Never Store Passwords in Email

Most of us have this practice of keeping their passwords of various accounts in email as it is lot handy and easily accessible at all places. While the practice is easy, it is very risky too. To discourage the use of this practice, I thought of sharing the info in the Tip of the Week section.

As most people think, storing the passwords to many accounts like other email IDs, bank accounts or other personal details like PIN number ofcredit/debit card etc. in email is safe and easy. On the contrary, the practice is very risky and should be discouraged immediately.

The biggest risk in this practice is that if somebody comes to know your account passwords or in simple words hacks into your email account then it would be very simple for him to hack your other online accounts as well. Now the person doing this may not be good enough to not to do anything mischievous with your other accounts.

Thus in my opinion, nobody should use this practice and if you are also following the same then TS advises you to discourage the same.

Related posts:

1. Never reuse the Same Password
2. Double Check Email Recipient before Sending
3. Tip of the Week: How to Make Passwords Difficult to Guess
4. Steps to send exe and other files through Email

By Adam Dachis How to Get Tomorrow's iOS Features Today

Apple's iOS updates are seeded to developers, often in beta form, before they're released to the general public. This may seem like an impenetrable barrier for some, but very little is preventing you from upgrading early. Here's how to do it. Acquiring an iOS Beta The Proper Method: Be a "Developer" Whether you're actually a developer or not, Apple allows you to pay to be a registered developer for $99. You don't have to make (or even think about making) a single iOS application. All you're required to do is pay the $99 entrance fee. This gets you access to iOS betas for a year and you can download install them as you please. $99 isn't exactly a great deal to have future access to iOS betas unless you're an iOS fanatic. If you'd still like official access to the beta, however, what we'd recommend doing is rounding up a few friends who would also like early access and splitting the fee. If you can find four other people, that's just $20 each. Because Apple lets you add up to 100 device UDID (the unique device identifier on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch) you can easily share a developer membership with others to save some money. With a large number of people, you can get your updates for just a few dollars per year. If you want to register as a developer, you can do that at the Apple Developer Connection. The Improper Method: Circumvent the System It's not hard to locate iOS betas online by simple searching Google for a torrent file. That said, even though you'll be getting the iOS update for free later on in the month, Apple doesn't permit the free downloading of iOS betas. By downloading iOS without Apple's consent, well, you know you're breaking the rules. If you're not a registered developer and you've somehow obtained a copy of an iOS beta, you may still have some issues. Apple requires that device UDIDs are registered on a developer account to activate the iOS beta. This means that if you install an iOS beta without registering your UDID you may end up with an unusable device. This can be especially problematic because once you upgrade, there's no going back. Well,technically there is but it takes some effort. If you decide to take the risk, be sure youDO NOT restore your iOS device using the beta image. That will pretty much ensure that your iOS device will be locked down. Instead, use the upgrade method (detailed below). If it succeeds, however, it's unlikely the device will need to register with Apple. If it doesn't succeed, don't restore using the update but try to restore using the last available stable release of iOS (as in not a beta, and probably what was on your device beforehand). Again, if you try to restore your device with an iOS beta it will refuse to boot until it is registered with an Apple developer account. You have to use the "Check for Upgrade" route instead. But what if I screw up? As mentioned above, paying for a developer account with friends is an easy way to save money on getting these early upgrades. But what if nobody likes you (or just doesn't want to pay money for betas like you do)? A quick search will generally turn up a few ambitious individuals who have paid for developer accounts and are looking to make some money. Generally for around $5, they will add your UDID to their developer account so you can easily update without worry. If you happen to screw up the update and lock down your device or just want piece of mind, this is a good alternative to paying the $99 required by Apple. Of course, this is still breaking the rules. Installing an iOS Beta Installing an iOS beta is very easy. Connect your device to your computer and open iTunes (if it doesn't open automatically). Choose your device from the iTunes sidebar and you'll see a section called Version. There are two options in that section: Check for Update and Restore. Important! iOS updates are specific to their devices. If you have an iPod touch and an iPad, you'll need separate IPSW files for each of them. If you try to upgrade an iPad using an IPSW for an iPod touch, for example, itwill not work. Restoring will wipe everything off of your iOS device, so you want to avoid that whenever possible. Instead, hold down the option key if you're on a Mac or shift if you're on a Windows PC and click theCheck for Update button. You will be prompted to choose an IPSW (iPhone Software) file. Choose the beta you downloaded for your device and clickChoose. From there, iTunes will take over and upload the IPSW to your device. The upgrade will start, and if it works you will have the beta up and running in no time*. * This is not true at all—iTunes takes forever to update. You should go make yourself a sandwich while you wait.

