Hide Last Seen Status, Profile Pic on Whatsapp For Android..

WhatsApp is heading to punch its Android users with a surprise after the famous acquisition by Facebook for a whopping $19 billion. The users can now hide their 'last seen' status on Android as well. The feature already exists in the iOS version, though.

This new feature is currently available on the WhatsApp apk, only, which is available on the website. In a tweet by @NotPriyanka, who apparently discovered the settings on Android, the users will now have time privacy on Google powered platform. Furthermore, the users can also hide their profile pictures and status messages, too.

The added advantage to the app's Android version is that unlike on the iOS, the user can swap freely between visible and invisible status, and not wait for 24-hours. The feature enabling hiding of profile pictures and status messages are nice surprise by WhatsApp, for its users.

This privacy feature is not available on the Google Play Store version of WhatsApp, yet. It needs to be fresh downloaded and installed from the website using an apk file. The new version of WhatsApp enables the new privacy tab in Settings and then listed in Account Settings.

Here Are 15 'Big Data' Facts Every IT Professional Should Know...

Big data is certainly the talk of the town lately! It is one of the fast growing technologies that can help you get jobs with the tech biggies. More and more firms now believe that big data will help businesses make better decisions in the days to come (some believe it's already started). However, there is dearth of right skills in the market.

As such, IT professionals should keep track of big data trends, research and statistics!

1. How Much Data is There?

-According to IBM, a whopping 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is created every day!

2. Structured Versus Unstructured Data

-According to Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS): 51 per cent of data is structured, 27 per cent is unstructured while 21 per cent is semi-structured.

3. Big Data Generates Jobs

-According to Gartner, as much as 4.4 million IT jobs will be created globally to support big data by 2015. The technology will generate 1.9 million IT jobs in the US alone.

4. The Big Data Talent Shortage

-According to McKinsey Global Institute, the US alone could face a talent shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people by 2018. Further, it could face a shortage of 1.5 million managers and analysts to make effective decisions on big data.

5. Rethinking Job Roles and Titles

-According to TEK Systems, nearly 81 percent of IT leaders and 77 percent of IT professionals believe there is a considerable shortage of talent that could make best use of their organisation's data assets.

6. Disparate Systems

-According to TEK Systems, 66 per cent of IT leaders and 53 per cent of IT professionals believe their organisations need to build new platforms to make use of their mammoth data management needs, thereby getting rid of current disparate systems.

7. Getting Business Value From Big Data

-Tata Consultancy Services Limited has highlighted three prominent challenges for companies: making businesses share information across organisational lines; dealing with the three V's of big data (data volume, velocity and variety). Meanwhile, third on the list is determining which data could be best used under different conditions.

8. Data Quality

-According to TEK Systems, 57 per cent of IT leaders and 52 per cent of IT professionals claim they don't always know who owns the data, meaning quality more or less lies on the back burner. Ensuring the accuracy and quality of the data will be critical in the times to come in an ever expanding universe of big data.

9. Create a Stronger Business

-According to CompTIA nearly eight in 10 data executives believe that harnessing all of their enterprise data would result in a stronger business.

10. Better Manage Data

-According to CompTIA less than 1 in 5 businesses report being currently stable in managing and using data.

11. Top 3 Big Data Business Drivers

-According to EMA and 9sight Consulting, the top three big data business drivers include:

1. Speeding time for operational or analytical workloads (39 per cent)

2. Increasing competitive advantage with flexibility of data used in business solutions (34 per cent)

3. Business requirements for higher levels of advanced analytics (31 per cent)

12. Big Data Implementations

-According to EMA and 9sight Consulting, big data implementations in production rose from 27 per cent in 2012 to 34.3 per cent in 2013.

13. Big Data Tools

-According to Giga Spaces, nearly 80 per cent people in IT are either using or planning to use dedicated big data tools to manage massive amounts of data in their organisation.

14. Big Data Spending

-According to Tata Consultancy Services Limited, nearly 15 per cent of the companies surveyed had spent at least $100 million each on big data in 2012, while 7 per cent had invested at least $500 million.

15. Industries Spending the Most on Big Data

-According to Tata Consultancy Services Limited travel-related, high tech, and banking industries have been the biggest spenders, while industries related to life sciences, retail, and energy have spent the least.

Source: Webopedia    

Here Are 30+ Vi Key Bindings...

Vi holds the distinction of being a very powerful text editor when it comes to Linux systems. The fact that it is applicable even in the case of embedded systems makes it an instant hit. It is indeed lightening quick in comparison to many other text editors out there. Learning its key bindings is therefore a necessity in order to bring out the best of it!

