10 MOST CONFUSING TECH JARGONS

Those tech jargons confuse you often? You are not alone. A recent survey reveals that aimed at breaking the walls of `techno babble' shows that many technology words perplex users leaving them scratching their heads.

The survey, conducted by Gadget Helpline, reveals top 10 most confusing technological terms.

Dongle

One of the commonly used word which often confuses many users is Dongle. A Dongle is like a small USB drive that connects to a computer to run a software in a secured manner. It is used as a high-end form of security to prevent the unauthorised copying of software.

Today's dongle technology makes use of a computer's USB port, plugging in just like a portable flash drive. The software then sends an encrypted request to the dongle for a validation key, which is also encrypted. This means that in order to crack the dongle, one must first crack the encryption. Doogle was used in 1980 for the first time on Wordcraft programme.

Cookie

Cookie is another term which baffles people. Cookies are defined as small pieces of text stored on a computer's web browser. They basically store user's settings, shopping cart contents, or other data used by the websites.

In simple terms, it is a message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

WAP

Another common and confusing term is WAP. An abbreviation for Wireless Application Protocol, WAP allows users to access information via handheld wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, smartphones and communicators. In simple terms, its main use is to enable access to the Internet (HTTP) from a mobile phone or PDA.

WAP supports most wireless networks including CDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, ReFLEX, iDEN, TETRA, DECT, DataTAC, and Mobite. It also supports all major OSes.

Phone jack

A telephone plug or phone jack is a connector used to connect a telephone to the telephone wiring in a home or business, and then in turn to a local telephone network.

The plug is inserted into a telephone jack fixed to a wall or baseboard. The standard for telephone plugs varies from country to country. However, RJ11 modular connector is the most common type used in most countries.

(Nokia) Navi Key

The Navi Key is a concept which significantly reduces the number of keys on the phone's keypad. Nokia was the first company to launch a handset featuring a Navi Key in the year 1997.

The user interface of the phone is designed to follow the intuitive logic of the user. The phones equipped with the Navi Key can perform most of the function by just pressing the Navi Key.

Time shifting

Another most confusing tech jargon is Time shifting. It is a process of recording and storing data for later viewing, listening, or reading. In television, time shifting can be done with a device called a personal video recorder (PVR) or a computer with a TV tuner card.

But now with the advent of the digital video recorder (DVR) the process has become much easier by using a electronic programme guide and recording shows onto a hard disk.

Ethernet

Ethernet is the local area network (LAN) technology. The technology was originally developed by Xerox for the Palo Alto Research Center Aloha network and later developed further by Xerox, DEC and Intel.

The most commonly installed Ethernet systems are called 10BASE-T and provide transmission speeds up to 10 Mbps. Devices are connected to the cable and compete for access using a Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) protocol. Ethernet is also used in wireless LANs.

PC Suite

Another jargon that often stumps people is PC Suite. Wikipedia defines PC Suite as a software package used to establish an interface between Nokia mobile devices and computers that run Microsoft Windows operating system.

It can be used to transfer music, photos and applications. It can also be used to send Short Message Service (SMS) messages or act as a modem to connect the computer to the Internet. Nokia PC Suite is a proprietary software item and is required to access certain aspects of Nokia handsets.
Source: The Times of India

HP Software University begins for Testers:

Hewlett Packard (HP) in partnership with Indian Institute of Hardware Technology (IIHT) on Thursday launched the ‘HP Software University’ (HPSU).

The company claimed it was the first of its kind programme in the non-enterprise training space, aimed at addressing the growing demand for software testing professionals in India.

The program will offer students accredited training on HP Software and a curriculum path surrounding various testing software from HP like Quick Test professional and LoadRunner. Certified professionals would gain access to special HP Software online resources providing the latest in software news, product information, job openings and more.

Software testing is a $13 billion market globally today and India is expected to contribute 70 percent of this. “Keeping in mind the tremendous market for software testing tools, we have partnered with HP and with program our students will be equipped with unique skills that will benefit and make them more marketable,” said Keshava Raju, CEO, IIHT.

Kamal Dutta, director, HP Software and Solutions Group, HP India, said, “Currently there is a shortage of 18,000 testers in our country and over the years it will grow up to 25,000. There is a need of a tester for every developer. Testing industry has become more complex with increasing complexity in application.”

The university will be initially launched in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Noida, and will expand to 150 centres across Tier II and Tier III cities over the next few months.

Source: http://ub-news.com/news/hp-software-university-begins-for-testers/1447.html

Definition - Virus, Trojan and Worm

What is the Difference Between a Virus, Trojan Horse and Worm?

The most common blunder when the topic of a computer virus arises is that people will often refer to a Worm or Trojan Horse as a Virus. While the words Trojan, worm, and virus are used interchangeably, they are not the same. Viruses, worms, and Trojan Horses are all malicious programs that can cause damage to your computer, but there are differences between the three, and knowing those differences can help you to better protect your computer from their often damaging effects.


A computer Virus attaches itself to a program or file so it can spread from one computer to another, leaving infections as it travels. Some viruses cause only mildly annoying effects while others can damage your hardware, software, or files. Almost all viruses are attached to an executable file, which means the virus may exist on your computer but it cannot infect your computer unless you run or open the malicious program. It is important to note that a virus cannot be spread without a human action, (such as running an infected program) to keep it going. People continue the spread of a computer virus, mostly unknowingly, by sharing infecting files or sending e-mails with viruses as attachments in the e-mail.


