenance plan, which is a must in today’s already stretched climate. One service pack works for both the server and the client when it comes to updates, and what business isn’t looking to simplify IT?
Slow starts are a thing of the past.
What hampered Vista was the sheer size of the OS itself. Microsoft took its time developing Windows 7 to help slim things down and ensure compatibility at every turn. Moreover, they updated the Service Control Manager so that activities like joining and Active Directory domain are possible instead of making everything start as soon as the machine is turned on.
The bottom line is that businesses that did upgrade to Vista found disappointment on a routine basis, and those that didn’t seriously need an update from XP systems. Fortunately, Windows 7 seems to serve the needs of both parties quite well.

Thanks & Regards,

"Remember Me When You Raise Your Hand For Dua"
Raheel Ahmed Khan
System Engineer
send2raheel@engineer.com
sirraheel@gmail.com

http://raheel-mydreamz.blogspot.com/
http://raheeldreamz.wordpress.com/

Toshiba launches dual-touch screen mini laptop

Toshiba has launched a new dual-screen, touch-screen mini laptop designed for surfing the internet, sending and receiving emails and keeping up to speed with social networking sites on the move.
The Libretto W100 runs Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system, and has two 7in, LED-backlit touch-screens. Toshiba says its compact size and clamshell form factor provides "unrivalled flexibility".
"One screen can be used for content creation, like Word documents or emails, while the other could be used to browse the web, social networks or multimedia programs," said Toshiba, the company that invented the laptop 25 years ago. "Additionally, the device can also be used vertically thanks to an integrated accelerometer."
Users type on a virtual keyboard, which boasts hectic feedback to provide a physical sense of keys being pressed. The Libretto W100 uses an Intel processor and a 62GB solid state drive to store applications, documents and movies, photos and music. It features integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and there is also a 3G version that will enable users to surf the web using the mobile phone network.
Incomparable Performance

Toshiba also unveiled two other new laptops, the Portege R700 and AC100. The R700 is a lightweight laptop with a 13in screen, which uses a new cooling system to ensure it doesn't overheat, while the AC100 is only 14mm thick and runs Google's Android operating system. Toshiba said it could boot up in less than a second, allowing users to get online quickly and easily.
All three new laptops will go on sale next month. Toshiba has not yet confirmed pricing details for any of the devices.
The Toshiba Libretto W100 is an innovative little computer which is either a dual screen tablet or a mini-laptop with a virtual keyboard instead of a physical one, depending on how you look at it. Toshiba plans to offer a limited number of the devices soon, but right now it’s only available in Japan — unless you’re willing to drop $1400 to order a unit from Conics, a retailer that specializes in exporting Asian computers to the West.
Mobility Evolved

The folks at Wow Pow managed to get their hands on a unit from Conics, with the Japanese operating system converted to English. The site has the first unboxing video for the Libretto W100 that I’ve seen. There are also a couple of video overviews of the device. You can check out all the videos after the break.
As a quick refresher, the Toshiba Libretto W100 has two 7 inch capacitive touchscreen displays with resolutions of 1024 x 600 pixels. It has a 1.2GHz Intel Pentium U5400 processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory, and a 62GB solid state disk. The device supports 802.11b/g/n WiFi, WiMAX, and Bluetooth and has a webcam, USB port, microSD card slot, and comes with 2 or 4 hour batteries. It weighs just over 1.5 pounds.
Probably one of the most interesting things Toshiba has done with this device is give it several different virtual keyboards, allowing you to hold it in two hands and type with your thumbs or place it on a tablet and treat it like a traditional laptop. You can see more about the virtual keyboards in my first look video.
The list price is expected to be around $1100, but Conics charges a premium for exporting the tablet from Japan. There’s no word on when the Libretto W100 will officially launch in the US.

Thanks & Regards,

"Remember Me When You Raise Your Hand For Dua"
Raheel Ahmed Khan
System Engineer
send2raheel@engineer.com
sirraheel@gmail.com

http://raheel-mydreamz.blogspot.com/
http://raheeldreamz.wordpress.com/

Google launches its latest smart phone Nexus S

The internet giant Google Inc has declared the launch of its latest smart phone, Nexus S, and the new version of its popular Android smart phone operating system, Gingerbread.
The new Google Nexus S smart phone is manufactured by world's second largest mobile phone maker, Samsung. The new phone offers unique feature, Near Field Communication, which helps users to make a payment by waving a device over an electronic reader.
Features of Google's Nexus phone
The Nexus S smart phone runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and is powered by 1 GHz Hummingbird processor. It comes with a massive 4-inch WVGA touch screen display and a 5 mega pixel camera with LED flash. The front facing VGA camera offers video calling facility.
This new phone offers 512 MB RAM and 16GB internal memory with micro SD support up to 32 GB. The new Gingerbread OS makes this phone one of the fastest device in the handset market.
Other features include Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, Internet Calling and copy-and-paste functions.
Google's next incarnation includes several enhancements over the original version, including front and rear-facing cameras and a "contour display" aimed at fitting comfortably in the palm of the hand and on the side of the face. It also includes 16GB of memory and support for NFC (near-field communication).
Other features include HD video recording and playback; Bluetooth support; Gryoscope, accelerometer and proximity sensors; and 802.11n support.
"As part of the Nexus brand, Nexus S delivers what we call a "pure Google" experience: unlocked, unfiltered access to the best Google mobile services and the latest and greatest Android releases and updates," VP of engineering Andy Rubin said in a blog post.
Unbeknown to most consumers, Android actually leads a double life. Devices like the Nexus S are built "with Google," meaning they show off all of the capabilities of a free open-source Android operating system, but polished up with all of Google's specialty services that aren't open source. The far more common versions of Android are based on the open source branch and given the stamp of the OEM or the carrier. Carriers have increasingly begun to exert their own control over these devices, either locking out standard functionality or worse yet replacing Google's own services with those of its competitors.
Price
The Nexus S will sell for $199 with a two-year service contract through T-Mobile here in the US beginning December 16. It will also be offered without a contract for $529. Either way, Google has hopes that the second personification does a whole lot better than the first.
Google offered the Nexus One both as its second testing tool for its Android development partners, and as a regular consumer smart phone. It is believed that the Nexus One only sold about 100,000 units, and much of the blame for its poor sales could be Google's own strategy. Rather than sell it through a carrier, the company exclusively sold the Nexus One through its own Web-based store for most of its lifespan. Google shut down that Web-based store last May.

Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2011

Thought you might want to share this opportunity with CS colleges & universities as Google offers stipends for approved/shortlisted summer projects around open source. This year's program has been announced [ detailed timeline ]. If you can help me paste posters in local CS colleges/universities, I can try to fetch some collateral from the GSoC team as well.

Just FYI, This will be the 7th year for Google Summer of Code, an innovative program dedicated to introducing students from colleges and universities around the world to open source software development. The program offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects with the help of mentoring organizations from all around the globe. Over the past 6 years Google Summer of Code has had 4,500 students from over 85 countries complete the program. We are excited to announce that we will extend the scope of the program this year by targeting a 25% increase in accepted student applications as well as accepting a larger number of mentoring organizations. Our goal is to help these students pursue academic challenges over the summer break while they create and release open source code for the benefit of all.

Spread the word to your friends! If you know of a university student that would be interested in working on open source projects this summer, or if you know of an organization that might want to mentor students to work on their open source projects, please direct them to our Google Summer of Code 2011 website where they can find our timeline along with the FAQs.

Thursday, 24 February 2011

Direct Offline Installer Download Links For Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 RTM

Much awaited and anticipated RTM version of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is now available for download, the update is now being pushed to users via Windows Update and is also available as standalone offline installer for mass deployment - direct download links are posted at the end of this post.
Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is an update that does the following:

Helps keep PCs supported.
Provides ongoing improvement to the operating system, by including previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to the Windows 7 platform based on customer and partner feedback.
Makes it easy for organizations to deploy a single set of updates.

Windows 7 SP1 Changes :

Additional support for communication with third-party federation services : Additional support has been added to allow Windows 7 clients to effectively communicate with third-party identity federation services (those supporting the WS-Federation passive profile protocol). This change enhances platform interoperability, and improves the ability to communicate identity and authentication information between organizations.
Improved HDMI audio device performance : A small percentage of users have reported issues in which the connection between computers running Windows 7 and HDMI audio devices can be lost after system reboots. Updates have been incorporated into SP1 to ensure that connections between Windows 7 computers and HDMI audio devices are consistently maintained.
Corrected behavior when printing mixed-orientation XPS documents : Prior to the release of SP1, some customers have reported difficulty when printing mixed-orientation XPS documents (documents containing pages in both portrait and landscape orientation) using the XPS Viewer, resulting in all pages being printed entirely in either portrait or landscape mode. This issue has been addressed in SP1, allowing users to correctly print mixed-orientation documents using the XPS Viewer.
Change to behavior of “Restore previous folders at logon” functionality : SP1 changes the behavior of the “Restore previous folders at logon” function available in the Folder Options Explorer dialog. Prior to SP1, previous folders would be restored in a cascaded position based on the location of the most recently active folder. That behavior changes in SP1 so that all folders are restored to their previous positions.
Enhanced support for additional identities in RRAS and IPsec : Support for additional identification types has been added to the Identification field in the IKEv2 authentication protocol. This allows for a variety of additional forms of identification (such as E-mail ID or Certificate Subject) to be used when performing authentication using the IKEv2 protocol.
Support for Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) : There has always been a growing need for ever more computing power and as usage models change, processors instruction set architectures evolve to support these growing demands. Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) is a 256 bit instruction set extension for processors. AVX is designed to allow for improved performance for applications that are floating point intensive. Support for AVX is a part of SP1 to allow applications to fully utilize the new instruction set and register extensions.
Improved Support for Advanced Format (512e) Storage Devices : SP1 introduces a number of key enhancements to improve support of recently introduced storage devices with a 4KB physical sector size (commonly referred to as "Advanced Format"). These enhancements include functionality fixes, improved performance, and updated storage drivers which provide applications the ability to retrieve information as to the physical sector size of storage device. More information on these enhancements is detailed in Microsoft KB 982018.

NOTE There are no build-to-build upgrades for the SP1 beta, Release Candidate (RC) or Release to Manufacturing (RTM). If you have installed the beta or RC of SP1, you must uninstall it first through the Control Panel and then install the RTM.

