comparelinux.com–Linux and open source Blog

Hi,

I have launched a new site for technology especially computer help and support. The site aims at creating a knowledge bank for people who need help in computers from topics ranging from Beginner level to an Advanced Level. We have right now incorporated a various topics when it comes to computers including programmimg, operating systems, databases and more.

So, do sign up, be an active member and help and get helped in the process.

The URL of the site is at http://hackersrepublic.com

Tags: IT News, General, Uncategorized, Security, SEO, open source software by admin
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Didnt you ever want to have a easier way to download that favorite youtube video on your hard disk or that favorite  myspace Tv video on your harddisk and you had to use those complicated softwares which were often loaded with spywares and malwares. Well, thanks to get2pc.com we have a simpler alternative.

You can download the videos using get2pc.com. Just copy paste the URL into a textbox provided and you get a download link where in you can download the video. As simple as that, no software to download and hence no spywares and malwares.

The image of this website is as shown.

The service supports a variety of online video sharing services like youtube, Google Video, iFilm, myspace and Dailymotion.

Although this service is very handy the legality of this service is in doubt and I dont think its allowed to provide what this service provides. However, I am no law expert so I cant comment anything about that. But i certainly think that the copyright issues will certainly be more aggravated since more downloading by the users means more re-distribution and sharing.

So, I hope the users use this service sensibly and hence although this is one of those things on the internet which is great to have but should be used sensibly.

Tags: IT News, softwares, Security, Software Reviews by admin
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How about adding a level of security at the network level for free? Thats what opendns does for you. And more than an added level of security what openDNS does is brings back the control of Internet usage in your home or your office back in your hands. And all you have to do is to configure your DNS settings and register for your free acoount and your done. Besides OpenDNS offers a variety of other services and that too at the network level so that there is no chance of your security getting tampered due to extra smart employees or your geeky kid!

So, what are the features that openDNS offers and how can they benefit the common man who wishes that his digital data and his little kids who have just discovered internet and who think internet is really “Cool”?

The several Features of OpenDNS are:

• Adult Site Blocking
• Domain Blocking
• Domain Whitelist
• Phishing Protection
• Statistics
• OpenDNS Guide
• Customization
• Large Cache
• Ultra Reliable network
• Shortcuts.

The detailed description of all these features can be found out here. And thats not all, there is a excellent knowledge base for help as well as free technical support if you need. Of course, if you will need the technical support because they have loads of documentation to install openDNS that you wont need any technical support.

So, as they say, All the best things in life come for free, and so does openDNS.

Absolutely recommended by me!!You can get started here.

Tags: IT News, Security by admin
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Today, I logged into my account at Orkut and saw truck loads of SPAM scraps claiming that orkut is closing and that too the stupidest reason of all, lack of names:) , yea thats what the scrap claims to be and I was literally on the floor laughing because people actually send these SPAM scraps afraid that their orkut account will close and they will lose all their friends!

Here is a copy of the scrap that  I received this evening–

“HEY ITS DIANNA, FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ORKUT,EVERYBODY SORRY FOR THEINTERRUPTION BUT ORKUT IS CLOSING THE SYSTEM DOWN BECAUSE TOO MANY BOTTERS ARE TAKING UP ALL THE NAMES, WE ONLY HAVE 57 NAMES LEFT,
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT, DONT SEND THIS MESSAGE, IF YOU WANT
TOKEEP YOUR ACCOUNT ,SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST.
THIS IS NOT A JOKE, YOU’LL BE SORRY IF YOU DONT SEND IT. THANKS DIRECTOR OF ORKUT, TIM BUISKI. WHOEVER DOESNT SEND THIS MESSAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILLBEDEACTIVATED AND IT WILL COST YOU $ 10.00 A MONTH TO USE IT..”

After reading this scrap on orkut, i decided to do some research on this subject and therefore “Googled” the name TIM BUISKI, the supposed director of Orkut and found out that he along with orkut was the director of Yahoo and MSN as well:)

Here is an excerpt for Yahoo–

“the director of yahoo, Tim Buiski, Sorry for the interuption, but Yahoo is closing the system down because too many booters are taking up all the names, we only have 57 names left, if you would like to close your account, don’t send this mesage, if you want to keep your account, send this message to everyone on your list. This is no joke, you’ll be sorry you didn’t send it. Thanks, Director of Yahoo, Tim Buiski, WHOEVER DOESN’T SEND THIS MESSAGE YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DEACTIVATED AND IT WILL COST $10.00 A month to USE IT TO SEND  ”

One thing you will find common here is that the text in both the messages is almost the same except for the name of the company and so is the message with MSN as well.

