Sometimes I think , life is all about an endless quest in finding answers to one's ambiguity. You keep asking all these question's , thinking that finding the answer's would make your life a little better .In fact, every answer that helps you learn something , help you move forward, gives you hope.
Sometime its scares me , what would happen if we run out of question's cause to me running out of question's is like running out of hope
21 June 2009
14 August 2008
Open LDAP
Been a while since I have been searching for Open LDAP for Windows, for those whos are interested you can find it here http://download.bergmans.us/openldap/openldap-2.2.29/
For folks who are into security (like *me), LDAP is a must .For some fundamental idea of LDAP, check this out http://www.openldap.org/doc/admin24/intro.html
As for post installation :
All that's left to do is run the LDAP server and connect to it with a client. To run the server, adjust the file slapd.conf if necessary, then go to a command prompt and do:
C:\> cd \openldap
C:\openldap> .\slapd -d 1
It will print a great deal of debugging effluvia on the console, atwhich point you should be able to connect to the server with a client program. There is almost no Windows-specific documentation for OpenLDAP right now, alas, so the standard documentation available at openldap.org is your best bet on getting usage information for now.
For folks who are into security (like *me), LDAP is a must .For some fundamental idea of LDAP, check this out http://www.openldap.org/doc/admin24/intro.html
As for post installation :
All that's left to do is run the LDAP server and connect to it with a client. To run the server, adjust the file slapd.conf if necessary, then go to a command prompt and do:
C:\> cd \openldap
C:\openldap> .\slapd -d 1
It will print a great deal of debugging effluvia on the console, atwhich point you should be able to connect to the server with a client program. There is almost no Windows-specific documentation for OpenLDAP right now, alas, so the standard documentation available at openldap.org is your best bet on getting usage information for now.
09 July 2008
IE Antivirus Removal
I was the victim of IE Antivirus attack. Let me give you some information that would help you to find out if your computer is also affected by it.
What is IE Antivirus??
It is classified as Rogue anti-spyware, what that means is IE Antivirus is a fake (deceptive!! ) anti-spyware program that pretends to be a legitimate spyware removal tool. IE Antivirus is potent in the way that it displays erroneous scan results that are totally bogus and cannot be trusted. Major irritant: It slows down your computer .
But did not even install it , I got infected when I was trying to install Ad-Aware 2008 - Lavasoft and I instead installed a spy ware , how ironical.
So the lesson to be learned here is if you are using "Bit torrent" for downloading applications. Please do read the user comments before downloading anything, I failed to do it and found it out the hard way.
So What does the spyware do??
You can’t open a single folder without it displaying a irritating dialog box that says
“your computer is at risk! Files in C:\WINDOWS (Your WINDOWS install directory ) have been infected!, check your computer online for free NOW!” and the only thing I you are allowed to do is to say YES or NO. And either way,you will be pushed online to their page !
I tried all spyware software available but none of them removed the IE anitivirus I Used Spybot - Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware (real one, this time) and XoftSpySE . All the software's I used were up to date and full version still it did not help.
How do you remove it?
To get to the point, all you have to do is download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?hhTest and it will take care of IE Antivirus for good
What is IE Antivirus??
It is classified as Rogue anti-spyware, what that means is IE Antivirus is a fake (deceptive!! ) anti-spyware program that pretends to be a legitimate spyware removal tool. IE Antivirus is potent in the way that it displays erroneous scan results that are totally bogus and cannot be trusted. Major irritant: It slows down your computer .
But did not even install it , I got infected when I was trying to install Ad-Aware 2008 - Lavasoft and I instead installed a spy ware , how ironical.
So the lesson to be learned here is if you are using "Bit torrent" for downloading applications. Please do read the user comments before downloading anything, I failed to do it and found it out the hard way.
So What does the spyware do??
You can’t open a single folder without it displaying a irritating dialog box that says
“your computer is at risk! Files in C:\WINDOWS (Your WINDOWS install directory ) have been infected!, check your computer online for free NOW!” and the only thing I you are allowed to do is to say YES or NO. And either way,you will be pushed online to their page !