Windows 7 SP1 RTM Direct Standalone Installer Download Links :

Eight Tips To Recession Proof Your PR Career

With the world slowing turning into recession, companies cutting costs and unemployment rising, it is quite difficult to sustain a career.

Speak up: Talk with your immediate supervisor or other higher-ups if you have any concerns about the future of the company or your career direction. Conversations of this kind reflect a sincere interest in the well-being of the company, as well as your own future. Don’t be afraid to do some independent research and to ask tough questions, such as “what’s being done to safeguard the future of the company and ensure continued success?”
Stay visible: Your instinct may be to lay low during a recession, but that’s the last thing you should do. In uncertain times, you want to make your presence known by showcasing your value to the organization and being an active team player.
Perfect your skill set: To boost your market value, keep your skills up to date. Investment in your education, whether its earning a more advanced degree or taking training courses to stay on top of the latest technology and corporate trends, will give you lifelong skills. They will help you do your job better and make you more marketable if you should need or want to switch careers in the future.
Make a positive impact on the bottom line: Employers increasingly view their staff as “mini- profit-and-loss centers rather than just as employees,” notes Careerbuilder.com. So, ask yourself how your projects and initiatives are benefiting the company. If they are not contributing in some measurable way, reevaluate your job-preservation strategy.
Network: Studies show that building rapport with past and current colleagues is one of the easiest, yet most often overlooked, ways to stay on the right track. Networking can be especially valuable in a sluggish market, so now is the ideal time to strengthen your relationship with co-workers, clients, and vendors. And given the proliferation of web-based media and digital communications, it’s easier than ever before. Social networking counts: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are there for you to leverage.
Stay positive: By keeping a level head and a positive outlook, you are better able to fulfill your responsibilities to your organization. And by projecting optimism and confidence, you will be someone whom other people desire being around.
Prepare mentally: Since things can take a turn for the worse without warning, it pays to develop a realistic back-up plan before the situation calls for one.
Step up to new possibilities: When opportunity knocks, welcome it. Because you’ll be in a better position to gain from opportunities if you’re prepared for them, you should take the time now to beef up your résumé, look for freelance projects, and consider alternate routes for traveling along your career path. Every step you make to empower yourself is a step in the right direction.

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

How to Improve Your Memory & Exercise Your Brain

Everyone can take steps to improve their memory, and with time and practice most people can gain the ability to memorize seemingly impossible amounts of information. Whether you want to win the World Memory Championships, ace your history test, or simply remember where you put your keys, this article can get you started. Scientists believe that exercising your brain can create a ‘cognitive reserve’ that will help you stay sharp as you age.

1. Convince yourself that you do have a good memory that will improve. Too many people get stuck here and convince themselves that their memory is bad, that they are just not good with names, that numbers just slip out of their minds for some reason. Erase those thoughts and vow to improve your memory. Commit yourself to the task and bask in your achievements — it’s hard to keep motivated if you beat yourself down every time you make a little bit of progress.

2. Keep your brain active. The brain is not a muscle, but regularly “exercising” the brain actually does keep it growing and spurs the development of new nerve connections that can help improve memory. By developing new mental skills—especially complex ones such as learning a new language or learning to play a new musical instrument—and challenging your brain with puzzles and games you can keep your brain active and improve its physiological functioning.

3. Exercise daily. Regular aerobic exercise improves circulation and efficiency throughout the body, including in the brain, and can help ward off the memory loss that comes with aging. Exercise also makes you more alert and relaxed, and can thereby improve your memory uptake, allowing you to take better mental “pictures.”

4. Reduce stress. Chronic stress, although it does not physically damage the brain, can make remembering much more difficult. Even temporary stresses can make it more difficult to effectively focus on concepts and observe things. Try to relax, regularly practice yoga or other stretching exercises, and see a doctor if you have severe chronic stress.

5. Eat well and eat right. There are a lot of herbal supplements on the market that claim to improve memory, but none have yet been shown to be effective in clinical tests (although small studies have shown some promising results for ginkgo biloba and phosphatidylserine). A healthy diet, however, contributes to a healthy brain, and foods containing antioxidants—broccoli, blueberries, spinach, and berries, for example—and Omega-3 fatty acids appear to promote healthy brain functioning. Feed your brain with such supplements as Thiamine, Vitamin E, Niacin and Vitamin B-6. Grazing, eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day instead of 3 large meals, also seems to improve mental functioning (including memory) by limiting dips in blood sugar, which may negatively affect the brain.

6. Take better pictures. Often we forget things not because our memory is bad, but rather because our observational skills need work. One common situation where this occurs (and which almost everyone can relate to) is meeting new people. Often we don’t really learn people’s names at first because we aren’t really concentrating on remembering them. You’ll find that if you make a conscious effort to remember such things, you’ll do much better. One way to train yourself to be more observant is to look at an unfamiliar photograph for a few seconds and then turn the photograph over and describe or write down as many details as you can about the photograph. Try closing your eyes and picturing the photo in your mind. Use a new photograph each time you try this exercise, and with regular practice you will find you’re able to remember more details with even shorter glimpses of the photos.

7. Give yourself time to form a memory. Memories are very fragile in the short-term, and distractions can make you quickly forget something as simple as a phone number. The key to avoid losing memories before you can even form them is to be able to focus on the thing to be remembered for a while without thinking about other things, so when you’re trying to remember something, avoid distractions and complicated tasks for a few minutes.