Mode Switching

1. i: Enter insert mode

2. Escape: Leave insert mode. Also ensures if you’re in command mode.

Moving the Cursor

3. h: Move cursor left

4. j: Move cursor down

5. k: Move cursor up

6. l: Move cursor right

7. /: / followed by some text you want to find, then Enter brings the cursor to the location of the text in the file

8. ?: Like /, but searches backwards

9. f: f followed by any character to moves the cursor to the next occurrence of the character on the current line

10. F: Like f, but searches backwards

11. %: Jump between the nearest (), [], or {} characters on the line

12. H: Move cursor to highest line in file

13. M: Move cursor to middle line in file

14. L: Move cursor to lowest line in file

15. #G: go to that line in the file

16. w: Move forward a word

17. #w: Move forward a number of words

18. b: Move back a word

19. #b: Move back a number of words

20. e: Move to end of the current word

Copying and Pasting

21. v: select a section of text

22. y: Copy the selected text

23. p: Paste at cursor

24. x: Cuts the selected text

25. r: Type r and then type another character to replace the character under the cursor

Combining Commands

26. dw: Deletes the next word

27. db: Deletes the previous word

28. de: Deletes to the end of the current word

29. dL: Deletes all text below the cursor in the file

30. d/unicorn: After pressing Enter, deletes all text between the cursor and the word “unicorn” in the current file

31. dd: Deletes an entire line

Repeat and Undo

32. u: Undo

33. .: repeats the last full command

Source: How-To Geek


(EFYTIMES News Network)

Now Book Your Bus Tickets Through An Android App

With the growing smartphone market in India, the easy availability of the Android and iOS platforms, has got us hooked on to the operating systems with devices ranging from budget segment to elite. In a new, the online bus ticketing portal, Ticketgoose.com, has reportedly announced to launch its very own Android and iOS mobile app, to make ticket bookings, in Mangalore, Karnataka.

 Karthi Easwaramoorthy, the president and co-founder of Ticketgoose.com, said that the app was developed three months ago. It was introduced among some loyal customers for testing of the portal, as reported by the Hindu Business Line. After the sample testing succeeded, the company formally launched the app.

The Ticketgoose.com app can be download from both, the Google Play store and the Apple iTunes store. Easwaramoorthy also said that the ‘bus tracking’ option in the app allows the passengers / customers to keep track of their buses, with frequent updates on the location of the bus.

The company says that since bus ticketing is Rs 300 billion market, and upcoming technology is steadily gaining pace. Easwaramoorthy said only 5 per cent of bus tickets are sold through online system, in the country, in the same report. The feedback for this app, right now, counts to nearly 300 to 400 tickets per day sales. The Ticketgoose.com's customer support service helps the customers get information on pick-up points, approximate time of arrival and also bus delays.

The company also has an agreement with the United India Insurance, that will provide travel insurance to its passengers, with an optional service. The service is priced at Rs 20 per passenger, exclusive of the ticket charge. As per the policy, it provides personal accident cover for Rs 200,000 to each passenger, and damage or loss of baggage can be claimed at up to a maximum of Rs 15,000.

You think Linux is not for you and only for the tech savvy and those who are trained? Well, think again! The way things stand right now, laptops and PCs are becoming passé and mobile operating systems are gaining popularity. Linux is being adopted like never before! When it comes to choosing your operating system, you must focus on what your usage is. However, if your using Windows, you can still try out the 'goodness' of Linux without having to give up on your first love!

Here are six ways to set up multi-booting with Windows 8 and Linux:

1. Install the Linux GRUB bootloader

-Install the Linux GRUB bootloader as the default boot object.

-The catch here is you need to have a UEFI-compatible Linux distribution (openSuSE, Fedora, Linux Mint and Ubuntu).

-When you install a UEFI-compatible Linux distribution and everything works well, you will get the GRUB boot menu after a reboot. You can then choose either Linux or Windows 8 to boot from it.

2. Use the BIOS Boot Select Key

-There's a possibility that doing everything of the above still gets you nowhere, and you're still getting Windows rather than Linux after reboot.

-In that case you can use the BIOS Boot Selection option (activated by pressing a special key that varies between systems during the power-on or reboot process.)

-Pressing the special key will interrupt the Windows boot process and you will get a list of available operating systems (Windows 8 and Linux).

