Benjamins Yarn

Around 12 WiFi VoIP handsets and phones have been put to the test by top security professionals, who say that security problems range from potential denial-of-service attacks to more severe issues that allow “deep access” to the handset that lets a hacker get hold of any sensitive information on the phone.

Problems like this inevitable. So whose responsibility is it to forestall them? it has been posited that if we see practices like this develop as these devices get more popular then the manufacturers will only have themselves to blame when there’s a widespread attack.

Voice over IP hacking is the modern days version of war dialing - a method of automatically scanning telephone numbers using a modem, usually dialing all telephone number in a local area to find where computers or fax machines are available, then attempting to access them by guessing passwords.

Still there are steps users can take to limit security vulnerablities. Here’s a list of WiFi VOIP security issues, and some effective ways to protect against them:

Many directions of attack:
As the VoIP phones get more sophisticated, so could the points of entry for malicious attacks increase. Email, client Web browsers, Bluetooth, SMS, WiFi, media players, and image viewers could all provide a window of opportunity for hackers. Though users can use open-source and commercial tools to regularly test their phones and networks, they’ll ultimately have to rely on vendors to also do thorough testing on these VoIP devices.

Targeting phones in public environments:
One way of doing this is a Bluetooth scanner could be concealed at the entrance to a major public space and be used to steal user data. It may be best to keep Bluetooth and other wireless features swicthed off when not needed.

Rogue access points:
Meanwhile at the office or on the road, customers will have to keep their guard up and scan for rogue access points. criminals will set up access points to specifically target WiFi phones in a business environment as well as at conferences and other places business people like to come together. Decent device authentication and encryption can help provide protection here.

Targeted attacks:
Select attacks on specific voice-over-wireless networks could also be an issue, albeit one that the victims may prefer to keep quiet.

Gaming laptops used to only be obtainable from certain manufacturers. Though they didn’t ship a significant deal they still made the most in comparison to other styles of laptop computer. Everybody desired this type of laptop, however at the price point they were going for it was plainly unaffordable. They were like the pinnacle of what could be done with laptop technology, the best laptops on offer. Gaming notebooks would get people excited about what’s to be launched in a couple of years however I don’t think they would buy laptops like this whilst be wary that the price is going to fall quickly. I believe things are already different though and will continue to because the global brands are all entering the sector.

Bringing their brand names into the sector could allow them to charge greater prices. With computers being classed like commodities this is a great profit stream for them. Companies of that sort are aware they can get purchasers to buy laptops at high prices providing they market it well. Surely this would be the death of local resellers? With the resources at their disposal they can effortlessly finish the smaller competition. Big manufacturers can leverage their brand names to effortlessly win purchasers over.

I believe they surely are introducing some of the best laptops out today. This is possibly the remaining advantage that local companies can give that the established companies cannot. This is a big sales proposition that must be said. This kind of prospect is generally well educated in the technical details and is able to compare the specs. For this sort of niche, the specifications are generally more sought after than the design.

All game players agree that it is a good change. A method that the local companies may utilise is to cut markup in to sell more units. I mention that with a high degree of uncertainty however. New innovations are constantly being launched and that should hold costs relatively high. It is tough to tell what will occur now that the big manufacturers have become involved in making gaming notebooks.

Dr. Niles Eldredgem, Curator-in-Chief of the permanent exhibition “Hall of Biodiversity” at the American Museum of Natural History, describes the previous five extinction periods of our planet. He predicts Number Six.

Please read Dr. Eldredgem’s article at http://www.actionbioscience.org/newfrontiers/eldredge2.html where he says that current trends will lead to an extinction caused by one species of earth’s many creatures. Can you guess which species is most likely to bring a sixth disaster in terms of life forms on the planet?

Answer: Homo sapiens

Eldredgem blames man (Homo sapiens) for a number of “recent” extinctions. He wasn’t there to see it but the good Doctor is a paleontologist and he just knows such things.

Anyway, despite the fact (or because of the fact) that according to scientist that the earth can tolerate a lot more human beings; we have to worry about our extinction too.

Let me speak as a cosmologist for a second. Excuse the fact that I am not a cosmologist. Consider the “fuzz” on the earth as non-consequential in the cosmic view: Does it matter if that fuzz disappears. The earth would still look pretty good from space.