So, all I would like to tell people is that be safe and no internet giant, either Microsoft( that is MSN) or Yahoo or Google(i.e Orkut) will close its operations due to increase in traffic or lack of capability and increase in load. Infact, there is nothing that makes these companies happy than increase in traffic. So, sit back and relax, nothing is going to happen to your account whether its Orkut or Yahoo or MSN.

Reference Links:

Yahoo Hoax

MSN Hoax

Google Search about TIM BUISKI

Tags: IT News, Security, Google by admin
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CoGen Anti-Virus:

so, as promised this is the second part(read the first part here) in the series of anti virus software reviews that we analyze to decide upon the best alternative to norton anti-virus! So, today we analyze and see Cogen Anti-virus, a little heard of an anti-virus and a company Cogen Media, atleast for me has pleasantly surprised me with the quality and the efficiency of the anti virus software that they provide. Cogen Media surely is a though competition for norton anti-virus as well as Anti-Virus 2007 from CA!

So, here are some of the features of the Cogen AntiVirus software:
Virtual machine Unpacking Engine (VUE)
Virtual machine Unpacking Engine (VUE) is new innovative technology featured in CoGen Anti-virus 2007. This new technology detects viruses even when disguised under multiple layers designed to evade detection by many of the anti-virus solutions in the market today.

What is packing? Packing is the process of placing layers over viruses to disguise them from being detected by many anti-virus software applications. Viruses may be packed with many layers and anti-virus software without strong unpacking capability cannot detect the virus, Trojan, or malware. As a result, the packed viruses are identified as new viruses and the anti-virus software vendors are required to update their database of virus definitions in order to remove the packed viruses.

VUE was developed to provide a fast and effective solution to detecting and removing packed viruses. In order for packed viruses to infect a computer system, they must first remove the many layers that have helped the viruses evade detection. VUE creates a virtual machine system environment for viruses to automatically remove their layers which are then detected and removed by CoGen Anti-virus.

Unknown Virus scan and Clean technology

Unknown Virus Scan Technology scans unknown DOS, email, script, macro and Windows viruses, keeping you one step ahead of unknown future viruses.

Pre-Login Scan

This feature allows you to scan your computer system before logging into Windows. Some viruses are difficult to remove once you have logged into Windows, hence this feature allows you to perform a virus scan and remove those viruses.

File Monitor

This feature scans all files before you open them, thereby eliminating the opportunity for viruses to be opened and destroying them before they can infect your computer system.

File Monitor Whitelist

File Monitor Whitelist is a feature that includes files and directories that are skipped and not scanned by CoGen Anti-virus. By adding trusted files and directories to the File Monitor Whitelist, you can improve the amount of time that it takes CoGen Anti-virus to scan your computer system.

Memory Monitor

This feature monitors all running application programs for viruses. Once a virus is detected Memory Monitor will clean the virus and prevent it from infecting your computer system.

E-mail Scan

Incoming emails (POP3) and outgoing emails (SMTP) are scanned for viruses and CoGen Anti-Virus will alert you of any potential virus threats. CoGen Anti-virus currently only supports POP3 incoming and SMTP outgoing email protocols. The Email Scan feature helps to prevent certain Trojans from stealing your passwords and scans and cleans any outgoing emails before they are sent to ensure that you don’t infect other computer users.

Script Blocking

This feature helps to protect your computer system when you are browsing the Internet by blocking certain malicious web scripts. If you visit a web site that contains high-risk web scripts, you will be alerted by CoGen Anti-virus and prompted for action.

Boot Record Monitor

This feature scans for viruses and other malicious files that reside in the boot records of floppy disks, CD-ROMs, or USB storage devices and blocks them from infecting your computer system.

Registry Protect

This feature monitors your system registry for any modifications. If an application program attempts to modify your system registry, you will be alerted and prompted for action. Registry Protect will inform you of the name and location of the application attempting to modify your system registry and how it will be modified.

Vulnerability Defence

If Windows updates are not installed and system vulnerabilities exist, Vulnerability Defense can help protect your computer system by alerting you of any potential attacks on any system vulnerabilities.(This is another major advantage over norton )

File Shredder

File Shredder allows you to protect your privacy by permanently deleting unwanted sensitive files through Windows Explorer. To permanently delete a file, simply right-click on the file and select File Shredder. Any files deleted by File Shredder cannot be recovered.

