Spectrum auction for 3G‚ 4G technologies on April 23

 

Dar says PTA should ensure the best quality service for the consumers.

ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - Spectrum auction for 3G and 4G technologies is scheduled for 23rd of next month and the sealed bids will be submitted to PTA on 14th of next month.

This was stated during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Spectrum Auction held in Islamabad on Thursday under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

Chairman PTA Dr. Syed Ismail Shah briefed the committee on the progress made so far on the auction of 3G and 4G licenses.

 

Dar said that PTA should ensure that quality service of the best international standards is provided to the consumers.

The minister emphasized that the whole process should be completed with transparency.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Taiwan offers free Wi-Fi to all foreign tourists

Taiwan became one of the first countries in the world to offer free Wi-Fi on a mass scale to its citizens, and now it is extending that to any foreign tourist, also for free, in a move that will gain it a lot of goodwill.

The Taiwan government-backed free “iTaiwan” wireless network launched in 2011, and now has about 4,400 hotspots in major tourist spots, transportation hubs, cultural establishments and government offices all over the island country.

Citizens needed just their local phone number to register and then use the semi-fast 1 MBPS service.

Now, for foreign vistors, who generally have trouble getting a local SIM in the country (two forms of identity, etc), the process of tapping these wi-fi networks has been made a lot easier starting this month.

Visitors can open an iTaiwan account at a Taiwan Tourism Bureau counter/center, show their passport as ID and that’s it: they can login using their account, on their digital devices.

In addition, iTaiwan has established roaming agreements with four local governments so that tourists also have access in Taipei City, New Taipei, Taichung and Tainan.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Flickr Co-Founder Launches Findery App

Caterina Fake is the mind behind the massively popular Flickr photo-sharing site and is looking to eliminate that historical chain with a new location map-based social discovery platform, called Findery.

Findery is currently available on iOS, it becomes clear that the world is meant to be viewed by the user as a blank canvas that is ready for you to fully explore.  You can explore geo-tagged notes on a map to learn about places through experiences from different people from across the planet. Users of the app can post public or private notes with historical data, personalized stories via text, images, videos, and sound clips. The app will then cleverly annotate and then organize the information based on the location.

The social network side of the app, uses your current location to bring up appealing notes in the user’s immediate vicinity, thereby making it simple to find stories and pictures relevant to your own experience.  For example, you are exploring the historic city of Edinburgh in Scotland or you are visiting the Grand Canyon in the USA, all you need to do is open the Findery app to find out what previous visitors found of interest in those areas.  ”Every place has a story, or a thousand stories…Findery brings places to life, be they where you stand or where you hope to go,” Fake said in a statement.

Members are also able to create something called ‘Notemaps’ whih is a collection of notes about a location, topic or theme such as “Stag Party Blackpool” or “Blues in Chicago”.  This can then serve as either a travel diary or simply a record of your journey.  The app launches initially in English, although Findery have said they will support more languages this year. Findery is available now for free to download in the Apple iTunes Store.

If you have any sensible comments regarding this story, please leave your comments in the section below.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Use Yahoo Video Chats? You May Have Been Spied On

Everyday, it seems, there is new information released that makes individuals question how private their “private” lives really are. If it’s not revelations about the NSA intercepting our telephone calls and/or our emails, it seems to be something along those same lines. Unfortunately, in the year 2014, it doesn’t even seem like it’s even a remote possibility to have a private life. After all, if you own a smartphone you can most likely be found wherever you are. It seems all of the technology that is helping us run forward is also tying our hands behind our backs.

Edward Snowden shocked the world when we he released all of the confidential documents he “obtained” from the NSA. Even with all of the information he initially gave to the media, NSA officials were worried that more of their practices would eventually come to light. It turns out their fears weren’t without merit, as information about a British spy program known as Optic Nerve has recently been brought out into the open.

No, Not That Optic Nerve

It turns out that Optic Nerve is the codename for a surveillance program operated by Britain’s GCHQ (with help from the NSA). In an attempt to use facial recognition to catch terrorists and other wanted individuals, the images from 1.8 million users of Yahoo video chats from 2008 to 2010 were collected and stored on GCHQ’s servers. Obviously, most all of the images had nothing to do with terrorism whatsoever.

And, of all of the images stored, there were many images besides people’s faces, as it turns out that a large number of sexually explicit images from the video chats were also stored on the servers.

