ICICI Bank - Phishing Mail (BEWARE!!!)

Today, I received a live phishing mail from an anonymous ICICI Bank sender into my Yahoo Mail Box. Here's the summary of its contents:

From: ICICI BANK" customercare@icicibank.com

Subject: Alert!!! Verify Your Internet Banking Account Immediately Otherwise Your Account Get Blocked!!!

The contents of the mail had information on "Security Updates on Online users", along with the phishing URL's seperate for Individual and Corporate Account holders. These URL's are replica of the actual ICICI online website. Below, is the screenshot of the mail.

And here's the website, when I visited using Internet Explorer 6.0:

This issue was well caught by Internet Explorer 7.0 - refer the screenshot of IE7.

IE7 helps in discovering such phishing, I would like to recommend you to upgrade to IE7 immediately.

Yahoo! Photos is closing in 30 days

If you are using Yahoo! Photos service, then you better move/backup your photo collection before 20-Sep-2007, because Yahoo Photo service is closing soon. You will be given choice to move the photos to other free online services like flickr/photobucket or download them. Here's what the official website says:

http://photos.yahoo.com/

Relief for Tata Sky Customers :-)

Tata Sky customers didn't get Sun TV Channels so far. The case was being heard before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). Tata Sky had taken Sun TV network to TDSAT for not providing access to its popular regional channels, though these were being provided to rival DTH company Dish TV. According to the DTH guidelines, broadcasters have to make their channels available to all DTH service providers without any discrimination.

After nearly a year of litigation in the Supreme Court and Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), Direct-to-Home (DTH) operator TataSky and broadcaster Sun TV have settled their dispute on channel sharing and pricing.

Some of the major channels which will now be available on TataSky’s platform are Sun Tv, K Tv Sun Music, Sun News, Gemini, Teja, Gemini Music, Gemini News, Udaya Tv, Udaya News and Chutti TV.

Consumers (including me) are now waiting for Tata Sky to package the channel (not sure if it will be charged extra) and make them available on thier TV Sets.

60 Years of Independence to India

Wishing all the readers of my blog - A Happy Independence Day 2007.

India's Independence Day (Hindi: स्वतंत्रता दिवस) is celebrated on August 15 to commemorate its independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation on that day in 1947. The day is a national holiday in India. It is celebrated all over the country through flag-hoisting ceremony and distribution of sweets. The main celebration takes place in New Delhi, where the Prime Minister raises the national flag at the Red Fort and delivers a nationally televised speech from its ramparts. In his speech, he highlights the achievements of the government during the past year, raises important issues and gives a call for further development. The prime minister also pays tribute to leaders of the freedom struggle. More on Wiki.

Nokia BL-5C battery problem

I recently read about this in Times Of India and found the same on Nokia BL-5C battery Product Advisory site. Please check this website to identify if your Nokia Phone battery is the victim of this!

After filling the necessary details, I found that my battery is affected due to this problem. :-(

As per the instructions on the same website, I filled my personal information and submitted the to Nokia Support. During these steps, I was acknowledged with the following message:

We will send you a replacement battery with instructions on how to return your old battery. To ensure proper disposal, all recipients of a replacement battery hereby agree to return the old battery in the envelope provided.

Hoping that I will get the right battery from Nokia.

Just a Note

The most selfish 1-letter word is "I", Avoid it.
The most satisfying 2-letter word "WE", Use it.
The most poisonous 3-letter word "EGO", Kill it.
The most used 4-letter word "LOVE", Value it.
The most pleasing 5-letter word "SMILE", Keep it.
The fastest spreading 6-letter word "RUMOUR", Ignore it.
The hardest working 7-letter word "SUCCESS", Achieve it.
The most enviable 8-letter word "JEALOUSY", Distance it.
The most powerful 9-letter word "KNOWLEDGE", Acquire it.T
he most essential 10-letter word "CONFIDENCE", Trust It

Success Journey!