8. Create vivid, memorable images. You remember information more easily if you can visualize it. If you want to associate a child with a book, try not to visualize the child reading the book – that’s too simple and forgettable. Instead, come up with something more jarring, something that sticks, like the book chasing the child, or the child eating the book. It’s your mind – make the images as shocking and emotional as possible to keep the associations strong.

9. Repeat things you need to learn. The more times you hear, see, or think about something, the more surely you’ll remember it, right? It’s a no-brainer. When you want to remember something, be it your new coworker’s name or your best friend’s birthday, repeat it, either out loud or silently. Try writing it down; think about it.

10. Group things you need to remember. Random lists of things (a shopping list, for example) can be especially difficult to remember. To make it easier, try categorizing the individual things from the list. If you can remember that, among other things, you wanted to buy four different kinds of vegetables, you’ll find it easier to remember all four.

11. Organize your life. Keep items that you frequently need, such as keys and eyeglasses, in the same place every time. Use an electronic organizer or daily planner to keep track of appointments, due dates for bills, and other tasks. Keep phone numbers and addresses in an address book or enter them into your computer or cell phone. Improved organization can help free up your powers of concentration so that you can remember less routine things. Even if being organized doesn’t improve your memory, you’ll receive a lot of the same benefits (i.e. you won’t have to search for your keys anymore).

12. Try meditation. Research now suggests that people who regularly practice “mindfulness” meditation are able to focus better and may have better memories. Mindfulness (also known as awareness or insight meditation) is the type commonly practiced in Western countries and is easy to learn. Studies at Massachusetts General Hospital show that regular meditation thickens the cerebral cortex in the brain by increasing the blood flow to that region. Some researchers believe this can enhance attention span, focus, and memory.

13. Sleep well. The amount of sleep we get affects the brain’s ability to recall recently learned information. Getting a good night’s sleep – a minimum of seven hours a night – may improve your short-term memory and long-term relational memory, according to recent studies conducted at the Harvard Medical School.

14. Build your memorization arsenal. Learn pegs, memory palaces, and the Dominic System. These techniques form the foundation for mnemonic techniques, and will visibly improve your memory.

15. Venture out and learn from your mistakes. Go ahead and take a stab at memorizing the first one hundred digits of pi, or, if you’ve done that already, the first one thousand. Memorize the monarchs of England through your memory palaces, or your grocery list through visualization. Through diligent effort you will eventually master the art of memorization.

Microsoft demos 3D photo avatars, display tech

Microsoft has taken the wraps off some of the natural user interface (NUI) projects currently in development within its research group.
As a follow-up to a NUI-centric and Kinect SDK TechForum event yesterday, the company today posted videos of 3D talking heads, as well as new initiatives in smart displays--both of which make use of camera technologies to create new types of interaction experiences.
The first is an evolution of Microsoft's face-mapping technology, that is soon to be introduced as part of the Xbox 360's Avatar Kinect feature. Instead of mapping facial movements to a virtual character though, the technology grabs a 2D, high-quality video of a person from a Webcam (or Kinect) and maps it onto a 3D facial mesh model. The end result is a 3D face that can track speech or head movements it picks up on camera and display it back on the 3D avatar.
In the demo, Microsoft Research principal researcher Zhengyou Zang demonstrates that you can take that model and have it play back any text as well:

The other set of demos feature a number of smart display technologies. These get shown off by Steven Bathiche, who is Microsoft's director of the applied sciences group and the co-inventor of Microsoft Surface. Bathiche demos the company's efforts to track movements on top of surfaces using camera systems that are mounted above a computing area. This is combined with a surface computing system so that users can interact with the same system using either interface.
Bathiche also demos a company prototype that makes use of "wedge lenses" that can pick up activity above a surface using cameras that are mounted below a flat screen (as opposed to above it in the previous example). Those same wedges can be used to transmit light back out the other way as two separate images to create an auto-stereoscopic image; this allows for glasses-free 3D in displays.
The wedge technology can also be combined with head tracking from Kinect to determine where users are situated in front of a panel. This has led to two advances in the displays, Bathiche notes. The first is that you can set the system up to recognize if there are two viewers and offer them different angles of the same image. The second, is that you can dial that control up even higher, and give each player a different image on the same display, as some TV manufacturers like Vizio have implemented (though with glasses).
You can see examples of this in action, along with a demo of head tracking being used to mimic the experience of looking out of a window while viewing an LCD display in the below video:

In a separate video about the projects, Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer for Microsoft, described them as part of one of the biggest shifts in the evolution of computing.
"Computing is becoming more invisible. It isn't in things you call 'computers' anymore, you call them something else," Mundie said. "If we want to bring the benefits of computing to literally billions of more people, and in many many other parts of their lives, we've got to make it a lot easier for them. We've got to, in essence, get rid of the learning curve."

Thanks & Regards,

"Remember Me When You Raise Your Hand For Dua"
Raheel Ahmed Khan
System Engineer
send2raheel@engineer.com
sirraheel@gmail.com

http://raheel-mydreamz.blogspot.com/
http://raheeldreamz.wordpress.com/

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

7 killer feature hacks for Google Chrome

Google Chrome is almost famed for its simplicity in design and feature set. Though it looks and feels basic in aesthetics, it runs faster and set to be even quicker next release than any other browser. Don’t be fooled: it is just as customisable and packed fulled of features as its rivals.
And with that, it is the upcoming star of the browser marketshare, set to take on both Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer by force in the coming year or so.
But there is more under Chrome’s bonnet than most people think.

