Password Managers for OS X

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Admin, Apple, Reviews, Security, Technology

I’ve switched to a Mac and it took quite some time for me to find an ideal password management tool. Of course OS X has an excellent KeyChain Access for password and other confidential information management. Also there are some third party softwares, but most of them are good for personal usage only (by single user). Previously at work we’re using Anypassword in windows for password management. What I needed was a similar tool that stores passwords in an encrypted file (database), so that multiple admins can view/edit it from different platforms (at least from Mac and Windows). In search of this perfect program I’ve tried many password managers available for OS X. So, here they are; some good for single user and some good for system admins, among them I found one perfectly fit for me.
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MacBook or CookBook?

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Apple, Random, Technology

Apple MacBook and MacBook Pros are so hot that the owners have figured an undocumented use of these laptops. Now they’ve started to use them for frying eggs and bacons, and of course the bonus point is keeping the coffee warm by placing it on top of the MacBook power adapter.

Revealed: The disgusting abuse that sparked Zidane’s fury

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Life, Links, Random

With the help of lip-reader expert the Daily Mail have deciphered the vile stream of racial and personal abuse by Marco Materazzi, which led to the violent outburst of Zidane.

First Marco Matterazzi called the French star the Italian equivalent of ‘n*****’, and then insulted both his mother and his Muslim background by saying he is the ‘son of a terrorist whore.

It had been revealed that earlier in the day that Zidane’s Mother is seriously ill. Wikipedia entry Zinedine Zidane is also suggesting the same thing as Daily Mail.

Both Zidane and Materazzi refused to comment on the incident. Zidane’s agent Alain Migliaccio said, Zidane told me Materazzi said something very serious to him but he wouldn’t tell me what. Reportedly, the deaf forensic lip-reader Jessica Rees was employed to analyze the video sequences with the help of an Italian translator. According to these reports, Materazzi spoke in Italian – a language understood by Zidane due to his time spent with Juventus F.C. – and first told him: "Hold on, wait, that one’s not for a nigger like you." As the players walked forward, Materazzi allegedly said: "We all know you are the son of a terrorist whore." Then, just before the headbutt, he was seen saying: "So just fuck off." According to Brazilian TV Rede Globo, a lip-reader claimed that Materazzi twice called Zidane’s sister a prostitute. Earlier claims about Materazzi having called his opponent a "dirty terrorist" have been denied by Materazzi, who reportedly said: "It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist. I’m ignorant. I don’t even know what the word means."

I’m not sure if Zidane’s response was justified but it’s certainly understandable. Some times verbal abuse causes more damage than physical assault.

Zidane wins Golden Ball despite headbutting Marco Materazzi

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Life, Links, Random

Zidane wins the Golden Ball despite headbutting Italian player Marco Materazzi. I cheered for France yesterday and am a big fan of Zidane, but still think what he did was inexcusable and deserved a red card. I’d been thinking about that moment all day long, just wondering what might have Materazzi said to him!? I feel very sorry for Zidane that he had to end his career this way. I think his action cost France the world cup, but still think he’s one of the greatest players of our time and deserves the Golden Ball.

This is what happened yesterday

This is the guy – Marco Materazzi, who provoked Zidane

JAJAH – a new way to make free and cheap calls

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Life, Links, Network, Random, Technology

I’m using SkypeOut to call my family and friends for quite some time because it’s cheap, convenient and recently the voice quality got better. But I think I found a better alternative, it’s called JAJAH,  a new Internet Telephony service that also allows you to make cheap long distance calls and free calls to registered phone numbers. You might ask why we need Jajah when the Skype is doing so well. Yes, Skype is doing well but Jajah works little differently and I think much better. Here are the key differences:

  • No need to download and install any software.
  • You initiate a call from the web browser, input your number and the number you want to call. Jajah connects two standard telephone machines, whether they are landline or mobile, local or anywhere else in the world.
  • You can make free calls to registered telephones in certain zones. For these free calls, they’ve a fair use policy which limits your free hours to about an hour a day.
  • Here is the rate information

Yesterday I called home (Nepal) using Jajah and talked about 5 mins. for free. I was amazed by the ease of use and quality of voice, then I bought $10 credit and talked for about an hour. My $10 credit is still there but I used up the $3 they provide you for free.