Change File and Folder Attributes Instantly with Attribute Changer

Whether your computer is infected by virus or you just wish to change the attributes of the files you have, you can do this easily. What if your files that were present in the pen drive have become hidden (read this post) and you are planning to unhide them one by one?

Well you don’t need to change the attributes of the files present in your system one by one, rather use this tool called Attribute Changer (thanks to our reader Nasim for letting us know). With this tool you can not only change the attributes of as many files as you like but also change the attribute of folders as well.

Attribute Changer is a power user tool to change all kind of file and folder attributes, date, time and even NTFS compression. Exif date and time information stored in digital images are easily altered with Attribute Changer.

Just download and install this free tool and to use it what you need to do is just right click on the files you wish to change the attributes of and select “Change Attributes” option from the context menu.

Attribute Changer can work on all versions of Windows both 32 and 64 bits.

Download Attribute Changer

How to secure your Linux system

Page 1: Linux security basicsPage 2: Software firewalls and encryptionPage 3: Securely delete files and browse anonymously

Make sure your browser is routing traffic via Privoxy to stop people snooping on your browsing

Are you running Linux just because you think it's safer than Windows? Think again. Sure, security is a built-in (and not a bolt-on) feature and extends right from the Linux kernel to the desktop, but it still leaves enough room to let someone muck about with your /home folder.

Linux might be impervious to viruses and worms written for Windows, but that's just a small subset of the larger issue. Attackers have various tricks up their sleeves to get to those precious bits and bytes that make up everything from your mugshot to your credit card details.

Computers that connect to the internet are the ones most exposed to attackers, although computers that never get to see online action are just as vulnerable. Think of that ageing laptop or that old hard disk you just chucked away without a second thought. Bad move.

With the kind of data recovery tools available today (many as a free download) it doesn't matter what OS was installed on the disk. If it holds data – corrupted or otherwise – it can be retrieved, bank accounts recreated, chat transcripts reconstructed, images restitched. But don't be scared. Don't stop using the computer.

While it's virtually impossible to make a machine connected to the internet impenetrable to attacks, you can make an attacker's task difficult and also ensure they have nothing to learn from a compromised system. Best of all, with Linux, and some pieces of open source software, it doesn't take much effort to secure your Linux installation.

There is no golden rule for security that applies in every single case, and even if there were it would have been cracked already. Security is something that needs to be worked upon, and personalised. Follow the tips and tools in this tutorial as we show you how to adapt them to your very own Linux installation.

Follow these six tips to get a safer computer the easy way

1. Keep up with security updates

All mainstream Linux desktop distros (such as Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc) have security teams that work with the package teams to make sure you stay on top of any security vulnerabilities. Generally these teams work with each other to make sure that security patches are available as soon as a vulnerability is discovered.

Your distro will have a repository solely dedicated to security updates. All you have to do is make sure the security specific repository is enabled (chances are it will be, by default), and choose whether you'd like to install the updates automatically or manually at the press of a button.

For example, under Ubuntu, head over to System > Administration > Software Sources. Here, under the Updates tab, specify how frequently the distro should ping the security repository for updates, and whether you'd like to install them without confirmation, or just be notified about the updates.

The latter is a better option, because it lets you review the updates before installing them. But chances are they'll be fine, and you can save yourself some time by having your distro install them automatically.

In addition to the updates, distros also have a security mailing list to announce vulnerabilities, and also share packages to fix them. It's generally a good idea to keep an eye on the security list for your distro, and look out for any security updates to packages that are critical to you.

There's a small lag between the announcement and the package being pushed to the repository; the security mailing lists guide the impatient on how to grab and install the updates manually.