Some of these tweaks will make your life easier on smaller screen netbook devices, such as being able to shrink all web pages to 83% size to allow you to see everything except scrollbars. Some of these tweaks will allow you to remotely print and synchronise your bookmarks, applications, plugins and setting across multiple computers.
Either way, these tweaks should help you get the most of Chrome. Most of it is already there, you just have to discover it.

Gallery
To check out the 7 killer feature hacks to Google Chrome, from auto-incognito to enabling cloud print and synchronisation across desktops, check out the gallery here.

Monday, 21 February 2011

Microsoft Kinect Hacked To Control TV Without Remote

Dressing Right For The Interview

Not to sound very cliché, but first impression lasts way longer than your first sentence especially if you are going for a job interview. We all ask ourselves if our clothes really make a difference when we know for sure that we are the right candidate for the applied job. The answer is an emphatic ‘yes’, since the first impression you make on the interviewer is going be an important factor in deciding whether or not you will get the job.
People often neglect their outlook when going for an interview, as they do not realize the importance of dressing and the overall outlook in impressing the interviewer. While there is no doubt that your qualification, skills and education are the primary assets that help in getting the required job, it is also true that the way you dress up for an interview will heavily affect your chances of getting the job.
When it comes to appearing for an important job interview, impeccable grooming is a must whether you are applying for a high level managerial post or an entry level position. In fact, your appearance can actually set the tone for the interview in the first few minutes and help the interviewer form an opinion about you, which can enhance or diminish your prospects of bagging the job. You want to demonstrate to your possible superior that you are a person who takes the interview process seriously and that you will be just as serious about your job. The best way to send this message is by showing up to the interview properly dressed up.
According to research, many interviewers make up their minds about you during the first 15 seconds of the meeting. While the job seekers prepare vehemently for the job interview, mastering their tactics, going through the prospective employer and what not, very few people know how to properly dress up for an interview. This is one of the most fatal mistakes a person can make when it comes to mishandling an interview.
Dos and Don’ts of dressing up for an interview
In the wake of the recession, the competition surrounding every job has increased manifolds and one cannot afford to lose points at any given facet. Here are a few things you can do to make sure that when you appear for an interview you are properly dressed and have made no fatal mistakes in that area.
Outfit
The first thing that the interviewer is going to note about you when you enter the room is your dress. For an interview you have to dress professional, even if the company’s general dress code is casual. You cannot show up in jeans and a T shirt and still hope to be taken seriously. Wear a proper suit in muted color tones such as black or grey. Do not choose to wear an odd color since you might end up looking ridiculous. Make sure that the clothes you wear to an interview have been freshly cleaned and are free of wrinkles. Nothing makes a worse impression than wearing an untidy or wrinkled suit to a job interview. Make sure that you pick out which suit or dress you are going to wear to the interview and then get it ironed or dry cleaned, whatever the case may be. Also check to see that none of the shirt buttons are missing and no other repairs are needed. Get the suit ready to be worn, the night before the interview. If your suits are too outdated and are completely in contradiction with the current fashion trends, it is time to invest in a new suit. You have to keep in mind that the investment is totally worth it since it can help in boosting your career. You do not have to go out of the way and buy an expensive piece of clothing, just find something decent and stylish within your price range.
Shoes
Make sure that the shoes that you wear are clean and traditional. Nothing can leave a worse impression than a person wearing dirty shoes to an interview. For women, wearing unprofessional and uneasy shoes gives the wrong signal. When you show up for a job interview, your entire persona should exude professionalism so that the employers get the right message. Wear comfortable yet stylish shoes since you are going to be working for 8 hours straight and your feet need to be the most comfortable.
Hair
Your hair should be freshly washed and neatly styled. Long, open and unruly hair leaves an unprofessional impression. For women, it is ideal to wear their hair up rather than leaving it down, men should trim the hair so that they give a neat and professional impression. It is advised that you give yourself a neat shave in order to create a positive impression on the interviewer.
Perfume
While smelling good is always a plus, make sure that you do not drench yourself in cologne as it can have a detrimental effect. Wearing too much perfume creates an uneasy aura when you are sitting with the interviewer in a closed room. So, it is always better to keep a balanced approached when spraying on the perfume. Moreover make sure that you choose to use a subtle fragrance so that it does not irritate the interviewer.
Jewelry
When it comes to jewelry, simplicity is the way to go. Wearing a lot of ornaments makes you look unprofessional and is distracting for the interviewer. A simple watch and a small pair of earrings is enough. Wear anything else, and you risk ruining your first impression. Also it is better to simply avoid wearing any jewelry, rather than wearing low quality things that ruin your overall look.
Makeup
While wearing makeup to an interview is essential, you have to be very careful regarding how to go about it. Apply minimum makeup since you do not want to show up looking like a fashion model. You have to appear practical in all aspects of your demeanor, so make sure that you apply make up to accentuate your basic features rather than completely going overboard.
Final check
When you are all dressed up and about to leave for the interview, make sure that you check yourself in the mirror from head to toe so that if something is amiss you can fix it before leaving.
Concluding thoughts
Scoring the perfect score in an interview is more than just having the right qualifications. Your personality, dressing sense, the way you talk and the level of confidence you exhibit during the interview, are all very important factors that help the interviewer in deciding your future. So make sure that you are fully prepared to make the best impression as soon as you enter the room. So dress to perfection to score some points with the interviewer right away. However, bear in mind that your dress alone will not do the job; you have to be well prepared and confident during the interview as well.

