Many experts have claimed that IE has fairly low web standards and is susceptible to virus attacks and lacks in performance as well. Many users are turning to Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or even Apple Safari for safe browsing. But that does not change the fact that IE is still the largest used web browser (as it comes integrated with Microsoft operating system).

Many corporate houses still run IE. But after the launch of Chrome Frame things will change dramatically. Chrome Frame creates a new frame inside IE and with this frame Google packs all the essential data in a lightweight plug-in to convert IE into Chrome. Chrome Frame also injects the latest versions of Chrome’s Webkit and JavaScript engines into IE. Google claims that its goals are noble and they just want to provide users with better performance browser.

While it is true that running two browsers in one will take more resource from computer but Google says that Chrome is designed to give resources back to the machine when users are not using them with the browser.

Google claims that it won’t be explicitly advertise Google frame in IE but will use subtle methods to alert users of its existence. For example, if users browse to a Google app in Internet Explorer that may render better in Chrome, Google might have a message on the page informing about the plug-in.

Chrome Frame is still in testing stage and will work with IE6, IE7, and IE8 on any Windows-based machine. Microsoft has still not made any comment on this but there are chances that Microsoft will ban Google Frame.

So dangerous is the threat, that the world’s largest computer security companies have joined together with governments around the world in an unusual alliance to pool their resources and solve the problem. So much so, that a group (Conficker Working Group) to defeat the worm has also been created.

The worm, which was first detected in November, last year, spreads rapidly to computers through a flaw in the Windows operating system. Infected machines are co-opted into a “botnet” army, which can be controlled and used by the hackers to launch unprecedented cyber attacks.

“The general agreement in the security world is that Conficker is the largest threat that global internet is facing from a cyber crime point of view. It has proven to be extremely resilient. It’s almost impossible to remove,” Rodney Joffe, a Director of the Conficker Working Group, told Sydney Morning Herald. “The best minds in the world have not managed to crack the code behind this yet.”

Microsoft has offered a 250,000 dollars reward for information leading to the identification of the individuals – or rogue governments – behind Conficker. But so far international effort to find a solution has yielded few results.

The creators of the worm can do anything they want with the infected machines including stealing users’ banking details or flooding government servers to knock them offline. The worm has a built-in mechanism to prevent people from scanning their computers with anti-virus software, says Joffe. Unfortunately, even for those who wipe their computers clean and start fresh, if they back up any important data on a portable hard drive, the clean machine is re-infected when the drive is connected to the computer.

The worm also spreads automatically between computers on a network and infects machines without the user having to do anything other than switch their computers on. While majority of the botnets can be destroyed by disabling the server used to issue commands to infected machines, but with Conficker the location of this sever changes every day and state-of-the-art cryptography means it’s almost impossible to crack.

Steps:
1. Download latest php 5.x zip file. I used php 5.0.2. You can download it from here: http://museum.php.net/php5/php-5.0.2-Win32.zip
2. Download latest pecl modules 5.x zip file. I used pecl 5.0.2. You can download it from here: http://museum.php.net/php5/pecl-5.0.2-Win32.zip

Note: PHP version and PECL versions should be same. If you want to try with some other version get from here: http://museum.php.net/php5/

3. Unzip php zip in C: drive(I used C: for my installation, you are open to try new things)
4. Copy php.ini-dist, in c:\php, as php.ini in c: drive
5. Uncomment the line (remove semi-colon at the beginning) in php.ini:
;extension=php_java.dll
6. Extract php5servlet.dll from pecl zip file to c:\php. Ensure that the file is actually present in c:\php (maybe you can’t see the php5servlet.dll file in pecl archive, it means you are trying this with newer versions of php)
7. Now create a directory under webapps in your Apache Tomcat installation. Lets say it is named test.
8. Create WEB-INF directory under test
9. Create lib directory under WEB-INF
10. Create web.xml under WEB-INF with the following contents:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE web-app PUBLIC
"-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 2.3//EN"
"http://java.sun.com/dtd/web-app_2_3.dtd">
<web-app>
<servlet>
<servlet-name>php</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>net.php.servlet</servlet-class>
</servlet>
<servlet>
<servlet-name>php-formatter</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>net.php.formatter</servlet-class>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>php</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>*.php</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>php-formatter</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>*.phps</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
</web-app>