When Yahoo recently found out about this invasion of privacy, they were not at all happy about it, saying it was a total invasion of their users’ privacy rights, and stating they had no prior knowledge of the spying.

Does this news surprise you at all?

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Bugs Fixed in Stable Channel Update For Google Chrome

Google Chrome has dominated the browser market and eventually become the most used browser globally since being released six year ago. Google has worked hard to develop and refine Chrome, resulting in a fast and secure browser that can be tailored and customized to suit the user.

In Version 33.0.1750.117 of Chrome, Google has been able to fix a number of security issues, some of which were highlighted by external sources.

In total, twenty eight bugs were fixed, ranging from an issue with relative paths in Windows sandbox, to a problem with an information leak in the XSS auditor.  

Google Chrome 33.0.1750.117 is available to download here.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

:Latest Version Of CCleaner is Available Now:

The Latest Version Of CCleaner is Available Now

inShare

CCleaner from Piriform is likely the most popular freeware cleaner out there thanks to the fact that it is quick and easy to use. Effectively CCleaner gives your computer a good spring clean, removing cookies, temporary files and any other unused data that clogs up your PC, slowing it down. Once CCleaner has worked its magic, your computer’s system can run faster and enable you to have a more secure internet browsing experience.

Piriform’s latest update, Version 4.11, sees improvements to the File Finder tool. Included is an option to find duplicate files based on file content, as well as a new upper file size threshold, which will further narrow a duplicate file search.

Version 4.11 also features an improvement to the way the Driver Wiper detects SSD drives.

Other changes made to CCleaner include:

•     Added Opera 15 and newer Startup item management
•     Added File content duplicate detection to File Finder
•     Improved Drive Wiper SSD detection
•     Added Torch Browser support
•     Added File Finder upper file size threshold
•     Optimized Firefox Profile Startup items detection
•     Improved Scheduler language support (Professional only)
•     Improved Google Earth, Winamp, MusicMatch Jukebox and Windows Live Messenger  cleaning
•     Minor GUI Improvements
•     Minor bug fixes

CCleaner Version 4.11 download now

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

OneDrive for iOS and Android devices reward users

Microsoft’s SkyDrive is about to get a new name and with it will come some deals that are likely to make you think about signing up for the cloud storage service if you have not done so already.  The OneDrive service is going to replace the well known SkyDrive cloud storage and if the new reports are right, the service is going to reward users with more storage simply by offering the chance to sign up to your online contacts.  Another way to get rewarded comes from the use of the Camera Roll backup feature for all iPhone users and those with devices running Android.

Microsoft is reportedly adding a storage earnings system and all you have to do is complete a task here or there and you could be rewarded with even more space.  Screenshots showed up online showing the service called OneDrive and the rewards that will be handed out if you complete tasks like syncing up with your PC or Mac, back up your devices and invite your friends to join.  When all is said and done it looks like you could earn up to 8GB more free storage if you are able to complete the simple tasks.

There are other services online right now that offer the same thing, including DropBox, which allows you to refer friends and gain rewards that way.  One of the first questions that you might have is that if you earn the extra storage, will it be permanent?  The answer, according to news reports is yes.  Microsoft has been adding promotions for users and that included one from last month that allowed users to get 20GB of cloud storage for backing up photos, music and videos.  The current SkyDrive gives user 7GB of free storage when they sign up and there are still options to buy more storage if needed.

Microsoft’s SkyDrive will be converted to OneDrive very soon, but the website still reads “coming soon” and once that process is complete users will be able to enjoy more storage.  A move like this could give Microsoft some push in a very crowded online storage market and that will only help the sales of smartphones, which typically need to have more storage right out of the box.  If you are not using SkyDrive right now, it can be downloaded for iOS and Android devices from the app store.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Google: All New Android Phones Must Ship With KitKat

According to MobileBloom, a leaked memo has been identified, stating that all Android smartphones will have to run KitKat or else Google will not endorse the handset.  The Android memo is the first sign that Google is finally sorting the problem it has with fragmentation.  Because Google offers hundreds of phones to customers from many manufacturers across the world, Google’s operating system is swiftly becoming fragmented.  This issue is one of the top objections the operating system receives from application developers.