Thanks & Regards,

"Remember Me When You Raise Your Hand For Dua"
Raheel Ahmed Khan
System Engineer
send2raheel@engineer.com
sirraheel@gmail.com

http://raheel-mydreamz.blogspot.com/
http://raheeldreamz.wordpress.com/

How to select college after matriculation?

Pakistani student face a big problem regarding the selection of college of their choice or which is one of the best for their selected field of study after passing matriculation examination. Selection of a good college is also very much important for quality education as well as the character building of the students. In spite of all these some colleges have very good reputation in the market and their graduates easily got job due to the reputation of their college. In Pakistan students of matriculation doesn’t have lot of information about the best colleges they only know some colleges which are situated nearby their residence.

For getting admission in your favorite college you have to attain good marks in your matriculation exams or O' Level. So work hard in your exams and try to get high marks in examination. So students if you’ve chosen a college for getting admission so you should also work hard to attain high marks so that you can get admission in that college.

So selection of good college needs careful consideration and students should consider following factors while selection.

Reputation and prolonged existence of the college
Faculty Members
Academic program
Acceptability of the students in the job market
Fee structure
Extra curricular activities
Affiliation with and acceptability of the degree by foreign universities
Transportation to the college

Reputation of a college is very much important for selection if a college has good name in the job market due to their quality of education and the better professional development of their students in the job market. Then graduates of that college can get job very easily after their studies.

A very important matter that our students and their parents never consider while selecting a college for admission is the source of transportation for them to reach college. As we know there are always traffic problems on roads of Pakistan and mostly we find huge rush on the roads especially at morning timings. Students who come from distance areas from the college they usually never perform better. There are lots of factors involve of students low performance due to long traveling daily. One of the most important factor is that traveling is also a tiring work and it consume students energy, time factor is also involve students spend lot of time only on traveling and if that time they consume in study or rest that would be very much productive. Students it doesn’t mean that you get admission in a college nearby your home although that is very notorious. Students should consult about it to your elders and make a right decision about it.

Students I’ve mentioned some parameters to choose a college for you after matriculation and you should not consider only one or two factors but all factors are necessary for the selection of best college.

IIS 5.1 XP prof SP2 installing ftp service without windows CD

IIS 5.1 XP prof SP2 installing ftp service without windows CD. Just copy attached compressed file into your drive and follow the steps.

Click on Start, Control Panel and go to Add/Remove Programs. Then click on Add/Remove Windows Components.

In the components wizard, scroll down until you see IIS in the list and check it off. Before you click Next though, make sure you click on Details and then check off File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Service.

Click OK and then click Next. When you are prompted to locate the Windows XP Professional installation.
files, type Drive:\winxp, and then press ENTER.

Windows will go ahead and install the necessary IIS files along with
the FTP service.

Thanks & Regards,

"Remember Me When You Raise Your Hand For Dua"
Raheel Ahmed Khan
System Engineer
send2raheel@engineer.com
sirraheel@gmail.com

http://raheel-mydreamz.blogspot.com/
http://raheeldreamz.wordpress.com/

Sunday, 20 February 2011

How to select study field after matriculation?

Students when pass their matriculation examinations they face too much confusion about the selection of their further studies. They don’t know which one study area is best for them. Most of the students don’t know the different areas of study rather than Engineering and Medical due to lack of the counseling. They got admission in these sequences and didn’t have enough marks because it was not their interest area. So they can’t get admission in medical or engineering colleges. At that time they are very upset and thinking of their career.

Students! Don’t worry; you have lots of choices even now and www.ilmkidunya.com would guide you about these areas and their scopes. Here are some steps to follow which will guide you to select an appropriate study field.

Before you make career choice you have to learn about your own personality traits. Your area of interests, hobbies, skills, qualities and deficiencies, strengths and weakness, likes and dislikes etc. jot down on a paper. It will be very important to know who you are! And what you can do.

After exploring your personality, jot down the list of the possible study fields in which you can get admission. Then narrow the list down according to your personality, left the sequence in which you don’t have interest or you dislike its subjects or if you don’t have required skills. So it will minimize the list and then you have few study areas. Your interests are very much influential while selecting a field of study, if you don’t like mathematics then you should not choose engineering.

When you shorten your list there will be few study areas. Now research the scopes of that study sphere. To know the scope of the required study discipline interview the people which are studied this study discipline or teaching it. Talk to the experts of this field and get information from different sources. This information will lead you to the different professions and now you would be able to find out the professions which are according to your interest zone. Here you can find a study sphere which has a good, suitable and interested line of business or occupation for yourself. You should select the sequence which has more job scopes in market which are according to your personality which you have explored in first step. Next time I will try to tell you the scopes of discrete studies.

