real historia;
string sender;
sender = "Alison D. Vilcenski";
Works on Gnats too!
Items needed:
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 gram of yeast
2-liter plastic bottle
1. Cut the plastic bottle in half.
2. Mix brown sugar with hot water. Let cool. When cold, pour in the bottom half of the bottle.
3. Add the yeast. No need to mix. It creates carbon dioxide, which attracts mosquitoes.
4. Place the funnel part, upside down, into the other half of the bottle, taping them together if desired.
5. Wrap the bottle with something black, leaving the top uncovered, and place it outside in an area away from your normal gathering area. (Mosquitoes are drawn to the color black or white.)
Change the solution every 2 weeks for continuous control.
Thanks Cari
So you have an antivirus guarding your system, your firewall is up, your browser plug-ins are all up-to-date, and you’re not missing any security patches. But how can be sure your defenses are actually working as well as you think they are?
These tools can also be particularly useful if you’re trying to quickly determine how secure someone else’s PC is. They can show you just how much vulnerable software the PC has installed.
    
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Você que trabalha com ferramentas do pacote Office, Windows ou Windows Phone conta agora com mais uma ferramenta de ajuda. A Microsoft lançou neste início de abril seu novo site de dicas e truques com conteúdo sobre os pacotes. São mais de 1.100 macetes sobre os aplicativos dos programas que podem ser facilmente encontrados pelo sistema de buscas criado ou por filtros estabelecidos pelos próprios consumidores (como por grau de complexidade, assunto e versão do produto, por exemplo).
Para facilitar, o layout do site 
foi feito em “estilo moderno” e a navegação foi otimizada para ser utilizada em telas de PCs, tablets e celulares.
Outra novidade é a área de e-learning, que contém recursos adicionais e links selecionados para servir de base no melhor uso do produto. Para entrar é preciso um login exclusivo para Microsoft. Clientes com contrato EA tem direito a esse conteúdo e podem pedir seu login e senha exclusivos.
Você, cliente e profissional de tecnologia, divulgue e aproveite esse benefício!
Veja o que os benefícios da nuvem para aumentar a produtividade do seu negócio. Conheça as várias ferramentas que o Office 365 pode trazer para a sua empresa.
Para mais informações sobre como comprar produtos Microsoft acesse o site ou entre em contato pelos telefones 11 4706 0900 (São Paulo) ou 0800 761 7454 nas demais localidades.
The Windows Task Scheduler can automatically send email at a specific time or in response to a specific event, but its integrated email feature won’t work very well for most users.
We have already shown you how to do this using a third party tool, but who really wants to do that when you can do it with tools built right into Windows?
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Stinger is a quick and installation-free standalone tool for detecting and removing prevalent malware and threats, ideal if your PC is already infected. While not a replacement for full fledged antivirus software, Stinger is updated multiple times a week to include detection for newer Fake Alert variants and prevalent viruses.
Summary: Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, demystifies some of the confusion surrounding using Windows PowerShell aliases.
Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. “Don’t use aliases!” I hear this all the time from various people on the Internet. I am constantly asked at Windows PowerShell user groups, at TechEd, and at community events such as Windows PowerShell Saturday, if it is alright to use an alias.
An alias is a shortcut name, or a nickname, for a Windows PowerShell cmdlet. It enables me to type a short name instead of a long name. Is this a big deal? You bet it is. Windows PowerShell ships with around 150 predefined aliases. The longest cmdlet name is 30 characters long. Yes, that is right—30 characters. This is a very long command name. If I have to type New-PSSessionConfigurationFile very many times, I am definitely going to seek an alias. Luckily, npssc is available to do the job.
Note I used the following code to determine the length of cmdlet names and their associated aliases.
gal | select definition, @{label="length"; expression={$_.definition.length}} | sort length
Tab expansion works to help to reduce the typing load when working with Windows PowerShell. One of the issues with tab expansion is that in Windows 8, there are over 2000 cmdlets and functions. Therefore, it takes more tabs to expand the correct cmdlet name. In the previous example, rather than having to type 30 characters to get access to the New-PSSessionConfigurationFile cmdlet, I can type New-P and hit the Tab key a few times. On my laptop, I have to press the Tab key four times before New-PSSessionConfigurationFile appears on the command line.
Typing five characters with New-P and pressing the Tab key four times is nine key strokes to enter the New-PSSessionConfigurationFile command. The npssc alias is only five key strokes, so I save four key strokes every time I use the alias instead of using Tab expansion.
For me, it is a best practice to use Windows PowerShell aliases when I am working interactively in the Windows PowerShell console. This is because it is the best way to reduce the amount of typing. It also reduces the amount of memorization needed. For example, is it Get-ChildItem or Get-ChildItems? I do not need to remember either one, because I can use LS, DIR, or GCI as an alias when calling that particular cmdlet.
Note One of the most basic mistakes I see with beginners who are just learning Windows PowerShell is that they do not use Tab expansion, nor do they use aliases. Instead they attempt to type the entire Windows PowerShell cmdlet name—and invariably, they get it wrong. So use aliases, or use tab expansion, but do not attempt to type the long cmdlet names.
In addition, if there is a Windows PowerShell cmdlet that I use on a regular basis that does not have a currently defined alias, I like to create an alias and store it in my Windows PowerShell profile. In this way, I make sure I have easy access to any Windows PowerShell cmdlet regardless of the length of the actual cmdlet name.
With all the goodness that aliases bring to the table, I might be inclined to use aliases all the time. There is a disadvantage, however. Aliases can be hard to read. Some aliases make sense: Sort for Sort-Object, Where for Where-Object. Others, such as sv, sbp, sc, and rv are rather obscure. One of the nice things about Windows PowerShell code is that it is very readable. Therefore, Get-Service does not need much explanation—it returns service information. But gsv, needs a bit of explanation before I know that it is an alias for Get-Service. So, what I gain in speed of typing, I loose in ease of understanding.
When working interactively at the Windows PowerShell console, the primary purpose is to accomplish something. I want to get the task completed accurately, and timely. I do not want to expend any extra effort to accomplish the task. When I close the Windows PowerShell console, everything I typed is lost (unless I have enabled the transcript or exported my command history).
On the other hand, when I write a Windows PowerShell script, the purpose is to have something I can use over and over again. So I am creating an artifact that has intrinsic value, and that I can use as a management tool. The goal here is reusability, not speed of development and execution. Therefore, I do not want to use aliases in my script because it hinders readability and understanding.
Note A fundamental tenant of script development is that the better I can understand my script, the fewer errors it will contain, and the easier it will be to fix any errors that may arise. In addition, because scripts are reusable, it also will be easier to modify the script in the future. Time spent in script development is an investment in the future.
This does not mean I have to give up the ease of using aliases when I am writing a Windows PowerShell script. I wrote a function that I include in my Windows PowerShell profile that replaces all aliases with the actual cmdlet name: Modify the PowerShell ISE to Remove Aliases from Scripts. In this way, I have the ease of being able to use Windows PowerShell aliases, with the readability of full cmdlet names later.
