Paper highlights dangers of "inflating" cyberthreats

The U.S. government's response to cyberthreats against the nation's critical networks must be grounded in public evidence, not "alarmist rhetoric," or lawmakers run the risk of creating policy decisions based on evidence that may turn out to be baseless, according to research paper released this week.

The paper's authors -- Jerry Brito and Tate Watkins of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Arlington, Va. -- argued that the dangers of "threat inflation" may lead to decisions based on inaccuracies, similar to the choice to invade Iraq when the country actually was not housing weapons of mass destruction.

A similar decision in the cyberworld may result in the unnecessary regulation of private and public networks and the unjust spending of federal dollars on cybersecurity, a scenario that could resemble the military-industrial complex.

"When a threat is inflated, the marketplace of ideas on which a democracy relies to make sound judgments -- in particular, the media and popular debate -- can become overwhelmed by fallacious information," the authors wrote. "The result can be unwarranted public support for misguided policies."

Watkins, a research associate for Mercatus' Technology Policy Program, told SCMagazineUS.com on Friday that part of the problem is confusion around the differences between traditional cybercrime, cyberespionage and cyberwar. He said much of the evidence being used to highlight the risk of attacks against critical infrastructure components, such as the power grid or financial networks, are incidents such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks or credit card theft.

"We need to disentangle all of those things and analyze who is best suited to prevent those attacks and mitigate those consequences," he said. 

The authors cited a December 2008 report by the CSIS Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, but Brito and Watkins said it lacked evidence to support a claim that failing to defend cyberspace is "one of the most urgent national security problems facing the new administration."

The report's recommendations didn't offer concrete examples of why the nation's security is at risk but instead pointed to things such as DDoS attacks.

"...[The] probing and scanning networks are the digital equivalent of trying doorknobs to see if they are unlocked -- a maneuver available to even the most unsophisticated would-be hackers," the authors wrote. "The number of times a computer network is probed is not evidence of an attack or a breach, or even of a problem."

The authors also called on the media to do a better job of reporting on cyberthreats, asking journalists to challenge their government sources when they reference "doomsday" scenarios.

"That's very reminiscent of the Iraq War," Watkins said. "We'd like to see a little bit less credulous reporting."

The authors additionally warned of a growing "cyber-industrial complex," which reflects a growing, cozy relationship among members of Congress and the lobbyists of cybersecurity companies. The paper compares this concept to the military-industrial complex, a phrase that emerged at the onset of the Cold War during President Eisenhower's farewell address.

"There are serious real online threats, and security firms, government agencies, the military and private companies clearly must invest to protect against such threats," the paper states. "But as with the Cold War bomber and missile gap frenzies, we must be wary of parties with vested interests exaggerating threats, leading to unjustified and superfluous defense spending in the name of national security."

Marcus Sachs, a former White House official and a member of the CSIS Commission, said federal lawmakers often speak in terms of sky-is-falling scenarios because that they are tangible. But the reality is, threats of espionage and traditional crime are more pressing.

"There may be unintended consequences of being too vocal about warfare when in truth you're talking about espionage and crime," he told SCMagazineUS.com on Friday. "The big one would be other nations thinking that we are building a capability in cyberspace and then they go and do that themselves and then you get the arms race."

Watkins said the government must be more open if it intends to regulate networks and increase cyber defense spending.

"Citizens should trust but verify, and that will require declassification and a more candid, on-the-record discussion of the threat by government officials," according to the paper.

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/

The 10 best ways to visually represent IT data

In all areas of IT, there are a number of situations where certain ways of presenting data, configuration details, or a sequence of events work best. We often tend to rely on one tool for everything because we’re familiar with it, but that isn’t always the best approach. Here is my top 10 list of the most effective ways to visually represent IT data.

1: Network connectivity — Microsoft Visio

I’ll admit that one of my nicknames over the years has been “Kid Visio.” Visio is a capable tool for documenting network connectivity. It’s not the right tool for documenting the configuration, but it does a good job of outlining the logical layout. From a top-down perspective, I feel Visio does this best. Figure A shows a sample network diagram that clearly shows the logical layout of the network.

Figure A

2: Application layout and architecture — Microsoft Visio

Let’s face it: Applications can get complex today. Virtual machines, replicated databases, firewall configurations, virtual IP addresses, mobile applications, and more make documenting an application flow no easy task. Again, I’ve found Visio to be the tool that reigns supreme. In the example shown in Figure B, many complicated aspects of the infrastructure are represented visually in one flow. While it doesn’t address the details of aspects such as the database replication, it is a good springboard to those other areas of key content.

Figure B

3: Free disk space — Pie charts

I’m not really a fan of pie charts, but they do the trick for representing free space on a disk. This can be Windows drives as well as critical volumes, such as a VMware VMFS datastore or a drive on a storage area network (SAN). The pie chart is a veteran at representing free space, and in the example shown in Figure C, you can see its effectiveness for this application. But take a pie chart with a grain of salt. We need to visualize how much drive space is used as well as how much free space is available.