Now you have selected a study and got admission in it. You should not stop thinking for the career. You should have to know the skills that are required for this specific study zone and then work to develop these skills. As if you are studying journalism you should know that the writing news stories in the specialized pattern in required and then try to develop this skill by practicing again and again. Now you have preferred a study on other, means you have chosen a goal for your life. Your goal should be very specific and unambiguous.

Now effect hard and study regularly and try to get information and knowledge rather than your syllabus about your sequence. Don’t think this the last choice and always ready for any unexpected change. Your mind should be receptive for any kind of information which is against your anticipations. Because some students think that their decision is final and has no flaws but you know we can’t be perfect and mistake is in our instinct. So ready to face your mistakes with a receptive mind and correct then in an easy mood.

One of the most important things about choosing a career is that you should know the pros and cons of the specific profession. You should get the clear information about the stumbling blocks, impediments and inconveniences of the field. If you are well aware about the problems then it is easier to muddle through these problems.

When you got admission in your desired field of study, you should make some goals according to your selected study field. For example if you selected pre-medical then your goal must be that where you want to get admission after intermediate? How much marks required for getting admission in your desired medical college? The setting of goals is very necessary because if you don’t have goals regarding your next college admission then you may not get enough marks to get admission in any good college as it usually happen to medical and engineering students after intermediate.

How to Discover your Talent?

Talent is a different thing than skill, as skills are learned and developed with time but talent is inborn. Once found, they can be fostered and developed, but finding them can be tricky. It's nearly a process of self-observation and honesty and the skills gained by learning and practice. Talents can come in many varieties. They may be physical or mental, artistic or technical, inwardly or outwardly directed. They need not be profitable, useful, or conventional, but they will always be your own, part of what makes you.

Very often students are ignorant of their abilities and talents and they are also very much lazy to discover their hidden talents. There are lots of students who even think that they have any talent.

All students attain not even one, but lots of talents and the gained talents based on the environment in which they grow up. Here a question arises that today talented people are considered who are usually from elite class, they are famous and people talk about them and media write about them, these are only few of the whole world then what about the rest people and their talent and the answer is that their talent is hidden in them.

Now students you have to find out your hidden talent. Discovering talent is very much necessary because when you know your talent you would be easily select your career according to your skills and talents. Experts believe that if you choose a career which is according to your talent you would love to do this job and if you select a job which is related to your talent you would be satisfy with this job. Here are some factors which guide to about your talents.

Experts believe that you have lot of interest in a work or job which is based on your talent. Find out which work you love to do and usually you do it on daily basis.
When you are very much involved in the work this means that it’s your talent and when your job is not according to your talent you would not concentrate on your work.
If you are working a job which involve your talent and interest you would be feel satisfaction even at low income but if you are not doing the job of your talent then obliviously you feel frustration.
Always remember your parents, brothers, sisters, friends and mates quickly accept your talent. For example if someone talks in a gathering to sing a song and all your friends looking to you for a nice songs means you have a talent of singing.

Someone can say that only then when we have good marks at school & college, then we’ll gain success, it’s not necessary. We learn since the very day of birth: we learn to eat, to walk, to talk, to read, to write etc. Then we go to school to have some education which will give us a chance to go on studying to have a profession, to become a good specialist. After graduating from the university or college, we still go on learning, as now we need an experience. But a constant learning and a university degree isn’t a guarantee that we will achieve a success in our life. The chances for this can be increased by knowing our talent and combining it with our knowledge, experience and degree. Only then we will not only gain success, but we will be pleased by our job, we will become real professionals.

Here are some questions, answering these questions and this list would be very help you to understand your hidden talent.

When I was a child my favorite toy was...
2. When I was a child my favorite game was...
The best film I saw when I was a child was...
I do it very seldom, but I like...
If I had a very good mood, I would do...
If it weren’t late I would...
My favorite musical instrument is...
I like to read secretly... (What?)
If I had a perfect childhood I would become a...
If it weren’t a stupid idea, I would write (create)...
The music that improves my mood is...
I like to wear... (What?)

How to prepare for job interview?

The biggest mistake of job seekers is that they go without interview preparation. When you would be selected for job interview then the chance of your selection is based on your performance in the interview. The better you are prepared for the interview, the better the chances of you're walking out with a smiling facing and thinking "I think I got the job". Here are some guideline tips for preparation of job interviews.

Research about the company

When you received an interview call from a company, first of all you have to research about the company profile. You can explore the internet for getting the information about the company, there must be a newsletter of the company read it for information or you can talk to the employees of the company. You should especially try to know about the post for which you've applied. You should try to know the required skills and expertise of the job. If you are well aware about the company, especially about the professional skills which they need for the post you are applicant you could easily play up that skills and also highlight your last job activities which are related to their requirements.

Re-assessing your resume

After receiving interview call you should again re-assess your CV and find out that your CV is according to the job and your objective and goals must be related to the applied job. You should try to highlight that skills and expertise in your CV which are required for the applied job.

Dressing

Dressing is also very much important when you go for job interview. Your dressing must be neat and clean and also according to the environment of the company. Try to know about the dressing style of the company by any already employee of the company. One thing you must remember that don't wear a new dress which you are wearing first time its not comfortable for you in a new dress.