Apparently, the memo was sent from the Android team to its top OEM partners: Sony, Samsung, HTC, and LG who are all original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for Google.  “Starting February 2014, Google will no longer approved GMS distribution on new Android products that ship older platform releases,” the memo states. “Each platform release will have a ‘GMS approval window’ that typically closes nine months after the next Android platform release is publicly available.”  Any handset that does not get approval from Google Mobile Services (GMS) will not be able to ship with Google’s main applications which include Now, Maps and Google Play store.

Does this mean the end of all budget Android phones?  It could be! If real, the memo could mean an end to cheap  Android handsets and increase the price of middle of the road smartphones.  KitKat also has higher minimum specifications than foregoing operating systems.  This may mean that phones like the Samsung Galaxy core are no longer possible.  It has been said that KitKat has been coded to work better on lower powered smartphones. However, this could still have enough of a knock on effect to possibly  give the developing market to opponents such as Mozilla’s FireFox and Tizen.

Last year, Android CEO Sundar Pichai said him and his team were working on solutions for Android fragmentation. Figures showed, at the end of January 2014, that approximately 1.4 per cent of all Android smartphones were running the latest version of the operating system. While in contrast, over 80 per cent of iPhones were running iOS7, Apple’s latest operating system.  Android released KitKat just weeks after iOS 7 was released for Apple’s devices.  It is uncertain how Nokia will be affected as they use older versions of Android. We will just have to wait and see. 

As always, if you have any sensible comments regarding this story, please leave your comments in the section below.

 EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

WhatsApp Goes Down Following $19 Billion Facebook Buy-Out

Last week Facebook announced that it is acquiring the messaging company WhatsApp for an approximate total of $16 billion. Included in the deal is $4 billion in cash, $12 billion of Facebook shares and an extra $3 billion in restricted stock units which will be granted to WhatApp’s founders and employees.

In spending so much money you can only imagine Mark Zuckerberg’s frustration when, on Saturday afternoon WhatsApp went down for over three hours, leaving its users unable to access the app.

WhatsApp was quick to respond to the issue and announced that it was suffering from “server issues”. However after the prolonged period of time users took to Twitter to vent their frustrations, with some comments saying: “Mark Zuckerberg please do us a favor. Never buy Twitter,” and, “Thanks Zuckerberg for re-uniting families tonight!”

This is not the first time that the messaging giant has gone down, with reports claiming that crashes occur nearly once a month. Yet with the spotlight shining brightly on the app since the acquisition announcement, this occurrence has certainly received more press than any other incident.

WhatsApp currently has over 450 million users, with 70 percent of these actively using the service every day. In a blog post Facebook outlined the reasons for the deal, saying that the two companies have a “shared mission to bring more connectivity and utility to the world by delivering core internet services efficiently and affordably.”

The announcement also outlined plans to allow WhatsApp to continue to operate independently whilst retaining the brand. “WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “I’ve known Jan for a long time and I’m excited to partner with him and his team to make the world more open and connected.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

::WhatsApp Goes Down Indefinitely, Social Media Explodes::

I was in the middle of a conversation on WhatsApp just an hour back when I realised that the messages had stopped going through. While I was led into believing that my internet connection was probably messed up, I went on to Twitter. Only to find #R.I.P WhatsApp trending worldwide, which proves it that WhatsApp indeed is down indefinitely as of right now.

The social media has exploded over the situation as we speak. Everyone has an opinion of their own, rather conclusions, towards this situation. A majority seems to be believing that Facebook intends to meddle with WhatsApp’s operations and quite possibly harm them, or according to the masses, shut them down. Let’s show you some of the more interesting, and outrageous Tweets and posts over Twitter and Facebook.

- See more at: http://techeclipse.com/news/whatsapp-goes-down-indefinitely/#.UwoRYKKbfcu

WhatsApp Goes Down Indefinitely, Social Media Explodes - See more at: http://techeclipse.com/news/whatsapp-goes-down-indefinitely/#.UwoRYKKbfcu

WhatsApp Goes Down Indefinitely, Social Media Explodes
I was in the middle of a conversation on WhatsApp just an hour back when I realised that the messages had stopped going through. While I was led into believing that my internet connection was probably messed up, I went on to Twitter. Only to find #R.I.P WhatsApp trending worldwide, which proves it that WhatsApp indeed is down indefinitely as of right now.

The social media has exploded over the situation as we speak. Everyone has an opinion of their own, rather conclusions, towards this situation. A majority seems to be believing that Facebook intends to meddle with WhatsApp’s operations and quite possibly harm them, or according to the masses, shut them down. Let’s show you some of the more interesting, and outrageous Tweets and posts over Twitter and Facebook.