A Worm is similar to a virus by its design, and is considered to be a sub-class of a virus. Worms spread from computer to computer, but unlike a virus, it has the ability to travel without any help from a person. A worm takes advantage of file or information transport features on your system, which allows it to travel unaided. The biggest danger with a worm is its ability to replicate itself on your system, so rather than your computer sending out a single worm, it could send out hundreds or thousands of copies of itself, creating a huge devastating effect. One example would be for a worm to send a copy of itself to everyone listed in your e-mail address book. Then, the worm replicates and sends itself out to everyone listed in each of the receiver's address book, and the manifest continues on down the line. Due to the copying nature of a worm and its ability to travel across networks the end result in most cases is that the worm consumes too much system memory (or network bandwidth), causing Web servers, network servers, and individual computers to stop responding. In more recent worm attacks such as the much talked about Blaster Worm, the worm has been designed to tunnel into your system and allow malicious users to control your computer remotely.



A Trojan Horse is full of as much trickery as the mythological Trojan Horse it was named after. The Trojan Horse, at first glance will appear to be useful software but will actually do damage once installed or run on your computer. Those on the receiving end of a Trojan Horse are usually tricked into opening them because they appear to be receiving legitimate software or files from a legitimate source. The Trojan horse itself would typically be a Windows executable program file, and thus must have an executable filename extension such as .exe, .com, .scr, .bat, or .pif. Since Windows is sometimes configured by default to hide filename extensions from a user, the Trojan horse is an extension that might be "masked" by giving it a name such as 'Readme.txt. exe'. With file extensions hidden, the user would only see 'Readme.txt' and could mistake it for a harmless text file. When the recipient double-clicks on the attachment, the Trojan horse might superficially do what the user expects it to do (open a text file, for example), so as to keep the victim unaware of its real, concealed, objectives. Meanwhile, it might discreetly modify or delete files, change the configuration of the computer, or even use the computer as a base from which to attack local or other networks - possibly joining many other similarly infected computers as part of a distributed denial-of-service attack. When a Trojan is activated on your computer, the results can vary. Some Trojans are designed to be more annoying than malicious (like changing your desktop, adding silly active desktop icons) or they can cause serious damage by deleting files and destroying information on your system. Trojans are also known to create a backdoor on your computer that gives malicious users access to your system, possibly allowing confidential or personal information to be compromised. Unlike viruses and worms, Trojans do not reproduce by infecting other files nor do they self-replicate.


Added into the mix, what is called a blended threat? A blended threat is a sophisticated attack that bundles some of the worst aspects of viruses, worms, Trojan horses and malicious code into one threat. Blended threats use server and Internet vulnerabilities to initiate, transmit and spread an attack. This combination of method and techniques means blended threats can spread quickly and cause widespread damage. Characteristics of blended threats include: causes harm, propagates by multiple methods, attacks from multiple points and exploits vulnerabilities.



To be considered a blended thread, the attack would normally serve to transport multiple attacks in one payload. For example it wouldn't just launch a DoS attack — it would also install a backdoor and damage a local system in one shot. Additionally, blended threats are designed to use multiple modes of transport. For example, a worm may travel through e-mail, but a single blended threat could use multiple routes such as e-mail, IRC and file-sharing sharing networks. The actual attack itself is also not limited to a specific act. For example, rather than a specific attack on predetermined .exe files, a blended thread could modify exe files, HTML files and registry keys at the same time — basically it can cause damage within several areas of your network at one time.



Blended threats are considered to be the worst risk to security since the inception of viruses, as most blended threats require no human intervention to propagate.

Combating Viruses, Worms and Trojan Horses :



The first steps to protect your computer are to ensure your operating system (OS) is up-to-date. This is essential if you are running a Microsoft Windows OS. Secondly, you should have anti-virus software installed on your system and download updates frequently to ensure your software has the latest fixes for new viruses, worms, and Trojan Horses. Additionally you want to make sure your anti-virus program has the ability to scan e-mail and files as they are downloaded from the Internet. This will help prevent malicious programs from even reaching your computer. If this isn't enough protection, then you may want to consider installing a firewall as well.

A firewall is a system which prevents unauthorized use and access to your computer. A firewall can be either hardware or software. Hardware firewalls provide a strong degree of protection from most forms of attack coming from the outside world and can be purchased as a stand-alone product or in broadband routers. Unfortunately, when battling viruses, worms and Trojans, a hardware firewall may be less effective than a software firewall, as it could possibly ignore embedded worms in out going e-mails and see this as regular network traffic. For individual home users, the most popular firewall choice is a software firewall. A good software firewall will protect your computer from outside attempts to control or gain access your computer, and usually provides additional protection against the most common Trojan programs or e-mail worms. The downside to software firewalls is that they will only protect the computer they are installed on, not a network.

It is important to remember that on its own a firewall is unable to get rid of your computer virus problems, but when used in conjunction with regular operating system updates and a good anti-virus scanning software, it will add some extra security and protection for your computer or network.