The top ten ways to be Positive in the Workplace of Life:

There is a growing volume of research that shows’ staying positive is better for your health; you can cope better with stress. It’s better for relationships; you keep from judging people and getting the bad habit of gossiping. It takes much more energy to be negative, always worrying, thinking of the “ what if’s”, the “should’s”. Being positive, living in the present will lighten your life and the mood of others around you.

1. Attitude is everything. It is the lens that you look through to experience your reality. Take a look at your attitude. Are you negative? Do you color everything with fear or need? How will your life change if you change your attitude?
2. Treat people with kindness and respect. Everyone that you encounter should be valued, treated with courtesy. Acknowledge that they have feelings and their own perspective on life, they may be different than yours but they are also valid.
3. Avoid comparison- whether you are looking down at the people who have not mastered special strengths or up at people who may be more experienced or accomplished. Constantly comparing yourself keeps the focus on the other person instead of what you can do, want to do, and are good at doing. Look inside and improve from there.
4. Take responsibility for your work, actions, and life… Don’t pass the buck. Don’t make excuses. Take responsibility; acknowledge a mistake fix it and learn from it. Don’t beat yourself up about the mistake, or hang onto past mistakes. Resolve them, own them and move forward. Today.
5. That doesn’t work for me. Keep this in mind when someone offers a put down. When they cross your boundaries. Your worth comes from you; your being, your true self. They cannot change your intrinsic value unless you let them. Make it clear that what they are doing doesn’t work for you, keep your boundaries and move forward.
6. Respect other people’s time and boundaries. If you are having a bad day, feeling stuck, or you are just enjoying procrastinating. Make sure you don’t use that as an excuse to waste other people’s time or cross their boundaries. Time is the most valuable thing we have. If you feel like wasting your time that’s your decision but don’t waste other people’s time.
7. Make a “what I have accomplished list”. Too often people make huge to-do lists and then beat themselves up when they have only accomplished a few things on the list. Keep your master list of what you want to accomplish so you don’t forget things that are important to you, but keep a second list you update daily. Each day keep a specific list of all the things you did and how much time you spent on each thing. You’ll know where the day went, can feel good about what you did accomplish and see where you need to focus, to get what’s most important to you, done.
8. Take notice of the people around you; co-workers, customers, clients, vendors, and other people you come in contact with each day. Acknowledge what they are contributing and don’t take them for granted. Thank them for buying from you, for their help, their value to the relationship, and for a job well done.
9. Enjoy the little things that happen in your day. The compliment someone gave you on the insight you shared at the staff meeting. The big smile the customer gave you when they picked up their order. By recognizing your accomplishments even if they seem small or routine, you are acknowledging a job well done.
10. Coming from a positive attitude and perspective you will feel more in control. Consider each job and interaction as your best performance, rather than just running them together as part of your day. You will see the impact you have and the value you offer. People will be attracted to this. They will notice how well you do things and they will truly value you.

Success is a journey...not a destination !!! Success to you !!!

Microsoft 2008 Products are here...

February 2008 is shaping up to be Microsoft's largest launch month - ever - with RTMs of Visual Studio 2008, Windows Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008 all on tap.

Windows Server 2008 will make another history by producing Windows Server 2008, which will be the "Last 32-Bit Operating System". The Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 is already with a huge Tester's community. A similar change (16-bit to 32-bit OS) took place earlier when Microsoft released Windows 95 and slowly phased-out its 16-bit Windows 3.x.

This may be a big threat to Consumers (like me) who are already using Win XP/2003 64 bit and finding it difficult to get a 64-bit Windows Certified Drivers and Applications.

Related Links:

Bill Laing (General Manager - Windows Server Division) on What’s to Come for Windows Server 2008

Visual Studio 2008 (formerly known as Visual Studio code name "Orcas") delivers on Microsoft's vision of enabling developers and development teams to rapidly create connected applications with compelling user experiences for Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, mobile devices and the Web. Visit Visual Studio 2008 Home Page.

SQL Server 2008, the next release of Microsoft SQL Server, provides a comprehensive data platform that is more secure, reliable, manageable and scalable for your mission critical applications, while enabling developers to create new applications that can store and consume any type of data on any device, and enabling all your users to make informed decisions with relevant insights. Visit SQL 2008 Home Page.