3. Enable 'Legacy Boot'

-Some systems make it difficult to enable Legacy Boot. The option might be well hidden in the BIOS configuration, or require a BIOS password before they will let you change it.

-Legacy Boot allows you to install more or less any Linux distribution, without worrying about UEFI compatbility.

4. Try a workaround

-There is a "next boot" option available, which specifices a one time boot configuration.

-If it is set the system will try to boot that item first, and will also clear that setting so that on the next boot it goes back to using the default boot sequence list.

-The next boot configuration can be set from Linux using efibootmgr -n XXXX, where XXXX is the item number from the boot list.

-Add the efibootmgr command to the Linux startup scripts. Every time you boot Linux, it would reset the value so that it would boot Linux again the following time.

5. Trick the default boot process

-Put the Linux shim.efi (or grubx64.efi) image where the Windows Boot Manager is normally located. This is a cleaver trick to trick the default boot process.

6. Install a different Boot Manager

-rEFInd has the advantage of being able to boot almost anything - Windows, Linux, MacOS. It automatically finds whatever might be on the disk and then presents you with a boot selection list.

Source: ZDNet    

100 Websites That You Must Know And Use...

What do you do when you are online? Some play games on Facebook, others use it to chat on instant messengers (IMs). Then there are those who use the internet to seek valuable information on various topics. The fact though remains that only an amalgamation of all of these usages will lead to fruitful use of the internet. So, are you really making the best of the web or are you just another fly trapped in it? The websites given as under are some of the best websites on the internet on various subjects. They aren't just websites that you should read through from time to time, you can really put them to use for various purposes.

Business and E-Commerce: E-commerce and running businesses on the internet has become a trend in recent times. You can buy everything, from your daily groceries to month's grocery and flight ticket without having to move from your bedroom.

blogs.hbr.org

fastcompany.com

entrepreneur.com

dealbook.nytimes.com

thebillfold.com

kickstarter.com

indiegogo.com

rockethub.com

etsy.com

kiva.org

marginalrevolution.com

learnvest.com

getrichslowly.org/blog

ritholtz.com/blog

consumerist.com

npr.org/blogs/money

blog.priceonomics.com

freakonomics.com/blog

Audio and Video: When it comes to audio and video content online, the first thing that comes to anyone's mind is torrents and downloads. But there are some amazing websites out there hosting such content from known and unknown artists and sources. These can make for interesting and informative sources that you should use regularly.

thisiscolossal.com

creativetimereports.org

designobserver.com

hyperallergic.com

transom.org

atavist.com

thirdcoastfestival.org

nfb.ca/interactive

woostercollective.com

c-monster.net

artfagcity.com

pitchfork.com

blog.largeheartedboy.com

Literature, Culture and media: These websites often cater to a very niche population, but that doesn't take away from the fact that there is some very interesting content out there. Websites like Goodreads are very popular amongst avid readers. Similarly, there are tons of other websites that host such content.

theparisreview.org/blog

lareviewofbooks.org

themillions.com

therumpus.net

theawl.com

grantland.com

slate.com

vulture.com

themorningnews.org

pw.org

longreads.com

goodreads.com

thefrisky.com

rookiemag.com

mediamatters.org

jimromenesko.com

poynter.org

niemanlab.org

google.com/trends

youtube-trends.blogspot.com

onthemedia.org/blogs

journalism.org

bookslut.com/blog/

brainpickings.org

buzzfeed.com

Politics, News and Global Issues: Newspapers may be approaching a slow death, but that doesn't mean that news isn't what it used to be. The internet is replacing both television and newspapers and it is doing so in a big way. Whether it is apps or websites, whip out your smartphones and check these websites out.

change.org

pewresearch.org

politico.com

thinkprogress.org

brookings.edu

aljazeera.com

fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com

qz.com

www.propublica.org

alternet.org

dish.andrewsullivan.com

good.is

dissentmagazine.org

Education: This is perhaps the best example of how literally everything is available online nowadays. You can become a programmer (broadly speaking) in a matter of months by enrolling for the courses provided on some of these popular websites. Similarly, courses are available in a wide range of subjects.

edsurge.com

khanacademy.org

edx.org

coursera.org

udacity.com

generalassemb.ly

baeo.org

edweek.org

nces.ed.gov

greatschools.org

stand.org

crpe.org

Science and Technology: Keep up with the times, that's all there is to say about this category. Advancements in science and technology are made almost every day and that new smartphone is not so new in a matter of months. If you are connected to the internet then you can keep in touch with what's happening around the world in these two fields.

blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews

blogs.scientificamerican.com

onearth.org

scienceseeker.org

lastwordonnothing.com

scilogs.com

pandasthumb.org

realclimate.org

incubator.rockefeller.edu

blogs.plos.org

doublexscience.org

australianscience.com.au

guardian.co.uk/science

grist.org

scq.ubc.ca

lifeslittlemysteries.com

allthingsd.com

techcrunch.com

mashable.com

The source for this article, Ted.com is itself a gold mine of interesting articles, talks and videos. You could keep a watch on this one too!