Join me tomorrow when I will talk about more cool Windows PowerShell stuff.
I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. If you have any questions, send email to me at scripter@microsoft.com, or post your questions on the Official Scripting Guys Forum. See you tomorrow. Until then, peace.
Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy
Grumpy Cat turns one today and she couldn't care less. Happy Birthday, Grumpy!
Lol by: Unknown (via Grumpycats)
Tagged: birthday , Grumpy Cat Share on Facebook
É cada vez mais comum ver dispositivos que se conectam à TV, fazendo possível desfrutar de Android na tela grande.
Sem ir mais longe, alguns dias atrás eu vi um Woxter TV Android 500 por menos de 100 euros lá na Espanha, com USB, HDMI, Wi-Fi, suporte a webcam, capacidade de aumentar o espaço no cartão de memória … uma das muitas opções que temos para transformar a nossa TV normal em um TV inteligente com acesso à Internet e milhares de aplicações disponíveis no Google Play.
Neste caso, usando o Android 4.0 e com saída de áudio e vídeo tradicionais, pode ser usados em televisões mais antigas, mesmo sem HDMI.
Para aproveitar ao máximo estes dispositivos tem que considerar duas coisas:
- Mesmo com o modo “mouse” do controlo remoto , há operações que devem ser executadas com um mouse tradicional, por isso é aconselhável ter um mouse sem fio para “trabalhar no sofá.”
- Existem aplicativos como Temple Run, por exemplo, que precisa de interação com a tela, que neste caso é impossível, por isso, é importante notar que não estamos falando de um tablet gigante.
Então deixo com uma lista de aplicativos que podem ser fundamentais na sua nova Smart TV:
- Skype: Podemos colocar uma webcam em uma das portas USB, para fazer conferências da TV da sala.
- Netflix, Youtube ou similar: assistir filmes e séries de TV usando nossa subscrição em estes aplicativos é o sonho de qualquer um. Woxter suporta Flash e HTML5, assim os vídeos também podem ser vistos usando o navegador tradicional.
- Chrome ou Opera: Para navegar na Internet a partir da TV, mas recomendamos que você use um teclado sem fio para não perder a paciência com o controle remoto. Lembre-se que você não pode instalar as extensões.
- Jogos: jogos para colorir, jogos de aventura, Angry Birds, etc. há alguns jogos que podem ser desfrutados perfeitamente com o movimento e clique do controle remoto, outros que precisam de um rato para fazer o “arrastar-soltar”, outros melhor com um teclado … simuladores são praticamente inúteis, já que não temos maneira de detectar ou sentir seus movimentos com os dedos. Não é aconselhável a instalação de um jogo onde os reflexos são importantes se não tiver um mouse disponível (o controle remoto é muito lento).
- Música: Rare, Spotify, Grooveshark versão móvel … Há muitas opções para ouvir música no nosso novo Smart TV, mas infelizmente TuneIn não pode ser instalado no Woxter.
- Vídeo: VLC ou qualquer outro player bom para reproduzir o vídeo que você tem em rede local ou USB.
- Explorador de arquivos: Pessoalmente tenho utilizado ES Explorador de archivos para acessar pastas compartilhadas na minha rede local e navegar por fotos, músicas, vídeos, etc.
E você, que aplicações não pode perder?
Veja também:
O site testaisso.com.br foi criado para os webmasters que precisem testar seu site e não tenham um banco de dados de usuários disponíveis para ficar navegando por ele.
Pode ser usado por quem tem uma loja virtual, um blog, uma rede social… qualquer projeto que precise ser analisado por alguém mais do que os programadores e designers envolvidos, fundamental para saber se as pessoas usarão o site da forma como foi pensada.
O custo é de R$ 79,90 por cada vídeo gravado pelos internautas voluntários, um custo que ainda sendo muito alto, pode ser necessário em alguns projetos web.
[...] você descobre por meio de vídeo e questionário como internautas interagem com seu website ou aplicativo. O resultado, que fica pronto em questão de horas, justifica melhorias na experiência do usuário, valida uma ideia e resolve conflitos internos entre desenvolvedores, aumentando a produtividade e reduzindo custos em desenvolvimento e atendimento.
O objetivo é ver e escutar o que usuários reais fazem quando navegam pelo seu sistema, coletando opiniões e críticas construtivas.
Veja também:
Armando Rogério Brandão Guimarães JuniorÊ Brasil....
Já são quase 21:00hrs do dia 28 de março. Um cliente qualquer entra em uma loja para checar o preço de uma bolsa.
Cliente: Posso ver essa bolsa?
Vendedor: Claro! Consigo fazer um preço especial para você.
Cliente: Bem bonita mesmo. Quanto sai?
Vendedor: O preço de etiqueta é R$1000,00.
Cliente: Mas…
Vendedor: Mas eu faço R$900,00 para você.
Cliente: Só para mim?
Vendedor dá um sorriso sem graça.
Cliente: Uma pena. Eu estava disposto a gastar R$500,00.
Vendedor: Aí você me quebra as pernas, cara. Isso é preço de custo.
Vendedor encosta a mão no ombro do cliente, como se fossem melhores amigos.
Vendedor: Vamos conversar com meu gerente.
Cliente: Não, cara, não se incomode.
Vendedor: Mas eu faço questão! Vai ficar bem em você.
Chega o gerente, que nunca tinha visto o cliente, forçando uma intimidade.
Vendedor: Boa tarde, meu querido! Vamos fechar essa bolsa! Podemos fazer por R$800,00, em 5 vezes. Não vai nem sentir a parcela.
Cliente: Tudo bom, Rafael? Prazer.
Gerente: Tudo, cara, tudo ótimo. Gostou da bolsa?
Cliente oferece um aperto de mão e interrompe a fala do gerente.
Cliente: Gostei, mas não estou disposto a gastar tudo isso. Que curioso, é parecida com a que tem aqui na loja do lado, né? Agradeço, mas vou levar só a camiseta.
Gerente: Mas o que pesa é o valor da parcela?
Cliente: Não, o que pesa é o preço da bolsa.
Gerente: Você compra sempre conosco, quero manter o cliente. Quanto você está disposto a pagar?
“Quanto eu quero pagar?”
Cliente: R$500,00.
Gerente: Mas é metade do preço da etiqueta!
Cliente: É o que estou disposto a pagar, Rafael. Não tem problema não fecharmos negócio. Alguém vai comprar essa bolsa, tenho certeza. Só achei que poderíamos negociar melhor porque não deve ser comum alguém se interessar por um dos itens mais caros da loja. Final de mês, né? Vocês tem meta, comissão…
Gerente: Olha, consigo chegar em R$750. São 25% de desconto. Não consigo mexer mais que isso.
Cliente: Sem problemas, cara. Vamos fechar só a camiseta.
Gerente: Faço por R$750, em 6 vezes.
Cliente: Agradeço, cara.
Gerente: Vai ficar sem a bolsa?
Cliente: Sobrevivo.
