Dhaval Parikh

You’ve got mail – on your phone!

You were this close to sending a very important mail to your boss and puff goes your connection, now you could use your phone to call your boss and may be get fired or use the same phone to set things right with a bluetooth-enabled and GPRS phone. The key advantages of using bluetooth are that you don’t need to install the phone on the PC and you can keep the phone anywhere close by, such as in your pocket while connecting.

To start, you’ll need a Bluetooth phone and you’ll need to subscribe to the Advanced GPRS feature that all service providers offer under different names. Check if your connection is working by using the phone’s browser to open any website. The next thing you need is, of course, a laptop or a PC with a Bluetooth adapter, installed and working. I’ll be looking at Bluetooth adapters that use the WIDCOMM drivers, not the built-in Microsoft ones which are severely limited.

First, enable Bluetooth on the phone. Then, right click the Bluetooth icon on your Windows system tray, select “Quick Connect”, then “Dial-Up Networking” and finally “Find devices.” It will find your phone and show it in the list. Double click on the phone name, or select it and click “Connect.” Windows will install your phone as a Bluetooth modem. When done, it will also create a shortcut to the Bluetooth dial-up connection in your Network Connections folder.

Now the tough part – go to the Control Panel, select “Printers and Other Hardware,” and click on “Phone and Modem Options.” Switch to the “Modems” tab and highlight the “Bluetooth Modem” item in the list. Click “Properties” to open up a settings box. In here, click the “Advanced” tab to find a box where you can enter “Extra initialization commands.” Hutch users enter +CGDCONT=1, “IP”,”www” and Airtel users use +CGDCONT=1, “IP”,”www.airtelgprs.com.” Confirm these modem initialization strings with your service provider before using them. Click OK a bunch of times to close all the dialogue boxes. The tough part is pretty much over.
Double click on the Bluetooth connection in your Network Connections folder for the dial-up dialog to come up. Don’t enter a username or password, just enter *99***1# as the number and click “Dial.”

If all goes well, you should be online in just a few seconds! The speed of the connection varies between different times of the day and also between different service providers. At some points in time, the connection is just fast enough to send the email that’s pending, but at other times, it’s quite fast and actually “browseable.” And finally there goes my very important mail to my boss.

Symantec continues Vista bug hunt

After poking around the Windows Vista networking stack, Symantec researchers have tried out privilege-escalation attacks on an early version of the Windows XP successor.
In a second report on Vista, Symantec takes on a security feature in the operating system called User Account Control, or UAC. The feature runs a Vista PC with fewer user privileges to prevent malicious code from being able to do as much damage as on a PC running in administrator mode, a typical setting on Windows XP.

“We discovered a number of implementation flaws that continued to allow a full machine compromise to occur,” Matthew Conover, principal security researcher at Symantec, wrote in the report titled “Attacks against Windows Vista’s Security Model.” The report was made available to Symantec customers last week and is scheduled for public release sometime before Vista ships, a Symantec representative said Monday.

Conover looked at the February preview release of Vista. The report describes how an attacker could commandeer a Vista PC with Internet Explorer 7, the reinforced version of Microsoft’s Web browser. The final version of Vista is not expected to be broadly available until January.
The attack starts out by planting a malicious file on a Vista PC when a rigged Web site is visited. The placing of the file involves using a specially crafted Web program called an ActiveX control that exploits a security hole. The report then describes how the malicious program could gain privileges and ultimately give an attacker full control of the PC.

“The triviality of this privilege escalation…foreshadows the grave difficulty that the Windows Vista security model will have enforcing the separation between low and medium integrity level under the same user account,” Conover wrote.

Microsoft has already resolved most of the issues identified in the Symantec report, a representative for the Redmond, Wash., company said in a statement. “Highlighting issues in early builds of Windows Vista does not accurately represent the quality and depth of the final functionality of User Account Control,” the representative said.

Additionally, Microsoft said the Symantec research assumes that the user is logged in with an administrator account, a setting Microsoft does not recommend. Instead, the software maker advises the use of standard user accounts, which will require users to enter a password to gain admin-level privileges, for example to install software.

Microsoft has pitched Vista as its most secure operating system ever. UAC and Internet Explorer 7 are two of the key ingredients to deliver that security.

The report on UAC is the second of three reports Symantec plans to release on Windows Vista. A first report, on new Vista networking technology, was publicly released last week. A third report, examining the Vista core, or kernel, is scheduled to be published on Symantec’s DeepSight security intelligence service this week.

