efore even starting talking about increasing the speed of your internet connection you may want to know if your ISP provider is throttling your internet speed. There are a couple of online tools for testing if your Internet provider is limiting your download speed. Detecting ISP throttling is a piece of cake if you know where to go, what tools to use. One tool that I found amazing as is giving you the choice of checking if you’re limited on P2P websites is Glasnost. If you for any reason became suspicious that your Internet provider is limiting your download speed go test your internet speed using this tool.
Now, that you saw that everything’s just fine with your internet connection, no throttling – everything is as it should be, lets develop together a way of making your connection even faster. The entirely trick consist in changing your DNS to OpenDNS, basically changing the DNS address of your ISP provider to the OpenDNS address. This can be done in no more than 5 seconds and it doesn’t require any computer skills at all!
Follow the next steps:
Control Panel / Network Connections / Local Network Connection / TCP IP Properties
See bellow the new address you’ll have to switch to.

After changing to OpenDNS your internet speed should increase. You still may consider couple of disadvantages when changing to "0"

Password Cracking & Hacking

What exactly is hacking?

The term probably originated in the 1960s when the modern computing system was evolving and people were studying computers in the labs of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There were a few people who could make the system work faster or differently and they were called hackers. These people were programmers who could simply break into a computer to see its code — the statements written by the original programmers to specify the actions to be performed by a computer.

Most of these early hackers were visionaries who would later shape the computer industry in the way we see it today. But in the 1970s this word started getting a bad reputation after the emergence of phone hackers. The most remarkable of them was John Draper, who devised the technique of breaking into regional and international phone networks for making free calls. He was later convicted and soon the word started getting its present day meaning — unauthorized access of computers and computer networks.

When did hackers start building communities or groups?

The early '70s witnessed hardwiring of neighbourhood computers and a community memory was created, which was nothing but an electronic bulletin board where the users can teletype their messages and retrieve the messages meant for them.

By the early '80s, the system was improved resulting in the evolution of a more efficient electronic bulletin board system (BBS). Users could now use usernames to hide their identities and the BBS became a place to boast of hacking accomplishments as well as trading stolen passwords and credit card numbers. The BBS witnessed the formation of the first hacking groups and groups like Legion of Doom and Chaos Computer Club were formed in the US and Germany respectively.

The 1983 film 'War Games' is considered the first mainstream film which introduced the general public to the world of computer hacking. In the same year, six teenagers, known as the 414s, were arrested for breaking into dozens of high profile computer systems. The event got widespread publicity and the image of hackers as being young and intelligent got established in society.

When did hacking start gaining notoriety?

Although it started in the early '70s, the first case to get international publicity was the cyber espionage of 1989 when four German hackers led by Karl Koch hacked US military computers and sold the information to the KGB. Koch, who confessed to his role in the hacking, was later found burnt to death in a forest.

By now the hacking community had got divided into two groups — black hats or crackers who worked to exploit computer systems, and white hats or hackers who were hired by companies to do ethical hacking for improving network security. The crackers included Jonathan James, who cracked into Nasa computers, stealing software worth approximately $1.7 million, or people like Adrian Lamo, who used to break into the websites of big corporations like Yahoo, Bank of America and Citigroup to find the network hole which he would later inform the company about.

Lamo was arrested after hacking the systems of the New York Times and his excuse that he was doing penetration testing did not work. Similarly, in 1993, Kevin Poulsen managed to hack into the system of a radio station in Los Angeles. Along with his friends, he rigged the station's phone system so that only their calls were received. This helped them win two Porsches, vacation trips and cash worth $20,000.

What are the frequently used techniques and motives of hackers?

Passwords are perhaps the most sought after target of hackers. Intruding into email might lead to more passwords. For hacking inside a user's computer, hackers use several techniques like using a Trojan Horse. Downloaded as legitimate software, the Trojan can permanently damage the operating system or can be used to steal passwords.

Apart from this, hackers can also initiate a man-in-the-middle attack when they are able to fool the user into establishing a link with a rouge entity rather than connecting to the legitimate server. The recent denial of service (DoS) attacks carried out on various websites which obstructed WikiLeaks operations were done using similar software which were installed in the computers of various users. While some of them downloaded it voluntarily, others were simply not aware that their computers had software that was being used against these websites.

 

Passport photo online service to make free passport photos

If you are looking for a way to make and print your own free passport photos from your photographs, then epassportphoto.com is a cool online service that lets you create them with ease, anytime you want.

ePassportPhoto.com claims to be the world’s largest passport photo booth, where people from several different countries print their passport photographs, complying with their country’s passport photo requirements, in five simple steps.

How to create and print your passport photo for free?