O cliente caminhou em direção ao caixa, disposto a pagar a camiseta e finalizar a compra.
Gerente: Vamos ver na parcela quanto fica. Olha lá! Vai dar uma diferença de menos de R$50 em cada parcela. É menos do que você vai gastar no jantar quando sair daqui.
Cliente: Me disponho a pagar R$600. Hoje é dia 28, já são 21:00hrs, o período de pico de vendas do dia já passou, amanhã é domingo e o horário de funcionamento de vocês é reduzido. Vai ser difícil fazer um dia bom, hein? Fechamos em R$600, à vista, e você bate sua meta do mês.
Gerente: R$700, à vista.
Cliente: Não, obrigado.
Gerente: Você vai deixar de levar a bolsa por conta de R$100? R$20 em cada parcela?
Cliente: Na verdade é você que vai deixar de vender a bolsa por conta de R$100, $20 em cada parcela. Tenho certeza que essa bolsa está parada na loja há meses. Essa loja é cara para o padrão desse shopping. Você poderia abrir mão desses 12% ou 13% em prol de fechar uma venda grande e ajudar seu funcionário. Sua comissão depende da comissão dele, não?
Cliente oferece o cartão à moça do caixa.
Gerente: Ok, fechamos em R$600, cara.
História real.
Negociar é, antes de tudo, um exercício de empatia. É muito difícil sacar argumentos convincentes sem antes enxergar a situação com os olhos do outro. É preciso ler o cenário, se deixar levar até um certo ponto, até que uma conexão favorável tenha sido criada, para então assumir o controle e conduzir. Sem realmente deixar que o outro se mova, não conseguimos ganhar confiança. Qualquer argumento soa forçado.
Quando um vendedor diz “Faria tal preço, mas só para você”, ele está tentando criar um sentimento de exclusividade. Na verdade, o que fica implícito com esse comentário aparentemente gentil é que é o vendedor quem define para quem ele fará o preço especial, como se a negociação estivesse inteira na mão dele.
Mostrar-se ofendido com esse comentário impediria que o jogo continuasse. Mostrar-se desconfortável colocaria o comprador em uma posição péssima.
Em situações em que os papéis estão escrachadamente declarados (vendedor de shopping e comprador, por exemplo), a ironia manda uma mensagem do tipo ”Eu sei que isso é um joguinho e estou confortável com isso”. É um bom quebra-gelo.
Movimentos corporais gritam mensagens. Dificilmente um comprador encostaria no ombro de um vendedor. São liberdades tomadas pela parte que, em teoria, dita o ritmo da conversa.
Quando o comprador interrompe um movimento do vendedor, oferecendo outro, a dinâmica se torce inteira, ainda mais quando movimento proposto é mais maduro do que os praticados antes, como é o caso do aperto mão.
O comprador não perguntou o nome do gerente, mas estava atento quando o vendedor mandou chamá-lo. É mais difícil se sentir à vontade para engambelar uma pessoa observadora, a gente fica com pé atrás. Tudo que a gente quer, numa negociação, é negociar com quem tem medo de se mover.
O vendedor é, no geral, o personagem que fornece os insumos para que a conversa se desenrole. É ele quem dá detalhes do produto, quem fala o preço, quem dita as condições de pagamento. O comprador, indefeso, tenta absorver os dados que julga relevante, separar o joio do trigo, o que procede do que é papinho. É sempre uma posição de defesa.
É por isso que declarar autonomia é tão importante. Quando o comprador comenta que viu uma bolsa parecida na loja do lado, na verdade ele está deixando claro que é perfeitamente possível sair daquela loja e entrar em outra.
O vendedor, que antes só precisava se preocupar em convencer o comprador a comprar pelo preço oferecido, agora precisa se preocupar em reter o cliente dentro da loja. Quem perdeu a liberdade agora foi ele.
Da mesma forma que a indústria do consumo se aproveita dos nossos lapsos e das nossas carências, podemos nos aproveitar das brechas que o sistema tem.
Os vendedores são comissionados, eles têm metas a bater. Fazer compras no final do mês geralmente é vantagem. Quando o comprador expõe a situação toda, deixando clara a data atual, o dia da semana, o horário e o posicionamento da loja no shopping, o teatrinho perde força. Tiramos o script do ator, relembrando que ele não está em um degrau tão mais alto assim.
No exemplo, o cliente ressaltou ao vendedor que talvez o desconto não seja tão absurdo assim, dado o cenário. Ele se colocou na posição de quem conduz, de quem tenta convencer o outro de que possui a melhor proposta. Tudo isso de um jeito amigável, de quem entende a situação.
A maneira como os dados são expostos alteram a maneira como o decisor vai processá-lo e influenciam drasticamente a decisão. Na psicologia, o fenômeno é conhecido como “framing”. Em uma definição rasa: pessoas reagem de maneiras distintas a diferentes descrições de uma mesma situação.
Uma série de experimentos foram feitos para demonstrar a teoria. Um exemplo deles:
Solicitou-se que os participantes de uma pesquisa escolhessem entre dois tratamentos para uma doença mortal. O tratamento seria aplicado em 600 pessoas. No tratamento A, a previsão era que haveria 400 mortes. No tratamento B, havia 33% de chance de que ninguém morreria, contra 66% de chance de que todos morreriam.
Para os participamentes da pesquisa, porém, os tratamentos foram expostos de duas maneiras distintas.
1ª possibilidade – framing positivo
2ª possibilidade – framing negativo
No cenário em que o framing positivo foi utilizado, o tratamento A foi escolhido por 72% das pessoas. No cenário em que o framing negativo foi utilizado, esse número caiu para 22%.
Tão importante quanto saber expôr os dados da maneira mais favorável, é saber reconhecer e desconstruir cenários que foram montados com a intenção clara de nos prejudicar. Quando o vendedor fala que determinada combinação acrescentaria apenas R$50 em cada parcela, ele claramente tenta tirar nossa atenção do fato de que pagaríamos R$250 a mais.
Quanto mais hábil somos em alternar diferentes maneiras de analisar os mesmos dados, mais facilmente conseguimos nos posicionar.
Dados matemáticos endossam nossos argumentos. Uma coisa é falar “É um baita desconto”, outra coisa é falar “Cara, são 20% de desconto”. Os números levam a conversa a um patamar mais preciso, onde a margem para o carisma é menor.
Suponha que a vendedora seja linda. Se ao invés de ficar olhando com cara de tonto quando ela diz “Leva! Te faço um descontão” nós parássemos para pensar que esse desconto é de menos de 10%, a chance de nos sentirmos tentados a comprar a roupa e pedir a vendedora em casamento são menores.
Se um dos negociantes é carismático e, ainda por cima, habilidoso em lidar com os dados, a possibilidade de perder algum negócio é muito baixa.
O problema é que essas situações não acontecem enquanto estamos sentados na mesa, com uma folha de papel e uma calculadora do lado. É tudo em tempo real. Precisamos avaliar, ponderar, simular cenários, brincar com os dados, tudo isso enquanto o vendedor destila elogios, faz dezenas de comentários e torna a paisagem cada vez mais embotada.