Figure C

4: Year-over-year performance tracking — Excel 3D bar charts

For tracking performance year over year for a moving target, I find that the 3D bar charts within Excel do a good job of showing the progress. It doesn’t have to be year over year, either; it can represent quarterly assessments or even a comparison of something, such as different offices. In my work experience, I created a simple 3D bar chart within Excel that looked something like the one in Figure D to track progress moving to virtual machines from physical servers.

Figure D

5: Consumption compared to other like entities — Excel Bubble charts

Quickly visualizing the consumption in proportion to other like consumers is easy with the bubble chart. One common example is representing the number of servers (or PCs) in a given location, which the bubble chart in Figure E does well. But it’s important to note that there is a significant limitation with the bubble chart: It assumes that all items are equal consumers. A good example would be 100 file servers compared to 100 Oracle database servers. In most situations, the file servers require much less maintenance and resources than the database servers. Nonetheless, the bubble chart is effective in displaying numbers by category.

Figure E

6: Performance reporting — Line graphs

The line graph is a good way to represent direct consumption. A number of tools utilize the line graph for this function, including the VMware vSphere Client, shown in Figure F. But the line graph also has a limitation: If the tool displaying the consumption does any normalization of data, there may be missing highs or lows. To be fair, when there is so much data to manage, normalization of performance data is a common occurrence.

Figure F

7: Step-by-step procedures — Camtasia Studio

When it comes to showing something onscreen, the de facto standard for recording the activity for replay is Camtasia Studio (Figure G). Camtasia has all the features you would want, including voice overlay and easy uploads to popular sites such as YouTube. This is a good way to practice a presentation and deliver solid emphasis without having to reinvent the wheel every time. I’ve also used Camtasia a number of times for prerecording demos to play during live presentations. Pausing the recording to explain an important point or field a question isn’t as distracting as interrupting a live demo. Even if I am giving a live demo, a Camtasia recording is a nice backup or “emergency demo,” if I need it.

Figure G

8: Topics in outline form — Microsoft PowerPoint

There are a number of strategies for creating and delivering PowerPoint presentations (and presentations in general). But PowerPoint is especially useful for creating an outline that can be conversationally discussed (Figure H). I’ve learned a few tricks over the years: Never have a presentation go longer than 59 minutes and 59 seconds; don’t cover more than three main topics per slide; and make the outline focus primarily on the problem, which you can then backfill with the solution.

Figure H

9: Customized maps — Microsoft Visio

Visio has map stencil objects (Figure I) you can use to document all kinds of things, such as assigning territories within a business and mapping out network and datacenter connectivity. You can download the map stencils from Microsoft (click the Find Shapes Online option). A U.S. stencil and a world stencil are available for modern Visio versions.

Figure I

10: Specific data sets –Webdesigner Depot

This awesome resource has a number of links to tools that provide specific visualizations of things such as Internet trending topics and the Internet as a whole, as well as images of an event or even the history of science. Figure J shows a good way to visualize current events on the Internet using Web Trend Map 4. The popular Infographic series is also a great resource that will inspire new ways to present data in an interpretable manner.

Figure J

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Ten Things to Do Today for a Greener Tomorrow

1) Recycle electronics properly. United States residents can visit the Environ to learn where they can dispose of unwanted PCs and other electronics, or you can visit our Recycle Hardware page to learn about available options.

2) Install a programmable thermostat. The U.S. Department of Energy says you can reduce heating costs by as much as 10 percent by turning the heat down 10-15 degrees at night. Programmable thermostats make it easy to ensure the heat goes off at bedtime, yet comes back on in time for morning coffee. And they cost as little as $20.

3) Review energy settings on Windows 7. Check Power Options in the Control Panel in Windows 7 to ensure your Sleep feature is turned on and that other settings maximize your energy efficiency. 

4) Look for ENERGY STAR-rated PCs: Choose an ENERGY STAR-compliant computer the next time you’re in the market for a new PC. Look for the ENERGY STAR label or visit the online product catalog to browse for an efficient PC. A new ENERGY STAR-compliant PC or laptop uses 15 to 25 percent less energy on average than a standard new computer.

5) Buy a laptop instead of a desktop PC. Some of the latest laptop PCs use as little as 20 watts of power to operate, the same amount as a CFL light bulb (see Tip 7 below).

6) Purchase a smart power strip. In the average home, as much as 75 percent of electricity consumption goes to devices the user thinks are off. To reduce these “phantom loads,” a smart power strip can detect when PCs, televisions and other electronics are not in use, and automatically power down those devices. The power strips even know to turn off printers or other peripherals if a PC is off. Around $30.

7) Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). CFLs, used in in place of comparable incandescent bulbs, save about 50 percent on lighting costs. CFLs use only one-fourth the energy and last up to 10 times longer.

8) Bike to work. Hop on a bike and pedal to work once a week. May is National Bike Month, and National Bike to Work Week (May 16-20) is a great time to learn how to bike-commute safely and efficiently.

9) Work from home. Unified communications technology like instant messaging, e-mail and telepresence can help prevent unnecessary travel. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that increasing telecommuting and virtual meetings could help save more than 3 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions in a few decades, the equivalent to approximately half the current U.S. CO2 emissions.

