OMG n00b H4XXOR!

Hello everyone.

This post is a rather serious one compared to the relatively light-hearted nature of my previous posts. This is because it deals with Internet Security, which is of no laughing business to anyone, whether you would be an e-business owner, gamer, or a casual internet user.

Now everyone knows about Hackers, Viruses and Trojans. Hackers use a variety of different methods such as Spyware and Trojans to obtain valuable information from your system or to disable it. They may steal your credit card information to access your bank account or take down your official website if you are running a business. Elite hackers from certain countries have even been accused of using cyberspace as means to harm and disrupt another business or even another country. Imagine a hacker getting control of a goverment's electronic and online infrastructure and other assets.

Nope, computer hacking does not involve hacking down a tree.

Unfortunately, online gaming is not free from their own share of hackers. Depending on the game, the hacker may use different type of hacks and exploits in order to further their goals. Usually, this involves cheating the game system into giving them ungodly powers usually not allowed in normal gameplay. For example, they may give themselves unlimited health or give themselves the ability to see through walls, thus giving them an advantage over normal players. They may even be able to change certain aspects of the game world in more serious attempts. Other hacks trick the game into believing that the hacker is a administrator of the game server, thus giving them power normally reserved for admins, such as the power to change boot players out of the system or to change the server passwords. When this happens, the server is more or less loss to the original owner forever. More serious hackers may try to take over your online persona and thus gain access to whatever digital items that your persona may have.

While most game hackers may seem like an insignificant threat to the more serious threats of credit card information theft, I still feel that this is a matter not to be ignored. After all, a game hacker is only one small step away from more serious attacks such as hacking into a business intranet. In addition, since there are many games which require real money to make purchases of digital goods, such theft of virtual goods would mean real world money being loss as well. Same goes for account theft for games which have a pay-to-play payment system. I think all hackers should be dealt with regardless of what area they specialize in. You never know if the game hacker you are screaming "OMG n00b H4XXOR!" would end up stealing something more serious like your credit card number.

Just Google it

Welcome back!

In this episode, I will be talking about Google. I can't really think of anything witty of funny to talk about this time, so I will be talking about Google in general and how it has so ingrained into our daily lives. This post might be a bit boring so I apologize and feel free to do something more entertaining instead of reading this. I will be trying to inject some humour into this post as usual, but forgive me if I fail miserably.

Google has become more than just a search engine. It has Google Earth and Google Maps which allow us to view satellite views of anywhere on else. There is Google Scholar, which is a database for many scholarly articles and research papers, which is a godsend for students like me. And there are many more.

In fact, the word Google has become integrated into our English language. Many at times I would ask a friend about some matter and he would respond with "Just Google it". If a teacher didn't explain something in school properly, I would tell myself to relax and "just Google it" the moment I got back home. Google is indeed an extremely powerful and popular search engine for it to warrant a place in the English Language. It is even so powerful that it can search for stuff which you do not even want to know. Such as this:



Seriously I don't want to know. Google may be powerful search engine, but it is still only a program. It cannot find stuff for you without having proper instructions on how to do so. For example, I would need to type in A OR B or A NOT B. You cannot type in something like Lee Kuan Yew's Masterplan and get what you were searching for.

With that sad, Google is a very helpful tool. Have fun playing around with it and you may find funny stuff like around on the net. You may even find the answer to the meaning of life!

I am gaming, therefore I am learning.

Hello everyone.

Once again, I am going to blog about various Internet stuff. This time, I will talk about E-Learning! First, E-business and now E-Learning yay! I know the words learning and education brings up images of boring classes and strict overbearing teachers. But my dear fellows, with the Internet and various improvements in computer technology all that may change!

As a computer gamer, I love to game. And I hate studying. Imagine combining computer gaming and education. I hate studying. Yeah, I know this is nothing new as there are many educational games out there. And did I mention I hate studying?

Imagine playing your favorite massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). You enter a room with the rest of your friends. Suddenly, the room darkens and you tense up expecting some action. And your expectations are proven as your lecturer's avatar then enters the room as well and begins his lesson! Soon, he is giving an online lecture in your favorite game. You control your character to accomplish the different practical and "hands on" assignment that
your lecturer assigns you to. At the same time, he summons up various non-player characters (NPCs) and teleports you into different settings so that he can demonstrate certain aspects of whatever he is teaching. Finally, you are given a quest where you have to make use of the various concept you have just learned to gain additional loot and other goodies for your character. Now, how awesome those this sound?

The graphics aren't that great but whatever.

That is how a virtual classroom may be like. A classroom where everything and anything is possible. Pilots have virtual flight simulators and even the US army uses virtual lessons to teach its commanders. In fact, the game Full Spectrum Warrior was developed specifically to train US military personnel. With that in mind, the future of the virtual classroom may no longer be a dream, but a reality.

I didn't know you could play games in the military...

Advantages of an E-business

Welcome everyone!

This post will talk about the advantages of an E-business! Boring, I know! However, I will try to spice things up a little! Instead of the usual stuff, I will talk about the advantages of having an E-business which you probably would have never considered, so lets check it out!

So the development of the Internet opened up a lot of doors for many people. One such door is the area of E-business or business done through the Internet. With the Internet, you can make money without even leaving the comfort of your home. You can trade stock and shares, foreign currency and whatnot. You may be a website designer and work directly from home. So what other advantages of an E-business are there?

1) You can work whenever you want.
Yes, no more walking up early in the morning to be able to go to work. Get up as late as you want and start work whenever you feel like it. No need to consider what other people may think about you. Most importantly, you can stop working and take a break whenever you feel like it.

2) You save the environment.
Reduce your carbon footprint by working from home! Instead of squeezing into that overcrowded, smelly and unreliable public transport, or getting your car stuck in the jam every morning, just log into the computer and start your day. Saves you the trouble and makes you alot happier too. Saves Mother Gaia as well by not burning fossil fuels just to get to your torture- I mean- workplace.

Save the world by working at home!

3) Save your ears from office gossips.
Seriously, who likes office politics. People commenting about each other behind everyone's backs, its enough to drive people insane. And make one lose all faith in humanity. And commit suicide soon after. What better way to avoid this then not be there at all. When working from home at the comfort of your own computer, the only sound you would have to put up with is the music from your own computer speakers. Or perhaps, that noisy 1 year old son of your neighbour who is screaming his lungs off. But that is why you have headphones.

4) No need to look at that ugly cross-eyed girl (or guy) sitting across your workdesk who is secretly trying to get you to marry her (or him).
With E-business, you won't have to look at your colleagues, and spare your eyes from these walking visages. No longer will you have to put up with their oily and pimply face or their horrible body odor. You won't have to look at your boss' nasal hair anymore too. Unfortunately, you may miss that occasional hot hunk walking through the door, or that sexy secretary in cleavage revealing clothes.

5) No need for pants.
At home, no one can see how you look. Or how you dress. Sure, you may need to use a webcam for video conferencing, but no one will see your lower half anyway. So might as well take off those pants you are wearing. It will be a lot cooler in Singapore's hot weather too. Comfort= Productivity so why not?

Might as well wear nothing on the lower half of the body...

There are a lot more advantages for having an E-business but there are far too many to list here. The list is endless...