You have heard of desktops and laptops, but now two engineering students in Kerala have come up with a virtual computer that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. All it needs is an internet connection.

K Ansar and PP Ismail, final year computer science students at an engineering college in Vatakara, have set up www.bloxtr.com, the prototype of a virtual computer in which you can store all your important documents, favorite music, colorful pictures and even videos.

“The idea is that no one needs to carry a laptop or pen drive around. You can upload any files to the website and access it from any corner of the world. What you need is just an interface to access the internet,” Ansar told IANS.
Ansar and Ismail are fans of Richard Stallman, the free software guru, and they are also keen on popularising the competency of open source software.

Ismail said bloxtr is just a project and doesn’t yet have the speed and features of professional applications. They are hoping for investment by corporate firms for the further development of their prototype.
According to the students, people are largely ignorant about the opportunities that open source software provides. They stumbled upon the idea of a virtual computer while mining the internet.

“We’d like to popularise the concept of the virtual computer. As far as we know such a facility does not exist. Google has Google Docs to store and edit documents or spreadsheets, while websites like ibackup.com provide the facility of creating backup data.

“The open source platform for creating a virtual computer is available on the internet. Open source platforms are available free for any kind of project,” said Ansar.

We want to make bloxtr more elaborate so that one can install software of one’s choice on the virtual computer,” he said.
“We are trying to convert this into a mobile application. When 3G services become operational in the country we think the virtual computer will really be an attractive proposition,” Ismail said.

Ismail and Ansar, along with three other classmates, have already won a project from a local software company on behalf of a Gulf-based airline to develop a system to make flight schedule information available on mobile phones.

They are also planning a project to network educational institutions. “This is a long-term project, under which we plan to provide a website from where information on students from the networked institutions can be retrieved,” said Ismail.

“If a parent wants to ascertain the score of his child he can access it directly from his home. For employers who are on the lookout for talent, this database could be a good source. We are also planning a virtual classroom. Eighty per cent of the work on this is complete,” he added.

Currently under construction in Dubai Hydropolis is the world’s first underwater luxury hotel. It will include three elements: the land station, where guests will be welcomed, the connecting tunnel, which will transport people by train to the main area of the hotel, and the 220 suites within the submarine leisure complex. It is one of the largest contemporary construction projects in the world, covering an area of 260 hectares, about the size of London ’s Hyde Park .

This will be a hotel where those who do not dive - or do not even swim - can experience the tranquillity and inspiration of the underwater world.

In order to enter this surreal space, visitors will begin at the land station. This 120m woven, semicircular cylinder will arch over a multi-storey building.

The upper storeys of the land station house a variety of facilities, including a cosmetic surgical clinic, a marine biological research laboratory and conference facilities.

The world of science fiction becoming reality.

The shallow water hotel will be shaped as a bowl and will be positioned on the sea ground, according to Hohmann. The deep water version is floating in the sea with anchors on the ground.

The bowl will be constructed externally and then positioned on the location. It will then be emptied of the water and equipped with huge aquariums as an attraction for the guests. “At the shallow water hotel, guests are exposed to big fish tanks that contain controlled water and fish, since shallow water is muddy and not transparent. At the deep water hotel, visitors are looking directly into the sea

This basic Network Security Guide provides useful security tips and methods to secure your network such as installing a updated antivirus program, email scanning programs, network monitoring tools, internet access policy and other security prevention methods.

• Security Threats

There are a number of security threats that can be the cause of a network security attack. Main security threats are denial of service, distributed denial of service, viruses, Trojan horses, spywares, malwares, unauthorized access to the network resources and data, accidental deletion of the files and the uncontrolled internet access.

• Virus Attack

A computer virus is a small program or an executable code that when executed and replicated, perform different unwanted and harmful functions for a computer and a network. Viruses can destroy your hard disks and processors, consume memory at a very large scale and destroy the overall performance of a computer or network. A Trojan is a malicious code that performs harmful actions but it cannot be replicated. Trojan can destroy systems’ critical data. A computer worm is a program that replicates to all network and destroy useful data. The viruses, malware, adware and Trojan horses can be prevented if you have an updated antivirus program with the latest pattern files.

• Security policy

Being a network administrator, you should implement a security policy in your network and educate your network users and other employees about the security threats.

• Email scanning

Email is a big source of a virus and malicious code. You should have installed an email scanning and monitoring program. You should also have a tight security policy at your proxy server and should block the unnecessary ports and web applications.