Blackle - Black Google saves energy

How is Blackle saving energy?

Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen.

In January 2007 a blog post titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine. Since then there has been skepticism about the significance of the energy savings that can be achieved and the cost in terms of readability of black web pages.

We believe that there is value in the concept because even if the energy savings are small, they all add up. Secondly we feel that seeing Blackle every time we load our web browser reminds us that we need to keep taking small steps to save energy.

Office Website: http://www.blackle.com/

More Details: http://www.blackle.com/about/

Hi Honey!

Last weekend, we had sweet time in our Apartment, because of Honey Bee-Hive. Once a year I find the Honey Bee constructing their nest in my apartment area. Usually they like the 3rd floor very much. They love the balcony area of some of the flats in 3rd floor. This time, we had tough time finding a person who can remove the hive. Finally we got hold of the person through a chain of contacts.

My aim was to shoot (smile pls) the Queen Bee, but I could not do so. The Queen Bee was captured in a container and it could not be opened due to security reasons :) Somehow, I managed to get these snaps for my post. Due to huge size, I have uploaded them here. I am posting the details of the person who is professional in removing the Honey and cleaning up the hive.

Name: Ashok (stays near Bannergatta)

Contact: 92427-71877

Yahoo Mailbox size goes Unlimited!

Yipppieeeee! for those users who are fan of Yahoo Mail! Once upon a time, Yahoo was my primary mailbox. These days, I am using GMail more than Yahoo.

Yahoo has made a tempting offer for me to go back to my old primary mailbox. Although Yahoo launched this a month ago, I noticed this today in my mailbox. The RHS mail box usage showed the above animated GIF.

Now, AOL is the next in this initiative. They also started offering unlimited disk space.

A very good comparision chart of all Free Web Based Mail Providers can be found here.

Bangalore Midnight Marathon - 'First of its kind'

What a wonderfull idea! The world's first Midnight Marathon will be held in Bangalore this year. This event will take place near WhiteField/ITPL area on Saturday 19-May-2007 Midnight. The event is expected to end on early hours of Sunday :) So get ready to leave out your sleep on this weekend.

Office Website of this Event for complete info/registeration details: http://www.coindia.com/

Spidy 3 releases Today

Finally, one of my most awaited Spiderman 3 movie releasing today in India and some other countries.

His Quality Policy remains same - "With great power comes great responsibility" :) But, this our Hero, Peter Parker, gets 3 new villains - New Goblin, Sandman and Venom.

This movie is already released in some parts of world a month back (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413300/releaseinfo). Hoping to get Movie Tickets to watch this movie soon.

Windows Live Hotmail Launched

Recently Hotmail launched its New Windows Live Hotmail Interface to everyone. The same was being offerred to limited users for Beta testing.

When I logged into Hotmail, I was suprised to receive the above "Thanks" mail.

Unbelievable Internet Speed Record

A group of researchers led by the University of Tokyo has broken Internet speed records - twice in two days.
Operators of the high-speed Internet2 network announced Tuesday that the researchers on Dec. 30 sent data at 7.67 gigabits per second, using standard communications protocols. The next day, using modified protocols, the team broke the record again by sending data over the same 20,000-mile path at 9.08 Gbps.
That likely represents the current network's final record because rules require a 10 percent improvement for recognition, a percentage that would bring the next record right at the Internet2's current theoretical limit of 10 Gbps.
However, the Internet2 consortium is planning to build a new network with a capacity of 100 Gbps. With the 10-fold increase, a high-quality version of the movie "The Matrix" could be sent in a few seconds rather than half a minute over the current Internet2 and two days over a typical home broadband line.
Researchers used the newer Internet addressing system, called IPv6, to break the records in December. Data started in Tokyo and went to Chicago, Amsterdam and Seattle before returning to Tokyo. The previous high of 6.96 Gbps was set in November 2005.
Speed records under the older addressing system, IPv4, are in a separate category and stand at 8.8 Gbps, set in February 2006.
The Internet2 is run by a consortium of more than 200 U.S. university. It is currently working to merge with another ultrahigh-speed, next-generation network, National LambdaRail.
The announcement of the new record was made at the Internet2 consortium's spring meeting, which ends Wednesday in Arlington, Va.

