Microsoft's recognized Genius on life's Edge

 FAISALABAD: In 2004, Aarifa Karim Randhawa was the youngest ever Microsoft certified professional in the world. Born in 1995, she received the prestigious title at the age of nine.

On December 22, Aarifa was admitted to Lahore’s CMH hospital after suffering cardiac arrest. On Thursday, doctors said there is no hope for her survival, and that her life support could be switched off ‘at any time’.

Aarifa’s father, Lt Col (Retd) Amjad Karim Randhawa told The Express Tribune that she had suffered an epileptic attack, which caused severe brain and heart damage. Randhawa said “only a miracle will allow my brilliant, genius daughter to live now”.

After the news of Aarifa’s condition emerged, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif took notice and offered economic support to the family, but they have refused to take the money.

When Aarifa, now 16, was given the title of a Microsoft professional as a young child, she visited the company’s headquarters in the US.  When she met Bill Gates himself, she had two questions: Why weren’t children allowed to work for Microsoft, and why such few women worked for the organisation.

British military updating war simulators to keep up with Xbox games

The Ministry of Defense is looking to upgrade its clunky war training simulator in order to keep up with an Xbox-spoiled generation of trainees.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense wants to update its solider training tech and is looking at Xbox games with an envious eye. Apparently, newer recruits who have grown up with the latest generation of gaming consoles tend to lose interest with the MoD’s unrealistic simulated training war games.

The MoD currently uses something called Battlespace2; troops that were sent to Afghanistan had training with this digital war simulator. However, the older system’s clunky graphics don’t measure up to popular commercial first person shooters such as the Call of Duty series, Battlefield 3 orKillzone 3. The military just hasn’t had the money to keep up with the advances of the lucrative gaming industry.

CSS3 technology replaces JavaScript functionality

It is a known fact that JavaScript allows us web developers to create some amazing interactions with web user interfaces, and now with some thought, ingenuity, and knowledge, the same types of effects can be created with the tools and technology of CSS3.

This post will highlight several CSS3 techniques and tutorials that push the envelope and create similar effects that in the past were relegated to just JavaScript only functionality. The examples are organized into three sections, Image and Photo Galleries, Text and Typography, and finally Navigation and Drop-Down Menus. Each example will highlight the CSS3 technology, provide a screen capture of the demonstrated usage, and supply a snippet of the CSS3 code that helps to make it all happen. Many of these examples are quite useful while others are just making a statement for the importance of CSS3 and its place in the future for web development.

Image and photo galleries

Polaroid Photo Gallery by Chris Spooner on Line25 utilizes CSS3 -webkit and -moz prefixes with transform, rotate, box shadow, and z-index properties to create this imaginative photo gallery and the tutorial provides the clues behind the code. The demonstration is available for viewing in Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.

This is a snippet of the CSS3 code that highlights the use of transform to create part of the Polaroid-like gallery:

ul.gallery li a {

       position: relative;

       float: left;

       padding: 10px 10px 25px 10px;

       background: #eee;

       border: 1px solid #fff;

       -moz-box-shadow: 0px 2px 15px #333;

}

Apple 2012 rumor: iTV Q2, iPad 3 Q1, iPhone 5 Q4

The Apple future product road map seems a little more clear following a series of revelations across the Christmas weekend, revelations which suggest an iPad 3 model in February, a summer time Apple TV unit and the later introduction of the iPhone 5 just in time for Christmas 2012. Let's take a look at the pack.

Those recent Apple TV rumors

I think the rumor mill has churned this one around sufficiently that we're all expecting an Apple television next year. Now Digitimes tells us that manufacturers have begun ramping-up production for the components used inside the device, which is expected to go into production in Q1 2012.

"The supply chain of Apple will start preparing materials for iTV sets in the first quarter of 2012 in order to meet Apple's schedule to launch the new display products in the second or the third quarter of 2012, according to industry sources."

Facebook Messenger For Windows Launched

Facebook Messenger For Windows 

Launched

Official launch comes hours after the application is leaked.

After widespread adoption of Facebook Messenger on Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone, the social networking behemoth had begun closed beta testing of the Windows flavour of its messenger a month ago. As expected, it didn't take long for the app to leak out. Call it a cleverly-orchestrated marketing ruse or smart fire-control measure, but FB stole the pilferer's thunder by officially  launching the application hours after the leak.