I think Jajah takes the VOIP to a new level. The fact that there’s nothing to install , no headphones and microphones and being able to use the standard telephone sets makes it more appealing to regular and not so technically savvy users. If you need to make frequent long distance calls, I highly recommend you to give JAHAH a try.

How can human race survive the next hundred years?

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit, Life, Random

Stephen Hawking, the famous British astrophysicist and best-selling author is asking How can human race survive the next hundred years? He asks:

In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?

As I write this I saw 18645 answers and no doubt there will be more. There’re all sort of answers. Some suggesting to “get rid or the nuclear weapons” where as others think ‘we’ll go underground or to other planets”.

Recently Hawking was here in Hong Kong and he spoke about finding new homes in outer space for human survival because he thinks some disaster might destroy earth. He says:

It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species, Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of.

All this reminds me of Year 2012, Wayne Chen is talking about.

I’ve switched to a Mac

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Apple, Network, Reviews, Security, Technology, Windows

Powerbook
I’ve been using PowerBook G4 as my production laptop for about a month. There had been some odd moments but overall it’s been a wonderful experience and definitely there’s no looking back. I’m glad that I’ve switched. Now my laptop boots faster, everything looks more beautiful, I can do everything I’d been doing and I know for sure it’s much more secure.

One of the leading security firm Sophos has released a Security Report, where it finds Trojans have dominated the first half of 2006. This is what they had to say:

Most interestingly, new Trojans now outweigh viruses and worms by 4:1, compared to 2:1 in the first half of 2005. In addition, the continued dominance of Windows-based threats has prompted Sophos to suggest that many home users should consider switching to Apple Macs, to shield themselves from the malware onslaught.

BBC has a story about the same report and switch advice, Threat prompt Mac switch advice, which brought a lot of attention in slashdot and backslash. I totally agree with Sophos. Specially for the home users who don’t know much about the threats that Windows PCs are exposed to. Macs are sleek, they work out of the box, they can do everything a home user needs to do and most importantly they’re much more secure than Windows. So if you’re planning to buy a new computer, you should seriously consider buying a Mac. After all if you find that OS X really sucks, which I can guarantee will not. You can still install windows in intel Macs.

Basic journey of a packet

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Admin, Network, Security, Technology

Network-Transfer

Basic journey of a packet is an excellent article for anyone who’s curious about how things actually work in the Internet, specially for new network and system admins. The author has done a very good job in explaining how a packet travels across the Internet. He provides a simple example of what happens when a user opens a browser (Firefox) to check his favorite web page. From packet creation on the your desktop to passing through switches, routers, and firewalls. Along the way he mentions about some complexities of Networking such transport protocols (TCP/UDP), Fragmentation, MTU, IP Layer, Physical Layer (MAC), NATs, TTL and so on.

The Six Most Feared but Least Likely Causes of Death

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit, Life, Links, Random

A very interesting list of six most common, yet unfounded, causes of death that most Americans fear of. I think the list applies to Non-Americans as well.

Just the thought of dying of airplane crashes, shark attacks or being murdered makes us anxious but we tend to ignore the actual most common causes of death like tobacco, poor diet and physical inactivity or alcohol consumption.

How to break the Great Firewall of China

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Admin, Life, Network, Security, Technology

I know too well what the Great Firewall of China does. It blocks web sites containing banned words like “Falun Gong” and resets connections with your email servers if your email message contains similar banned words. Once I’d captured TCP packets with Ethereal and found that TCP reset packets were injected to both the server and client, forcing them to drop the connection.

Computer experts from Cambridge research group have found exactly the same thing. The researchers also found that it was possible to circumvent the Chinese firewall by ignoring the forged TCP resets injected by Chinese Firewalls (Routers). Not only that, but it is also possible to launch denial-of-service attacks against specific IP addresses within China including those of Chinese Government itself.

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