What is this “fuzz?”

Answer: Plant and animal life.

However, dispite what I said, even cosmologists think that earth life, especially human life, has significance.

What do you think?

Here’s what I think: The earth will take care of itself.

If it’s abused, it will heal itself.

If there are too many Homo sapiens, it will cut them down to size by disease, war, natural catastrophe, and other means.

(If the earth is not abused it will still reduce the number of Homo sapiens by disease, war, natural catastrophe, and other means. Animals and humans die of starvation all the time.)

Things will become more intense as agriculture continues its march and the earth’s population of Homo sapiens continues.

What will Homo sapiens be doing all this time?

Answer: History says that they will do too little until it is too late.

I don’t worry too much about what will happen to this planet and the creatures on it. What I worry about is that Homo sapiens might eventually leave our solar system and contaminate the world with Earth Ideologies and our deadly nature.

Fortunately, in my opinion, there is little chance of this in the near future. By the time we would get good enough to explore the universe, the earth as we know it may no longer exist.

For those who want to (at least for now) keep the earth a habitable place for Homo sapiens, I suggest the following:

1. Agriculture is a problem. Stop eating those grains, fruits, and vegetables on weekdays. Tell your children that vegetables are awful and that they don’t have to eat them. Teach them to eat dirt to avoid agriculture. Babies love to eat dirt. Don’t stop them.

2. Hunting is a problem. Stop eating wild game and mounting heads on your cabin wall. Get a paintball gun. Your color can be yellow so that everybody will know you are the one that hit the ibex in the rump. Have that video camera ready.

3. Fishing is a problem. Stop eating fish on Fridays. Catch and release on weekends.

4. Ozone is a problem as is CO2, H 2SO4, and other gases. Stop driving during months with an “R” and don’t buy those aerosol cans.

5. Teach your kids to be celibate. Tell them it has great eternal consequences. Buy them a GameBoy® if they will agree to be cloistered.

Well, it may sound trite, but it could be a start couldn’t it?

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com,) a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine. He is Executive Representative of IWS sellers of Tyler Hicks wealth-success books and kits. He also sells TopFlight flagpoles. He calls himself “Taylor Jones, the hack writer.”

More info: http://www.tjbooks.com

Business web site: http://www.aaaflagpoles.com

DECT phones are a great way to set up your home office space. The Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology offers better reception than traditional cordless phones. DECT phones can also be set up in several locations with only one base station.

The DECT phones have different ranges for being able to take the handset from the base. Most of these variations depend largely on the model you choose and the terrain around which you are using the phone. On level ground with no interference most DECT phones can be used for about 984 from the base. The new digital technology is working to expand that range even farther.

Because of the clarity of the DECT phones and the versatility, the versatility and even the cost, these phones are the perfect addition to a home office space. Getting a base phone that is corded will help if the electricity goes out. Having handsets that are connected wirelessly to the base office phone will help you stay “in the office” no matter where you are in the house.

Instead of having the phone company hard wire your office and home for several new phones, you should consider a DECT phone. The improved technology of these cordless phones make them as practical and clear as any corded phone on the market.

It is a fact to any observer that yawning flies like a butterfly and stings like a bee. Scientists and others studying yawning, seem to have reached that same conclusion. Yawning is indeed contagious. But why?

Yawning is thought to be a reflex act of opening one’s mouth wide and inhaling due to an increase of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream. By inhaling deeply - during yawning that is - a large amount of oxygen is breathed in and the accumulated carbon dioxide is expelled. Yawning usually occurs when one is bored or tired. During these periods of time, one’s breathing rate slows and this has as consequence to increase the carbon dioxide concentration in the bloodstream. An average yawn has duration of 6 seconds and this does have a significant effect to the heart rate, and thus the distribution and expelling of oxygen and carbon dioxide respectively. The heart rate in fact increases on average by 30% during yawning.

However to answer the question of “why yawning is contagious,” three leading theories have been put forward namely the physiology theory, the boredom theory and the evolutionary theory.

The physiology theory proposes that the infectious nature of yawning occurs as a result of an involuntary realisation that a deep intake and belching of oxygen and carbon dioxide respectively are needed. When Guy A sees Guy B yawn, it is a reminder to Guy A that he too may be feeling the lack of oxygen and this consequently makes Guy A to yawn as well.