Traditionally allies, Microsoft and Symantec are now going head-to-head in the security arena. In late May, Microsoft introduced Windows Live OneCare, a consumer security package, and the software giant is readying an enterprise desktop security product. Symantec has also sued Microsoft, alleging misuse of data storage technology it licensed to the company.

“Symantec continuously researches and analyzes new technologies,” said Pamela Reese, a Symantec spokeswoman. “Even with the understanding that the issues discussed in this research will likely be resolved before Windows Vista is shipped, Symantec has opted to make this research public because of the public interest in Vista.”

But telling the world at large about vulnerabilities in an operating systems that won’t ship for a while doesn’t help anybody, noted John Pescatore, a Gartner analyst. Except, perhaps, Symantec’s marketing machine. “They want to sell desktop security software even when Vista comes out,” Pescatore said.

Additionally, security companies benefit from getting their name associated with finding vulnerabilities. “It helps people trust them as a security company,” Pescatore said.
Symantec said it is encouraged to see that Microsoft is taking care of the basics by improving the security of its newest operating system. “However, Symantec feels that customers are safer if they can exercise their choice to use the security capabilities offered by Symantec and others,” Reese said.

How would your mobile look in 2015?

BANGALORE: Going back a decade, one would have not thought of ‘on-the-move-phones’; the ubiquitous handphone has become a must-have for all and sundry today. Constant innovation in design and technology has enabled features like an inbuilt camera, MP3 player, digital diary, email client, web browser etc.

Let’s fast-forward and come to the year 2015. What will this creature look like ten years hence? Needless to say it will be packed with several features and may make many devices that we use today, redundant. What will happen at the design front? Will they retain the ‘phone look’ or take the look of a ring, a necklace, a bag or a ring?

Phone giant Nokia, hooked 26 design students from London’s Central St Martins College of Art and Design, into a contest to design the phones of 2015.

Click here to view the picture gallery !

Students were instructed to keep the users in mind while designing and came up with mobile phone for gamers which doubles as a pair of sunglasses, a phone for security conscious that can be worn as a ring, a necklace phone where each bead is a contact and an aromatherapy phone.Daniel Meyer, won the first prize; the phone’s lower portion swivels to allow the phone to sit in a freestanding right angle and act as a picture frame. The handset has an inbuilt trackball that can act as a mouse.

The devices are displayed at the Future of Mobile Design exhibition at London’s Air Gallery.

How to secure your wireless network

Most people have enjoyed the benefits of wireless technology at one time or another. Cordless phones, mobile phones, and wireless-enabled laptops all operate on the principle that the fewer cords, the better. Convenient as wireless networks are to use, they can also be easy to hack if you don’t have the proper security.
Sadly, most wireless hookups are vulnerable straight out of the box, and still may not be safe even when you activate the default security features. However, with some insight into wireless technology and a few useful tips, you can block out most malicious network piggybackers.

Step 1: Know your network
Let’s take a quick look at how wireless networks work. In “wired” technology, data is transmitted from your computer to the Web via cables that connect to a physical port. “Wireless” technology, on the other hand, uses radio waves to transfer data. The signals carrying your data are beamed over a wide range. Without security measures in place, anyone with the right tools can reach out and pluck them.

Step 2: Change your SSID and password
The first trick to slamming the door on hackers is to get personal. Every wireless network, from large corporate systems to simple home setups, contains a service set identification number (SSID) that is your network’s digital name. To fence off your signal, you’ll need to do two things. First, change your SSID number and password from the default setting into something private and strong. A default SSID is cake for hackers familiar with each company’s settings and passwords. To change the SSID and your network password, launch the software for your wireless hardware. You should be able to change your SSID within the program’s preferences.
Overwriting the default SSID won’t do you much good if your network name is announced to anyone within range. To keep your information as private as possible, it’s also important to disable the SSID broadcast. It’s usually as simple as a mouse click in your program preferences.

Step 3: Set up MAC filtering
Changing your SSID settings without adding MAC filtering is like changing the locks to your house but leaving the key in the door. The MAC, or Media Access Control, filter is what gives you control over who may access your network and who may not. It takes a small time investment to set up MAC filtering, but without it, hackers can waltz in and use your network as they see fit.
To give specific computers permission to use your network, you’ll need to add their MAC addresses–the 12-digit address attached to every physical network device (PC, laptop, router). Enabling MAC filtering is a different process with each hardware manufacturer, but in most cases, opening up your wireless software and locating the security settings should put you in the right place. Finding the MAC address for each device might also be a challenge if you don’t know where to look. This handy index from Fermilab will help you search within your operating system.