10) Consider migrating business applications to the cloud. Research shows that, for small and medium sized businesses in particular, migrating popular business applications like Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics CRM to the cloud can reduce the carbon emissions due to those applications by as much as 90 percent.

10 things you gotta have to succeed in IT

I recently wrote a string of articles discussing various reasons to leave IT — and various alternative careers for dissatisfied IT workers. I received an amazing amount of feedback from readers who have always wanted to express similar sentiments. But that leaves out a huge swath of people: those who desperately want a career in IT, as well as those who are caught somewhere in Limbo, trying to answer questions regarding their ability to remain in their chosen field.
So I thought I would go about this topic from another angle to help those people decide whether they’re made up of the stuff necessary for a career in IT. I’m fairly confident everyone agrees it’s a tough field. What everyone may not agree on is what it takes to be a successful IT worker. Let’s see if this list of 10 things fits your qualifications.

1: Thick skin

Let’s face it. Workers in the IT industry get hit hard, from every direction. If you’re not getting your chops busted by someone insisting you get a job done yesterday, you’re getting torn apart because the client’s QuickBooks data file can’t be recovered. It doesn’t seem to matter how much skill you have. If you can’t take the biting comments and accusations of clients, you won’t make it. Thick skin also helps you get through those periods when you, or your boss, doubts those skills you have. You don’t want to have to leave at the end of the day thinking you have failed at every job you’ve done, just because someone had it in for you that day.

2: Persistence

The IT industry is an ever-changing landscape, and every day a new problem makes itself known. In some cases, those problems don’t ever seem to want to go away. Without the ability to grapple with an issue for extended periods of time, you might find this industry more of a challenge than you care to take on. Viruses will always be an issue. Updates that tank systems will happen with more consistency than you want to deal with. End users will never really understand how computers work. If you don’t have the persistent, stubborn nature necessary to meet these challenges, get out now or you will be beat down daily.

3: Youth

Although I like to think IT is a field not affected by age discrimination, it really is best suited for the younger professionals. There are numerous reasons for this. First, there are the hours. IT often requires far more hours than the usual 9-t0-5 job. When a company goes down, the administrator must respond — and this could easily mean any time of day, night, or week. Those hours add up and (generally speaking) only the younger workers can keep those types of hours up week after week. Add to that the energy required to keep systems and networks up, and it should be obvious the best IT workers tend to fall into that 25 to 45 age range. The good news? Even if you start at the age of 25, there’s a 20-year career waiting for you.

4: Patience

Users and clients are endlessly frustrating. If you have little or no patience, those people will quickly drive you out of the field. And if they don’t completely drive you away, they will at least drive away your joy for the human race. Without patience, you won’t stand a chance in the IT field. But it’s not only because of the people. Systems will test your patience as well. We’ve all seen the video of the IT admin going ballistic on a PC. It happens. A persistent problem arises and it makes you want to ram your fist down the throat of the PC you’re working on. With enough patience, you will save both your knuckles and your sanity.

5: Skills

This one should go without saying — but I must mention it. Too many times, you see people hop into the field because they managed to get through the MSCE training. But those certified workers quickly realize their classes only prepared them how to walk through a GUI. In the real world, problems arise that require numerous skills to resolve. The skills necessary to work in the IT field don’t end with the ability to properly configure a domain or Exchange server, they tend to be all inclusive. You never know what you’re going to be required to do on a given day. Think about it this way. When you are seen as an IT administrator, you are not only a specialist in DB administration, you are also a walking help desk who will be asked any and all questions related to work and home computers. And if you don’t have the answers for the right person (at the right time), you might find yourself at the back of the line watching someone else with the answers.

6: The ability to improvise

I mean this on many levels. Not only do you need to know how to improvise a conversation. Admit it — there will be times when you’ll have to convince someone that you know exactly what you are doing, even when you don’t. But you will also run into situations where you have to improvise a solution. I have witnessed (and experienced) situations where the prescribed solution simply did not work. When that happens, the only way out is to come up with a solution on your own.

7: A good sense of PR

If you’re a consultant, you have to be your own marketing firm. Most solo consultants do not have the budget to hire out their PR work, so they wind up doing it all on their own. This means social networking, building a Web site, writing and submitting advertisements, old-school networking, and much more. If you can’t do this, your business will flounder. When you go into business for yourself, you must know the best routes for marketing in your area. Whether this is TV, radio, social networks, or flyers, you have to have the motivation and skills to handle that aspect of the business. Although word of mouth is the best PR you can get, it still has to begin somewhere.

8: Connections

This might seem a bit strange, but as a member of the IT field (especially if you’re a solo consultant), you have to have connections in many related and nonrelated industries. For example, you will have customers who need rooms cabled, so you might need someone who can do drywall finishing. You might need to have an electrician in your back pocket. If you don’t have specific skills, you need to know those in the industry who do. The last thing you want to tell a client is that you can’t do something. Instead, you can tell them you will get it done and then subcontract that job. So long as the job gets done and the customer is happy, you will still look good. But if you can’t job something out, and you have to tell the client no, the possibility of that client returning to you grows slimmer and slimmer.