11. Extract php5srvlt.jar from pecl zip archive and extract or unjar (jar -xvf c:\php5srvlt.jar ) it under c:\
12. Modify both the files reflect.properties and servlet.properties to change the line library=phpsrvlt to library=php5servlet and save them. This indicates the file name of the dll file which is loaded by the Java application to serve the requests.
N.B.: This has no connection with the name of the jar file which can be anything. you may get this error “java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: no php5servlet in java.library.path” for any mistake in this step. Please check the two properties file, whether there are any blank spaces. There should be only one line, and no blank spaces.

13. Re-create the jar file with the following command
(jar -cvfm php5srvlt.jar c:\META-INF\MANIFEST.MF -C c:\servlet\ /.), assuming you extracted the php5srvlt.jar in c: drive
14. Copy the jar file to WEB-INF\lib directory created earlier.
N.B: If you want to run PHP for one web application then do step 14 only but if you want to run php globally for all applications under tomcat then copy the php5srvlt.jar into commons/lib directory as well
15.  Add c:\php to your System or User Path in Windows environment (Hint: Right-click and select Properties from My Computer -> then go to advanced tab -> click on environment variable)
16. create a new system or user variable PHP_HOME with value c:\php
17. Create a file index.php under test with the following code:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

18. Restart Tomcat
19. Restart your machine(it is not required but though as we have added system variable so there is no harm doing a restart)
20. Start tomcat server again.
21. Open your browser and go to http://localhost:8080/test/index.php(if you set your port to some other port than 8080 please specify it in the place of 8080)
22. Ensure that there are no errors displayed. Instead you get an informative screen with php version information and whole lot of details.

Hope this helps. Have fun!!!

In today’s environment, many organizations are looking for new business opportunities. And, because it’s the easiest place to start, they will often reduce their pricing to get a foot in the door. On the other side, many companies are now asking their vendors to cut fees or reduce product prices. It’s a tactic that makes sense because they know they can go elsewhere to get similar goods and services.

However, many team leaders designated to be the “negotiators” on both side rarely have had any real training in the art of negotiating. Consequently, good organizations are missing opportunities and failing to explore other joint opportunities when they start talking. Here are some tips and tactics I’ve seen used by some of the best deal-makers in various organizations. See if they can help you improve results and performance:

1. First and foremost, be prepared to walk away. This is single most important strategy to getting what you want. Whether at work, or just generally speaking, out of life. If you aren’t prepared to say, “No” and mean it; then you are likely to end up settling for a lesser outcome. Before entering into the negotiation, know in advance exactly what you are and are not willing to concede, so that you do not need to process this information on-the-fly without adequate time to weigh the pros and cons of each.

2. A good deal comes together quickly – a bad deal takes way too long. I’ve negotiated on behalf of organizations around the world. Whether it’s been in North America, South America, Asia or Europe this is a truism. Recognize when it’s time to forego a deal entirely. Take a clue from the amount of time it’s taking to get what you want. If you have to “force it,” chances are it will come back to bite you later on. I’ve seen many people waste a lot of time with the misguided belief that with just one more thing the deal is going to work – it rarely does.

3. Deal at the right level. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to do a deal with an individual who can’t make the final decision. It’s like negotiating against yourself – you address an issue and try to come to a conclusion and then the other person takes that to someone else “behind the scenes” only to come back and say it can’t be done on those terms. It’s far more efficient and effective to find the right person to negotiate with directly. Tip: If you don’t know if you’re working with the right person, just ask if they have authority for the final decision.

4. Come prepared. The more information you have about the “marketplace,” the more likely you are to not only prevail, but also get the best deal possible. While you may actually prevail by shooting in the dark, not knowing the extent of the opportunity could result in your leaving a lot on the table. And don’t be shy about asking these easy questions: “Is this the best you can do? Does anyone else get a better deal than this?” Knowledge is truly power.

