Sunday, 5 January 2014

Disney has been using this trick in their Haunted Mansion attraction for decades


And....it works remarkably well


Here's another variant of the design from 1998, inspired by Jerry Andrus' work. Click here to download the cut-out and create your own Amazing T-rex



Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Nokia expelled from top five smartphones run

Nokia has been Driven out from the top five smartphones by Research In Motion (RIM) according to the latest quarterly monitoring by International Data Corporation (IDC). The Finnish company had inhabit in the top five of IDC table since its onset in 2004. Nokia has been underperforming in a growing market, "the world of smartphone market vendors shipped 179.7 million units in 3Q12 compared to 123.7 million units sold out in 3Q11," revealed the last IDC figures. It is a market of more than 45 percent higher sales than an year earlier.


Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst, IDC stated that "Nokia's share losses have given impetus to rivals." He added that there are still plenty of opportunities in the market for Nokia (and others) to do well "The company's transition away from Symbian-powered smartphones to those supplied with Windows Phone has left ample opportunity for competitors to steal share away from Nokia during the past 18 months. However, the smartphone market is still relatively embryo, which means there is room for all manufacturers and operating systems to flourish, including Nokia."

Top Five Smartphone Vendors, Shipments and Market Share, 2012 Q3 - 2011 Q3

                 3Q'12 Unit Shipments 3Q'12 Market Share 3Q'11 Unit Shipments 3Q'11 Market Share Year-over- year Change
Samsung 56.3 31.3% 28.1 22.7% 100.4%
Apple 26.9 15.0% 17.1 13.8% 57.3%
RIM 7.7 4.3% 11.8 9.6% -34.7%
ZTE 7.5 4.2% 4.1 3.3% 82.9%
HTC 7.3 4.0% 12.7 10.3% -42.5%
Others 74.0 41.2% 49.9 40.3% 48.3%
Total 179.7 100.0% 123.7 100.0% 45.3%
Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, October 25, 2012
(Units in Millions)

Looking through the numbers, you can say the year was particularly good for Samsung, it managed to ship more than double the amount of smartphones last year. ZTE has also benefited from a fantastic 83 percent uplift in sales, its smartphones are doing well in emerging markets, says IDC.


On the other hand, we have worse performance than previous year's from HTC and RIM. RIM is currently relying on older models of smartphones and hoping its BB10 OS and new smartphones will revitalize its economy. HTC held the fifth player in place thanks to the HTC One X and EVO 4G success. Like Nokia, HTC is looking forward to Windows Phone 8 gaining ground and becoming popular.

Tuesday, 30 October 2012

Facebook - A Tool to weigh addiction



Are you a social media enthusiast or simply a Facebook addict? Researchers from Norway have developed a new tool to measure this phenomenon -- the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS). In January 2011, 227 women and 196 men participated in BFAS tests. The scale can facilitate clinical assessment and can be used for the estimation of Facebook addiction prevalence in the general population worldwide.

"We are dealing with a subdivision of internet addiction connected to social media," says Cecilie Schou Andreassen from the University of Bergen, who led the first of its kind study anywhere, reports the journal Psychological Reports.

Andreassen's study shows that the symptoms of Facebook addiction resemble those of drug addiction, alcohol addiction and chemical substance addiction, according to Bergen statement. She said,"Facebook dependency occurs more regularly among younger than older users. People who are anxious and socially insecure were also found to use Facebook more frequently, probably because they find it easier to communicate via social media than face-to-face"

"Our research also indicates that women are more at risk of developing Facebook addiction, probably due to the social nature of Facebook", says Andreassen. Andreassen's study shows that scoring "often" or "always" on at least four of the seven items on Bergen scale may suggest that you are addicted to Facebook.

So, how would you rate yourself? Facebook Junkie? A social network devotee? Let us know...

Saturday, 27 October 2012

‘Password’ tops list of most common passwords


Want to guess someone's password? Try ‘password’, researchers have claimed.