Top 8 PHP And OWASP Security Vulnerabilities!

Despite the programmer's best effort, vulnerabilities almost always exist in applications. If not, attackers find a new one all the time. So, it is only right for a programmer to ensure that they avoid vulnerabilities as much as possible. There are flaws that the Open World Application Security Project thought were amongst the top vulnerabilities in applications.

1. Unvalidated Parameters: When you’re using values from superglobal arrays, you should ensure that you have validated them against unexpected input. If you expect a certain kind of value then ensure that you have put in the require conforms in place to ensure that value. So, for a Zip Code, you can put in conforms that ensure that the value entered will be a 5 digit value, a 5-digit value with a hyphen and four more digits or something that fits the format followed for Zip Codes in a particular country.


if (preg_match('/^\d{5}(-\d{4})?$/',$_GET['zip'])) {
$zip = $_GET['zip'];
} else {
die('Invalid ZIP Code format.');
}

For data that has been sent to a client before and will be received in a cookie, ensure that there has been no tampering. You can do this by sending a hash of the data that you expect along with a secret word. So, you rehash the data when you get it and ensure that the new hash and old hash match each other.

// sending cookie
$secret_word = 'gargamel';
$id = 123745323;
$hash = md5($secret_word.$id);
setcookie('id',$id.'-'.$hash);

// receiving and verifying cookie
list($cookie_id,$cookie_hash) = explode('-',$_COOKIE['id']);
if (md5($secret_word.$cookie_id) == $cookie_hash) {
$id = $cookie_id;
} else {
die('Invalid cookie.');
}

2. Access Control Broken: Many people trying to come up with their own access control solution. It is better to use the PEAR modules. You can use Auth and Auth_HTTP, which perform cookie-based and browser-based authentication respectively.

3. Session Management and Broken Account: In order to ensure secure standardised session management, you should use the functions that are built-in to PHP already. In doing so, you have to ensure that the session contents aren’t stored in a vulnerable location on your server.

For example, if you store them in c world-readable format in /tmp, they will be accessible to anyone logging into the server. You need to ensure that the files are stored in a secure location, where only trusted users can enter. Moreover, to protect from network sniffers, you should ensure that all your session IDs and session specific traffic should be sent over SSL.

4. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Flaws: Information that is coming from outside your program should never be displayed. Untrusted data should be filtered and you can use any of PHP’s many tools on this. A few examples are htmlspecialchars(), strtr() and strip_tags().

In order to protect against attackers trying to hide in Unicode encoding, use utf8_decode(). This converts the ISO-8859-1 characters given in a string encoded with Unicode UTF-8 into the ASCII single-bye characters.

5. Buffer Overflows: Allocating memory at runtime is not possible in PHP like it is in C Programming. So, you won’t have buffer overflows because of the same. That said, you do have to worry about buffer overflows within PHP itself and within its extensions. You should take a subscription to the php-announce mailing list in order to keep yourself up to date with all the newst releases and patches that will help you with this.

6. Error Handling: Raw error messages, if visible, can give advanced users an idea of how your system works and what software is being used. These include error message from your databased, PHP and external programs. It gives an attacked a better chance at penetrating your security protocols. So, your error messages shouldn’t contain system information. For this you need to direct PHP to put your error messages into the server’s error log and not to display them to users.

log_errors = On
display_errors = Off

7. Insecure Use of Cryptography: Instead of trying to device your own encryption scheme, use the mcrypt extension. This extension has a lot of popular extension scheme, which you can use. Moreover, if you’re storing your encryption keys, then be careful about where you store them. Not storing the keys would be the best idea, but if you are, store them in as secure a location as you can.

8. Remote Administration Flaws: Remote administration tools should be run over SSL connections whenever possible. This is done to avoid passwords and content from being sniffed. When you’re using such software, make sure that the default administrative username, password and if possible then even the URL has been changed. You could also run the tool from a different web server different from the public web server that it administrates.