Munna Bhai Software Engineer!!!

Guys, this is real cool!!!


Appun jaise tappori s/w Engg. ko kya maalum...
saala programming kis chidiya kaa naam hai...

template me subclassing karke apanaa timepass hota hai....
copy paste kaa kaam miltaa hai, bass appun khush...!!!
fir yeh coding kaa lafdaa locha kaiko?

are kaiko ?
arre kaiko re?

fir ek din boleto appun ko assignment mila.....
ya haaaaaaaaaa!!!!

saala appun ka khopdi chakkar kha gaya ...
computer ke saath dil saala takkar kha gayaa...!!!

appun ko lagaa appun kaa beda paar ho gaya...
boleto baap saala appun ko bhi kaam mil gaya...!!!

din bhar appun computer ke aagge...
koi lafdaa nahi kuch nahi...
tin din naa Raghu se raada na Abbhi se pangaa
bass choop chaap...

appun kaa bhidulog saala dar gaya...
bola kya be manya saala tu bhi programmer bann gaya...!!!

phir ek din appun ko kaam kartaa dekh vikya bola...
ye mannubhai kya coding bana rela hai baap...!!!
vikya ko pakdaa... bola idhar aa shahane tereko coding seekhataa hai...

saale ko itnaa dhoyaa itnaa dhoyaa...
abhi tak thobdaa waakadaa hai ...
aur aaj tak uska forms ke saath chattis kaa aakdaa hai...!!!

samzaa ..?
samzaa...?
samzaaa naa...?

(fir ...? fir kya huwa..?)

fir ek din appun ne coding poora kar diya...
form poora karke appun ne testing ko bhej diya...!!!
lagataa tha ab appun kaa kaam khatam ho gaya...!!!
par DTS me issues dekhake sala appun darr gaya...!!!

appun ke saamne tester ne mere coding me ki galtiyaa nikali...
aapun ke coding ki poori waat laga di....
appun udharich khadaa thaa...
par appun kuch nahi bola...

kaiko bolega?
kaiko...?

saala ek, ek kaam kiya thaa... usme bhi itne bugs...
par appun ek aansu nahi roya...

kaiko royega...?
kaiko..?

saala appunich yedaa thaa naa...!!!

agale din se phir wohi life chalu...
wohi mails forward karnaa, wohi messages, wohi template....
saala itnaa mails forward kiya...itnaa mails forward kiya...
log samze mail server down hoyega...
bhoolneka hai bhoolneka hai par kya karega...!!!

training milke bhi jab kaam nahi miltaa hai...
haa thoda bore huwa par chaltaa hai...

training milke bhi jab kaam nahi miltaa hai...
haa thoda bore huwa par chaltaa hai...

(phir ..? phir kya huwa..?)

fir ...?
fir kya...?

fir agale din appun ko aur ek assignment mila...!!!
shaappak...

saala appun ka khopdi phir chakkar kha gaya ...

computer ke saath dil saala phir takkar kha gayaa...!!!

ho ho ho hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Securing Wireless Networks

Abhishek Kant, had recently visited Pune. We were discussin about WiFi Security. He said he was lookin forward to session on those.. So here is my blog dedicated to Abhishek

IEEE 802.11b, also known as the "Wi-Fi Standard," is an 11-megabit Ethernet-compatible, wireless network technology (http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/). Early on, its developers acknowledged security issues with Wi-Fi and came up with Wired Equivalency Privacy (WEP) to make wireless LANs as secure as wired ones. WEP, however, is not without its problems. Through passive and active attacks, for instance, WEP can allow unauthorized use of wireless networks and real-time decryption of traffic on wireless networks. This presents a threat, especially in metropolitan areas with dense proliferation of wireless networks.

It comes as no surprise that there are a number of available techniques to exploit WEP's deficiencies. On the upside, however, these same techniques also let you test wireless networks. One such technique for securing wireless networks using a combination of hardware and the Free Secure Wide Area Network (FreeS/WAN), a freely available IPsec implementation for Linux that integrates with the IPsec functionality built into Windows
(http://www.freeswan.org/).

This technique lets you completely disable WEP (which you should for performance reasons anyway), so that all packets transmitted over the wireless network are encrypted using the secure IPsec protocol (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2401.txt). IPsec is a protocol for securing IP traffic at a low level—layer 3 of the OSI network model (http://www.netc.org/network_guide/c.html). IPsec is required in IPv6 (the new version of the TCP/IP Standard) and optional in IPv4 (the current Standard on which the Internet runs).