Network Blacklist

When the Auto-Protect feature detects that a network computer is attempting to spread a virus, Network Blacklist will intercept the virus and record the name and IP address of that computer. Other computers can be manually added to the Network Blacklist. Once a computer has been added to the Network Blacklist, that computer will not be able to copy of modify the shared directory of your computer.

Embedded Scan for other Programs

CoGen Anti-virus can provide added virus protection for third party applications such as instant messaging programs, download management tools, and compression tools. The following thirty party applications are supported by CoGen Anti-Virus:

• Microsoft Office 2000 and 2003
• Internet Explorer 5.0 and higher
• MSN Messenger
• Yahoo! Messenger
• AOL Instant Messenger
• FlashGet
• NetAnts
• Net Vampire
• WinZip
• WellGet
• WinRAR

Once Embedded Scan has been applied to these third party application programs, CoGen Anti-virus can automatically scan all files received through these programs for viruses and other malicious files.

Thus, Cogen Anti-Virus is definately an anti virus from the big league with many features that are not even present in norton, so i would suggest giving cogen anti-virus a try, atleast download a trial version and have a look.

My review, best alternative for Norton Anti-virus, it is either a CoGen AntiVirus 2007
or an Anti-Virus 2007 from CA!

Coming up in the next section, 10 features to look for when buying any anti-virus software.

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Tags: Security, Software Reviews by admin
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hi,


I the other day received a email from someone claiming that i have won 4 million US dollars and i should claim it otherwise i will lose the amount!!

This was just like the previous one, but this one was more professionally made and it almost had me belive that i had actually won $ 4 million. Then i probed into it and then found out that the company which had sent me an email is a fraud company and also blacklisted in various fraud tracking organisations.

So, i thought it is my moral responsibility to warn all my users and readers to bewary of such lottery and never ever give any personal information that these emails often ask from you!

This is the email so that you can know how it actually is!

–EMAIL MESSAGE——————————

SURF LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
PRIZE/PROMOTION AWARD DEPT.
Ref Number: PW 9590 ES 9414
Batch Number: 573881545-NL/2007
Ticket Number:PP 3502 /8707-01
Winning Amount: $4,000,000.00.

The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 25,000,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet.
No tickets were sold.

After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as a winner in the category “A” To file in for the processing of your prize winnings, you are advised to contact our Certified and Accredited claims agent for category “A” winners with the information below:
*************************************
Name: Morris Decker
Phone: +31 644 893 668
Email: [HIS_EMAIL_ID]@yahoo.de
[HIS_SECOND_ID]@yahoo.de
*************************************
You are advised to provide him with the following information:
Names:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Occupation:
Age:

Yours Faithfully,
Mr. Barry Van Klejg
Lottery Coordinator.

—EMAIL ENDS HERE—–

Then i acted to be a genuine person and replied him back with this email:

—EMAIL STARTS HERE———-

 

Hi,

Just received a mail which says I won a lottery?

What do I do? Is it for real? Please tell me!!

—EMAIL ENDS HERE——————-

and i received a reply almost immidiately which said,

—EMAIL STARTS HERE–

 

 

Attn: [MYNAME],
We wish to congratulate you and formally inform you that you have won the sum of US$4,000,000.00 (Four Million United State Dollars) in the last email-lottery draw, organized by SURF Lottery Promotion. We have confirmed the above winning.

The said sum is now deposited in our suspense account in your favor waiting for the immediate remittance to you.

Be informed that your winning prize has a hardcover insurance policy that makes it impossible to make any deduction of any kind, until the sum is finally credited into your designated account.

This firm on behalf of SURF Lottery Promotion will issue an Irrevocable Guarantee of Payment Bond (IGPB) in your favor, thereby securing the above prize money.

A copy of the IGPB will be forwarded to our paying bank for immediate action. However, our client (SURF Lottery Promotion) has been notified of this development and the status of your claim.

Following the above, you are expected to fill the attached form and return back to this office along with a copy of your international passport or driver’s license via email attachment or by fax for vetting process which is a standard practice just to ensure that we are dealing with the right individual.

This process is vital and urgent following the instruction from our clients that all prize money should be claimed on or before the DEADLINE on your notice.
Once again accept our congratulations and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,

Morris Decker
Phone:+31 644 893 668
Fax : +31 847 171 322
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

–EMAIL ENDS HERE———–

This email message also had a form attached for the claim so that it will look authentic but the simplest mistake that they did was that the amount which they say i have won, is different in the two emails that I have received from them!

So, i knew that this is fraud and did some research on this subject and found many pages on this topic.

You can have a look here to learn better! Look what consumerfraudreporting.org has to say about it!!

Tags: Security, by admin
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