9: The desire to learn

As I mentioned earlier, IT is an ever-changing industry. The minute a technology is released, it is out of date. So anyone wanting to tackle a career in IT must have a strong desire to learn. You will be challenged on a daily basis to learn something new. If you don’t like learning (be it on your own, with another person, or in a classroom), you should forget about IT. Without the desire to learn, you will quickly fall behind the competition. And believe me, it’s a competitive world out there, especially so with the economy still attempting to recover.

10: Passion

Passion for IT is an intrinsic need for every IT worker. If you don’t love technology and solving problems, IT is not the right field for you. That passion is the intangible thing that will often get you through the day when everything else on this list fails. And a strong passion for IT will also drive most of the other points here far beyond what sheer intelligence and business savvy can manage. After years of working in the field, passion will also help you get up every morning excited for the workday ahead. Without passion, the IT field can quickly become an empty, soulless place.

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/

Hacking - Early History

 During the 1960s, the word "hacker" grew to prominence describing a person with strong computer skills, an extensive understanding of how computer programs worked, and a driving curiosity about computer systems. Hacking, however, soon became nearly synonymous with illegal activity. While the first incidents of hacking dealt with breaking into phone systems, hackers also began diving into computer systems as technology advanced.

Hacking became increasingly problematic during the 1980s. As a result, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act were created, imposing more severe punishments for those caught abusing computer systems. In the early 1980s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made one of its first arrests related to hacking. A Milwaukee-based group known as the 414s was accused of breaking into 60 different computer systems including the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Later that decade, the infamous Kevin Mitnick was arrested and sentenced to one year in jail for damaging computers and stealing software. He was arrested again in 1995 for computer fraud and put in jail for hacking Motorola Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc., NEC Corp., and Novell Inc. to steal software, product plans, and data. Mitnick eventually cost the firms a total of roughly $80 million.

As negative publicity surrounding hackers continued to grow, those who considered themselves true hackers-computer programming enthusiasts who pushed computer systems to their limits without malicious intent and followed a hacker code of ethics-grew weary of the media's depiction of hackers. As a result, several hacker groups coined the term 'cracker' in 1985 to define a person who broke into computer systems and ignored hacker ethics; however, the media continued to use the word hacker despite the fact that although most early hackers believed technical information should be freely available to any person, they abided by a code of ethics that looked down upon destroying, moving, or altering information in a way could cause injury or expense.

AT&T Corp., Griffith Air Force Base, NASA, and the Korean Atomic Research Institute all fell prey to hackers in the early 1990s. Federal World Wide Web sites, including those of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Air Force, and the CIA, were also attacked by hackers and defaced. During 1995 alone, U.S. Defense Department computers dealt with 250,000 hacker attacks. As technology advanced and business transactions conducted over the Internet increased, malicious hackers became even more destructive. Popular Web sites such as Yahoo!, America Online, eBay, and Amazon.com were hacked, costing millions and leaving online shoppers doubtful about security on these sites; a 16-year-old Canadian boy operating under the name Mafia boy was arrested for these attacks, as well as for breaking into both Harvard's and Yale's university computer systems. Under the terms of his parole, Mafia boy was not allowed to use the Internet or go into stores that sold computers, and his computer use was limited to that which was supervised by a teacher at school.

Hacking Types

1) Inside Jobs - Most security breeches originate inside the network that is under attack. Inside jobs include stealing passwords (which hackers then use or sell), performing industrial espionage, causing harm (as disgruntled employees), or committing simple misuse. Sound policy enforcement and observant employees who guard their passwords and PCs can thwart many of these security breeches.

2) Rogue Access Points - Rogue access points (APs) are unsecured wireless access points that outsiders can easily breech. (Local hackers often advertise rogue APs to each other.) Rogue APs are most often connected by well-meaning but ignorant employees.

3) Back Doors - Hackers can gain access to a network by exploiting back doors�'administrative shortcuts, configuration errors, easily deciphered passwords, and unsecured dial-ups. With the aid of computerized searchers (bots), hackers can probably find any weakness in your network.

4) Viruses and Worms - Viruses and worms are self-replicating programs or code fragments that attach themselves to other programs (viruses) or machines (worms). Both viruses and worms attempt to shut down networks by flooding them with massive amounts of bogus traffic, usually through e-mail.

5) Trojan Horses - Trojan horses, which are attached to other programs, are the leading cause of all break-ins. When a user downloads and activates a Trojan horse, the hacked software (SW) kicks off a virus, password gobbler, or remote-control SW that gives the hacker control of the PC.

6) Denial of Service - DoS attacks give hackers a way to bring down a network without gaining internal access. DoS attacks work by flooding the access routers with bogus traffic (which can be e-mail or Transmission Control Protocol, TCP, packets).

Distributed DoSs (DDoS5) are coordinated DoS attacks from multiple sources. A DDoS is more difficult to block because it uses multiple, changing, source IP addresses.

7) Anarchists, Crackers, and Kiddies - Who are these people, and why are they attacking I your network?