All this underscores an important point: The wireless access point is the wrong place to secure the wireless network. Not only do algorithmic flaws make WEP ineffective, but the concept itself is lacking. When you can have someone (potentially) miles away examining your network packets, there is no possibility of "wired equivalency." The solution to such problems is to assume that wireless traffic is inherently insecure, then use tried-and-true techniques for securing these insecure networks.


Because IPsec operates at a low level in the protocol stack, it can protect almost any type of traffic that has IP at its base—basically all the traffic on the Internet. Strong higher layer security protocols (such as SSH and SSL) require special configurations or applications that explicitly support them. The Opera browser, for instance, does not explicitly support IPsec. However, if an IPsec connection has been established, all traffic generated by the Opera browser traveling on that connection would automatically be encrypted.

The IPsec Standard has three protocols:

1. Internet Key Exchange (IKE) negotiates connections and is responsible for exchanging keys.
2. Authentication Header (AH) provides packet-level authentication once a secure connection has been established.
3. Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) is used for encryption/authentication.

FreeS/WAN implements IPsec through: KLIPS (kernel IPsec), which handles AH and ESP within the kernel; Pluto, which handles IKE; and various scripts to administer the system. FreeS/WAN extends the IPsec Standard to include an operational mode called "opportunistic encryption," in which all traffic between two gateways is automatically and seamlessly encrypted. One of the goals of the FreeS/WAN project is to have this extension integrated into the Standard. Opportunistic encryption uses public keys embedded in DNS records to automatically enable IPsec connections.

Technically speaking, two machines involved in an IPsec negotiation are both client and server at different stages of the connection. In terms of FreeS/WAN, a client is a machine that wants to establish a secure connection, while a security gateway is one to which the client connects. Both the client and the security gateway run the same software and have similar configurations.

Once you've installed FreeS/WAN (per the documentation), you need to configure it. Setting up an IPsec tunnel between two machines requires that they authenticate to each other. By default, FreeS/WAN uses public-key authentication with RSA. FreeS/WAN supports other authentication methods, including X.509 certificates with a patch.

Machines that want to establish IPsec connections must have each other's public keys. The client machine uses the security gateway's public key for authentication and the security gateway uses the client's public key for authentication. Ordinarily, key exchange is tricky when establishing secure communications between machines. In this case, it is more straightforward because everything is happening locally. If you're paranoid, put the public keys on floppy disks and walk them between the machines.

The client and security gateway machines need to have key pairs generated and exchange public keys. To generate a key pair from scratch, issue the command (on each machine): ipsec newhostkey --output /etc/ipsec.secrets. Be careful when using this command; if an ipsec.secrets file already exists, it appends another set of keys that causes confusion with other IPsec commands. (The documentation shows the command differently: ipsec newhostkey > /etc/ipsec.secrets. This is an older style of the command line and doesn't work with the recent versions.)

Next, extract and exchange the public key on each machine. When establishing an IPsec connection, FreeS/WAN needs to know which participant is left and which is right. The choice is arbitrary, but must be configured consistently. To extract the public key for the security gateway, execute ipsec showhostkey --right > SecGW.txt on the security gateway machine. To extract the public key for the client, execute ipsec showhostkey --left > Client.txt on the client machine

All traffic between individual nodes is encrypted using the IPsec protocol. Only authorized machines can establish IPsec connections because a client and security gateway need each other's public keys in their configuration files.

Microsoft Technologies Code-Names!!!

Operating Systems

Chicago - Windows 95
Detroit - Windows 95 OSR 2
Memphis - Windows 98
Millennium - Windows ME
Daytona - Windows NT 3.5
Janus - Windows 2000 64 Bit
Whistler - Windows XP
Bobcat - Windows Server 2003 Small Business Edition
Mantis - Windows XP Embedded 5.1
Freestyle - Windows XP Media Center Edition
Harmony - Windows XP Media Center Edition 1.5
Longhorn - Succesor of Windows XP
Blackcomb - Succesor of Longhorn


Exchange Servers
Osmium - Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5
Platinum - Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
Titanium - Microsoft Exchange 2003 Server
Kodiak - Microsoft Exchange 2005 Server

SQL Servers
Starfighter - Enterprise Managaer SQL-Server
Hydra - Microsoft SQL-Server 6.5
Sphinx - Microsoft SQL-Server 7.0
Shiloh - Microsoft SQL-Server 2000
Yukon - Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Liberty - 64Bit-Edition von SQL-Server 2005

Other Servers
Hermes - Microsoft Systems-Management-Server 1.0
Opal - Microsoft Systems-Management-Server 2.0
Topaz, Emerald - Microsoft Systems-Management-Server 2003
Ruby, Diamond - Successor of SMS 2003