2. Disable unnecessary services

A Linux desktop distro starts a number of services to be of use to as many people as possible. But one really doesn't need all these services.

For example, do you really need Samba for sharing files over the network on your secure server, or the Bluetooth service to connect to Bluetooth devices on a computer that doesn't have a Bluetooth adapter?

All distros let you control the services that run on your Linux installation, and you should make full use of this customisation feature.

Under Ubuntu, head to System > Preferences > Startup Applications. Here you can remove check marks next to the services you wish to disable. But be careful when turning off services. Some applications might stop functioning because you decided to disable a service on which they rely.

For example, many server applications rely on databases, so before you turn off MySQL or PostgreSQL you should make sure you aren't running any applications that rely on them.

3. Restrict root access

Most distros these days don't allow you to login as root at boot time, which is good. When you have to execute a task that requires super user privileges you'll be prompted for a password. It might be a little irritating but it goes a long way to making sure that admin tasks are isolated from the user.

You can restrict access privileges for a user from under System > Administration > Users and Groups. Here you can broadly categorise a user as a desktop user or a system administrator or customise access privileges manually. By default, users are created as with 'Desktop user' permissions and can't install software or change settings that affect other users.

On the command line, the su command (on Fedora, and the like) lets normal users switch to the root account, while the sudo command (on Debian, Ubuntu, etc) grants more privileges to the user. The usage of these commands can be limited to a particular group, which prevents any user from administering the system. sudo is also the more secure of the two, and it keeps an access log under /var/log/auth.log.

Make a habit of regularly scanning the log for failed and successful sudo attempts.

4. Don't auto-mount devices

If you're really concerned about security, you need to lean on the customisation feature of the Users And Groups settings. One of the areas to look at is auto-mounting devices.

Most distros auto-mount USB drives and CDs as soon as they are inserted. It's convenient, but allows anybody to just walk up to your machine, plug in a USB disk and copy all your data. To avoid such a situation, go to to System > Administration > Users and Groups, select your user and head to the Advanced Settings > User Privileges tab.

Make sure you uncheck the boxes corresponding to the Access External Storage Devices Automatically option, the Mount Userspace Filesystems, and Use CD-ROM Drives option. When unchecked, these options will prompt the user for a password before giving them access to these devices.

You might also want to disable sharing files on the network, as well as require the user to enter a password before connecting to the Ethernet and wireless devices. By disabling access to configure printers you prevent important data from being printed.

5. Don't stay on the bleeding edge

Packages included in a desktop Linux distribution are updated regularly. Besides the official repositories, there are custom repositories for third-party software. While developers do take care to scan the packages for vulnerabilities before pushing them on to the repository, it's almost inevitable that some updates with defects do get through.

While it's good to keep the system updated, from a security point of view, not all updates are good for the system. Some updates conflict with existing installed package or may even pull in new dependencies that may make the system more prone to attack. All this is why you should only update packages if you have to.

Scan the updates and look for updates to packages that are critical to you. Most package managers also make it possible to check an update and display its changelog and a brief description of the changes. UI changes can safely be ignored or delayed until a package has been thoroughly tested. Instead, look out for and grab updates that offer a fix to existing issues with packages.

6. Don't upgrade every six months

Most major desktop Linux distributions make a new release every six months, but you don't have to install every last upgrade just because it's there. Debian, for example, offers three distributions to choose from based on the extent of the stability of the software available in it. After Debian 6.0, stable releases will be made every two years.

Other distros take a different approach to guarantee secure releases. Ubuntu marks certain releases as LTS (or Long Term Support). A desktop release of the LTS version is supported for three years, and a server release is supported for five years, which is a lot longer than the 18 months for a standard Ubuntu release.

Although not up to date, these releases are much more secure from a security point of view, with packages that are a lot more stable and more thoroughly tested than their latest versions. If running a secure system is your goal, you should think of sticking to one of these long-term stable releases and avoid the temptation to upgrade as soon as the latest version of your becomes available.

Read more: http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/how-to-secure-your-linux-system-915651#ixzz1Acn8gKbY

10 best Linux distros for 2010

Page 1: Best Linux distros: 1-5Page 2: Best Linux distros: 6-10

PCLinuxOS is the best linux distro if you're migrating from a PC

Hardware compatibility, ease of use, the size of a software repository. These three attributes are unique to each Linux distribution. But at the same time, each Linux distribution is at liberty to take and mix whatever it wants from any other.