5. Don’t take anything personally. Here’s my best advice on this issue: To maintain objectivity, treat every negotiation as if you are doing a deal for someone else who has hired you as the professional deal-maker. When you allow yourself to get emotionally involved, rational thought often goes by the wayside and you’re far more likely to concede to your later regret. Cool heads get the best, and most, out of what they are seeking..

6. Anticipate objections. Prior to the negotiation, brainstorm all the reasons or objections that may prevent you from getting what you want – and prepare a thoughtful counterpoint for each, one at a time. Expect the other person to use whatever reason and raise whatever issue they can come up with to out-deal you. During a negotiation, people conjure all sorts of reasons why something can’t be done, many of which are often bogus. Until you know the valid sticking point, you are just spinning your wheels.

7. Don’t underestimate Karma. Even in business, what goes around indeed comes around. The best deal is one where both parties walk away feeling positive about the result of the negotiation. The worst deal is that where one side leaves the table feeling slighted with the short end of the stick. If you’re the kind of person who “has” to win and is prepared to humiliate or otherwise make someone feel bad as a result, sooner or later the gain is likely to come back to haunt you.

Happy Working

How this page works is simple. You reach the page by entering about:config in the address bar. There are entries (one per line) that handle various types of configurations. Each entry has a searchable keyword. The entries can be of Boolean, integer, or string value. Entries contain Name, Status, Type, and Value. Typically, you will be modifying only the Value, by double-clicking on it and making the change. With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at 10 of the best ways you can “hack” the about:config page.

1: Speed up Firefox

This hack requires a few steps. Search for pipelining in the filter and you should see:

network.http.pipelining: Change this to true.

network.http.proxy.pipelining: Change this to true.

network.http.pipelining.maxrequests: Change this to 8.

Now search for max-connections and you should see:

network.http.max-connections: Change this to 96.

network.http.max-connections-per-server: Change this to 32.

2: Disable antivirus scanning

This is only for the Windows version. If you’re downloading large files, this scanning can seriously slow things down. And since you will most likely scan the downloaded file anyway, you’ll probably want to disable this. Of course, if you are uber paranoid (not a bad trait for computing), you might want to leave this entry alone.

To disable antivirus scanning, search for scanWhenDone and you should see:

browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone: Change this to false.

3: Open Javascript popups as tabs

If a popup window lacks the features of a browser window, Firefox will handle it like a popup. If you would prefer to open all windows, including popups, as new tabs, you need to tell Firefox in about:config. Search for newwindow and you will see three entries. Of those three entries, you will want to modify:

browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction: Change this to 0.

4: Spell checking in all fields

By default, Firefox checks spelling only in multiple-line text boxes. You can set it to check spelling in all text boxes. Search for spellcheckdefault and you should see:

layout.spellcheckDefault: Change this to 2.

5: Open search bar results in new tab

When you use the search bar, the results display in the current tab. This can be a nuisance because you will navigate out of the page you are currently in. To make sure Firefox always opens search results in a new tab, search for openintab and you should see:

browser.search.openintab: Change this to true.

6: Auto export bookmarks

In Firefox 3, bookmarks are automatically saved and exported for you. The only problem is that by default, they’re saved as places.sqlite instead of the more convenient bookmarks.html. To change this setting so that they can be easily re-imported, search for autoExportHTML and you should see:

browser.bookmarks.autoExportHTML: Change this to true.

7: Disable extension install delay

One of the few gripes I have with Firefox is the silly countdown you must endure every time you want to install an extension. Fortunately, this can be disabled. Search for enable_delay and you should see:

security.dialog_enable_delay: Change this to 0.

8: View source code in an external editor

When you need to view the source of a page, it opens up in browser popup. Most developers would probably like to have that opened in their favorite editor instead of having to cut and paset. To do this, there are two entries to modify. Search for view_source.editor and you will see:

view_source.editor.external: Change this to true.

view_source.editor.path: Change this to the explicit path to your editor of choice.

9: Get more add-on search results

When you do a search in the Add-on window, you’ll see just five results. You might find it more efficient to increase this number. Search for getAddons and you should see:

extension.getAddons.maxResults: Change this to 10 (or higher, if you want to see even more).