I tried all spyware software available but none of them removed the IE anitivirus I Used Spybot - Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware (real one, this time) and XoftSpySE . All the software's I used were up to date and full version still it did not help.
How do you remove it?
To get to the point, all you have to do is download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?hhTest and it will take care of IE Antivirus for good
08 July 2008
Day at the Barber Shop
I was just planning for a walk when I found Great Clips coupon for $6.99 . It was almost a month since I had my almost hair cut (I religiously get a haircut every month) moreover I always liked the Latina girls at the place, they are very friendly, do a good job and and needless to say, are very pretty(two of them). So I rushed of to the place hoping to get a good haircut apart from the ogling at the barber (barberee ??) .
I finally reached the place and what do I see, there are only two barbers, both male, one a Chinese and another one a gay, he was wearing ear rings, had done his eyebrows. He could not have made himself more obvious about his sexual orientation.I am not homophobic or anything but I really wished the old Chinese guy cuts my hair, even if he gives me a bad haircut.
I was told that I have to wait for 30 min to get my haircut, so I did the obvious thing and that was to wait. About 25 min's past a guy entered the place and asked the receptionist who was next, when she pointed at me, he immediately came over to me and said that he was in a great hurry to go to the airport, so can I let him go first instead . I thought " whats wrong with him", if it so urgent then why is he at the barber shop in the first place, he should be on his way to the airport.
Well then he said he will pay for my haircut too, hmm so he was not lying about his situation and I thought, I have all the time in the world so waiting for another 20 odd minutes would not make a difference to me, So I told him, to have his haircut but do not pay for mine.
He thanked me and went for his haircut. After he was done he went to the receptionist and turned towards me and said "I am paying for your haircut" and I said no no no, please do not pay for me after a little persuasion he took the money back,thanked me again and left. I thought "Hmmm, there goes my $14 and if I had used the coupon for my next haircut I would have saved $7 ,so in all $21, hey that's like a good lunch at "Red Lobster" down the drain.
When the barber called me next he said "That I did a good thing". It seems someone in his family had died and he was going to the airport to get the body. I felt relieved at not taking any money from him (I anyways would not have been comfortable taking money from a stranger).
But the only thing bothering me is, if going to the airport was so important for him (obviously it was !!) what was the need for him to get a haircut at all, could he not have waited for another day or looking good at the funeral was so important for him, I may never know real reason but still I wonder, why??
I finally reached the place and what do I see, there are only two barbers, both male, one a Chinese and another one a gay, he was wearing ear rings, had done his eyebrows. He could not have made himself more obvious about his sexual orientation.I am not homophobic or anything but I really wished the old Chinese guy cuts my hair, even if he gives me a bad haircut.
I was told that I have to wait for 30 min to get my haircut, so I did the obvious thing and that was to wait. About 25 min's past a guy entered the place and asked the receptionist who was next, when she pointed at me, he immediately came over to me and said that he was in a great hurry to go to the airport, so can I let him go first instead . I thought " whats wrong with him", if it so urgent then why is he at the barber shop in the first place, he should be on his way to the airport.
Well then he said he will pay for my haircut too, hmm so he was not lying about his situation and I thought, I have all the time in the world so waiting for another 20 odd minutes would not make a difference to me, So I told him, to have his haircut but do not pay for mine.
He thanked me and went for his haircut. After he was done he went to the receptionist and turned towards me and said "I am paying for your haircut" and I said no no no, please do not pay for me after a little persuasion he took the money back,thanked me again and left. I thought "Hmmm, there goes my $14 and if I had used the coupon for my next haircut I would have saved $7 ,so in all $21, hey that's like a good lunch at "Red Lobster" down the drain.
When the barber called me next he said "That I did a good thing". It seems someone in his family had died and he was going to the airport to get the body. I felt relieved at not taking any money from him (I anyways would not have been comfortable taking money from a stranger).
But the only thing bothering me is, if going to the airport was so important for him (obviously it was !!) what was the need for him to get a haircut at all, could he not have waited for another day or looking good at the funeral was so important for him, I may never know real reason but still I wonder, why??