Pessoas que são expostas frequentemente a tomadas de decisão sob pressão muitas vezes desenvolvem uma série de truques. Tente contar, em menos de 20 segundos, quantas figuras geométricas existem na figura abaixo:
Se você contou figura por figura, dificilmente conseguiu terminar a tempo. Quando nos deparamos com um problema analítico (como o exemplo acima), surge uma série de situações muito semelhantes às situações presentes em uma negociação. Alguns pontos que servem de base para bons insights e argumentações :
1. Descartar informações que não agregam à discussão. O que buscamos são figuras geométricas. Tanto faz se são quadrados ou círculos, já que ambos ocupam o mesmo espaço na figura. Saber que em determinado ponto da discussão o vendedor disse que 500 reais é o preço de custo é irrelevante, por exemplo;
2. Fracionar o problema. Nosso cérebro é poderosíssimo, mas carece de metodologia. Lidar com diversos pequenos problemas é mais fácil do que lidar com um problema grande. A figura é composta por 15 grandes blocos;
3. Reduzir o problema em busca de informações relevantes. Não temos tempo para contar figura por figura, mas talvez faça sentido contar a quantidade de figuras em um dos blocos. Chegaríamos ao número 9;
4. Extrapolar e analisar o cenário macro. Se focamos em um dos blocos, apenas, não conseguimos enxergar o problema todo. Da mesma forma que se ficamos discutindo o valor da parcela, sem se preocupar com o impacto disso no preço final, facilmente aceitaríamos a primeira proposta feita pelo gerente;
5. Identificar descrições diferentes de um mesmo problema. Analisando os blocos, perceberíamos que cada um deles possui uma figura grande, seja ela um círculo ou um quadrado, colocadas em posições diferentes. Se desconsiderarmos a posição da figura grande, teríamos 15 blocos iguais:
Temos então 15 blocos, com 9 figuras cada um. Multiplicação: 9 x 15. Não é tão elementar sem uma calculadora. É nesse ponto que já estamos cansados e geralmente aceitamos um argumento mais meia boca. É quando o vendedor falaria: “Fechamos por R$650, então”.
De novo, faz sentido fracionar o problema. 9 x 15 na verdade é (9 x 10) + (9 x 5). Agora sim, conta confortável. (9×10) é 90. (9×5) é 45. Pronto: 90+45 = 135.
E você? Quais macetes utiliza para argumentar melhor? O papo segue nos comentários.
Se você não quiser abrir suas táticas, sem problemas… Podemos negociar.
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quando chega datas especiais, como a páscoa por exemplo, sempre gosto de fazer mimos no estilo “faça você mesmo”… como sou péssima com trabalhos manuais, só me resta mimar as pessoas queridas com comidinhas!
com certeza, muita gente vai achar bem mais prático comprar o ovo de páscoa ou mesmo aquele chocolate super especial, mas garanto, todas as vezes que optei por um mimo feito por mim o resultado foi incrível!
e por isso, fiz uma seleção super especial de delicinhas que podem rechear esse domingo de amor!
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jQuery has a wonderful community of programmers that create incredible things. However, it may become difficult to sift through everything that is released and find the gems that are absolute must-haves. This is why, in this post, you will find a collection of 50 new jQuery plugins and JavaScript libraries that, when applied with good measure, can make your sites a joy to use. The plugins are organized into categories for easier browsing. Enjoy!
The browser’s built-in dialogs are easy to use but are ugly and non-customizable. If you want your application to look sharp and professional, you will have to part with the loathed default look. The plugins in this section can substitute the built-in dialogs and can be readily customized.
Alertify (github) is small library for presenting beautiful dialog windows and notifications. It is easy to customize with CSS, has a simple API and doesn’t depend on third party libraries (but plays nicely with them). To use it, include the js file and call the methods of the global alertify object:
// alert dialog
alertify.alert("Message");
// confirm dialog
alertify.confirm("Message", function (e) {
if (e) {
// user clicked "ok"
} else {
// user clicked "cancel"
}
});
Alertify.js
jQuery Avgrund (github) is another cool dialog solution. It is not as feature-rich as alertify, but it has the Wow! factor that your web app needs. The dialog is shown with an impressive animation that brings it into focus, while blurring and darkening the background.
jQuery Avgrund
Forms are tedious and boring. Everyone hates filling them. It is even a bigger deal if no client-side validation is present and we are forced to enter the data a second time. The plugins in this section attempt to make things better by enhancing your forms with useful functionality.
iCheck (github) is a jQuery plugin that enhances your form controls. It is perfectly customizable, works on mobile and comes with beautiful flat-style skins. To use it, include the js and css files in your page, and convert all your radio and checkboxes with a few lines of jQuery.
$(document).ready(function(){
$('input').iCheck({
checkboxClass: 'icheckbox_minimal',
radioClass: 'iradio_minimal'
});
});
iCheck
Long Press is a jQuery plugin that eases the writing of accented or rare characters. Holding down a key while typing will bring a bar with alternative characters that you can use. The plugin also has a github page.
Long Press
jQuery File Upload (github) is a widget with multiple file selection, drag&drop support, progress bars and preview images. It supports cross-domain, chunked and resumable file uploads and client-side image resizing. Works with any server-side platform (PHP, Python, Ruby on Rails, Java, Node.js, Go etc.) and is easy to embed into your application thanks to a number of hooks and callbacks.
jQuery File Upload
Complexify (github) is a jQuery plugin that aims to assess how complex passwords are. You can use it in signup forms to present a percentage to users (like we did in this tutorial). With this plugin you can force passwords to contain a combination of upper/lowercase letters, numbers, special symbols and more. I should note that this is purely a client-side solution, which means that it can be circumvented. This is why you should also check the password complexity on the server side.
Complexify
jQuery Knob (github) is a plugin for turning input elements into touchable jQuery dials. It is built using canvas, and is fully customizable by setting data attributes on the inputs like this:
<input class="knob" data-width="150" data-cursor=true data-fgColor="#222222" data-thickness="0.3" value="29">
The dials can be controlled using the mouse (click and drag; mousewheel), the keyboard, and by using touch on mobile devices.
jQuery Knob
Pickadate.js (github) is a jQuery plugin that creates a responsive and mobile friendly date selection widget. It is very easy to use and can be customized with CSS. To use it, include the js file and the stylesheet, and call the plugin on your input element:
$('.datepicker').pickadate();
The plugin takes lots of options which you can find in the docs.
Pickadate.js
Chosen (github) is a powerful widget which converts a select input into a searchable dropdown list. It is easy to customize with CSS, and you can hook your own code thanks to a number of callbacks. The plugin also updates the original element (which is hidden) so that submitting it as a part of a form or reading it with JS will give you the correct result.