    According to an annual study of the most commonly used passwords researchers have found that ‘password’, ‘123456’, ‘qwerty’ and ‘12345678’ are still the most widely used - despite years of security experts urging people to change them to secure options, reported the Daily Mail. The latest list comes following 12 months of high profile hacks that have revealed user passwords. The bad old choice is the culprit that Yahoo, LinkedIn, eHarmony, and Last.fm have suffered major breaches.

     Just in time for Halloween comes something that might scare anyone who spends a lot of time online - SplashData's annual list of the most common passwords used on the Internet and posted by hackers. Researchers said, “Users of any of these passwords are the most likely to be victims in future breaches.”

    However, some people have updated their passwords, and the research found new entries to this year's list include different, but not really creative alternatives like ‘welcome’, ‘jesus’, ‘mustang’ and ‘password1’. SplashData’s top 25 list was compiled from files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers.

    If you found the above montioned password(s)' a key to unlock your online world, then it's high time you migrate to a new gate pass. This post from Teqknow might help you save the Day.

Sunday, 2 September 2012

Samsung Unveils the ATIV S: First Windows 8 Smartphone


Make way for the ATIV S, which raced to be the first officially announced smartphone powered by Windows Phone 8. Samsung became the first handset maker to announce a smartphone using Microsoft's latest mobile software after announcing the Samsung ATIV S at IFA event in Berlin. This comes out to be an astounding news for many, as Nokia was expected to lead the way (Sorry Nokia, consider your Strike stolen).  ATIV marks the family of Samsung's new line of products powered by Windows 8 OS.


Besides running on Windows Phone 8, the phone has typical smartphone specifications. It features a thin 8.7 mm brushed aluminium chassis and looks quite elegant. The manufacturer says it's designed for "work and entertainment" with native inbuilt support for the very popular Microsoft Office suite. Samsung ATIV S flaunts a 4.8” HD Super AMOLED display backed by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM. It also features HSPA+42 connectivity, but nothing's being said about LTE connectivity as of now. The ATIV S sports an 8 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash on the back and a secondary 1.9 Megapixel VT Camera in front for Video Communication. 

It looks like Samsung considered the Connectivity options way too seriously. The ATIV S is packed with Bluetooth® 3.0, USB 2.0 connectivity and NFC(near-field communication) along with GPS n' Glonass. For Hassle free Wireless Internet access Samsung has encompassed Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity as well. Also you'll discover the same connecting ability that Samsung incorporated in Samsung Galaxy Note II; yes we're talking about the "tap to share" feature. Coming to storage capacity, It'll be available in two segments - 32 & 64 GB. The manufacturers didn't raise the curtain over the price and availability of ATIV S, but will have to be after the release of Windows 8 - October 26th.



Specifications:



Dimensions137.2 x 70.5 x 8.7 mm, 135g
Display4.8 inch (121.9mm ) HD Super AMOLED
OSWindows Phone 8
Processor1.5 GHz dual-core processor
CameraRear: 8 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash
Front: 1.9 Megapixel VT Camera
VideoCodec: H.263, H.264, WMV, MP4, M4V, MOV
Full HD(1080p) Playback & Recording
AudioCodec: MP3, WMA, MP4, M4A, AAC
3.5mm Jack
Sharing Features    Tap to Share (File sharing with NFC and BT/Wi-Fi)
Samsung Family Story
Content FeaturesSamsung ChatOn mobile communication service
& ServicesSamsung Hub
Music Hub
Media Hub (US only)
Samsung Zone (Windows Phone Marketplace)
Photo Editor
Mini Diary
Now (Daily Briefing)
NetworkHSPA+ 42Mbps 850/900/1900/2100MHz
EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900MHz
GPSA-GPS
Glonass
ConnectivityBluetooth® 3.0
USB 2.0
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Channel Bonding
NFC(Near-field Communication)
3.5mm jack
SensorProximity, Accelerometer, Geomagnetic, Ambient Light, Gyroscope
Memory16/32GB Storage
1 GB RAM
microSD (SDXC support)
BatteryStandard Li-ion battery,2300mAh