The application is only compatible with Windows 7 at the moment, and requires you to log into Facebook through your browser, after which it can be closed. The lack of a basic inbuilt login feature points towards a hasty release. Even functionalities such as privacy and visibility settings, video calling, group chat, and the settings menu are sorely absent, but they are expected to be added in the future through automatic updates.

How to Secure a Wireless Network

Secure a wireless computer network by password protecting it when it is first created. Make sure a wireless computer network is secure with tips from a computer specialist in this free video on computer networking.

How Does Wireless Work?

Wireless systems carry data over radio waves.

Wireless networks, commonly known as Wi-Fi, are increasingly popular for home networks. Several members of the household can share an Internet subscription, each using their own computer in different parts of the house without having to run cables all over the building. Everyone know that "wireless" does not use wires, but what does it use?

1. Data Packets

   • In cabled networks, data travels around the network in a structure called a packet. The packet body contains a segment of data and network software puts headers on the front of the packet. The headers contain administration data. This includes the source and destination address for the packet, and also identifiers for the two applications communicating over the network. Wireless networks use exactly the same structure of a data packet. The only difference between wired and wireless networks is the network medium.

How Does a Wireless Communication Card Work?

How wireless cards connect with a computer

• A wireless communication card works with a USB or PC card slot to connect a computer to the Internet. The card is inserted into the USB port on a computer or a slot. The slots on old computers are for PCMCIA cards, which are roughly 2 inches in width. The newer computers have Express cards, which are only a little wider than an inch. Both the PCMCIA and Express card are more convenient than the USB wireless cards because they don't protrude very far out of the slot on your computer. USB wireless cards can be bumped into things, especially when connected to a laptop. The upside to the USB style of wireless card is the fact that newer computers are coming out with more USB ports. Still, the PCMCIA and Express cards are most durable for anyone traveling with wireless Internet.

How to Share a Mobile Internet Connection

 
• Print this article

A mobile Internet connection can be shared via a wired or wireless ad hoc network

Sharing a mobile Internet connection is a good way to take advantage of the high-speed data connections offered by mobile carriers. As long as you have a smartphone or Aircard with a data plan, you can share high-speed Internet access between computers wherever you have a cell signal. Sharing the connection requires an ad-hoc network to be established between all computers that will share the mobile Internet. The connection may be made via an Ethernet cable or wireless connection.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Enable Internet connection sharing on the host computer. Open the Control Panel and click on Network and Internet Connections. Next, click on Internet Connections and right-click the connection that you will be sharing (it will likely be called Mobile Broadband or WWAN, standing for wireless wide area network). Click Properties and open the Advanced tab. Check the box that allows other computers to use the host computer's Internet connection.

How a security researcher discovered the Apple battery "hack"

A security "noob" mistake has left the batteries in Apple's laptops open to hacking, which could result in a bricked battery or, in a worst case scenario, fire or explosion. This was revealed on Friday after Accuvant Labs security researcher Charlie Miller disclosed that he plans to detail the hack at the annual Black Hat security conference in early August. 

We were curious as to how Miller, known for repeated hacks of Apple's Safari Web browser at the annual Pwn2Own hacking competition, stumbled upon this hack in the first place—after all, it is somewhat obscure and doesn't fall into what most people consider to be his typical focus area (browsers). Miller took time to answer our questions about what the hack is and how he found it, as well as what he plans to do when Black Hat rolls around.

The vulnerability

Laptop batteries include microcontrollers which constantly monitor charging voltage, current, and thermal characteristics, among other properties. These microcontrollers are part of a standardized system called the Smart Battery System, designed to improve the safety of Li-Ion and Li-Poly cells used in these batteries.

Be Aware of scams during holidays

SAN FRANCISCO—The holiday season brings with it increased chances for online scams as Internet users hunt for gift bargains and cyber crooks expand arsenals to include false offers of tremendous deals on hot items.

According to study results released on Thursday, Internet users are suckers for online scams, especially if the promised prize is a chance at a hip new gadget such as a tablet computer.

In a Ponemon Institute study backed by an Internet security firm, PC Tools, more than half of those surveyed indicated they would reveal mobile phone numbers, e-mail addresses or other information when told they might get something for nothing.