Chosen
Fancy Input (github) is a jQuery plugin that makes entering or deleting text in a textboox uber cool. It uses CSS3 animations to achieve the effect. To use it, simply include the JS file after jQuery, and call the plugin:
$('div :input').fancyInput();
Fancy Input
Typeahead (github) is a fast autocomplete library by twitter. It is inspired by twitter.com’s search box and is full of features. It displays suggestions as users type, and shows the top suggestion as a hint. The plugin works with hardcoded data as well as remote data, and rate-limits network requests to lighten the load.
Typeahead.js
Parsley.js (github) is an unobtrusive form validation library. It lets you validate form fields without having to write a single line of JavaScript. Instead, you have to place data attributes in the input fields that you need to be validated, and Parsley handles the rest. The library works with either jQuery or Zepto and is less than 800 lines long.
Parsley.js
Single page websites that feature a parallax scrolling effect are popular these days. They will probably stay in fashion for some time, as they are perfect for sites with low information density and lots of photos – marketing sites, portfolios and more. These plugins aim to make them easier to develop.
Windows (github) is a plugin that lets you build single page websites with sections that take up the whole screens. The plugin gives you callbacks that are called when new sections come into visibility and handles snapping, so you can easily extend it with custom navigation menus or more. Here is an example:
$('.window').windows({
snapping: true,
snapSpeed: 500,
snapInterval: 1100,
onScroll: function(scrollPos){
// scrollPos:Number
},
onSnapComplete: function($el){
// after window ($el) snaps into place
},
onWindowEnter: function($el){
// when new window ($el) enters viewport
}
});
Windows
Cook Kitten (github) is a responsive framework for parallax scrolling websites. It organizes the sections of your site into slides and uses the jQuery Waypoints plugin to detect when they come into visibility, which causes the navigation menu to get updated.
Cook Kitten
Sticky (github) is a jQuery plugin that gives you the ability to make any element on your page always stay visible when scrolling the page. This can come handy in your single-page website to present a sticky navigation menu or sharing bar. It is straightforward to use, the only option you may pass is a top offset:
$("#sticker").sticky({topSpacing:0});
Sticky
Super Scrollorama (github) is a jQuery plugin for cool scroll animations. It lets you define tweens and animations that are triggered when an element comes into view, or on specific scroll points.
$(document).ready(function() {
var controller = $.superscrollorama();
controller.addTween('#fade',
TweenMax.from($('#fade'), .5, {css:{opacity:0}}));
});
Super Scrollorama
Stellar.js (github) is a jQuery plugin that provides parallax scrolling effects to any scrolling element. It looks for any parallax backgrounds or elements within the specified element, and repositions them when the element scrolls. You can control the scroll speed of the elements by using data attributes for a true parallax effect. To trigger the plugin, simply call it on your root element (or on window):
$('#main').stellar();
Stellar.js
Scrollpath (github) is another scrolling plugin, but what it gives you that the previous plugin does not, is the ability to define your own custom scroll path. The plugin uses canvas flavored syntax for drawing paths, using the methods moveTo, lineTo and arc. To help with getting the path right, a canvas overlay with the path can be enabled when initializing the plugin.
Scrollpath
There has been a huge improvement in web typography in the last few years. From just a handful of web-safe fonts that we could use not long ago, we now can embed custom fonts and enhance them with CSS3. The plugins in this section give you a great deal of control over text.
Textillate.js (github) is a jQuery plugin that combines the power of animate.css and lettering.js, to apply advanced animations on text elements. The animations are CSS3 based, which makes them smooth even on mobile devices. There is a large number of effects to choose from.
Textillate.js
Arctext.js (demo) is a jQuery plugin that lets you arrange each letter of a text element along a curved path. Based on lettering.js, it calculates the right rotation of each letter and distributes the letters equally across the imaginary arc of the given radius, and applies the proper CSS3 rotation.
Artctext.js
Bacon (githug) is a jQuery plugin that allows you to wrap text around a bezier curve or a line. This gives you a great deal of typographic control, and as illustrated by the plugin’s home page, the ability to put bacon strips in the middle of your designs (finally!).
Bacon.js
Lettering.js (github) is a simple but effective jQuery plugin for better web typography. What it does, is split the textual content of an element into individual spans with ordinal .char# classes, so you can style each letter individually.
Lettering.js
jQuery Shuffle Letters (demo) is one of our experiments. It creates an interesting effect that randomizes the content of a text element. Here is how to use it:
// Shuffle the container with custom text
$('h1').shuffleLetters({
"text": "show this text!" // optional
});
The text parameter is optional – if it is missing, the plugin will take the content of the element.
jQuery Shuffle Letters
FitText.js (github) is a jQuery plugin for inflating web type. It automatically scales the text of an element to take up the full width of its container. This makes the layout responsive and looking sharp on any device.
FitText.js
The plugins in this section make it easy to organize content into grids. They calculate the best way to pack your items densely and align them in real time.
Gridster.js (github) is a jQuery plugin that allows building intuitive draggable layouts from elements spanning multiple columns. You can even dynamically add and remove elements from the grid. Dragging an element causes the others to rearrange and free up place for it, which can be great for user-controlled layouts and dashboards.
Gridster.js
Freetile (github) is a plugin for jQuery that enables the organization of webpage content in an efficient, dynamic and responsive layout. It can be applied to a container element and it will attempt to arrange it’s children in a layout that makes optimal use of screen space, by “packing” them in a tight arrangement.
Freetile
Stalactite (github) is a library that packs page content depending on the available space. It takes a lazy approach and sorts the elements sequentially with the scrolling of the page, which makes for an interesting effect.
Stalactite
Something that we have all wanted to do in one point or another is to customize the appearance of the default browser scrollbars. Some browsers allow this, but it doesn’t work everywhere. The two plugins below make that possible.
nanoScroller.js (github) is a jQuery plugin that offers a simplistic way of implementing Mac OS X Lion-styled scrollbars for your website. It uses minimal HTML markup and utilizes native scrolling. The plugin works on iPad, iPhone, and some Android Tablets.
nanoScroller.js
jQuery Custom Content Scroller (github) is a custom scrollbar plugin that’s fully customizable with CSS. Features vertical/horizontal scrolling, mouse-wheel support (via the jQuery mousewheel plugin), scrolling buttons, scroll inertia with easing, auto-adjustable scrollbar length, nested scrollbars, scroll-to functionality, user defined callbacks and more.
jQuery Custom Content Scroller
Full screen backgrounds are another popular design trend. The plugins listed here aim to make it easier to set a single image, a gallery or even a video as a background.
Tubular.js is a jQuery plugin that lets you set a YouTube video as your page background. Just attach it to your page wrapper element, set some options, and you’re on your way:
$('#wrapper').tubular({videoId: '0Bmhjf0rKe8'});
The plugin also supports controlling the video with play/pause, setting the volume and more.
Tubular.js
Backstretch (github) is a simple jQuery plugin that allows you to add a dynamically-resized, slideshow-capable background image to any page or element. It will stretch any image to fit the page or block-level element, and will automatically resize as the window or element size changes. Images are fetched after your page is loaded, so your users won’t have to wait for the (often large) image to download before using your site. For the curious, and those that don’t want to use plugins, there is also a technique that can set a full screen background image purely with CSS.
