Microsoft Offers Longhorn Accessibility Platform for License

Micrsoft Plans to offer "Windows User Interface Automation" (UI Automation) on Loyalty free, cross-platform basis. UI Automation is slated to debut with Longhorn.

Shared Source for Bluetooth

Are you doing a project on Embedded/Mobile Platform?? Do you plan to use connectivity in you application with "Bluetooth". If your answers are yes - or just for the sake of it - check out the
BlueTooth Source Library - Windows Embedded Source Tools for Bluetooth Technology

India Security Weeks

Recently Microsoft India concluded it Security Week tour across India. There was one held at Mumbai. Sadly, due to my exams I wasn't able to attend it.

However, not to be left behind, Vineet Gupta an IT Pro Evangelist from Microsoft India, has blogged his complete experience on the Security Week. Also some interesting replies on some of the commonly asked questions on security. Read the complete post. The presentations have also been now made available - online.

Thanks a lot Vineet for telling how was it at the Security Weeks.

More Fun!!!

Here are couple of more pics - the other side of all of us!! Had fun - specially during dinner times ;)

WiFi - a lot discussed over it

Saturday, 21st May 2005 - was the day!! We had this month's ITPro UG meet. Abhishek had specially come down from Delhi (Gurgaon) for this one. He was speaking on WiFi. There is already a post on the meet, so wont be posting much here.

What's not there on that post are the photos of the meet. Here are a few of them.

Yipeee!! Microsoft Student Ambassador now

Recently, I was awarded and promoted from being a Microsoft Student Champ to Micrsoft Student Ambassador. As a part of the award, got a new kit from Microsoft. This included a copy of VS.NET 2003, a Student Ambassador starter kit and a cool new Black Microsoft Bag, which has a provision keeping a laptop ( Wish the bag had come with a tablet). BTW below is a pic of the bag.

TechSupport - Dont bet on it.

Well every wondered what kind of questions might be asked if you were a part of the tech support at some Company. Well Gotta check out the below pics :)

Reason 1 - For not using FireFox

An intersting post made by Dhaval

Gigabit iSCSI - The Future of Networks??

Internet SCSI (iSCSI) is a draft standard protocol for encapsulating SCSI command into TCP/IP packets and enabling I/O block data transport over IP networks. iSCSI can be used to build IP-based SANs.

The simple, yet powerful technology can help provide a high-speed, low-cost, long-distance storage solution for Web sites, service providers, enterprises and other organizations.
An iSCSI HBA, or storage NIC, connects storage resources over Ethernet. As a result, core transport layers can be managed using existing network management applications. High-level management activities of the iSCSI protocol – such as permissions, device information and
configuration – can easily be layered over or built into these applications.

For this reason, the deployment of interoperable, robust enterprise management solutions for iSCSI devices is expected to occur quickly. First-generation iSCSI HBA performance is expected to be wellsuited for the workgroup or departmental storage requirements of medium- and large-sized businesses. The expected availability of TCP/IP Offload Engines in 2002 will significantly improve the performance of iSCSI products. Performance comparable to Fibre Channel is expected when vendors begin shipping 10 Gigabit Ethernet iSCSI products in 2003.

Benefits
By combining SCSI, Ethernet and TCP/IP, Gigabit iSCSI delivers these key advantages:

• Builds on stable and familiar standards – many IT staffs are familiar with the technologies
  
• Creates a SAN with a reduced TCO – installation and maintenance costs are low since the TCP/IP suite reduces the need for hiring specialized personnel
  
• Provides a high degree of interoperability – reduces disparate networks and cabling, and uses regular Ethernet switches instead of special Fibre Channel switches
  
• Ethernet transmissions can travel over the Global IP Network and therefore have no practical distance limitations
  
• Scales to 10 Gigabit – comparable to OC-192 SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) rates in Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs)

Mozilla releases Firefox security update

A security update for the Firefox open-source browser has been released by the Mozilla Foundation, a move that follows the public disclosure of exploit code for two "extremely critical" vulnerabilities.

Currently, Mozilla has the update out in 12 languages and anticipates sending it out in another 24 languages in the coming days.

The Update can be downloaded from FireFox's site

World is NOT Enough

Got this pic while going through a NASA site. If this is true - then you might want to live to the MAX for the next years to come.

Encrypt your MSN Messenger conversations

Well - comming back to the security issue, how many of us know that messages over IM are transferred over "Simple Text" mode. Well, better encrypt this text :)

A tool for encrypting the messages over IM

- the best part it is free for personal use. Dont miss a chance to use this tool :)

Google mistype security nightmare

One of its kind - a article on TechWorld :)

Anyone who accidentally types "googkle.com" [do NOT attempt this - Ed], an
easy-to hit misspelling of the domain name, will find themselves on the
receiving end of a nasty cyber-jacking, or "Google-jacking" as perhaps it should
be more accurately termed

Read the complete article

Imagine Cup Zonal Finals Winners!!

Finally done with the Zonal Finals (West) for Imagine Cup. Had a long day yesterday - managing the complete event. Once again, got a chance to meet the best from the Industry.

It was a fun filled event with 7 teams across the west zone participating. However only two of the teams could make it to the India Finals, which would be held at Bangalore. Read for more details about this event.

MIT will host Microsoft Imagine Cup Zonal Round

Read the complete story here

Flaws in Mac OS X

Over the years, every critic has been after Microsoft for its security flaws. For a change, a independent security firm Secunia, has found flaws in the Mac OS X.

Apple Computer has released its second major security update in as many weeks, fixing 20 bugs in the "Jaguar" version of the Mac OS X operating system. The most serious of the flaws could allow remote attacks.

This week's patch was designed for desktop and server versions of OS X 10.3.9, an update released in mid-April as Apple geared up for the launch of OS X 10.4, nicknamed Tiger.

The flaws patched this week are more serious than those addressed by the April patch, with some of the new bugs allowing remote attackers to run malicious code on a user's system. A buffer overflow in Apache's htdigest program could be triggered via a CGI application to allow remote system compromise, as quoted by Apple

Deep Thoughts!!!

This is something a friend forwarded me. I guess, the words do mean a lot. Personally speaking, it was something that really touched my heart. So never take anyone for GRANTED!!

Is Torvalds really the father of Linux?

According to the study, it's safe to argue that Tanenbaum, who had years of OS experience and who had seen the Unix source code, could create Minix in three years. "However, it is highly questionable that Linus, still just a student, with virtually no operating systems development experience, could do the same, especially in one-sixth of the time," says the study, which was written by Ken Brown, president of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution

Read the complete story here

A new look for my blog!!

Finally, after two day of hard work, I have the new template for my blog. Have done quite a few changes on it. Here is a list:

1. I now have 2 sidebars. The first one being where I have my feeds, my profile and links to the blogs which i read. This also has some information about the books/music which I'm hooked onto currently
   
   
2. The second one has a method to subscribe to my blog, the archive list and the no. of visitors who have so far visited this blog. I have also signed up for Google AdSense
   
   
3. The center of the page, consists of my posts, with a all new white background and different font.
   
   
4. Lastly, the bottom of the page consists a "Google" Search for my blog.
   

Do, let me know about your comments on this new look. Also there is a chatterbox on the right, so you can just drop in your smilies :)