This creates a rather unique situation, where good ideas quickly spread, and bad ones fail. And as a result, there are dozens of distribution updates each month, hundreds each year, in a race to leap-frog the each other in the race to the top of the DistroWatch.com charts.

This is why the answer to the question, of which distribution is best for you, changes with the tides, and why we're keen to keep on top of distribution developments. What follows is our recommendations for this year, split by typical users. Try them yourself. They're all free.

1. The best distro for beginners: Ubuntu 10.04

There can be few people who haven't heard of Ubuntu. It's a word that's become synonymous with Linux, raising both praise and chagrin from the Linux community in equal measure. But outside the community squabbling, there's no doubt that this is a distribution to be reckoned with. Especially if you're a beginner.

Ubuntu is the antidote to a world of uncertainty. For the vast majority of installations, it will just work. You won't have to worry about hardware incompatibility, software installation and configuration. Stick the disc in the drive, answer a few easy questions, and you'll find yourself looking at the beautiful new design of version 10.04, the so-called Lucid Lynx.

Unlike most other distributions, Ubuntu developers know how to make a desktop look good. The aurora-like swathes of purple, orange and black may have taken their inspiration from Cupertino, but they easily beat the tedious dull-brown of previous versions.

What's not so great, for seasoned users, is that the window control buttons, such as close, minimise and maximise, are now on the top-left border. But new users, especially those used to OS X, won't find this a problem, and neither did we after a couple of days to acclimatise.

Ubuntu is still ahead of the game, and for new users it's unbeatable. It offers the best looking default desktop, an unparalleled software repository, easy installation of proprietary software like Flash and Nvidia drivers, and incorporates one of the largest and most accessible communities on the internet. It's still a winner.

UBUNTU: Easy installation, a massive package repository and a dedicated user community help keep Ubuntu a great choice for newcomers

Also consider: Mandriva 2010.1

2. The best distro for experts: Fedora 13

The Fedora distribution takes a trail-blazing, no compromise, approach to free software. It offers many of the same advantages of Ubuntu like excellent hardware support, a refined desktop and great package choice, with some of the core-philosophy ideals that have helped make Linux such as a success.

As a result, it's not an ideal distribution if you're looking for proprietary and closed software. MP3 codecs, Adobe Flash and Nvidia drivers are not easy to install, and get even less easier with each new release. Instead, you'll want to stick with the open source alternatives provided by Fedora.

Which isn't such a bad thing. The new version includes the fantastic, hardware accelerated, and open source, Nouveau Nvidia driver, while the new photo manager, Shotwell, is an interesting alternative to the potentially patent crippled F-Spot.

Version 13 is the latest Fedora release to tackle the growing popularity of Ubuntu, and as a result, it's one of best looking and usable distributions around, regardless of your politics. But it's also a distribution you can easily make your own.

Creating a development environment is easy, for example, and the locations used by shared libraries, configuration files and kernel headers strictly adhere to long established standards. This means that with Fedora 13 you get the best of both worlds. A good looking, usable desktop straight from installation CD, and a completely customisable, standard and stable environment from which you can build your perfect distribution.

FEDORA: The result of a fusion between a noble cause and an uncompromisingly corporate business plan

Also consider: Slackware

3. The best distro for Windows Migrants: PCLinuxOS

This is the first distribution we've looked at to use the KDE desktop environment by default. Although you can grab versions for all the other major desktop environments, we consider KDE to be the best match for Windows power-users. This is because it's an environment who's slate grey and blue surface belies an underworld of configuration options, complexity and customisation on the interior.

The 4th generation of KDE has experienced stability problems, but the current 4.4 cycle has finally been able to throw off the puppy-fat pain of earlier versions.

And thanks to the quarterly ISO update cycle of PCLinuxOS, it has become an excellent choice for users who want to stay ahead in the KDE features and stability game. The latest, for example, includes significant updates to the K3b Blu-Ray, CD and DVD burner, the Digikam photo management tool, the Choqok social networking tool and the Amarok media player, all wrapped around the very latest KDE release.