Backstretch
Supersized (github) is an advanced full screen background plugin for jQuery. With it, you can show a set of photos as a slideshow that takes the full width and height of the page. This makes it perfect for photography sites, portfolios, or event sites. The plugin comes with lots of options, supports multiple transition effects and can be extended with custom themes.
Supersized
The plugins listed here aim to enhance the way visitors browse images on your site, and let you apply interesting effects that will make your galleries stand out.
jQuery TouchTouch (demo) is a plugin we released last year that aims to be simple to use and to work on mobile devices. It uses CSS transitions to make animations smoother, and preloads images dynamically. Also, it can be completely restyled by modifying a single CSS file.
jQuery TouchTouch
iPicture is a jQuery plugin that can create interactive image walkthroughs. It can overlay tooltips and hints on top of the image, and presents rich content like HTML, photos and videos. It is easy to integrate into your site and can be customized and extended with CSS.
iPicture
Adipoli (demo) is a jQuery plugin for creating stylish image hover effects. With it, you can turn images black and white, apply popout, slice and box transitions. To use the plugin, you only need to include the necessary files and define the start and hover effects:
$('#image1').adipoli({
'startEffect' : 'normal',
'hoverEffect' : 'popout'
});
This makes it the perfect addition to your gallery or portfolio page.
Adipoli jQuery Image Hover Plugin
Swipebox (github) is a lightbox plugin that supports desktop, mobile devices and tablet browsers. It understands swipe gestures and keyboard navigaton and is retina-ready. To enable it, include the plugin JS/CSS files, and add the swipebox class to the images that you want to show in a lightbox:
<a href="big/image.jpg" title="My Caption"> <img src="small/image.jpg" alt="image"> </a>
Like the rest of the plugins in this collection, it can be customized entirely with CSS.
Swipebox
TiltShift.js (github) is a neat plugin that replicates the tilt-shift effect (which causes real-life object to appear as miniatures) using CSS3 image filters. The bad news is that this only works on Chrome and Safari at the moment, but support should gradually land in other browsers as well.
TiltShift.js
Threesixty.js (github) is a jQuery plugin that creates draggable 360 degree views. You have to provide the plugin with the path to a collection of images of your product (shot from different angles) and Threesixty.js will assemble them into a interactive view. You can drag or use the arrow keys to explore the object from different angles.
Threesixty.js
Swipe.js (github) is another responsive slider. What makes it stand apart is that it is specifically targeted at touch devices. This allows it to not only understand gestures, but to also react to touch similarly to a native application. It has resistant bounds and scroll prevention and is compatible with browsers from IE7 onward.
Swipe.js
CamanJS (github) is a powerful image manipulation library, built on top of the canvas element. With it, you can manipulate the pixels of an image and achieve an almost Photoshop-like control. If you can remember, this is the library we used a few months ago to build a web app with filters similar to Instagram.
CamanJS
Spectragram (github) is a jQuery plugin that aims to make working with the Instagram API easier. It can fetch user feeds, popular photos, photos with specific tags and more.
SpectragramJS
This section holds plugins and libraries that don’t belong in the other categories but are worth the look.
jQuery Countdown (demo) is a jQuery plugin that shows the remaining days, hours, minutes and seconds to an event, and updates the remaining time with an animation every second. It is easy to use – include the plugin JS and CSS files, and trigger it on document ready:
$('#countdown').countdown({
timestamp : new Date(2015, 0, 3) // January 3rd, 2015
}
The countdown will be presented in the #countdown div.
jQuery Countdown
List.js (github) is a library that enhances a plain HTML list with features for searching, sorting and filtering the items inside it. You can add, edit and remove items dynamically. List.js is standalone and doesn’t depend on jQuery or other libraries to work.
List.js
jQuery PointPoint (demo) is a plugin that helps you draw users’ attention to a specific part of the page. It presents a small arrow next to the mouse cursor. This can be useful for pointing to missed form fields, buttons that need to be pressed, or validation errors that need to be scrolled into view.
jQuery PointPoint
Social Feed (github) is a jQuery plugin that presents a feed of the latest public updates on your social accounts. It has a clean design that is built using a template, which you can easily customize.
Social Feed
Hook.js (github) is an interesting experiment that brings the “pull to refresh” feature you often see in mobile apps, to the web. You can use this to update your mobile site with new content, fetch new posts and more.
Hook.js
PercentageLoader (bitbucket) is a jQuery plugin for displaying a progress widget in more visually striking way than the ubiquitous horizontal progress bar / textual counter. It makes use of HTML5 canvas for a rich graphical appearance with only a 10kb (minified) javascript file necessary, using vectors rather than images so can be easily deployed at various sizes.
Loader.js
Chart.js (github) is a new charting library that uses the HTML5 canvas element and provides fallbacks for IE7/8. The library supports 6 chart types that are animated and fully customizable. Chart.js doesn’t have any dependencies and is less than 5kb in size. Say goodbye to flash!
Chart.js
Tooltipster (github) is a powerful jQuery plugin for displaying tooltips. It works on desktop and mobile browsers, gives you full control over the contents of the tooltips and supports a number of callback functions so you can hook it into your application. If you need something even more lightweght that doesn’t use JS at all, you can give a try to hint.css.
Tooltipster
Toolbar.js (github) is a jQuery plugin that lets you display a neat pop-up menu. You can choose the actions and icons that are presented in the menu and listen for events. This is perfect for making more of the limited space of a mobile web app interface.
Toolbar.js
gmaps.js (github) is such a useful library that I decided to include it in addition to the 50 plugins above. Gmaps is a powerful library that makes working with Google Maps a great deal easier. You can place markers, listen for events, set the coordinates, zoom level and more, all with a fluid jQuery-like syntax. This is like a breath of fresh air compared to the regular maps JS API, and I highly recommend it.
Gmaps.js
You know of a cool plugin that deserves to be in this list? Share it in the comment section!
Disclaimer: Everyone's graduate school experience is different. Mine wasn't a typical one, mainly because I spent so much time away from campus (in a different state), but hey, most of your PhD experience is independent learning anyways. That's the best part.
You should really like the field you're thinking about pursuing a PhD in. You don't have to have this, but you kind of do. A doctorate is a commitment of several years (for me it was 7), and if you're not fascinated by your work, it feels like an impossible chore. There are a lot of things that are actual chores — administration, research results that go against your expectations, challenging collaborations, etc — and the interest in your work pulls you through.
I don't know anyone who finished their PhD who wasn't excited about the field in some way.
On that note, do your research before you apply to programs, and try to find faculty whose interests align with yours. Of course this is easier said than done. I entered graduate school with statistics education in mind and came out the other end with a focus in visualization. The size of my department probably allowed for some of that flexibility. Luck was also involved.
So what I actually did was apply to more than one program and then wait to hear if I got in or not. If I only got into one place (or none), then the decision was easy. In the end, I compared department interests and then went with the one I thought sounded better.