You can make your your own passport photos for free in 5 simple steps and print unlimited passport photos or snapshots. The free online service is available for 60+ countries of the world and it is also easier to take your baby’s passport photo.
    1. Go to epassportphoto.com, choose your country and passport photo dimensions (These are usually selected by default based on your IP location).Click “Get My Passport Photos” 2.You will be taken to a form where you can upload your photo from which you intend to create the passport photo.Make sure that this photo of yourself or your friend or family member is taken against a wall in the house.Also ensure that you take into account the composition checklist, while taking the photo of your subject (your friend or family member).You should also ensure that you comply with the official guidelines for passport photos, of your country. After taking the picture of your subject, transfer the photo from your camera to your computer and click “Browse” (“Choose File” in chrome browser) to specify its location. Click NEXT 3. Next ensure compliance by clicking and dragging over your subject and moving the selection so that it covers the desired area of the image. Make sure that the the edge of the chin and the crown is inside the green rectangles. Click NEXT
    4.you can then either choose to use the website’s Pro service which includes validation against the latest requirements by passport photo specialists or choose the free service (by clicking “No thanks”), if you are sure that you can validate against the official requirements of your country, on your own. 5. If you choose the free service, you will be taken to a screen where you can download the passport photo sheet image (by clicking the button) and save it on your computer. The image is a personal, hi-resolution sheet containing your passport photos, adjusted to the necessary size for a standard 4×6″/10x15cm print
     

  • You can then print this image, if you have the printer or order a print from any online photo printing service by uploading the passport photo sheet image that you saved on your computer, to any online photo printing service and ordering a standard 4×6″/10x15cm print.
That is it!!! Create and print your own passport photos for free at epassportphoto.com in 5 simple steps!!!




Test Mobile Phones Online

The use of mobile phones have become so widespread all around the globe, that it has become a must have gadget for most people living on earth. Are you shopping for a new mobile phone? There are a wide range of devices available in today’s markets, catering to different usage needs.However, finding the right mobile phone, suitable for your needs, is always an arduous task. But do you know that you can now test mobile phones online?

How To Test Mobile Phones?

Yes, Tryphone.com is a web 2.0 site, that lets you test mobile phones online!!! Go to Tryphone.com and test-drive mobile devices including an Apple Iphone, Nokia N95, HTC Shadow, Palm Centro, BlackBerry Pearl 8100 and more, on this Mobile Test Platform which is still in beta.The site provides fully interactive online virtual handsets to test the mobile phones, right from the comfort and convenience of your own computer.
Tryphone.com also provides an overview and detailed specs for the various mobile phones. There are also a few mobile phone reviews by the actual end users.What is really cool about this mobile Test platform are the demos available for carrying out various tasks, using a mobile phone being tested.This includes tasks such as taking/saving a picture, sending picture messages, accessing voicemail, playing a video, downloading files, checking mails and more.If you are a person who doesn’t have the time or patience to read through the User Handbook, these demos are really handy.
Tryphone.com is truly an useful mobile test platform to test drive the mobile phones, before you actually go to the store to test and buy them.Test mobile Phones using Tryphone.com and enjoy!!!


 

How to resize or create disk partition in windows 7 or vista

Windows 7 is now a popular OS among PC users.Quite often computer users find the need to create or resize disk partition.In this tutorial, we will detail the steps for partitioning a disk in windows 7 (using the disk partition manager), so that even a novice computer user can easily partition and format a hard disk.

Here are the steps.

Open disk management in windows 7

  • 1. open control panel and type “partition” in the search box on the top right.You will then find the link to create and format hard disk partitions.
  • 2. Click the link to “create and format hard disk partitions”.If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. A Disk management window will pop up. Here you can create a new partition or resize an existing partition.

How to create disk partition in windows 7?

  • 1. Right-click an unallocated region on your hard disk, and then click New Simple Volume.


 
  • 2. In the New Simple Volume Wizard, click Next.
  • 3. Type the size of the volume you want to create in megabytes (MB) or accept the maximum default size, and then click Next.
  • 4. Accept the default drive letter or choose a different drive letter to identify the partition, and then click Next.
  • In the Format Partition dialog box, do one of the following:
    • If you don’t want to format the volume right now, click Do not format this volume, and then click Next.
    • To format the volume with the default settings, click Next.
  • Finally, review your choices, and then click Finish.

How to extend any drive volume in windows 7

In computers running windows 7 or vista, you can add more space to existing primary partitions and logical drives by extending them into adjacent unallocated space on the same disk. To extend a basic volume, it must be raw or formatted with the NTFS file system. You can extend a logical drive within contiguous free space in the extended partition that contains it. If you extend a logical drive beyond the free space available in the extended partition, the extended partition grows to contain the logical drive.
For logical drives, boot, or system volumes, you can extend the volume only into contiguous space and only if the disk can be upgraded to a dynamic disk. For other volumes, you can extend the volume into noncontiguous space, but you will be prompted to convert the disk to dynamic.
In Disk Manager, right-click the basic volume you want to extend. Click Extend Volume and follow the instructions on your screen.