• Unauthorized Access

Access to the network resources and data should be allowed only to the authorized persons. Every shared folder and resources in your network should have been accessed only by the authorized persons and should also be scanned and monitored regularly.

• Accidental deletion of the files

What will you do if you accidentally delete your organization’s critical data? This is a question, which every network administrator and security specialists thinks of and wants answer. Few days before I read on internet news site that a computer technician accidentally deleted a financial company’s $ 10 billions records. To avoid the big troubles like this for you and for your company, you should have excellent data recovery software in your software inventory. Many data recovery tools are good enough to recover every piece of data if the hard disk is not physically badly damaged.

• Network Monitoring Tools

You must have a good network monitoring tools to detect various suspicious things and monitor the various activities in your network such as network traffic, open ports, useless shared folders. GFI LanGuard Network security scanner is a good scanning and monitoring tool and it checks for all the possible methods, which a hacker can use to attack your network.

• Internet Access Control

Internet can be a big source of viruses and the major security attacks, if you are unable to implement a tight security policy in your network, if you have a old definition anti virus program and if your haven’t put any check on your network user’s activity. Your gateway or proxy server, which is directly exposed to the internet should have very tight security, updated antivirus program and network monitoring tools.

• Information Theft and cryptography attacks

Another threat to a network is to loss of the important information and this loss can be prevented, if you good encryption methods such as 128 bit security or 256 bit security encryption methods. In this way, your data when transferred through FTP programs, can be encrypted and can’t be read or use.

• Unauthorized application installations

Another virus and security attack prevention method is to install only the authorized software applications to your network server and your all client computers. Nobody should be allowed to install any kind of program which can cause security threats such as songs or video programs, codec, gaming software or other web based applications.

Network security tips

• Make sure you have a security policy in place -— The security policy is the formal statement of rules on how security will be implemented in your organization. A security policy should define the level of security and the roles and responsibilities of users, administrators and managers.

• Make sure all of your operating systems and applications are patched with the latest service packs and hotfixes -— Keeping your systems patched will close vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers.

• Keep an inventory of your network devices -— Develop and maintain a list of all hardware/software components, and understand which default software installations provide weak security configurations.

• Scan TCP/UDP services -— Turn off or remove unnecessary services. Unneeded services can be the entry point attackers use to gain control of your system.

• Establish a strong password policy -— Weak passwords could mean a compromised user account.

• Don’t trust code from non-trusted sources.

• Block certain e-mail attachment types -— This list includes .bas, .bat, .exe and .vbs.

• Don’t provide more rights to system resources than necessary -— Implement the concept of “least privilege”.

• Perform your own network security testing -— Find the holes before the attackers do!

• Implement “defense-in-depth” -— Don’t rely on just one control or system to provide all the security you need.

1. Always make sure that a Web site is secure before providing any financial information, such as credit card or a bank account number. Secured Web sites use encryption to scramble your information as it is transmitted over the Internet.

How do you identify a secured Web site?

• Look for Web site addresses preceded by “https”. For example,

• Look for a yellow or golden closed lock or an unbroken key at the bottom of your browser window.

2. If you are still uncomfortable with providing your billing information through the Internet, ask the company about alternate methods of ordering, such as the telephone.

3. Whenever possible, consider paying by credit card, which offers additional protection in case of a dispute.

4. If paying by credit card is not an option, request that the goods be sent C.O.D. and make payment by check or money order, which is easier to trace than cash.

5. Consider checking with the Better Business Bureau local to the business for a reliability report. Information in the report includes the length of time the company has been in business, the company’s complaint history and whether the business participates in BBB programs, such as dispute mediation.

6. While there is no denying the increasing popularity of online auctions, New Yorkers must exercise the same caution they apply to physical world transactions. Here are some points you should watch for when participating in online auctions:

• Some online auction houses only act as intermediaries between buyers and sellers during the bidding process and do not get involved in arranging for shipment and payment. Be sure to ask about such arrangements in advance.
• Online auction houses often will not resolve disputes. Consider using an escrow service, which can minimize your risk
• Keep copies of advertisements, descriptions, or auction site printouts for any product you purchase.
• Keep copies of any correspondence you have with a buyer or seller (including e-mail).
• Do some homework. Check out the seller before you purchase a product:
• If the seller is a business, check with the Better Business Bureau nearest the seller for any complaints.
• If the product is being offered by an individual, obtain and verify real world information (such as name, address and telephone number) with the seller’s local telephone company.
• Establish verbal contact with a seller prior to agreeing to purchase.
• Check the “feedback” areas of online auction sites; often they’re a good source for learning about other buyers’ past experiences with a seller.