I was in the middle of a conversation on WhatsApp just an hour back when I realised that the messages had stopped going through. While I was led into believing that my internet connection was probably messed up, I went on to Twitter. Only to find #R.I.P WhatsApp trending worldwide, which proves it that WhatsApp indeed is down indefinitely as of right now.

The social media has exploded over the situation as we speak. Everyone has an opinion of their own, rather conclusions, towards this situation. A majority seems to be believing that Facebook intends to meddle with WhatsApp’s operations and quite possibly harm them, or according to the masses, shut them down. Let’s show you some of the more interesting, and outrageous Tweets and posts over Twitter and Facebook.

- See more at: http://techeclipse.com/news/whatsapp-goes-down-indefinitely/#.UwoRYKKbfcu

I was in the middle of a conversation on WhatsApp just an hour back when I realised that the messages had stopped going through. While I was led into believing that my internet connection was probably messed up, I went on to Twitter. Only to find #R.I.P WhatsApp trending worldwide, which proves it that WhatsApp indeed is down indefinitely as of right now.

The social media has exploded over the situation as we speak. Everyone has an opinion of their own, rather conclusions, towards this situation. A majority seems to be believing that Facebook intends to meddle with WhatsApp’s operations and quite possibly harm them, or according to the masses, shut them down. Let’s show you some of the more interesting, and outrageous Tweets and posts over Twitter and Facebook.

- See more at: http://techeclipse.com/news/whatsapp-goes-down-indefinitely/#.UwoRYKKbfcu

EnjOy..:)
Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

How to access YouTube via Tune.pk in Pakistan Without Any Proxy Software

It’s been more than a year since YouTube banned in Pakistan and all you have to do is to use VPN/Proxy services but not anymore. A group of Pakistani developers came up with a unique Chrome extension that lets you play any YouTube video in Pakistan without connecting to any VPN/Proxy service. Want to know how?

How to install and use Tune.pk Chrome extension.

Step 1:

Download Chrome web browser from here. This extension of Tune.pk only works with Google Chrome and not any other browser.

Step 2:

Install the Tune.pk Chrome Plugin from here. Open the before mentioned link in new window;  when the Tune.pk Chrome plugin page is opened you will see a Blue button (Fig1) on the top right corner with “Free” written on it. All you have to do is to click on that button, after clicking it it will ask you to whether add the extension or not. Just click on “Add” (Fig2) and the Tune.pk Chrome Plugin will be added in your Chrome browser.

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

 Step3:

Now that the Tune.pk Chrome Plugin is installed in your Chrome browser, open any YouTube link of the video in Chrome browser and magically you will be redirected to the Tune.pk and after processing of few seconds the video will be at your disposal to watch and share. It’s that easy and simple. The processing time can be increased depending on the duration of the video though.

In the end I would like mention few steps you can follow to initially test the plugin.

1.       Open Google.com
2.       Search “funny cat videos” on Google(Fig3) for example
3.       Click on any video link and you will be redirected to tune.pk straight away and video will be available after processing (Fig4 & Fig5)

Figure 3:

Figure 4:

Figure 5:

Hope this article will help you installing the plugin..

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

“Hats Off To Facebook” For Its Wind-Powered Data Center

In a recent blog post, Amazon Web Services VP and distinguished engineer James Hamilton praised Facebook’s decision to work with a utility in Iowa on a new data center that is powered solely by a nearby wind farm.

Hamilton thinks that Facebook’s model is setting a good example because it doesn’t need the data center operator to build its own clean power but rather leaves the power development in the capable hands of the utility. He also thinks it a good idea that the data center be located in an area where wind power is more economical.

So how does this stack up against other companies’ clean power facilities? Well, take for example Apple’s facilities in Maiden, North Carolina. Although a very impressive display, the facility has consumed a huge amount of land, with 171 acres being cleared of all trees in order to provide green power; ironic wouldn’t you say! And despite the fact that solar power is a good source for major data centers, it is less practical for the majority of smaller facilities, especially if they are located in a densley populated urban area.

Another popular “green” approach is the use of fuel cells to power data centers but the challenge here is that not all are powered by biogas and instead rely on non-renewable energy, leading them to receive criticism over a lack of efficiency and cost effectiveness.