Necessary documentation

Before leaving your home for interview you just recall the things or documents which you have to take with you, as your degrees, experience letters, resume etc. and make sure that you have all these documents in your file. Because if you forget any one thing, it would be reason of embarrassment for you in the interview.

Conventional interview questions

Here are some conventional questions which are mostly asked by the interviewer. You should prepare your mind for these question very well and also practice the answers of these questions with any your friend or family member.

Introduce your self.
Why are you interested in this field?
Why are you interested in this company?
Why are you interested in this position?
Why should we hire you?
Why we hire you for this job?
Why did you leave your previous job?

Interviewer may ask you the reasons of:

Your greatest weakness
Your lack of related experience
Your low GPA
Your lack of leadership experiences
Your record of job-hopping
Quitting last job

Stay calm and listen carefully before answer the questions, keep eye contact with interviewer. You would be embarrassed if you forget what he asked. Try to match your talents and skills with the requirements of the job. Try to reach early and visit the rest room for setting your hair style and check your appearance in the mirror. During interview don't be humble, praise your self and also proved that you are the best candidate for the current job.

Thanks & Regards,

"Remember Me When You Raise Your Hand For Dua"
Raheel Ahmed Khan
System Engineer
send2raheel@engineer.com
sirraheel@gmail.com

http://raheel-mydreamz.blogspot.com/
http://raheeldreamz.wordpress.com/

Friday, 18 February 2011

Negotiate Your Salary Demands Smartly

When you begin your job hunt and successfully pass the various stages of an interview to the point when you are asked to quote the expected salary, most of the job seekers get confused and end up asking for too little or too much. While it is true that a job opportunity is seen as a career growth opportunity for a brighter future, it is also a fact that we wish to receive the pay which is according to our skills and experience level. A job opportunity with a good salary package is bound to attract the best candidates from the crop as job seekers are naturally interested in their financial well being as well as professional growth.

Many job seekers have no idea how they should negotiate the salary demands and often end up getting far less than what they had been hoping for. Smart salary negotiation is an art which can be learnt by practicing and researching. However, by following some of the useful tips given below, you can easily make sure that you get the salary package that you deserve.

Important Tips for Salary Negotiations:

Given below are some of the most important tips and techniques that can help you in negotiating the salary package with a prospective employee successfully.

Illustrate Your Experience:

The most important thing that the employers consider when they propose a salary package to any prospective employee is the experience that he has gained working in the field. You write down the relevant experience in the resume but just putting it there will not do the trick. When you are being interviewed, the employer needs to see that you have the skills and the experience necessary to cope with the job requirements. You should prepare some examples of problems which arose at your last job and how you used your skills to handle the situation effectively. Showing the employer that you have the relevant experience can go a long way in getting you the job.

Provide Statistics:

When you list your accomplishments in the CV and mention them during the interview, providing actual numbers and statistics can help in impressing the employer. For instance, if you have been working in the sales or marketing department of a company, rather than saying that you contributed towards increasing the sales of the company, you should mention the exact figure saying you increased the sales by 10 or 15 % within a given time period. This makes a better impression on the employer and increases your chances of getting a higher salary package.

Don’t Ask About The Salary:

One of the most common mistakes made by the job seekers is that they ask about the salary themselves as the interview approaches the end. You should always leave it up to the employer to inquire about the expected salary and then quote what you have in mind. Even if the issue of salary does not come up during the first interview, it is better to leave it off for the second interview. Since by that time the employer has made it clear that you have been shortlisted for the new position, you have the upper hand in negotiating the salary package.

Do Your Research:

When you are negotiating the expected salary package, you should know the average salary for the position and your level of experience. This will help you in quoting a more acceptable and reasonable salary package which will most probably be accepted by the employer as well. You can ask our friends and research on the internet to get access to the average salary in accordance to your position.

Know The Lower Limit:

When you quote a salary package to the employer, they are bound to negotiate and try to bring your demand down. You need to know what the lowest expected salary range is for the job that you are interviewing for. By knowing the lower limit, you can maintain your stance on a specific amount and make sure that you do not settle for anything less than that.

Keep Personal Stuff To Yourself:

When you enter the salary negotiations with a prospective employer, make sure that you base your negotiations on your capabilities and experience. Citing personal and financial problems as a reason for demanding a certain salary package is highly unprofessional and endangers your chances of getting the job. No matter how much you need the job; there is no reason to share the personal problems with the employer.

Don’t Panic:

One of the most important things when negotiating the salary package is to remain calm and controlled. When you panic or become agitated, you lose the upper hand and end up making the wrong decision. Even when you are negotiating with the employer on the salary package, you are being judged on your ability to handle pressure situations, so panicking can be the biggest mistake you make during an interview.

Look For Benefits:

Even if your prospective employer does not meet your salary expectations, you can inquire about certain health benefits such as health insurance etc. By getting some benefits other than cash compensation, you can actually lessen your financial burden which might make the lower salary package acceptable.

Be Prepared For Tough Questions:

When you ask for a salary package, be prepared to answer tough questions such as, “Why do you think you should be paid so much money” etc. Do not be offended or hurt by such questions and try to answer them as calmly as possible and prove that you are the best person for the job and hence deserve the raise.

Conclusion:

There are no hard and fast rules on how one should negotiate the salary package but when you follow the important tips given in the article, you can maximize your chance of getting the salary according to your wishes.