“Even in scenarios where people realize it is too good to be true, they are falling for it,” said Eric Klein, PC Tools senior manager of online strategy.

“I don’t know why people keep falling for it, really,” Klein added.

Cyber crooks have long exploited human nature with scams relying on “social engineering” to get people to reveal secrets such as passwords or unwittingly install computer viruses.

Watch 3D Video Without Glasses

PHILADELPHIA, Stream TV Networks, Inc. announced today that it will unveil its new Ultra-D technology at CES 2012.  Ultra-D is a next generation 3D without glasses display technology that surpasses all 3D viewing experiences offered to date.

Developed by Stream TV Networks, Inc., the producer of the eLocity brand of mobile tablets launched first in 2010, the Ultra-D technology is strictly proprietary and leverages custom hardware, middleware techniques and software algorithms to create unprecedented auto stereoscopic 3D imagery. This technology will provide consumers with access to unlimited 3D content by enabling real-time conversion of:

• 2D content into 3D autostereoscopic (without glasses)
• 3D stereoscopic content (with glasses) to 3D autostereoscopic (without glasses)

The Ultra-D technology thus supports the immediate adoption of 3D consumer hardware despite limited availability of 3D content. Real-time conversion of 2D to 3D and 3D with glasses to 3D without glasses works seamlessly with various content formats including Blu-ray, DVD, PC gaming, Internet, cable and satellite content.

Private browsing: it's not so private

Research by Stanford University to investigate the privacy of the "private browsing" feature of many Web browsers suggests that the tools aren't all that private after all, and that many kinds of information can be leaked by browsers when using the mode. The paper is due to be presented next week at the USENIX security conference.

"InPrivate Browsing" in Internet Explorer, "Incognito mode" in Chrome, and "Private Browsing" in Firefox and Safari all strive to do the same two things: make it impossible for users of the same computer to figure out which sites the browser has been used to visit, and make it impossible for sites to know whether or not a particular user has previously visited them.

How hackers gave Subway a $3 million lesson in point-of-sale security

Update: this story has been corrected and amended based on information received from Richard James of sendpace.com.

For thousands of customers of Subway restaurants around the US over the past few years, paying for their $5 footlong sub was a ticket to having their credit card data stolen. In a scheme dating back at least to 2008, a band of Romanian hackers is alleged to have stolen payment card data from the point-of-sale (POS) systems of hundreds of small businesses, including more than 150 Subway restaurant franchises and at least 50 other small retailers. And those retailers made it possible by practically leaving their cash drawers open to the Internet, letting the hackers ring up over $3 million in fraudulent charges.

Firefox 9 with fancy JavaScript optimizations

Another six weeks have gone by, and another version of Firefox has been released. Still not officially "live," Firefox 9 improves on Firefox 8 with a JavaScript engine that's up to 30 percent faster and, well, not a whole lot else. Mac OS X users will have a little more to gain, as Firefox 9 also includes two-finger gestures for backward and forward navigation on that platform.

The new version includes a number of bug fixes to improve stability and security, better support for HTML5, CSS, and MathML, and some improvements to its Do Not Track feature to allow scripts to know if tracking is enabled or not. All told, the new release includes more than one thousand bug fixes and improvements.

How Global Positioning System Work ?

When people talk about "a GPS," they usually mean a GPS receiver. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is actually a constellation of 27 Earth-orbiting satellites (24 in operation and three extras in case one fails). The U.S. military developed and implemented this satellite network as a military navigation system, but soon opened it up to everybody else.

Part 1

How Cell Phones Work

A cell phone can work off of one of three different types of networks in the United States, including the GSM, CDMA and iDEN networks. Find out which cell phone providers work on which networks with information from a wireless specialist in this free video on cell phones.

• 

  
  

  Cell phones are wireless and don't connect to any electrical lines. The best way to begin to explain how cell phones work is to look at your radio. Radios transmit through radio frequency. They have FM and AM frequencies. Cell phones also rely on radio frequency to work.

• The Federal Communications Commission of the United States regulates the amount of radio frequency that is allowed to be used by cell phones at one time. Cell phones use towers, which means that one tower would be regulated to let's say 3,000 phone calls at once. That may be enough for a small town with a population of less than 3,000 people, but it certainly wouldn't be enough for a large city like Chicago. The answer to that problem came in the creation of more cell phone towers.