11 June 2008
World's fastest Laptop, running Windows Vista
If someone asked you which is the fastest laptop that would run Windows Vista, what would you say?? How would you impress a friend with your tech knowledge( pseudo though) if you fumble answering this?Well, I would have said DELL XPS range of laptops, it is supposed to the "High performance" laptops that dell offers and also it looks kind of sleek too (one of my friends who was also my project mate, had one).
I guess most of us would guess Sony ,Toshiba or HP.
But can you guess the winner ?? , well you will be surprised by the Google search result for "fastest laptop to run vista"(like me) :
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136649-page,3-c,notebooks/article.html.
The article is dated 10/25/07, but I believe it still hold's true. You can also find the slowest laptop too in the article (which on of my ex-room mates owns ;-))
09 June 2008
Jonty Nair and महेन्द्र सिंह Ajay
Wow, the first thing I get to do outdoors in Atlanta was to play cricket. I played quite well (according to my standards, which by the way start at below ground level). Why was it a big deal for me? Well for starters I downright suck at it. If it is batting then it's just a matter of time when the bowler aims at the stumps and bowls and gets me out, yeah you guessed it right, that happens to me usually within the first 3 ball's . But I have got dismissed in more dignified manner too, instead of letting my wickets fly all out, I let myself (as I would like to think) get out by hitting the ball as hard as I can ( placement is a just a word to me, it does not mean anything) and the ball usually(mostly) never crosses the boundary and inadvertently finds its way to some fielder's hand. I can deal with that. It's the stump outs I can't deal with.
But the Atlanta game was different, man it really was a big time ego trip for me.Before diving into the details, let me go back to a small flashback session.
Year : 1999, 10th standard .
Venue : Kendriya Vidyalaya Pattom, Football ground ,Kerala.
Event : Interhouse Cricket match (not interstate, but it was a big deal to me)
My Role : summa cum laude (so I assumed) Batsmen number no 4.
We fielded first, So after letting go of some easy shots which were converted to boundaries , all thanks to me, my team's captain decided to rest their "star" batsmen, lest I get tried of all this unnecessary running . Well he was right though, after all there in no point it running around and chasing the ball if you can't catch it or at least stop it.
If you have seen all those karate movies, where the hero always start his training by running after the Chicken but never catches it.Well, that's how I looked in the field, running after the ball.Actually in the movies, the hero does catch the chicken after a while but I somehow never crossed the training stage.
The opposition made 58 runs off 15 over's . Not bad for guys who have just started to play with leather balls( ahem, I meant the cricket ball). We ( I speak for the team) were actually more scared of getting hurt by the leather ball than the humiliation of losing . So our first three wicket's went off in a total of 24 runs and in around 7 overs. So now it was up to me to step up and take me team to the path of glory . Well, it was around the same time my DAD and SISTER came looking for me (Since I had not called home to inform I would be coming late). My DAD parked the car near the football ground came out with my sister, watching the game. So what do they see, 3 guys working on me, two tying my kneepad, one helping me with the arm pads .Man I felt like a star (for a short moment though).
So I make up my mind to hit only 4's and 6's to impress my dad and make my sister burn with envy. I went to the crease, First ball and I swear to god I did not see where it went.When I looked back, the wicket keeper told me that it had just missed the stumps by millimeters .So I change my strategy, I pray "Please god , let me make at least 2 runs ", I don't want to get out on "DUCK" especially with my DAD watching, but as usual god had other plans for me. Second ball, I just swing my bat, the ball flies, my first thought "Could be a six , it looked little short of six , then I thought it has gone pretty high, should be at least a 4 , just then the god damn ball stopped traveling in distance any further (I was watching it) and dropped dead like a dead bird (you can say like "Chicken") and some dude had also been watching it (well he had to, he was the fielder) and this idiot caught it.
There you have it, my first professional cricketing experience. I was out, on a "DUCK". We lost too.We had only 3 good batsmen and my captain made the mistake of thinking I was the fourth .