10: Redefine the Backspace button

Did you know you can configure Firefox to use the backspace button to either go back a page or go up a page? This keeps power users from having to go back and forth from the keyboard to the mouse. Search for backspace and you will see:

browser.backspace_action: Change this to 0 for previous page and 1 for page up.

Happy Hacking!!

Now if you know any other hacks except these please share this here.

Tip

If Firefox is messed up because you accidentally mis-configured about:config, you can fix it in one of two ways:

• Make a backup of your prefs.js file before you start editing. Then, if something goes wrong, you can restore it by copying it over the corrupt file.
• If you can’t restore via a backup prefs.js file, you can exit Firefox and issue the command firefox -safe-mode to bring up the Firefox Safe Mode screen. Then, just select Reset All User Preferences To Firefox Defaults. Note: This will restore all user preferences to their default values.

See this and let me know about your progress and never hesitate to post if you face any kindof problem.

Happy modding!!

I think you will enjoy the video though the pictures are not so clear. If you want to know more or want any specific screen capture or good quality video please do not hesitate to ask me for that.  

* -Automatic Updates
* -Background Intelligent Transfer Service
* -Cryptographic Services

4. Next click Start | My Computer
5. Double-click the drive where XP is installed, usually C:\
6. Double-click Windows
7. Right-click on the file folder SoftwareDistribution and rename it to SoftwareDistribution.old
8. Next double-click on the System32 file folder
9. Right-click on the folder Catroot2 and rename it to Catroot2.old
10. Right-click on the folder SoftwareDistribution and rename it to SoftwareDistribution.old
11. Close C:\Windows\System32 explorer window
12. Now, go back to the Services folder. Right-click and then Start the following services:

* -Automatic Updates
* -Background Intelligent Transfer Service (unless it was originally set to manual and you never had to stop the service in the beginning)
* -Cryptographic Services

13. Close the Services Window and go to the Administrative Tools window (which should still be open)
14. Click the Back Button on your toolbar to get back to the Control Panel
15. Double-click Automatic Updates
16. Select “Notify Me but Don’t Automatically Update Or Install Them” radio button then the OK button.
17. Close the Control Panel and resume computing.

One annoying thing gone from your sight.

SAN FRANCISCO: Hewlett-Packard Co plans to cut 7.5 percent of its work force, or 24,600 jobs, seeking to realize savings from its recent acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corp, the company said on Monday.

HP said it will carry out the cutbacks over the next three years, while replacing about half the jobs in new areas of its services business. It announced the plan ahead of a meeting with Wall Street analysts to detail the merger plans.

Nearly half of the job reductions will take place in the United States, the Palo Alto, California-based company said.. EDS was headquartered in Plano, Texas, near Dallas.

HP said it will take a charge of $1.7 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter ending in October. Accounting for goodwill will cost $1.4 billion, while cost of the restructuring will involve anther $300 million.

HP estimated $1.8 billion in annual cost savings once the three-year cost-cutting program is completed.

“We are good at integrating companies … I believe we will do it well,” Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Hurd told financial analysts at the company’s headquarters.

At the time the $13.2 billion merger of computer services provider EDS into HP was announced in May, Hewlett-Packard counted 178,000 employees on its books and EDS had 142,000 employees.

Including the value of common stock, options and restricted stock units, the enterprise value of the deal totals $13.9 billion. The deal closed last month.

Hewlett-Packard said the vast majority of the cuts would focus on eliminating overlapping jobs at EDS in corporate functions such as legal, accounting,information technology and human resources.

Work-force reduction plans will vary by country, based on local legal requirements and consultation with works councils and employee representatives, HP said. The company will provide employees affected by this restructuring program with severance packages, counseling and job placement services.