Anarchists are people who just like to break stuff. They usually exploit any target of opportunity.

Crackers are hobbyists or professionals who break passwords and develop Trojan horses or other SW (called warez). They either use the SW themselves (for bragging rights) or sell it for profit.

Script kiddies are hacker wannabes. They have no real hacker skills, so they buy or download warez, which they launch.

Other attackers include disgruntled employees, terrorists, political operatives, or anyone else who feels slighted, exploited, ripped off, or unloved.

8) Sniffing and Spoofing - Sniffing refers to the act of intercepting TCP packets. This interception can happen through simple eavesdropping or something more sinister.

Spoofing is the act of sending an illegitimate packet with an expected acknowledgment (ACK), which a hacker can guess, predict, or obtain by snooping.

As the cost of hacking attacks continues to rise, businesses have been forced to increase spending on network security. However, hackers have also developed new skills that allow them to break into more complex systems. Hacking typically involves compromising the security of networks, breaking the security of application software, or creating malicious programs such as viruses.

The most popular forms of network hacking are denial of service (DoS) attacks and mail bombs. DoS attacks are designed to swamp a computer network, causing it to crash. Mail bombs act in a similar fashion, but attack the network's mail servers. When eBay was attacked in February 2000, its Web server was bombarded with fake requests for Web pages, which overloaded the site and caused it to crash. Network hackers also try to break into secure areas to find sensitive data. Once a network is hacked, files can be removed, stolen, or erased. A group of teens in Wichita, Kansas, for example, hacked into AOL and stole credit card numbers that they then used to buy video games.

Application hackers break security on application software-software including word processing and graphics programs-in order to get it for free. One way they gain access to software that requires a serial number for installation is by setting up a serial number generator that will try millions of different combinations until a match is found. Application hackers also sometimes attack the program itself in an attempt to remove certain security features.

Hackers that create viruses, logic bombs, worms, and Trojan horses are involved in perhaps the most malicious hacking activities. A virus is a program that has the potential to attack and corrupt computer files by attaching itself to a file to replicate itself. It can also cause a computer to crash by utilizing all of the computer's resources. For example, e-mail systems were inundated with the "ILOVEYOU" and the "Love Bug" viruses in May of 2000, and the damage to individuals, businesses, and institutions was estimated at roughly $10 billion. Similar to viruses, logic bombs are designed to attack when triggered by a certain event like a change in date. Worms attack networks in order to replicate and spread. In July of 2001, a worm entitled "Code Red" began attacking Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) systems. The worm infected servers running Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and IIS 4.0 and defaced Web sites, leaving the phrase "Welcome to www.worm.com Hacked by Chinese!" Finally, a Trojan horse is a program that appears to do one thing, but really does something else. While a computer system might recognize a Trojan horse as a safe program, upon execution, it can release a virus, worm, or logic bomb.

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/

Sony Computers on Our Wrist

In 2020 We Can Wear Sony Computers on Our Wrist

Our present need for internet connectivity is so profound that secondary devices like the Nextep Computer are bound to happen. Developed to be worn as a bracelet, this computer concept is constructed out of a flexible OLED touch screen. Earmarked for the year 2020, features like a holographic projector (for screen), pull-out extra keyboard panels and social networking compatibility, make the concept plausible. Ten years from now is not too far away, so how many of you think we’d be buying such gadgets?

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/

The Power of Color in Web Design

In web design, informed color choices should never be taken for granted or overlooked. Poor color choice can have the exact effect of having a poorly layed-out website or poor design. It creates user frustration and avoidance, and since color is associated with emotion, your website, if improperly coordinated, can provoke an emotion you weren't intending. 

With as many colors as there are available online, the chances of choosing a good color combo 'on accident' are very slim to none. Below, you'll find a great list of common color combinations that will give you the ability to choose harmonious color schemes on any website. All you need is a colorwheel! These color schemes are: Monochromatic, Analogous, Complementary, Split Complementary, and Triadic. Are you flashing back to art class yet? 

I'm only going to cover the first three as they are the most common, but try the others as well if these aren't complex enough for yours or your client's tastes. 

Monochromatic Color

As I'm sure most of you know, 'mono' means 'one, so Monochromatic means 'One Color'. This is a very calming, and professional color combination, but don't mistake it for being boring at all. Monochromatic design schemes allow for various shades of the same color, whether light or dark and allow you to put emphasis on web content or images you may have chosen. 

Using a monochromatic scheme expresses a calmness and promotes the idea of elegance and professionalism without the 'in your face' effect.

Analogous Color

Analogous color schemes are a little more exciting than Monochromatic, but still have a calming, less contrasted effect. Analogous color combinations are made of of colors directly next to each other on the color wheel (think lime green, green, and turquoise). To use this color scheme effectively, you must choose a dominant color and use the other colors as highlighters or accents. It gets busy when all colors are equally represented.

