Windows XP Will Live till July 2015

Microsoft has changed its mind over killing Windows XP entirely this April and announced it will continue providing updates to its security products (antimalware engine and signatures) until middle of July, 2015. Thus, XP will get another year’s life. Back in 2013, Microsoft said it would halt all updates on the same day as the end of support date for Windows XP this spring.

In other words, Microsoft Security Essentials will still get updates after full support ends for operating system. The same will go for System Centre Endpoint Protection, Forefront Client Security, Forefront Endpoint Protection, and Windows Intune used on XP. But it should be noted that Microsoft will still end full technical assistance for Windows XP this spring and you won’t be able to download Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows XP since that date.

Windows XP will still be alive thanks to updates to its security products for extra 15 months. Taking into account that the developing countries mostly use XP, it is good news that they will be at least partially protected until July 2015, though Windows XP will no longer be a supported operating system.

Everyone understands that Microsoft has been trying to get people away from Windows XP to “better” products. The company realized that the best way to do so is to stick to its end of support date, even despite the fact that there are still so many millions of Windows XP users out there. It looks like Microsoft finally realized that leaving all of them completely vulnerable could cause more harm than good.
EnjOy.. :) 

Bugs Of Technology

Instagram Finally Released On Windows Phone

Is it worth the wait? After all, it has been a long time coming but Instagram has finally released a native app for Windows Phone. The long suffering of you out there that use Windows phones (sorry I’m an iPhone man myself), will finally be able to share pictures in new and interesting ways, just like the rest of us.  Well, kind of anyway.

 

The new Instagram app has most of the great features that iOS and Android users have come to appreciate. All the photo filters are there and you are able to see your feed, complete with all of your friend’s snaps and “heart” and comments too.  However, all is not rosey in the Instagram world as a few things are peculiarly absent.  The most important of which is the fact that the Windows app cannot take photos or upload video from within the app?

Windows users can still upload photos from their camera roll and Instagram for Windows Phone will launch the native camera app to take new photos.  Currently, there is no option for video, but apparently it is all in the pipeline. As Instagram has finally made the leap over to Windows Phone, we should all be grateful, even if the app is still ironing out the flaws.

For more information regarding the release, please check out the following release notes:

Over 150 million users love Instagram! It’s a simple way to capture and share the world’s moments on your Windows Phone.  Customize your photos with one of several gorgeous and custom built filter effects. Transform everyday moments into works of art you’ll want to share with friends and family.Share your photos in a simple photo stream with friends to see – and follow your friends’ photos with the click of a single button. Every day you open up Instagram, you’ll see new photos from your closest friends, and creative people from around the world.

Main Features Include:

100% free custom designed filters: XPro-II, Earlybird, Rise, Amaro, Hudson, Lo-fi, Sutro, Toaster, Brannan, Inkwell, Walden, Hefe, Nashville, 1977, and others.
Video recording with breathtaking cinematic stabilization
Linear and Radial Tilt-Shift blur effects for extra depth of field.
Instant sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and Foursquare
Unlimited uploads
Interact with friends through giving & receiving likes and comments
Full front & back camera support
And much much more…

You can get Instagram for Windows Phone at the Windows Phone Store.

EnjOy..:)

Bugs Of Techn0l0gy

Spotify Connect Available For Android

Recently, online music service Spotify, introduced Spotify Connect for iOS devices.  The company has now provided the service to their Android app, this now ticks all the boxes and makes it a multi-platform feature from Spotify.

Spotify Connect allows you to stream music over WiFi to select speakers. Unfortunately the system only works with streaming content and not localised MP3s. In addition to this, it will need a premium account for it to work. Right now it only allows you to send music to a single device, but that could change in the not too distant future.

Spotify Connect is not really a lot different from what you can already do with nearly all Bluetooth-enabled speakers. What it does do, however, is it eliminates the need for you to pair the devices together. Which can become tedious, if you use the same Bluetooth speaker on many different devices?

The better features of the product are that because Spotify Connect uses WiFi, it has much further range than what Bluetooth can provide.  The upshot of this is that your friends can share their own music, as long as they have the Spotify app and your wireless password to connect.

This is very similar to the streaming functionality of Apple’s AirPlay system. But it appears to be easier to initialize as once you have pressed the Spotify Connect button on your Android device, you’ll be free to do complete whatever you want to do on your phone.  This is unlike Apple‘s AirPlay system, where once you start, you are locked in?

Spotify Connect is available on Android through the Google Play Store.  As always, your comments regarding the Spotify Connect app are appreciated in the comments section below.

[Image via amobil]

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

GTA 5 PC Release Date, Download & Requirements: Despite PS4 Release and Fake Torrent, Still No Timetable for Other Platforms

When will Grand Theft Auto 5 be available on more platforms?

Although several Grand Theft Auto games have already been released on PC and iPhone, the newest game in the series has yet to come out on anything other than Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 - and gamers are wondering why.

There is no indication on the Rockstar Games website about a possible release on the PC or the next-generation Playstation 4 and Xbox One consoles. The Playstation 4 was released in stores at midnight on Friday.

"The only versions of the game that we have announced are for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 . . . We don't have anything to share about the possibility of a next-gen or a PC platform release at this time and we are completely focused on delivering the best possible experience for the consoles people have right now," the website says.

Despite this, Rockstar games is aware of the growing demand for the game on other platforms after the website addressed it. Last week Rockstar Games released a screensaver for PC but not the game. There have been some false alarms, such as the release of a torrent that was said to have leaked the new PC version, but it turned out to be a fake file.

"The file looks legit, appearing near the top of Google search results, and nearly 7,000 users connected; however, appearing as a setup.exe file, the first clue that something could be awry is the file size 18.3GB, compared to 7.7GB for the Xbox 360 version," The Guardian reported.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is expected to be very successful on the other platforms after it broke several Guinness records when it was released on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It's only a matter of time before Rockstar Games comes through with GTA 5 on the next-gen platforms and the PC.

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