Hamilton gave four reasons why he feels that Facebook have the right solution:

1. No clear cutting was required to prepare the land for generation and the land remains multi-use
2.  It’s not fossil fuel powered
3. The facility will be run by a major power generation operator rather than as a sideline by the datacenter operator
4. Far more clean power is being produced than will be actually used by the datacenter so they are actually adding more clean power to the grid than they are consuming by a fairly significant margin.

He finished by saying: “Hats off to Facebook for doing it clean data center energy right.”

[Image via data center knowledge]

Source: http://perspectives.mvdirona.com/

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

:Top Ten Password Cracking Methods:

Top Ten Password Cracking Methods

1. Dictionary attack :-

"This uses a simple file containing words that can, surprise surprise, be found in a dictionary. In other words, if you will excuse the pun, this attack uses exactly the kind ofwords that many people use as their password..."

2. Brute force attack :-

"This method is similar to the dictionary attack but with the added bonus, for the hacker, of being able to detect non-dictionary words by working through all possible alpha-numeric combinations from aaa1 to zzz10..."

3. Rainbow table attack :-

"A rainbow table is a list of pre-computed hashes - the numerical value of an encrypted password, used by most systems today - and that’s the hashes of allpossible password combinations for any given hashing algorithm mind. The time it takes to crack a password using a rainbow table is reduced to the time it takes to look it up in the list..."

4. Phishing :-

"There's an easy way to hack: ask the user for his or her password. A phishing email leads the unsuspecting reader to a faked online banking, payment or other site in order to login and put rightsome terrible problem with their security..."

5. Social engineering :-

"A favourite of the social engineeris to telephone an office posing asan IT security tech guy and simply ask for the network access password. You’d be amazed how often this works. It take the advantage of people trust."

6. Malware :-

"A key logger or screen scraper can be installed by malware whichrecords everything you type or takes screen shots during a login process, and then forwards a copy of this file to hacker central..."

7. Offline cracking :-

"Often the target in question has been compromised via an hack ona third party, which then providesaccess to the system servers and those all-important user password hash files. The password cracker can then take as long as they need to try and crack the code without alerting the target system or individual user..."

8. Shoulder surfing :-

"The service personnel ‘uniform’ provides a kind of free pass to wander around unhindered, and make note of passwords being entered by genuine members of staff. It also provides an excellent opportunity to eyeball all those post-it notes stuck to the front of LCD screens with logins scribbled upon them..."

9. Spidering :-

"Savvy hackers have realised that many corporate passwords are made up of words that are connected to the business itself. Studying corporate literature, website sales material and even the websites of competitors and listed customers can provide the ammunition to build a custom word list to use in a brute force attack..."

10. Guess :-

"The password crackers best friend, of course, is the predictability of the user. Unless a truly random password has been created using software dedicated to the task, a user generated ‘random’ password is unlikely to be anything of the sort..."

EnjOy.. :)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

IMDB Blocked in Pakistan

IMDB blocked in pakistan, The popular Movie Reviews websites has been blocked in Pakistan in a surprising move by the ministry of information.

The ISP PTCL and the Telecommunication body PTA has yet to provide an offical statment for closing down a website that falls so outside of their regular parameters of closure.

From the buzz that we are hearing from the internet, we hear that the webiste IMDB has been blocked from pakistan solely becuase there were negative reviews on the webiste for the Movie waar.

If that is true this is a new low for PTA and PTCL and an infringements on the rights of internet users everywhere since the Banning of the wbeiste falls way out of the parameters set forth for their restriction clauses

is pakistan heading for the same kind of online censoreship that led to the revolts in syria and middle east, or can we expect cyber enforcements of the likes of china, will they start locking people up in jails next for blogging about important issues where will this end.

Being a techie and a movie fan i personally rely on IMDB to provide an honest critique of a movie, and that ususally ends up being my deicision to go out and see it.

PTA in banning IMDB has opened up a whole new can of worms, if it was a mistake on their end it can be forgiven and forgotten but if it is another indefinite ban like the one they have posed on Youtube and if steps are not taken to ensure that there are policies and consensus votes from the general population or sensible bodies on taking such decisions in the future

We might end up falling headfirst into complete and utter digital isolation the likes of which can only be suffered in a less than democratic totalitarian regime, where even viewing websites that are banned can earn you a prison sentence.

UPDATE – Here are comments from IMDB which resulted in the IMDB BAN

EnjOy..:)Bugs Of Techn0l0gy