Friday, 24 August 2012

Essential Password Safety Tips


Your password is the first line of defense against cyber attacks. With phishing, identity theft and other Internet crimes becoming more frequent everyday, it is important to choose a password that cannot be easily guessed or deduced by others. An ideal password is one that is easy to remember, hard to forget, and harder to crack. You can create a good password by following the Teqknow tips offered below

  • Create unique paswords

When you use the same password on multiple websites you are at risk of having hijackers figure out and steal your password from a less secured website and use it to access other important online accounts. Use unique passwords for your accounts, especially the more important ones like those for e-mail and online banking.

  • Change password often




Even if you are using a hard-to-guess password, it is not impossible for a hacker to crack the password, it will just take him more time. A hacker can keep accessing your account or network as long as the password is valid. Updating your password regularly, will significantly limit the utility of that password to the hacker. This is why you should change your passwords periodically.



  • Combine letters, numbers, and symbols

By combining numbers, symbols and both lower and upper case letters in your password you make it a lot more difficult for others to guess or crack your password. This might blow your mind but, Did you know that an 8-character password with numbers, symbols, and mixed-case letters has more than 6,000,000,000,000,000 possible variations? :O


  • Keep it in a secret place


Never leave your password written on notes at your computer or desk. Anyone walking by can easily steal and use it to access your accounts. If you want to save your passwords in a file on your computer, make sure to use a unique name for that file that does not reveal what type of information is contained in the file. You must avoid obvious names such as "My Passwords" when naming a file. Another solution is to use a password manager, a software that helps a user organize passwords and PIN codes. There are many of these available as a desktop software, portable applications, or web based service. Spend some time researching them, checking their reputation, and reading reviews. The time and effort you invest in researching them will help you select the one that best suits your password-security needs.


  • Use a phrase acronym

You can create an acronym with the first letters of the words in a phrase or sentence and use it in a password. For example, from the sentence "Johnny, Johnny, Yes, Papa, Eating sugar? No, Papa", you would get "jjypesnp". Using an acronym makes the password easy to remember but difficult to guess.


  • Keep recovery options updated and secure

Keep any e-mail address you use for recovering and resetting your password updated. The same goes for any phone number that you use to receive password reset codes by text message. There are also many websites that let you choose a question to verify your identity if you ever forget your password. Make sure to create a question-answer combo that only you know and can't be guessed from information already posted online. You can also make your answer unique by typing it in an unusual way so others won't be able to enter the answer properly.



  • Make it hard for others to guess

Always create a password that is unrelated to your personal information. Don't use simple words like "password" or "letmein,"or keyboard patterns such as "qwerty", or sequential patterns such as "abcd1234", which would make your password easier to guess. Choose a random word or phrase, and insert letters, numbers, and symbols into the beginning, middle, and end to make it much more difficult to guess.

  • Add extra measures of security


Another way you can add an extra layer of security is by enabling a 2-step verification process. Although, not all Internet accounts provide this option, some like Google do. The 2-step verification process requires you to have access to your phone, your username and password to sign in. If someone else steals your password, they can't sign in to your account because they don't have your phone. You are now protected with something that only you know and something that only you have, your pasword and your phone.


  • Never ever share your password with anyone

You know this, right? ;)

We hope the information in this article helps you protect your password and online accounts.





Sunday, 29 July 2012

Top 15 Free Online URL Scanners

URL Scanners are the tools available over Internet to check the safety of link or web pages by scanning it for threats, drive-by downloads and web exploits. URL Scanners can be used to investigate content of a web-site with multiple reputation engines & domain blacklists, to verify whether specified web site is safe to browse.



Below we name 15 Free Online URL Scanners, to help Internet users looking for tools that check the safety of websites to simply browse or download content.
















Safe Browsing Happy Browsing :)