How to shrink any drive volume in windows 7?

You can decrease the space used by primary partitions and logical drives by shrinking them into adjacent, contiguous space on the same disk. You can however, shrink primary partitions and logical drives on raw partitions (those without a file system) or partitions using the NTFS file system.
For example, if you discover that you need an additional partition but do not have additional disks, you can shrink the existing partition from the end of the volume to create new unallocated space that can then be used for a new partition.
When you shrink a partition, any ordinary files are automatically relocated on the disk to create the new unallocated space. There is no need to reformat the disk to shrink the partition.
If the partition is a raw partition (that is, one without a file system) that contains data (such as a database file), shrinking the partition may destroy the data.
To shrink any volume, in Disk Manager, right-click the basic volume you want to shrink. Click Shrink Volume and follow the instructions on your screen.

You can only shrink basic volumes that have no file system or use the NTFS file system.
That is all about creating or resizing disk partition in windows 7.





Get free Google Cr-48 Notebook to test drive Chrome Web OS

here is another hot announcement from google – a Google Cr-48 Notebook powered by the Chrome web Operating System! Chrome web OS is the result of an effort by google to design and build an operating system that is optimized for the web!

If you wonder what is different on an OS optimized for the web, then here are the two prominent ones – Speed and Security! Yes, this is what google is trying to offer through its innovative web OS! For many computer users, a computer without internet is good for nothing! These are people who live on the web and the google cr-48 notebook is being exclusively designed for them! Its design is driven by two most important underlying principles – Speed and Security! While “Speed” would assure you a faster web surfing experience, the built-in “Security” would help prevent malware and viruses from accessing your data, without you having to do anything towards it!
When you use a notebook powered by an web os, all you apps and document will be stored in the cloud! Google Chrome webstore is already live in U.S and it has some of the best and free online apps for you to use.But not all apps are free and there are several paid ones too! It works in the same way as the apple’s itunes store or the android market!
Over the past decade, we have seen personal computers being replaced by laptops or notebooks in several household! In the next decade we might see laptops being replaced by smartphones and tablets powered by web OS! Realizing this, Google has started working on its Chrome OS and android os for the past few years and it is now almost ready to release its first notebook powered by Chrome Operating System – Google Cr-48 Notebook! Google is now cleverly evolving itself to expand into new territories, where they see a future trend! It is no more a mere search engine or an ad company!

Google has launced a pilot program for US based users to get feedback on its Chrome web OS! This web os requires new hardware and as part of the pilot program, google gives away test notebooks that will have no branding, logos or stickers on them! Google has also promised to extend this program to other countries after getting the necessary clearance!
The pilot program is open to qualified users, developers, schools and businesses! Those living in U.S and who are above 18 years of age can apply for this test drive here – https://services.google.com/fb/forms/cr48advanced/!
All selected users will get a Google Cr-48 Notebook with a 12.1 inch screen, full-sized keyboards and touch pads, built-in Wi-Fi and integrated 3G from Verizon, eight hours of battery life and eight days of standby time!


Google OS – Download the Free Google Chrome OS

Google Chrome OS – Download an operating system that is optimized for running applications on the web!!!.Google Chrome OS is an web based OS that looks like a browser, but is much more than a web browser!!!

Google Chrome (Chromium) is an OS that has a simple looking interface and a task manager.This being a light-weight OS, is intended for use on small and inexpensive computers like netbooks.According to Google’s blog:
Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel.
Though Google Chrome OS is set to have a publicly available stable release during the second half of 2010, you can download and try this open source and free Google OS even now.

Download Google Chrome OS:

Download Google Chrome OS, by following any one of the following methods:
  • Download available for the community: This download is intended for use by the community who just want to look around the source code tree and make small changes. Though this download is guaranteed to build and run, you will not be able to make changes and commit them. Download it from here and unpack it into a local directory called chromiumos.

  • Download Google Chrome OS using the Chromium tools and Git
    • Get the chromium depot tools and install. Make sure they are earlier in your path than any other gcl binaries on your system.
    • Install git onto your local machine
      sudo apt-get install git-core 
    • Get a copy of the Chromium OS repository by executing the following commands. The process may appear to hang while downloading the kernel source, and it may take anywhere up to 10-20 minutes before you get more feedback
      mkdir [chromiumos]
      cd [chromiumos]
      gclient config http://src.chromium.org/git/chromiumos.git
      gclient sync 



  • Enjoy the next generation Google OS for free!!!