On my way back home, no one spoke in the car(to my relief).But when I looked in the mirror (rear view mirror,) I saw reflection of a sinister smile in the backseat.Yeah, it was my sister, all smiles. Why you ask me, Well I had given her something to taunt me for a very long time.
So how was the Atlanta match different.....watch this space
But the Atlanta game was different, man it really was a big time ego trip for me.Before diving into the details, let me go back to a small flashback session.
Year : 1999, 10th standard .
Venue : Kendriya Vidyalaya Pattom, Football ground ,Kerala.
Event : Interhouse Cricket match (not interstate, but it was a big deal to me)
My Role : summa cum laude (so I assumed) Batsmen number no 4.
We fielded first, So after letting go of some easy shots which were converted to boundaries , all thanks to me, my team's captain decided to rest their "star" batsmen, lest I get tried of all this unnecessary running . Well he was right though, after all there in no point it running around and chasing the ball if you can't catch it or at least stop it.
If you have seen all those karate movies, where the hero always start his training by running after the Chicken but never catches it.Well, that's how I looked in the field, running after the ball.Actually in the movies, the hero does catch the chicken after a while but I somehow never crossed the training stage.
The opposition made 58 runs off 15 over's . Not bad for guys who have just started to play with leather balls( ahem, I meant the cricket ball). We ( I speak for the team) were actually more scared of getting hurt by the leather ball than the humiliation of losing . So our first three wicket's went off in a total of 24 runs and in around 7 overs. So now it was up to me to step up and take me team to the path of glory . Well, it was around the same time my DAD and SISTER came looking for me (Since I had not called home to inform I would be coming late). My DAD parked the car near the football ground came out with my sister, watching the game. So what do they see, 3 guys working on me, two tying my kneepad, one helping me with the arm pads .Man I felt like a star (for a short moment though).
So I make up my mind to hit only 4's and 6's to impress my dad and make my sister burn with envy. I went to the crease, First ball and I swear to god I did not see where it went.When I looked back, the wicket keeper told me that it had just missed the stumps by millimeters .So I change my strategy, I pray "Please god , let me make at least 2 runs ", I don't want to get out on "DUCK" especially with my DAD watching, but as usual god had other plans for me. Second ball, I just swing my bat, the ball flies, my first thought "Could be a six , it looked little short of six , then I thought it has gone pretty high, should be at least a 4 , just then the god damn ball stopped traveling in distance any further (I was watching it) and dropped dead like a dead bird (you can say like "Chicken") and some dude had also been watching it (well he had to, he was the fielder) and this idiot caught it.
There you have it, my first professional cricketing experience. I was out, on a "DUCK". We lost too.We had only 3 good batsmen and my captain made the mistake of thinking I was the fourth .
On my way back home, no one spoke in the car(to my relief).But when I looked in the mirror (rear view mirror,) I saw reflection of a sinister smile in the backseat.Yeah, it was my sister, all smiles. Why you ask me, Well I had given her something to taunt me for a very long time.
So how was the Atlanta match different.....watch this space
08 June 2008
Craigslist....not for the Greedy at heart
Let this post act as a warning note to all my friends who are interested in buying a used car online and looking for downright cheap deal. Some of the web sites to search for used car's other than craigslist are
UsedCars.com, Cars.com, CarsDirect.com and Car.com. You can specify your zip code too in these sites and search for good deals in nearby local addresses.
Before you start searching for a used car, first check for the car's price at "www.KBB.com" to get an price estimate of the car you are looking for . You can specify the make ,model ,year miles then select suggested retails price and KBB , which stands for Kelly Blue Book , would give an estimated selling price for the car assuming that the condition of the used car is "Excellent" i.e no accident,damage,engine in good condition and clean interiors.
People here swear by KBB's price , in fact if the car you have seen is priced higher than KBB then you can you can start negotiating from the KBB's value .On the other hand if the value of the car is very less as compared to KBB then again you need to be cautious.The reason could be many
*The car could have been involved in an accident
*There could be major mechanical problem with the car
*The car might be a stolen one and someone is just trying to sell it off quickly
*It would be better to avoid buying a used car that is freshly painted. There are instances
wherein the stolen car’s identity is being changed through changing its paint color.