Greenwich - Realtime Comunication Server
Catapult - Microsoft Proxy-Server 2.0
Comet - Microsoft Internet-Security & Acceration Server 2000
Tripoli, Tivoli - Microsoft Index-Server
Plutonium - Microsoft Commerce-Server 4.0
Sable - Microsoft E-Commerce Server 2001
Tahoe - SharePoint Server 2001
Bobcat - Microsoft BackOffice Server 2002
Latinum - Microsoft BizTalk-Server 2000

Other Codenames
Gecko - Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0
Texas - MSN 8 client
NGO (Next Generation Office) / Office.NET / Office11 - Microsoft Office 2003
Office10 - Microsoft Office.XP
Opus - Microsoft Word
Boston - Visual Studio 6.0
Everett - Microsoft Visual Studio.NET 2003
Rainier - Microsoft Visual Studio.NET
Dolphin - Visual C++
Wings - Visual C++ for Mac
Rotor - Common Language (CLI)
XDocs - InfoPath 2003 (Part of Office 2003 system)
Whidbey - Visual Studio .NET 2005
Utopia - MS BOB
Thunder - Microsoft Visual Basic
Freon - Sucsessor of X-Box
Fahrenheit - Direct X
Fusion - Technologies for DLL improvements
Kagera - OLE-DB Provider for ODBC-Data
Lightning - .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR)
Luna - Theme technology for Windows XP
Magic Carpet - Passport-Technologien
Touchdown - Public folders for MS Exchange
Wolfpack - Windows Cluster-Services
Marvel - Microsoft Network (MSN)

Processor Codenames DE-Coded!!

INTEL

Tualatin: The last of Pentium 3's. Had an L2 Cache of 512Kb

Williamette: The original edition of P4. Had and L1 cache of 125K and L2 cache of 256K

Northwood: The current P4s are based on this core. Available in two variants - Non-HT 400Mhz and the 533 and 800Mhz version with Hyperthreading. The fasted is P4EE, which has 2mb L3 Cache

Prescott: Originally was suposed to release in 2003. Came in first quater of 2004. A facrication change for the next P4s, starting from P4 Prescott 2.8A to P4EE 3.4 Ghz. The L2 cache is 1Mb

AMD

Palomino: The then first Athlon XPs from AMD, ranging from 1500+ to 2100+, where successors to the aging Athlon Thunderbird series.

Thoroughbred: The current Athlons from AMD. Have L1 cache of 128K and L2 of 256K. It was debuted on June 2002, with Athlon XP+

Barton: Last one in Athlon XP range of processors. The first model started with 2800+. Currently available upto 3200+

Hammer: The latest one in desktop and mobile processing market. L2 cache of 512Kb, with a new 940-pin design and 64-bit comupting.

ClawHammer: The scaled down version of Hammer

The 'D' of DVD's

A couple of days ago, one of my friends got a DVD from Australia. However when we tried to play it in his "India" DVD rom, it just wouldnt play. But the same would play on my DVD Player. Not understanding why this was happening, I went back to the internet to find things out for myself..


Soon after the DVD format was standardized, the movie industry divided the world into Six regions

1. USofA
2. Europe, Near East, South Africa and Japan
3. South East Asia
4. Australia, Middle and South America
5. Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.
6. The People's Republic of China

This was mainly done to stop the movement of movies across boundaries. Earlier, PC DVD-ROM manufacturers, used to make, region-free DVD drives that could play DVD's from any region. Such drives were called RPC1 drives. But after Jan 1, 2000, this changed. The new drives (named RPC2) were region locked. You could change the region only five times, after which your drive is locked to the last selected region.

For the region protection to work, the disc itself must be set to a specific region code (which most disc's are), and then either the DVD drive playback software must match the disc's code to their own code for the playback to work. If the drive itself is locked, the software or hardware decoder will rely on the drive to confirm the region match. If the drive is region free, then the decoders try to enforce the region protection.

If your drive is set to a specific region, you will be unable to play a disc from a different region. This cannot be bypased without replacing the checking mechanism within the drive itself. This can only be done with a firmware upgrade..

Finding this out, I was wondering why did it play on my DVD Drive.. The reason being - it is not just a plain old DVD ROM, but is a DVD Writer.

O2 XDA IIs Reviewed!!!!

Here comes, straight from the Stable of O2, the all new and superb O2 XDA IIs (or shall I call it as O2 XDA III in German Style). Both the previous models from O2 have been hits, specially the XDA II with the first of its kind to have a Bluetooth Support.