Complementary Color

Just as the name suggests, these colors go well together and, to be honest, we see this combination all the time in business and everyday life. This combination also offers the most contrast because complementary colors are the exact opposite on the color wheel: Red and Green, Purple and Yellow, Blue and Orange, etc. This color scheme is incredibly powerful when done correctly, and so you must choose with caution! Use one dominant color in your web design efforts and just as you did with Analogous, use your other colors as highlights and accents. Additionally, do not dull or mute your bright colors or you'll lose the power of the complementary contrast. 

Take these tips and use them wisely in your web design efforts.

Remember that colors have an immense influence on user decisions and branding power, so actually do some research and find out what sort of message you actually want to send before you start designing. It can make or break your website, and perhaps even your business.

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/

Five tips for using Ccleaner to degunk your system

There are a lot of tools out there that handle a lot of tasks, from antivirus tools that also clean your drive of temporary files and make you coffee to tools that promise to “make your computer faster.” But as far as I’m concerned, few tools can make as much of a difference as Ccleaner, at least on a machine that’s not infected by a virus or malware. Ccleaner is easy to use and will keep your computer cleaner, more secure, and running faster. It achieves this by safely removing temporary Internet files (and other means of tracing Internet activity), cleaning up the Windows registry, and removing temporary files and recent file lists (MRUs) from various applications.

But even though Ccleaner is a simple tool to use, that doesn’t mean you should just jump in and start cleaning everything without a bit of thought. Here are some things all users should consider before and during the use of this powerful tool.

1: Analyze before running the Cleaner

I know a lot of admins who just fire up Ccleaner and hit the Run Cleaner button without doing an analysis first. Yes, this is a fast method of getting rid of temporary Internet files. But there’s no way of knowing what’s going to be deleted (until it’s deleted) and there’s no way of knowing how much free space the deletion is going to create. Make sure you hit the Analyze button first. Then, after you read the report, hit the Run Cleaner button. Using Ccleaner this way ensures that nothing is deleted that shouldn’t be deleted. Also, after you run the analyzer, you can look at detailed information (by application) and then add exceptions directly from the list.

2: Set up cookies you want to keep

When you run the Cleaner, cookies are deleted. By default, cookies are retained from Google and Yahoo, but other cookies might need to be retained. To manage this, click on the Options tab and then on the Cookies button. From that window, any cookie currently on the system can be selectively added to the exclusion list. By adding these exclusions, you don’t have to worry about important cookies disappearing after each run of Ccleaner.

3: Always back up the registry

No matter how reliable Ccleaner is and no matter how many successful registry cleanups it does, never do a cleanup without first backing up the registry. Ccleaner will go so far as to remind you to back up the registry every time you run a registry cleanup. If the registry is not backed up, one of those corrupt or missing registry keys that Ccleaner fixes might not really have needed fixing. If that key is then broken and was not backed up, the issue caused by Ccleaner could become catastrophic. Fortunately, Ccleaner makes backing up the registry as simple as a couple of clicks.

4: Use the tools to manage startup applications

Ccleaner comes with a bonus: It lets you enable, disable, or remove programs from startup. I have always found this method of managing startup applications far easier than using the standard Windows method. What I like most about this feature is that startup applications can be enabled and disabled without removing them completely. This means if you need to temporarily prevent an application from starting up, it’s easy to do by going into the Tools tab, clicking the Startup button, selecting the application to be enabled/disabled, and clicking the appropriate button. When the application needs to be re-enabled/disabled, reverse the process.

5: Use the uninstaller

One of the best aspects of Ccleaner is the ability to remove applications from within it. It typically just starts the uninstaller, but I have found that running the application uninstaller this way ends with fewer registry issues than when I uninstall from the Windows Add/Remove Programs tool. And if there are registry issues after the uninstall, registry cleanup is only a couple of clicks away.

Great tool, used wisely

Ccleaner is more than just a tool to clean the registry or empty a computer of temporary Internet files. It also makes it easy to remove applications from startup and remove applications from the machine. Just make sure you use this powerful tool intelligently to avoid rendering your machine unusable.



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/

Microsoft's IE9 Unlocks HTML5

In mid-March, Microsoft released version 9 of its storied Internet Explorer browser. Previous releases haven't had important implications for software developers, mostly adding new features and baubles of interest to users. But IE9 has definite implications for programmers, focusing on the use of HTML5, the new specification of the language that defines Web sites.

HTML5 is widely viewed as a watershed technology that makes it easier to use multimedia and construct applications that run in the browser. These benefits hinge on the widespread expectation that complex applications increasingly will run inside the browser or the browser will function as the GUI to cloud-hosted apps. If you've used Google Docs and Zoho's online spreadsheets and word processors, then you'll understand how this scenario works.

QuickOffice is now shipping on Android 3.0, using the application framework. It also runs on IOS 4.3. Both apps let users share documents between clouds (Dropbox, Box.net, Google Docs, SugarSync and more).

Behind the scenes, the browser and the server exchange data and commands. The commands are generally written in JavaScript and executed in the browser, but the browser is limited in what it can do. As a result, Web applications in the pre-HTML5 world were left with two alternatives: Send over lots of JavaScript to the browser, which slows things down for the user, or force the user to install browser plug-ins such as the Adobe Flash plug-in.
While users might be willing to download a plug-in from Adobe, Google, or Microsoft, they don't want to download one for every app they run in the browser. That has left many Web apps sending lots of JavaScript over the connection so that the browser will respond appropriately to actions and commands.