*Avoid buying cars from a seller that cannot present the car’s “insurance policy.” This could
mean that the car is stolen or the seller is not the true owner of the car.
Next step is to check for VIN (vehicle identification) number, which as you guys must have guessed is used to uniquely identify a motor vehicle ,please don't confuse it with primary key (mokkai!!).
Checking the VIN would give you all record's of the motor vehicles including it's accident history if any. Carfax.com is the best place to check this .This service is not free though .Keep in mind though,If CARFAX does not show anything bad , still there is no 100% guarantee than the car would be perfect,because the report may not indicate minor/moderate collision damage or improper vehicle maintenance.
*Service and repair Records of the vehicle
*If the odometer was worked (tampered?) on
*if there was any damage to the vehicle due to floods.
* Vehicle use (rental,taxi or lease)
*Emission results
*Car was salvaged
Apart from CARFAX report ,make sure you get your vehicle inspected by a mechanic too.Ask him to do a "pre buy" inspection for the car.
Most of us will be using Craigslist.com to buy used car too, if you receive any message saying that the car will be shipped to you free of cost and the price seems too good to be true then beware ,let me share two fraud emails I have received . One even had a VIN and another one even had a contact number ,see for yourself.They are kind of obvious, but for first timer's like us it still poses a threat.
Hello,
My name is Kenny Banks and I am selling my car, 2007 Toyota Camry for $7,000. The car was purchased by my son for me on 04/11/2008. The reason for selling this new car is that I want to move in Canada with my son because I am 68 years old and is hard for me at this age to live by myself. The car has 35,485 miles and I am the first owner of the car. I am a non smoker so the car is clean and I keept it in my garage. The VIN number of the car is JTNBE46K973097651 in case that you want to verify. If you love the car please email me your full name and address and I will contact google checkout with the information and they will assist me and you in the process of buying the car. The car will be insured at the delivery service and if something happens on the road , you will receive the insurance from the delivery service. After the car arrives, you will have 5 days for inspection. If the car is different than the way I've described it, you will be fully refunded and the car will be shipped back on my expense. Anyways, I don't think it will be necessary, you'll love this car from the first moment you'll see it. I want to sell the car as soon as possible so please decide very fast if you want to buy or not.
Thank you!
Kenny
Another one had a contact number too, I have not called yet ,You can if you want to
1st mail
Hi ,
Thank you for contacting me regarding my car. I am a 28 years old single mom with 2 kids. I am now in a divorce with my ex and i am in desperate need of money to pay the mortgage on my house.
First of all I want to tell you that the car is in perfect condition, and the price includes all the shipping costs and insurance so you will not have to pay any extra charges if you can't come to Texas to make the deal.
My brother works at the shipping company and he has 1 transportation per year for free so the shipping will be free.
Mileage: 73,956 miles
http://picasaweb.google.com
Year 2002. The car has a Clean Tittle which will come along with it.
I am in Fort Worth, Tx . The car is with me here and is in a perfect condition.
It's a great car, I am devastated that I have to sell it but i really need the money to pay my mortgage unless i'll lose my house, so I decided to sell it.
Tell me if there is anything else you would like to know about the car.
Thank you for the interest you have shown in purchasing the car.
Please reply,
Regards !
Danielle
2nd mail
My # is:239-628-3016
I decided that the payment to be completed using Ebay security because i want to
take this opportunity to assure you that this deal is 100% LEGIT but you must know that in
this way eBay will require you to send a ($ 4.100) prior shipping and they will have to
verify me and the car and you as well before we can close this deal through their service.
Your money will be keep by eBay agent until you will receive the car and send them the
confirmation that you are satisfied with the product received. In case you don't want to
keep the car all you will have to do is to ask them for a refund and you will be totally
refunded in 2 days.REMEMBER: i will take care of the shipping !
P.S. You must know that if you decide to buy the car i will need your full name and shipping
address as soon as possible in order to send your details to the shipping company and to eBay
agent to make the arrangements for shipping.
Thanks !
SO guys be careful .There a lot more I want to add . So watch out for this space......
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