The IIs works on 400 MHz processor and preforms good, though there are PDAs which run on either 520 or 624 MHz. The 102 MB of user RAM and 40 MB of non-volatile memory, makes it look (rather work) gorgeous second by second. All the battery life is good and worth a mention.


The XDA IIs is similar in shape and form factor as of XDA II - however the real change in these two models is that in XDA IIs, the front half of the device glides to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard (or for that matter we call it thumbboard) - something which was used as an accessory with XDA II

It has as black matte finish, away from the regular silver colored ones, with a 16-bit colour display. The top layer on the case, just above the display has the two standard buttons along with four additional buttons at the bottom to access Start menu, open the Messaging app and Internet Explorer. The fourth button "Ok" really helps to do a one handed operation.

It also includes the 0.3 Megapixel camera lens in the upper right corner on the back of the device, a loudspeaker in the center on the top of the XDA.

The XDA IIs can be called as Wireless Freako - quad-band GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 MHz with GPRS Class 8 and 10, Blueooth and Wi-Fi 802.11b - will be more than enough for anybody's Wireless games, surfing as well as connectivity. Under the hood, the IIs offers an SDIO capable SD/MMC Card expansion slot, doubles up as a dial-up modem via either serial or USB - courtesy of the bottom connector.

The XDA IIs runs the Second Edition of Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC platform. The O2 Active User Interface offers up handy menus including links to offerings from O2 as well as chalks up points for including easily accessible mute button in Active UI. Wireless Manager utility is for non-power users, while the Enroller application for use with 802.11x-enabled Wi-Fi networks and a MIDlet manager.

To sum it all in few words, the O2 XDA IIs is Jack-of-All-Trades, a real value for those users who want to be connected all the time, for those users who want superb connectivity support, solid performance, an integrated thumbboard and a spacious amount of memory. However the only glitch that I feel, is that its on the heavy side, in terms of the weight.

VISA's Explained!!

On my recent visit to the US Consulate at Mumbai, I was not sure about the kind of visas that they would give to students. That time I felt as if I need to know all the kinds of visas' issued. Here is a list of them:


A Visas (Official Visas)-
A-1: For Ambassadors, public ministers & consular officers
A-2: For immediate family members of A-1
A-3: Attendants & servants of A-1 and A-2 holders

B (Business/Visitor) Visa -
B-1 Temporary visitor for business
B-2 Temporary visitor for leisure
C & D Visa (For Aliens in transit) -
C-1,2: Alien in transit directly through US
C-3: Family of C-1,C-2 in transit
C-4: Transit without Visa(TWOV)

D-1: Sailors departing on vessel of arrival
D-2: Sailors departing by other means

E - Visa (For Traders/Investors) -
E-1 Treaty Trader, spouse and children
E-2 Treaty Investor, spouse and children

F Visa (Students) -
Want to study or research at a U.S. college? Then F is the visa for you -
F-1: Academic Student
F-2: Spouse or child of F-1

H (Temporary Worker) Visa -
H-1B: Persons in a specialty occupation
H-2B: Seasonal nonagricultural workers
H-3: Trainees other than medical/academic; also training of handicaps
H-4: Dependants of H visa holders

I Visa (Mediapersons) -
Are you a reporter, film person, Editor? Then you require an I-visa -
Essential docs: Your press ID, a letter from the editor.

J & Q Exchange Visitor Visa -
J-1 exchange visitors may be academics, scientists, businesspeople or students.
J-1: Visas for exchange visitors
J-2: Spouse or 'child' of J-1 under 21

Fiance(e) of US Citizen -
K-1 Fiance(e)
K-2 Minor child of K-1
K-3 Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (LIFE Act)
K-4 Child of K-3 (LIFE Act)
Docs: Marriage certificate & Photos, Intent of marrying within 90 days
in US(for K1).

L Visa (Intracompany Transferees)-
L-1A Executive, managerial
L-1B Specialized knowledge
L-2 Spouse or child of L-1

Vocational and Language Students -
M-1 Vocational student or other non-academic student
M-2 Spouse or child of M-1

O -Visa (For Prodigies) -
O-1: For a Genius in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business, or Athletics.
O-2: Alien's (support) accompanying O-1
O-3: Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2

Athletes and Entertainers-
P-1: Athletes & Entertainment groups
P-2: Entertainers in exchange programs
P-3: Entertainers in cultural programs
P-4: Spouse or child of P-1, 2, or 3

R-Visa (Religious Workers)
R-1 Religious workers
R-2 Spouse or child of R-1