HTML5 changes this by specifying a range of capabilities that the browser must support, including video, drawing, text manipulation, and offline storage. The applications then simply invoke them via commands, rather than sending bits over the network to run on the client or using plug-ins.
Rendering Advances
While interest in HTML5 has been growing, Microsoft's slow adoption of the spec has been a barrier to jumping in fully. Because IE is the dominant browser in the market, any HTML5 development would have an indeterminate outcome if it couldn't be tested in the Microsoft browser. Before the release of IE9, the rendering engine in IE--known as Trident--didn't fully support several standards essential to HTML5, including several HTML5 syntactical advances. The new release of Trident, version 5.0, can render much of HTML5, as well as Cascading Style Sheets 3.0 and Scalar Vector Graphics (SVG).
SVG uses XML to specify a drawing or text. It relies entirely on the browser to take the data elements and render them as lines, curves, colors, and shapes. For years, IE has been the only browser without native SVG support. This situation accounts for the long delay in adoption of SVG as a common format for specifying 2-D graphics and illustrations. The possibility that Microsoft might similarly fail to adopt core elements of HTML5 was a concern that couldn't be ignored until the Redmond giant released an official browser version with these capabilities.
IE9 gives both HTML5 and SVG a shot in the arm. Perhaps sensing the importance of the release to developers, Microsoft added other tools that expand previous capabilities to let developers go behind the scenes and explore the execution of a Web page, by viewing and stepping through the code and even profiling its activity.
As Web applications become a larger part of workers' daily lives, it appears that Microsoft's browser will remain at the forefront--no longer just based on market share, but also because of its standards support and the technology with which it equips developers.

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/

Linux Chief HILARIOUSLY Claims The Battle With Microsoft Is Over, And Linux Won

The people running the Linux Foundation used to worry about Microsoft, but now they liken it to "kicking a puppy."
That's according to an interview with the foundation's executive director Jim Zemlin published in NetworkWorld.
He's right -- but only because both sides have redefined the battle lines.
It's true that Linux has a solid position in data centers -- particularly huge ones run by consumer-facing Web companies like Google and Amazon -- and the Linux kernel is at the core of Android, the fastest-growing mobile operating system in the world.
But Linux was also supposed to take over the desktop and destroy Microsoft. Remember?

• "The operating system market is a death-trap, a tar-pit, a slough of despond....There's no way to predict when people will decide, en masse, to re-program their own brains" -- Author Neal Stephenson in 1999, in a long and very well-written essay explaining why Microsoft (and Apple) would never last in the OS business.

• "If the easy-to-install Linuxes come out this year and actually work, then Microsoft Windows is likely to disappear within two years." -- IT "industry expert" and author Tom Worthington in 2000.

• "The next generation of product will appeal to and meet the needs of the mass computer market." -- Novell Linux VP Nat Friedman in 2005.

• "Proprietary software is eventually going to be doomed....I think we could all be running Microsoft Linux...I sent an e-mail to Steve Ballmer about this and he said he wasn't interested...Microsoft could very easily dominate the Linux market if they wanted to." -- former Microsoft researcher Keith Curtis in 2009.

Obviously, it didn't happen. Microsoft is on track to sell more than 350 million (probably a lot more) copies of Windows 7 in 2011 alone. In the last four quarters, it's earned about $13 billion on $18 billion in Windows revenue.
Meanwhile, about a year ago, Linux folks started admitting that chasing Windows on the desktop was a dead end.
The truth? Microsoft isn't that worried about Linux anymore.
In the early 2000s, the company fought hard against Linux on a lot of fronts -- from alleging IP infringements to striking a revolutionary deal with Novell that had an effect of splitting the market. But that battle is more or less over and the Linux compete strategy (as they called it) doesn't take up a lot of executive time these days.
The Windows Server team still looks at Linux and distributors like Red Hat as top competitors, but it's more concerned with virtualization and cloud computing competitors like VMWare. The Windows desktop team has never wasted more than a moment thinking about Linux, and is laser-focused on trying to stop Apple from eating Windows share with the iPad.
If anything kills Microsoft, it won't be Linux.

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/

PTCL to Offer 50 Mbps Internet Speed

PTCL to Offer 50 Mbps Internet Speed
PTCL is working on a project, after which, it will be able offer broadband internet of 50 Mpbs, said a statement issued by the company.
An industry first, Pakistan’s PTCL will be using VDSL2 Bonding technology to provide existing digital subscriber line (DSL) customers with speeds up to 50 Mbps.
The project leverages Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 Bonding expertise and should be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2011.
VDSL2 Bonding takes two copper-based VDSL2 lines per subscriber and aggregates them – almost doubling the bandwidths available to existing customers, or expanding high-speed broadband access to areas that are underserved today. Using VDSL2 Bonding, service providers can extend the life of their existing copper infrastructure – supporting the delivery of bandwidth-intensive services such as triple-play voice, data and IPTV.
According to a recent study from market research firm IHS iSuppli, simultaneous access to applications such as peer-to-peer file sharing, online gaming, streaming audio, VoIP and IPTV will soon require bandwidths between 50 and 100Mbps. This fits exactly with VDSL2’s capabilities, especially when combined with innovations such as Bonding and Vectoring.
Commenting on this achievement President and CEO PTCL Walid Irshaid has stated