Satyam Computers to axe 4,500 employees 15 Sep, 2008, 0645 hrs IST,Debasmita Ghosh, TNN
Planning for the pink slip HYDERABAD: Satyam Computers, which has just started giving pink slips to its employees, could potentially downsize its workforce by a whopping 4,500 employees. This translates to a little less than 9% of the 51,000 employees that the company employs. Company sources say 1,500 employees have been put under the performance improvement plan (PIP), euphemism for employees put on watch list and asked to shape up or ship out. Apart from this, 3,000 others have not been given any increment in the last appraisal cycle, thereby indicating that their services are dispensable. “This 1,500 plus 3,000 equals 4,500, which indicates the total number of persons who could be eased out of the company,” the source said. On Friday, all employees received an e-mail from the company chief Ramalinga Raju warning them, especially the ones on the bench, to not bunk office and be in their best dress code, failing which they may face strict disciplinary action. Last week, some 400 employees from across different locations were given the pink slip. Sources also indicated that after getting the message many among the 3,000 have also started leaving jobs. But an estimate of the employees who have left is not known. A Satyam spokesperson said: “The bottom 5% of those who have got a bad appraisal are put under PIP and given dummy projects to prove themselves. If they fail they will be shown the door. But some of them marked for PIP said they have been given very little time to come up as winners.” However, even as it downsizes, Satyam continues to hire new employees in thousands. Over 40% of them are fresh blood just passing out of college. The spectre of retrenchment is creating panic among employees of the company. “Of the 12 people working in my project, five were suddenly asked to resign, failing which, the company warned, it would fire us. Everything came without warning,” said a techie pleading anonymity.
TCS, Wipro recast hiring plans 16 Sep, 2008, 0743 hrs IST,Avinash Nair & Kumar Anand, ET Bureau
AHMEDABAD: As the heat of global slowdown spreads, several players in the IT and ITeS sector have modified recruitment policies, keeping them in sync with the changing market conditions and their pockets. The likes of TCS, Wipro and Keane are either going slow on recruitment or are hiring more number of trained hands. “During 2008, recruitments in IT/ITeS sector has seen a fall of 20-22 % as compared to the same period last year. The players have become more cautious,” says Bangalore-based HR firm Ikya Human Capital Solutions chairman Marcel Parker. “There is a delay in decision making. While most IT firms have deferred their hiring, some have postponed their training programmes. A few have opted for judicious justin-time recruitment process,” Parker told ET. TCS, that recruits about 18,000 employees every year has decided to make significant cuts in recruitment patterns to tide over the crisis. “This year we are not going for any mass recruitment. We have cut down on at least 20% of the total recruitment,” said a senior HR official of TCS in Gujarat. “Our focus has largely been to hire more experienced candidates than go in for fresh recruits”, the official added. Similarly, international IT firm, Keane is not just going slow on recruitments, but have also adopted a ‘just-in-time-approach’ on hiring. “Since the last three years, we used to hire 30-40 % more people than the previous year. But this year we are sticking to almost the same number of people we recruited last year”, said Keane India senior VP S G Raja Sekharan. “Since January we have already made job offers to 3,000 students, which is in the range of what we had did last year. We do not want to make job offers and scale back (if market conditions deteriorate),” he said. “The confidence level in the markets is low compared to the levels that existed three years back. It is very difficult to forecast where the markets are headed in the recent future,” Mr Sekharan said. IT-giant Wipro has introduced stringent ‘quality measures’ into their hiring pattern. “We have made our process even more stringent and brought in measures to ensure quality of hire. Innovative measures have been introduced including setting up a Talent Quality Group within Talent Acquisition”, said Wipro Talent Acquisition VP Pradeep Bahirwani. In order to hire quality manpower, Wipro has also started campus hiring in US and UK. “We have pioneered programmes like Wipro Academy of Software Excellence (WASE) which helps graduates learn while they work on projects with us. We have an active campus program in India and have also started campus hiring in US and UK,” he said.

Wipro Tech puts 3000 staff under scanner
8 Sep, 2008, 0615 hrs IST,Deepshikha Monga, ET Bureau

Where is your skills rated???

The latest rating of the programming languages is out. Please have a look. No surprises to see java as a leader, with a lead of about 10% over the nearest competition on a positive change (VB), also C# and with AJAX even java script is on the rise.

One interesting fact is the growth of Ruby which is currently at no. 10. No wonder that developer community is in love with the language.

The long term trends for the first 10 languages (programming) are:

The other languages in the list of top 50 are:

Think Where you are??