back again

i was away for some reasons but back again

Trojan Hits again

According to reports, a trojan that seizes control of PC files, and demands ransom money from users has been doing the rounds for almost a month. The phenomenon is termed "Ransomware" while the trojan is dubbed "Archiveus". The newly-discovered trojan does not allow victims to access their hard drive, unless the ransom money is paid-up. "Archiveus" copies all files from the 'My Documents' folder to a new folder, encrypts these files with a 30-digit complex password, and deletes the original documents. The trojan leaves a note on the desktop, advising the user not to tell the police, and asking him/her to pay the ransom. -->In some of the reported cases, victims were actually asked to buy drugs from an online chemist to get the password for accessing the PC; in some other cases, they were asked to transfer the ransom money to an overseas bank account. In the former case, the trojan attempted to force victims to buy pharmaceuticals from a Russian Web site for $ 75 or more, depending on the drug. However, the good news is that anti-virus companies have found the password to unlock the data inside the encrypted file that was being used by hijackers to make money. Interestingly, this password was found within the code of the trojan virus itself. It is also learnt that "Archiveus" is using some parts of another ransoming virus called Cryzip that was circulating in March 2006. The scam is believed to have started in the US last year, and has now shown up in Britain. The first victim claimed by the scam, Helen Barrow, a 40-years old nurse, was instructed to buy drugs from an online pharmacy. Her PC got infected when she opened an email attachment that claimed to be an anti-virus. The earlier versions of this trojan were mainly spyware, identity theft, and adware/spyware, some of which instructed victims to pay the ransom money through Web sites including eGold, Webmoney, etc.

Visual studio 2005 free of cost by microsoft

Microsoft launched a free tool for India's growing student and
technology enthusiast community - the Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions.

Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions are light-weight, easy-to-use/learn offerings that enable both professionals and novices to quickly develop dynamic Web applications and Windows applications.

Through this, Microsoft is encouraging the large community of software
enthusiasts and students, including beginner Windows developers,
hobbyists, Web developers, amateur game developers, and even hardware
developers, to experiment with software development.

Microsoft's Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions consist of Visual Web
Developer Express, Visual Basic Express, Visual C# Express, Visual C++
Express, and Visual J# Express.

Sheila Gulati, director - developer and platform evangelism, Microsoft
India, said, "We believe that it is important to put the power of software into the hands of young and upcoming developers, and that is the reason for making the Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions available free-of-charge. Software has the capability to change lives. The free availability of the Visual Studio Express Editions will provide the fast growing student, hobbyist, professional developer, and novice developer communities the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the rich functionality of a development suite used the world over. This will also give them the chance to
experiment with cutting-edge technologies and learn new skills at an early age."

With this announcement, the Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions are set to join the SQL Server 2005 Express Edition as a no-cost offering within the Microsoft application platform.

According to sources, to address bandwidth issues in the country,
Microsoft is giving out CDs of Visual Studio Express Editions. The CD is available to the first 20,000 developers that register on the site
www.vsexpress.in http://www.vsexpress.in/, and will be shipped to them
free-of-cost.

Alienware Announces SLI Notebooks

Alienware has introduced two new ultra-powerful mobile systems loaded with dual Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 graphics processors (GPUs) in SLI configuration. The two SLI notebooks, namely the Aurora m9700 and the Aurora mALX, provide up to twice the graphics performance of a single-GPU mobile system for a blistering gaming experience.


Moreover, these are the first mobile systems to feature ground-breaking True MIMO wireless technology from Airgo Networks for faster, more reliable Wi-Fi performance over greater distances. The Aurora m9700 is the industry's first and only 17-inch mobile system to offer the powerful dual-graphics capabilities of Nvidia SLI technology.

This cutting-edge mobile desktop also provides up to 240GB of storage, thanks to dual SATA hard drives in RAID configurations, and includes AMD Turion 64 processors to enable simultaneous 32-bit and 64-bit computing and enhanced wireless compatibility. Meanwhile, the Aurora mALX delivers the ultimate mobile solution for playing games in immersive, cinematic detail on an expansive 19-inch wide-screen LCD. It also features exotically stylish, airbrushed, custom paint artwork that boldly implies power and strength. Mark Vena, vice president - marketing, Alienware, said that with this announcement, Alienware has completely eliminated the typical per-formance gap between mobile and desktop systems with the introduction of their latest mobile systems. Vena said that the Aurora m9700 and Aurora mALX give customers two incredibly powerful and exciting mobile options, and that these new systems underscore Alienware's ongoing commitment to uncompromised performance at home, the office, or on-the-road. Alienware's mALX system costs $4490 with shipments starting on June 26, while the Aurora m9700 costs $2398 and the shipments start on June 19, 2006.