Consider it a red flag if it's hard to find faculty information because there's little to nothing online. There's really no excuse these days not to have updated faculty pages.
Okay, you're in graduate school now. The undergrads suddenly look really young and all of them expect that you know everything there is to know about statistics (or whatever field you're in). This becomes especially obvious if you're a teaching assistant, which can feel weird at first because you're not that far out of undergrad yourself. Use the opportunity to brush up on your core statistics knowledge.
I had coursework for the first two years, but it varies by department I'm sure.You also take classes yourself. Don't freak out if the lectures are confusing and everyone seems to ask smart questions that you don't understand. In reality, it's probably only a handful of people who dominate the discussion, and well, there's just always some people who are ahead of the curve. Maybe you're one of them.
Tough early goings has a lot to do with learning the language of statistics. There's jargon that makes it easier to describe concepts (once you know them already), and there's a flow of logic that you pick up over time.
There's usually a qualifying exam after the first two years to make sure you learned in class.Don't hesitate to ask questions and make use of office hours (but don't be the person who waits until the week before an exam or project to get advice, because that's just so undergrad). Once you finish your coursework, it's going to be a lot of independent learning, so take advantage of the strong guidance while you can.
The key here is to absorb as much information as you can and try to find the area of statistics that excites you the most. Pursue and dig deeper when you do find that thing.
I remember the day I discovered visualization. My future adviser gave a guest lecture on visualization from a mostly media arts perspective. He talked about it, I grew really interested, and then I went home and googled away.
Oh, and read a lot of papers. I didn't do nearly enough of this early on, and you need proper literature review for your dissertation. Background information also informs your own work.
Actually, I don't think I ever officially asked my adviser to be my adviser. It was just assumed when I became a student researcher in his group.I kind of had an adviser from the start of graduate school, because I was lucky to get a research assistant position that had to do with statistics education. However, as my interests changed, I switched my adviser around the two-year mark.
This is important and goes back to the application process. After a couple years, you should have a sense of what the faculty in your department work on and their teaching styles, and you should go for the best match.
I think a lot of people expect an adviser to have all the answers and give you specific directions during each meeting. That's kind of what it's like early on, but it eventually develops into a partnership. It's not your adviser's job to teach you everything. A good adviser points you in the right direction when you're lost.
Statistics is a collaborative field, and there are a lot of opportunities to work with others within the department and outside of it. A lot of companies are often in search of interns, so they might send fliers and listings that end up posting to the grad email list. Jump at these opportunities if you can.
Graduate school doesn't have to be expensive.Opportunities within the department or university should be of extra interest, because it usually means that your tuition could be reduced a lot, if not completely.
If something sounded interesting, I'd respond to it right away, and it usually resulted in something good. A lot of people pass up opportunities, because they see the requirements of an ideal candidate and feel like they're not qualified. Instead, apply and let someone else decide if you're qualified. There's usually a lot of learning on the job, and it's usually more important that you'll be able to pick up the necessary skills.
At the very least, you'll pick up interview experience, which comes in handy later on if you want one of those job things after you graduate.
As you progress in your academic career, you'll look more and more like a PhD (hopefully). You have more skills, more knowledge, and more experience, which means you become more of an asset to potential collaborators, researchers, and departments. A lot of my best experiences come from working with others, but eventually, you have to focus on your own work so that you can write your dissertation. Hopefully, you'll have a lot of writing routes to take after you've jumped at all the opportunities that crossed your desk.
So it's a whole lot of yes in the beginning, but you have to be more stingy with your time as you progress.
There are probably going to be potential employers knocking at your door at some point, too. If you really want to finish your PhD, you must make them wait. I know this is much easier said than done, but when you start a full-time job, it's hard to muster the energy at the end of a day to work on a dissertation. I mean, it's already hard to work on a dissertation with normal levels of energy.
All the times I wanted to quit, I justified it by telling myself that I would probably have the same job with or without a doctorate. I also know a lot of people who quit and are plenty successful, so finding a job didn't work for me as a motivator. But it might be different for you, depending on what work you're interested in.
This might've been the toughest part for me. During my first two years in school, I hung out with my classmates a lot and we'd discuss our work or just grab some drinks, but I had to study from a distance from my third year on. I've always been an independent learner, so I thought I'd be okay, but my first year away, it was hard to focus, and it was lonely in the apartment by myself. I didn't want to do much of anything.
I eventually made friends, and pets provided nice company during the day. It's important to have a life outside of dissertation work. Give your brain a rest.
Separation from the academic bubble wasn't all bad though. FlowingData came out of my moving away, and my dissertation topic came out of a personal project. So there are definitely pros and cons, but it's mostly what you make out of what you have in front of you.
I found Twitter useful to connect with other work-at-homers and PhD Comics proved to be a great resource for feeling less isolated.Anyways, my situation is kind of specific, but it's good to have a support system rather than go at it alone. I mean, you still have to do all the work, but there will be times of frustration when you need to vent or talk your way through a problem.
Despite what you might've heard, a dissertation does not write itself. Believe me. I've tried. Many times. And it never ever writes itself.
I even (shamefully) bought a book that's lying around somewhere on how to write your dissertation efficiently. That's gotta be up there on my list of worst Amazon impulse buys. The book arrived, I started reading, and then realized that it'd be a lot more efficient to be writing instead of reading about how to write.
Procrastination comes in many forms.
The hardest part for me was getting started. Just deal with the fact that the writing is going to be bad at first. You come back and revise anyways. I've heard this advice a lot, but you really do just have to sit down and write (assuming you've worked on enough things by now that you can write about).
If you already have articles on hand, it doesn't hurt to take notes so that it's easier to clean up citing towards the end.Don't worry about proper citing, what pronouns to use, and the tone of your writing. This stuff is easy to fix later. (It can be helpful to browse past dissertations in your department to learn what's expected.) Focus on the framework and outline first.
Just google "successful PhD defense."By the time you're done writing, you know about your specific topic better than most people, which makes your defense less painful. There's a lot of online advice on a successful defense already, but the two main points are (1) your committee wants you to succeed; and (2) think of it as an opportunity to talk about your work. In my experience and from what I've heard, these are totally true. That didn't stop me from being really nervous though and probably won't help your nerves either, but there you go.
I like this video by Ze Frank on public speaking.The best thing to do is prepare. Rehearse your talk until you can deliver it in your sleep. Your preparation depends on your style. Some like to write their talks out. I like to keep it more natural so it's not like I'm reading a script. Go with what you're comfortable with.
It'll all be fine and not nearly as horrible as you imagine it will be.
So there you go. A PhD at a glance. Work hard, try to relax, and embrace the uniqueness of graduate school. There are many challenges along the way, but try to learn from them rather than beat yourself up over them. A PhD can be fun if you let it.
Any graduate students — past or present — have more advice? Leave it in the comments.