Combine this with the bundled Flash player, proprietary drivers and a visually stunning desktop, and you have a great choice for users who have spent the last couple of years getting the most from the Windows File Manager, the Registry Editor and the Aero effects of the Windows 7 desktop.

PCLINUXOS: One of the few distributions to dramatically change the look of the default KDE desktop

Also consider: Mepis 8.5

4. The best distro for older Hardware: Puppy Linux 5.0

Linux's great strength is its flexibility. It runs on everything from mobile phones to space ships. As a result, it's extremely good at scaling, and makes a good choice for older hardware. Unlike some other operating systems, you won't have to resort to running older versions either. There are plenty of distributions that will take the latest software, the latest kernel and the latest drivers, and build them into a distribution tailored for older bits of kit.

The best we've found is Puppy. It's a diminutive, yet fully functional, operating system that runs from your system's memory for extra speed. Just burn the 128MB ISO to a CD and boot. What's most impressive about Puppy is that while it may be only be running from RAM, it still writes your changes back to the spare space on your CD or DVD boot media, getting the most from both possible worlds.

But the best thing about version 5 is that it now uses the same package repository as Ubuntu. This gives you immediate access to thousands of the most popular packages and means that, while your installation may start small, it's likely to grow into the perfect fit for whatever hardware combination you're using.

PUPPY: Pull out that old machine from the loft, Puppy Linux will turn it into a fully fledged 2010 Linux powehouse

Also consider: Slitaz

5. The best distro for your desktop: Linux Mint 9

Linux Mint, with its beautiful imagery, simple aesthetic, and 'go-do' attitude, gets our vote in a competitive field for the best Linux distribution for everyday desktop use. It may be based on Ubuntu, but it isn't afraid of challenging people expectations by combining the best pre-built tools and desktop environments with its own unique take on how a desktop should feel.

The default Gnome version is the perfect example. Gnome's top-bar is gone, leaving the lower status window as the only screen ornamentation. The launch menu gets the same treatment, replacing Gnome's trio of 'Applications', 'Places' and 'Administration' with the singular Mint Menu.

The new version is a solid upgrade, adding right-click support and transparency. If you use a lot of applications, this is a massive improvement over Gnome's default, and is easier to configure and modify. Alongside Ubuntu's prodigious packages, Mint includes quite a few of it own.

These are available through a new software manager that's better than Ubuntu's, thanks to the sporadic reviews and screenshots. You can also enable desktop effects, Compiz, and other bits of eye candy easily through a new desktop setting panel embedded within a custom Control Center application that's growing with each release. The end result is a distribution that stands on the shoulders of giants to become one the best contenders for your desktop.

MINT: Blows a breath of fresh air across a world dominated by brown, blue and purple

Also consider: Crunchbang

Next Page: Best Linux distros: 6-10

Read more: http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/10-best-linux-distros-for-2010-704584#ixzz1Aclc8C2o

Ping and Test your Internet Connection or Web Address

If you are facing some problems in accessing any website then it might be that problem is either with your Internet connection or with the web address you are trying to access. You may need to test either of these to get to know what the actual problem is.

With the help of this tool called WinPing, you can not only ping and test your internetconnection but also check if the website is up or down, thereby informing you where the actual problem lies. While pinging the web address if you leave the address blank then it will ping your local machine but to ping the web addresses you need to provide the valid site name or hostnames.

Enter a web address or a valid host name, e.g. http://www.google.com or google.com, or a valid IP address, e.g. 72.14.207.99 (google.com). The IP addresses are converted into host names and conversely. An empty input gives local IP address.

The tool also provides you with the connection and ping graph, along with other graphs like NetTraffic which helps you in viewing you average download and upload speed.

This freeware program works with all versions of Windows. If your system is Windows XPor older, it requires the Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 or higher.

Download WinPing

Paperfile Scanning Filing Software

Scanning Software - OCR Software

We are currently working on a complete paper scanning filing system for home users and small businesses similar to Paperport™ scan software

It will have the ability to scan from any Twain or WIA scanner and be able to file the images directly within the software, adding metadata and possibly OCR. We hope to release this software near the end of 2010.