Source: MyWay.com

Speedup your Windows XP computer in Minutes!

Found this wonderfull article which contains the tips to speed up the Windows XP computer without upgrading your hardware. To summarize, the following are the points discussed in this site:

1. Disable extra startup programs
2. Disable Extra Services
3. Adjust Display Settings
4. Remove Widgets and Background
5. Folder Browsing
6. Indexing Service
7. Size of Page File
8. Enable Direct Memory Access (DMA)

For complete details, please visit: Mobile-Pedia.com

GMail Error Code 008 while attaching files (Solved for me)

From past few days, whenever I used to attach images in GMail (using http://gmail.google.com/) and click on "Send" button, I used to get Error Code 008. Here's the screenshot of this error:

This error is popping up on my Windows XP 64 bit OS with IE 7 Browser. I even tried with FireFox 1.5.0.11, which takes very long time (almost in Hanging state) to attach a file of size 400kb.

There is a Help provided by GMail Help Center to resolve this error at this location. The solution which helped me to resolve this error is to use the GMail Secured URL - https://gmail.google.com/.

The HTTPS method helped me to solve my problem and hope the same helps others.

LPG Gas Cylinder's Expiry Date

Do you know that the LPG cylinder's have expiry date? Here is how we can check the expiry of LPG cylinders:

On one of three side stems of the cylinder, the expiry date is coded alpha-numerically as follows:

A/B/C/D and two digit number.

Example: C06

The alphabets stand for quarters -
A for March (First Quarter),
B for June (Second Quarter),
C for September (Third Quarter),
D for December (Fourth Quarter).
The digits stand for the year till it is valid.

In the above example, C06 would mean September Quarter of 2006.

Puzzles on my SMS :-)

Its been while, since I did some New Posts in my blog. I have a very simple excuse to the whole world - "I was busy" :)

In this post, I will post some of the interesting Puzzles that I received as SMS. These are really a great timepass and learning... Here, the list goes...

1) I am a 10 letter word. My 1234 has 'power to rule'. You eat my 5678. My 89&10 means 'of a lady'. I can fly. What am I?

2)I am a word of 5 letters, people eat me. If you remove my 1st letter, I will be form of energy. If you remove my 1st 2 letters I will be needed for living. If u remove my 1st 3 letters I will be near u. If u remove my 1st 4 letters I will be a drink 4 u... Who am I?

3) I am 7 letters long - 1234567. My 123 is a vehicle. My 2345 was a pop group. My 456 is a piece of luggage. My 567 changes every year. What am I?

4) It's a 9 letter word. 123456789. If it fails u will die. If u have 234, u can 1234. 56 is a type of disease. 89 indicates exact location & time. Whats the answer?

5)I will give you 5 zeroes 0,0,0,0,0 Use any mathematical operation but the answer should be equal to 120. Whats the answer?

6) I am a 5 letter word. If my 1st letter is removed I am a country. If my 1st 2 letters r removed, I am the opposite of 5 letter word. Who am I?

7) I am a 7 letter word. It is above God, it is impossible to God. If you eat this, you will die. Who am I?

Thanks to the SMS Senders :)

Gmail doesn't recognize dots (.)

Do you know that in GMail, the First.Last@gmail.com and FirstLast@gmail.com both are same?

Yes, thats true. Gmail doesn't recognize dots (.) as characters within a username. This way, you can add and remove dots to your username for desired address variations. messages sent to your.username@gmail.com and y.o.u.r.u.s.e.r.n.a.m.e@gmail.com are delivered to the same inbox, since the characters in the username are the same.

Keep in mind that hyphens (-) and underscores (_) can't be used in a Gmail address. Also, usernames are case insensitive, so it doesn't matter if you enter upper case or lower case letters.

I came to know about the above recently when I saw some mails in my Spam Folder, which didn't had the dot (.) in my eMail address.

This is what Google has to say about it.