Several cloud storage services use encryption to protect data of user accounts from being accessed by third parties. While this may be reassuring for many users, some prefer to add encryption of their own to important files on top of that. Why? The core reason is to prevent access to the files even if someone gained access to the account. Say, someone managed to steal your account password for your Dropbox, SkyDrive, Google Drive or whatever-online-storage-service-you-are-using account. This is enough to gain access to all files. With added encryption, the attacker would not only have to steal the username and password, and maybe even intercept a two-factor authentication code, but also the password the files are encrypted with.
You have several options to encrypt files before they are uploaded to a remote server. One of the easiest options available is CryptSync, a free program for Windows. The program keeps pairs of folders in sync on systems it is executed on. One of the folders is encrypted during the sync process, making it an ideal program to encrypt data before it gets uploaded.
The basic idea is the following here. You select a folder with data that you want to host online as the originating folder, and pick a local cloud drive folder as the destination folder. CryptSync encrypts the files during the synchronization using a password you specify.
To create a new folder pair click on the new pair button in the program interface. Here you need to specify the original folder and encrypted folder, as well as the password that you want to use to protect the data.
You can furthermore enable the encryption of file names so that it is not possible to guess a files contents or type from that. The mirror original folder to encrypted folder option enables one-way syncing instead of two-way syncing.
You can then sync the files once and exit the program, or set it to run in the background all the time. The latter option checks the original folder for new files and folders regularly to encrypt and upload them to the destination folder in the process.
The files and folders that get synced with the destination folder and the online storage look like this if you have enabled file name encryption as well.
You can run the program from the command line as well which can be useful for the creation of batch files or programs that allow you to run third party programs (like backup software).
The downside of using CryptSync is that you will have two folders locally that store the data. One of them is the original folder, the other the encrypted folder which some may see as redundant. Still, if you are looking for an automated way to protect files that you store at online storage providers then CryptSync is definitely one of the programs to do just that.
The post CryptSync: upload only encrypted files to online storage services appeared first on gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials.
Crackear senhas é fácil. Nate Anderson, do ArsTechnica, descobriu isso e em poucas horas crackeou mais de 8 mil passwords. Usando apenas ferramentas gratuitas disponíveis para qualquer um na internet.
Ele escreveu uma longa e excelente matéria sobre suas experiências hackeando senhas. Anderson conta que seu conhecimento de hacker era bem limitado e uma vez ele acessou a porta 25 do servidor de e-mail da sua escola para enviar um e-mail falso para um colega. E só. E agora ele aceitou o desafio de aprender a crackear senhas.
“Parecia um desafio interessante. Eu conseguiria, usando apenas ferramentas gratuitas e recursos da internet, ter êxito em:
1. Encontrar uma série de senhas para crackear
2. Encontrar um cracker de passwords
3. Encontrar uma série de listas de palavras de alta qualidade
4. Fazer tudo rodar em um laptop para
5. Crackear ao menos uma senha
6. Em menos de um dia de trabalho?Eu consegui.”
Encontrar o material necessário para aprender a crackear uma senha foi bem fácil. Afinal, ele estava na internet e é possível encontrar de tudo por aqui. Existem fóruns dedicados apenas à prática de crackear passwords, e pessoas que desenvolvem softwares para facilitar para quem não tem muito conhecimento.
Ele pegou um arquivo com 15 mil senhas para começar. Mas não é apenas ter acesso às senhas e começar a fazer tentativas em sites para acessar as contas dos outros. Anderson explica que é bem mais complexo do que isso:
“Crackear passwords não é feito ao tentar fazer login em um banco milhões de vezes; websites geralmente não permitem muitas tentativas erradas, e o processo seria muito lento mesmo se fosse possível. O crack é feito offline após a pessoa conseguir uma lista longa de senhas desordenadas, muitas vezes hackeando (mas algumas vezes através de meios legais como uma auditoria de segurança ou quando um usuário corporativo esquece a senha usada em um documento importante criptografado).
A desordenação envolve pegar cada senha de usuário e rodá-las em uma função matemática que gera uma linha de números e letras. Isso dificulta que a senha seja revertida, e, portanto, permite que sites armazenem com segurança (ou “segurança” em muitos casos) senhas sem simplesmente manter uma lista delas. Quando um usuário digita uma senha na tentativa de entrar em um serviço, o sistema ordena a senha e compara com a que está armazenada.
Então é necessário um jeito de converter as senhas desordenadas para conseguir usá-las. Existem softwares feitos por crackers experientes para os mais inexperientes usarem. E Anderson foi atrás de um deles: o Hashcat. As primeiras tentativas não foram muito bem sucedidas. Mas, ao ler um relato de um especialista de segurança que encontrou as mesmas dificuldades para tentar crackear as senhas, Anderson percebeu que estava pelo menos no caminho certo. Ele continuou tentando e quando estava prestes a largar tudo para ir beber pelo resto da tarde, finalmente teve sucesso. Ele descobriu uma senha “czacza”
Usando o método que garantiu o primeiro passwords crackeado, Anderson intensificou as tentativas e começou a ter mais resultados com menos esforço. Ao final do dia, ele percebeu o quão fácil é conseguir crackear uma senha.
“Após o meu experimento de um dia, eu fiquei abalado. Crackear senhas pe tão fácil, as ferramentas tão sofisticados, as CPUs e GPUs tão podentes para eu acreditar que minhas tentativas básicas de reforçar minha senhas são uma solução de longo prazo. Eu resisti a gerenciadores de senhas no passado com preocupações sobre armazenar dados na nuvem ou o trabalho de sincronizar com outros computaodres ou acessar as senhas a partir de dispositivos móveis, ou porque achei que gastar US$ 50 nunca parecia valer a pena – só os outros são hackeados, certo?
Mas até outras formas de autenticação se tornarem comuns, a humilde senha vai ser uma defesa primária das nossas informações pessoais. Chegou a hora de encontrar uma nova forma de gerar, armazenar e manipulá-las.
Então por mais que você ache que a sua senha com letras maiúsculas, minúsculas, números, caracteres especiais e o qualquer outra coisa seja segura, ela não é tão segura assim. Mas infelizmente não há muito o que fazer atualmente e ainda dependemos muito delas. Você pode ler o relato completo de Nate Anderson no link a seguir: [ArsTechnica]
Foto por marc falardeau/Flickr
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Armando Rogério Brandão Guimarães JuniorJapas.....
In a series of photos posted on Twitter, schoolgirls in Japan have been staging fake energy sphere attacks (known as the “Kamehameha“) made popular in the manga and anime series, Dragon Ball. Kotaku has more about this trend.
images via Grimlockt
via Kotaku
Kinetic sculptor Bob Potts creates beautiful kinetic sculptures that mimic the motions of flight and the oars of boats. Despite their intricacy the pieces are surprisingly minimal, Potts seems to use only the essential components needed to convey each motion without much ornamentation or flourish. There is very little information online about the artist, however blogger Daniel Busby managed to get a brief interview with the 70-year-old artist last year. If you liked this, also check the work of Dukno Yoon . (via devid sketchbook)