The second theory - and possibly the most entertaining one - states that yawning is simply a way of showing others or ourselves that something is mundane or boring. But in this theory, yawning is not really contagious. Instead other people yawn because they too find that same thing mundane or boring rather than depending on one person to spread the yawns. However if the interviewed people found something dull, chances are that the others found it equally tedious. Therefore everybody opens his mouth wide and inhales some oxygen.

The third theory - which is the most appealing to me personally - is the evolutionary theory. According to this theory, yawning is a behaviour started by our ancestors, the cavemen. This theory puts forward that yawning was a sort of social signal to others. Therefore when one yawns, the others yawn back to return the call. This behaviour thus persists even today, according to the evolutionary theory, but it has faded away much. This explains why about 55% of people who see somebody else yawn will do too so as well within the following 5min.

In humans, the earliest yawns occur before a baby is born, in the mother’s womb, only 11 weeks after conception. This clearly seems to show that yawning is a reflex action above all. Those 3 other theories are pure suppositions up till now and have not been proven by any scientific study even empirically.

Also all 3 theories have major pitfalls. The most eye-catching one applies to the first theory, the physiology theory, which proposes that yawning occurs due to accumulation of carbon dioxide in the body and lack of oxygen. Studies have shown that receiving additional oxygen didn’t decrease yawning and people exposed to a lower amount of carbon dioxide didn’t stop yawning.

For the boredom theory, well, I am pretty sure that out of those people who do not regularly visit art galleries, only a fraction will yawn and yawn on their first visit to expositions even if they find the stuff boring.

The third theory seems to walk its way to the why of yawning, on playing cards. The evolutionary theory can easily crumble because we do not know whether cavemen were yawning first and foremost. As the theory builds itself on a very debatable fact, it may easily collapse.

For now though, I’ll keep my mouth wide shut. But by the way, how many times did you yawn while reading this column?

About the Author

Khalil A. Cassimally is currently Senior Columnist at BackWash.com and Columnist for bbc.co.uk h2g2 The Post where he writes ‘Not Scientific Science’ column.

Robo-enthusiasts are a-buzz with giddiness lately, not just from
solder-smoke. The next generation of Robosapien, aptly named the
Robosapien V2, is now available. But apparently it’s in very
short supply in North America, and demand is growing with the
holiday just around the corner.

So what’s the hubbub surrounding this second generation toy
robot?

Autonomous Behavior Robosapien V2 was designed to pay attention
to you very closely, whether you teach him to move his limbs to
certain positions, activate a preset function, or program him
from the remote control. But are you really interesting to
warrant such attention all the time? Nope. Robosapien V2 is
fully capable of taking in the environment around him and start
doing his own thing.

For example, he may decide to explore his surroundings,
identifying other humans and shaking their hands. Or, if you
leave him alone in a room with a Robopet or Roboraptor, two
robots, he can directly control himself (COOL!). You may come
back to find him playing fetch with one of them using a brightly
colored ball.

Way More Sapien At 24 inches tall, this next generation
Robosapien not only looks more humanoid, but brings his
predecessor’s fluid movement and biomechanical agility to a
whole new level. The head can swivel on the neck, allowing him
to recognize and track what’s going on around him in a way that
closely matches a human’s. The flexible waist, with its three
degrees of freedom, allows for very complex body movements such
as bending, sitting, lying down, standing up, waving, and
martial art maneuvers.

The Robosapien V2’s hands are truly an evolutionary next step,
with fully articulated fingers that give him advanced grasping
ability. This precision gripping enables him to grab a ball and
throw it a fair distance or simply wave non-menacingly at your
household pets in a friendly gesture. Should your pet not be
appreciative of this charming display, the bi-pedal V2 can walk
over to it in one of multiple gaits to ask what its problem is?

Advanced Awareness Robosapien V2 boasts a multi-sensory system
unlike anything we’ve seen before, heightening the level of
interactivity. His color recognition unit means he can visually
recognize humans by their flesh tones, responding to movements.
With a stereo sound detection system he can also hear and react
to noise made by you, and really appreciate a ‘pull my finger’
joke.