Sign 4: Encrypt, encrypt, encrypt
Encryption is key, pun intended. There are two types of encryption protocols, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) and WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access). Both block intruders’ entry by scrambling your data, though WPA is generally regarded as more secure due to its dynamic, ever-changing key. Unfortunately, the encryption key you end up with is also device-specific and WPA isn’t yet as prevalent as WEP. Even if you don’t have access to WPA encryption, the combination of WEP and MAC filtering is usually enough to deter the casual hacker. A word to the wise–WPA is built in to most new routers along with WEP; however, unless your network components support WPA, WEP will remain the default encryption.

Sign 5: Fill the gaps with software
Even with all these security settings, highly determined hackers can machete their way in; all it takes is plenty of patience and the proper tools. This is where software can help. Programs such as Trend Micro PC-cillin, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, and McAfee Wireless Home Network Security all actively monitor your wireless network and notify you when attempted intrusions occur, among other encryption and security measures. Also, a new product from AOL called Active Security Monitor diagnoses your wireless-security protections and makes recommendations for improvements.

N91 is a chunky but versatile phone

Well, the N91 is a music phone with 4 GB hard disk space and smooth metallic body and it does well enough to make jaws drop. Now the music control panel sits very well in the front, hiding the phone keypad and a ‘hold un-hold’ button on top gives it a very authentic MP3 player feel.


The N91 houses a standard 3.5 stereo headset jack, which in simple words means you can jack your phone in to any of your home stereo devices with minimum fuss. But the killer application on this baby is that the headphone has with it a full functional music controller integrated, which makes this a true ultra mobile device.

Now that’s not all, the N91 promises to be a next generation multimedia device too. With a 2 megapixel camera that shoots up to a resolution of 1,200 to 1,600 pixels, a video camera that doesn’t do too badly, an FM radio with a FM line recording, which means you can record all tracks you like on the FM and a range of connectivity options, starting from USB 2.0 bluetooth, 3G and wlan 802. Well, rest assured this baby is loaded.

Now I am sure with all these features, the battery life must suffer. Well no, says Nokia – this phone has 190 hours worth of standby time, up to 4 hours of talk time and a music playback time up to 12.5 hours.

the N91 also does have a few downers. The loudspeaker may be the loudest in the Nokia phone range till now, but when kept next a Sony Ericsson W850i, it can’t even be heard! And a 2mp camera without a flash is just not worth it. And finally, the phone is so heavy, that you could be tempted to use it as a hammer or atleast a dumbell to work on your biceps.

So, if you want the form of a PDA combined with an iPod for music, then at the very steep price of Rs 30,000, the N91 could be just what you need.

Streaming TV served hot on your PC!

Here’s a hypothetical situation for you. If you are shipwrecked on a desert island and the only thing that survived besides you, is your laptop. So, would you panic or realise that you can live without water and food for a couple of days, but you can’t survive a day without television! Okay, this is a bit far-fetched. On my part though, I would like to be with Tom Hanks, since he did such a great job of getting away from an isolated island in the movie ‘Castaway’


But that’s beside the point. What can a TV-holic person do in such extreme circumstances is check out a couple of streaming television websites. Here are a few:

1. www.Midihopper.com: This is the where it gets big! With about 1,314 channels listed from every possible country on the planet, this site should definitely make you salivate! Just click on the country that you fancy watching, and each country has atleast 10 more channels listed! Click on the speed you want to stream your video with and then just choose if you want to watch chat shows or go spiritual

2. www.wifitv.com: Mania TV is one channel that you have to check out on this site. Channel 177 has shows with two mindnumbingly dumb anchors and to top it all, plays pop music 24/7! Besides this, wifi tv has a range of other channels to pick from. Although, unlike mediahopper.com, this site isn’t free. Take the five minute trial or the 14 day trial, and then choose if you really want to subscribe. Although the paid package also includes utilities like wifi web chat and a virtual dialer, that lets you make free calls over the internet!

3. www.streambox.tv: This site lets you watch most of the Hindi channels like AajTak, Zee TV, Zee Cinema streamed live on your personal computer, but for a certain price.

4. www.willow.tv: Watch the Indian tour of the West Indies on this site, though you’ll have to pay for it.