“PTCL is the first service provider worldwide to deploy a commercial VDSL2 Bonding solution that aims at doubling the bandwidths provided to its existing customers. We are thus setting the trend in international telecoms, and are taking the broadband experience in Pakistan to the next level.
Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 Bonding technology and comprehensive services and network integration expertise is helping us to keep pace with the increasing bandwidth requirements of our customers, while capitalizing on the existing copper infrastructure. This will enable us to quickly deliver high-quality, high-speed and high-availability business and residential services – even in areas where it was not possible before.”

Alcatel-Lucent is providing PTCL with its Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) IP access platform – which is the first platform to commercially support VDSL2 Bonding. Alcatel-Lucent will also supply Bonding-ready customer premises equipment (CPE). Alcatel-Lucent serves as the project’s master network integrator, and is providing a range of professional services – including project management, installation and commissioning, integration and technical support.

“We understand that service providers need the right tools to bridge the gap until fiber deployments have become ubiquitous. VDSL2 Bonding is an ideal approach: service providers like PTCL can almost double the speeds supported by their DSL infrastructure or expand their network’s reach. This makes it a fast and cost-effective approach to bridging the digital divide,” said Aadil Rauf CEO Alcatel-Lucent Pakistan Ltd.
“This commercial VDSL2 Bonding project with PTCL marks the beginning of VDSL2 Bonding deployments outside of the US – where the technology is typically used to expand the reach of the copper network.”

Alcatel-Lucent is the driving force behind the world’s most advanced VDSL2 roll-outs, with customers such as Belgacom, STC, Swisscom and Telekom Austria. Our VDSL2 solution has also been deployed by competitive operators, including M-net (Germany) and South Yorkshire Digital Region (UK).

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/

Message from Dr. Atta ur Rahman

بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم

السلامُ علیکم و رحمۃ اللہ و برکاتہ

 

Message from Dr. Atta ur Rahman
Dear Colleagues

In a shocking move, the present government approved the shredding of
the Higher Education Commission into pieces and handing the functions
to the provinces. The Cabinet formally approved this last week.
This was illegal as HEC was a Federal Regulatory Authority and
protected under the 18th amendment of the Constitution like other
Federal Regulatory Authorities . It was also completely autonomous,
and reported directly to the Prime Minister. However it was treated as
if it was a part of the Ministry of Education, and since the Ministry
of Education was being devolved, so this was too. HEC had developed
many enemies when I was its Chairman as I was determined to strictly
follow merit and not compromise on principles. Dr. Sohail Naqvi,
Executive Director, continued these policies, after I resigned,  as
did the new Chairman Dr. Javaid Laghari. This annoyed many
Parliamentarians, specially on the matter of forged degrees as HEC
refused to testify them as genuine.

This is disastrous for the future of Pakistan as it will lead to
horrendous problems. it will lead to multiplicity of standards and
cause the same chaotic situation that exists in our schools. It will
also lead to massive corruption as the provincial governments will now
be able to exert direct pressures to appoint their cronies at key
positions in universities. Greedy politicians have their eyes on
university lands worth hundreds of billions of rupees and these can be
swallowed after appointment of their own persons at key positions.
Universities that are favourites will be better funded and the
formula-based funding evolved by HEC will vanish. The $ 300 million
committed by the World Bank and $ 250 million agreed to by US AID will
also no longer be available as these were linked to the status of HEC
not being changed. The written commitment of the Ministry of Finance
with the World Bank to give sizeable increases in funding to HEC,
resulting in doubling of its recurring and development budgets over
the next 3 years will also now no longer be honoured as funding will
now be a provincial responsibility except for the few Federal
Universities. Most importantly, the national focus to train manpower
in key areas of national importance, in harmony with the long term
development plans, will be replaced by a fragmented approach.
I recently held a Press Conference in Islamabad on the platform of the
Pakistan Academy of Sciences (of which I am now President) calling
upon the government to reverse this decision to shred HEC. I also
discussed the matter with Dr. A.Q.Khan who wrote an article for The
News. This was published (as views expressed by him) in The News
(Islamabad  edition) 2 days ago and in the Karachi edition yesterday.
I have also written an article which is attached. It should be
published in a national newspaper within a couple of days.

I would like each of you to take a strong stand on the matter and
write articles in national newspapers urging the government to reverse
this decision.. We cannot be bystanders as the HEC is shredded into
pieces. This was one sector that was working well, six years of my
life went in into building this vibrant institution as its founding
Chairman. The work of HEC drew much international praise.  Alas it has
now been destroyed.

Will you act?

Kind regards
Atta
Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, FRS
NI,HI,SI,TI, UNESCO Science Laureate