He’ll also have great sense of his environment through infra red
vision, allowing him to avoid obstacles, table edges, and highly
annoyed cats. The remote control is supplied with a ‘laser’ that
you can use to trace a path for him to follow with which a
mischievous user could certainly use to lead him toward any
ill-tempered pets, if so desired. Robosapien V2’s touch sensory
system has also been highly developed, reacting to your handling
of him along with a bump into anything.

Endless Possibilities The large group of robot hobbyists that
grew so enamored with the first Robosapien version, both for its
ease of programming and openness to modifications, will really
go nuts for this generation. There are over 100 pre-programmed
functions, 4 demonstration modes, and a myriad of ways to
program him to do what you want.

Through world renowned roboticist Mark Tilden’s careful design,
you can be sure the same attention has been given to keeping
Robosapien V2 easily tinkerable. Surf the Internet to see what
kind of mods people have been doing with the first one, and that
should get you pretty excited with the possibilities to come.

Rizeon in the UK seem to be getting some positive feedback on the internet yet I had never even heard of them until browsing through the notebook forums. Their whole laptop range seems to be focused on the high end of the performance scale, featuring Intel centrino technology and aimed towards speed freaks and gamers.

Buying a Rizeon laptop is not cheap. As they are all performance focused the starting prices are in the region of £600 up but after comparing some other prices I think it’s fair to say they are some of the greatest value laptops around. Specification for specification they usually work out less expensive and they don’t even skimp on the quality of components. According to their site they include brands like Seagate, Hitachi, Kingston, Corsair and Intel. They do pride themselves on supplying highly reliable, quality laptops.

Their website is rather easy to use and it’s good to see the plethora of upgrade options on offer. I’m always more inclined to custom laptops because the standard laptops you see in retail shops just lack performance components. Their current range varies from 13.3inch up to 17inch systems with the latter being primarily positioned as a gaming laptop because it features the Nvidia 8800m GTX video chip which is the fastest available today.

Occasionally, during your CCNA and CCNP studies, you’ll run into a term that just doesn’t quite make sense to you. (Okay, more than occasionally!) One such term is “reverse telnet”. As a Cisco certification candidate, you know that telnet is simply a protocol that allows you to remotely connect to a networking device such as a router or switch. But what is “reverse telnet”, and why is it so important to a Cisco CCNA / CCNP home lab setup?

Where a telnet session is started by a remote user who wants to remotely control a router or switch, a reverse telnet session is started when the host device itself imitates the telnet session.

In a CCNA / CCNP home lab, reverse telnet is configured and used on the access server. The access server isn’t a white box server like most of us are used to; an access server is a Cisco router that allows you to connect to multiple routers and switches with one session without having to move a rollover cable from device to device.

Your access server will use an octal cable to connect to the other routers and switches in your home lab. The octal cable has one large serial connector that will connect to the access server, and eight rj-45 connectors that will connect to your other home lab devices. Your access server then needs an IP Host table in order to perform reverse telnet.

An IP Host table is easy to put together (and you better know how to write one to pass the CCNA!). The IP Host table is used for local name resolution, taking the place of a DNS server. A typical access server IP Host table looks like this:

ip host FRS 2007 100.1.1.1

ip host R3 2003 100.1.1.1

ip host R1 2001 100.1.1.1

ip host R2 2002 100.1.1.1

ip host R4 2004 100.1.1.1

ip host R5 2005 100.1.1.1

ip host SW1 2006 100.1.1.1

interface Loopback0

ip address 100.1.1.1 255.255.255.255

no ip directed-broadcast

This configuration will allow you to use your access server to connect to five routers, a frame relay switch, and a switch without ever moving a cable. When you type “R1″ at the console line, for example, you’ll be connected to R1 via reverse telnet. If you have a smaller lab, an access server is still a real timesaver and an excellent investment. And by getting a static IP address to put on your access server, you can even connect to your home lab from remote locations!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.
For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, visit the website and download your free copies. You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Pass the CCNA exam with The Bryant Advantage!

A TV s quer mostrar que a vida é uma grande sacanagem, onde gente passa a perna em gente e nada mais. Os vencedores so sempre os que criam intrigas, armam esquemas mil, fazem conchavos… isso que tenho visto nos eventuais momentos que assisto a TV Globo e outras novelas.