But don't go away empty handed as we are currently hosting the latest version of FreeOCR (V3) and hope to continue to provide this service in the future.

FreeOCR supports scanning from most Twain scanners and can also open scanned PDF's and multipage Tiff images.

FreeOCR has moved around the internet a bit lately as it takes up a large amount of download bandwidth but since we are not using this site fully yet we offered to host it FOC.

FreeOCR OCR Software V3.0

Last Updated Jan 2010

Changes/new features

• PDF opening enhancements - speed and compatibility fixes

• Compatible with more scanners

• Fixed some bugs

• Improved user interface

About FreeOCR

Free OCR is an OCR scanning software including the Windows compiled Tesseract free ocr engine also known as a Tesseract GUI. It includes a Windows installer and It is very simple to use and supports opening multi-page tiff's, Adobe PDF and fax documents as well as most image types including compressed Tiff's which the Tesseract engine on its own cannot read .It now can scan using Twain and WIA scanning drivers.

The Tesseract OCR PDF engine is an open source product released by Google. It was developed at Hewlett Packard Laboratories between 1985 and 1995. In 1995 it was one of the top 3 performers at the OCR accuracy contest organized by University of Nevada in Las Vegas. The Tesseract engine source code is now maintained by Google and the project can be found here:http://code.google.com/p/tesseract-ocr/

FreeOCR is freeware and you can do what you like with it including commercial use. The included Tesseract free OCR engine is distributed under the Apache V2.0 license.

Update July 2010

FreeOCR V4 is soon to be released this includes Tesseract V3 which increases accuracy and has page layout anaysis so more accurate results can be achieved without using the zone selection tool.

FreeOCR v4 is currently undergoing beta tesing.

Download

Operating System	Recommended Minimum Specification
Windows 2000 Windows 2003 Windows XP 32 bit Windows Vista (all editions) Windiws 7 (all)	Pentium Processor - 200MHz 256 MB Memory (RAM) 10MB Free Disk Space SVGA Resolution Display .Net Framework 2.0 or higher

To enable scanning of images you will need a desktop scanner that uses Twain or WIA compatible scanning drivers. FreeOCR requires the .Net Framework V2.0 from Microsoft. If you do not have this installed then the FreeOCR installer will automatically scan detect & download this for you.

Click link below to download FreeOCR.net. This is a bootstrap installer and will only download the files needed to install the latest version of FreeOCR Download This includes the English language Pack. For information on installing additional languages see the links below.

Instructions

After downloading Free OCR double click to install. The software is very simple to use.

Please note that the Tesseract OCR engine requires images at a resolution of 200 dpi or greater and as such it is not suited for reading PC screen shots which are only about 72dpi although we have made some enhancements in V2.3 which will produce better accuracy from low quality image sources. For best results scan at 300 dpi greyscale.

Scanned PDF's

The PDF open button can open and render scanned PDF (Adobe Acrobat Documents) but is not designed to open complicated PDF's that contain text and images, after all there should be no need to OCR these PDF's as they contain text anyway and you can just select the text within Adobe reader.

The OCR PDF rendering in FreeOCR does not need any 3rd party software installed like Ghostscript or Adobe Acrobat to function and works only with PDF spec v1.6 documents.

Related Software

Have a look at Freeocr.net for a list of all free OCR programs available to download.Click Here

Free document management software

PDF Scanner Software

Welcome Windows 8

Windows 7 is a really great OS from Microsoft and those who have liked it a lot are waiting for the next version of the Windows. Do you know what the next version of Windows is called? It is Windows 8 and we should see some great features in that too.

It was believed that after the launch of Windows 7, Windows 8 should be available in three years time but a new post on the Microsoft Netherlands has accidentally leaked its release date. The article, which for the most part dealt with the first birthday of Windows 7, looked at the future of Windows in the last paragraph.

The translation of the last line reads “Furthermore, Microsoft is of course the next version of Windows. But it will take about two years before “Windows 8 ‘on the market”.

Thus we should be expecting the launch of the Windows 8 by the end of 2012. So if you haven’t upgraded to the Windows 7 yet, it is good time to do.