A TV é um grande veiculo de cultura e mudana de atitudes nas pessoas. Basta quem tem um pouco mais de idade, da novela Anos Dourados, onde as pessoas comearam a voltar ouvir msicas dos anos 60, e se vestir igual… na época de Tieta, foi a mesma coisa, todos comearam até falar com um sotaque nordestino.

Porque ento a Rede Globo, no procura uma forma mais construtiva de influenciar as pessoas? Mostra somente homens e mulheres se vendendo para obter alguma vantagem e os bons, os que seguem uma vida baseada na honra e palavra, s se phodem… porque?

Ser que realmente s se d bem neste mundo de Deus, quem passa a perna? Quem faz esquemas para passar por cima de outras pessoas?

Sei no… No consigo acreditar nisso… Fico me lembrando de alguns filmes e novelas de antigamente, onde havia, claro tais esquemas, mas também as cenas visavam mostrar que boas aes e atitues valiam MUITO mais… que a Familia, o Lar e a Palavra tinham valores acima até da vida…

triste ver que a coisa do ruim est TO infiltrada, que os jornais s apresentam uma viso ruim de tudo… So enchentes que esto acabando com o Brasil, mas no falam que a represas esto enchendo seus reservatrios… Comenta sobrea criminalidade exagerada, mas no comenta que também mais jovens esto deixando as drogas e virando pessoas normais? O que vale realmente é a desgraa… Queremos é realmente ver isso… Viver isso… Sentir cada vez mais isso nas nossas vidas… Porque?

Precisamos nos revoltar desse tipo de mensagem, porque na sua maioria elas so danosas para ns, que somos um pouco mais exclarecidos. Imagine para os jovens? Nossos filhos? Pois é minha gente… A gua que é mole, de tanto bater na pedra, ela a fura… Precisamos avaliar que tipo de informao vamos deixar o nosso cérebro processar, ele processa tudo e o que nos emociona ou nos chama ateno, é incluido no seu software bsico… é colocado como parte de nossa vida e atitudes.

Gostaria de ver casais unidos para construir e ajudar outras pessoas. Gostaria de ver empresrios querendo desenvolver bons produtos, pagando os impostos, ajudando verdadeiramente seus funcionrios. Gostaria também de ver polticos desenvolvendo realmente suas propostas eleitorais.

A TV que poderia ser uma grande ferramenta de motivao para o cresciemento do nosso pais, mostra somente que devemos continuar ou até piorar a nossa forma de ser. Lembre-se que os EUA so a potencia de hoje, devido aos filmes e programas de TV altamente instrutivos que foram passados nas décadas de 50, 60 e 70… quando o Brasil ainda estava iniciando nessa rea.

Ento? O que vamos fazer a respeito do que é apresentado nas nossas TVs?
Vamos nos deixar ser invadidos?
Vamos deixar nossos dias ficarem chatos somente assintindo programas e mais programas de auditrio?
Tele jornais que s falam de desastres e problemas?

Eu no gosto… somente quando estou sentado com a minha me na sala que fico assistindo alguma coisa, ela gosta dos programas de auditrios… Acho que o motivo do gosto das pessoas é pelo intil inusitado, onde conseguimos passar o tempo sem sentir… quando vemos, o tempo passou e vamos domir, isto é, se no dormimos assintindo a TV.

Eu prefiro assistir programas como o Discovery Channel, onde fala sobre as baleias entre outras coisas. Gosto também de assistir algumas séries como Star Trek entre outras… Principalmente porque procuram mostrar que ns, os humanos, temos muito o que oferecer, fora guerras, destruio, ganncia, dinheiro e tudo mais que vemos hoje em dia nas nossas TVs.

Ou ainda, poderemos desenvolver outras atividades fora assistir TV, como:
- Jogar algum jogo com a familia;
- Montar algum quebra cabeas… tem alguns de 10 mil peas que so maravilhosos;
- Ler livros… Amo ler…
- Pegar alguns vdeos e assisti-los;
- Namorar… Essa é a das melhores;
- Etc.

About the Author

Analista de Sistemas, especialista de projetos para Internet desde 1993, projetista e mantenedor de diversos sites no Brasil, como os sites da FAMEM e Porto do Itaqui