Bad Day – Experience with Lightning

On Friday while at work I received a call from home – my whole house was out of electricity after a big thunder. Great, and I have to work until midnight. After that power was restored by switching the ELCB back on. The bad news was that both of my TV got fried. At first we thought that the 2 got fried because they are connected to the Astro terminal, but the Astro terminal is fine. Also, my DVD player was also effected.

Returning from work at about 1.00 am, I also found out that the ADSL modem (Aztech DSL 600E) is busted as well. The network port is not working anymore. When I connect network cable from any devices it will fail to detect it. The DSL LED is still on but there’s no way to check.

Aztech DSL 600E

Luckily my WRT54G (v2.2) is still fine.

WRT54G

It figures, since it was connected to the phone line BUT the Belkin SurgeMaster Surge Protector GOLD SERIES should have protected it!! After investigations I also found that the all of the phone protector ports and LAN ports are also broken on the Belkin SurgeMaster Surge Protector GOLD SERIES.

Belkin

On the box of the surge protector there’s a toll free number for Malaysia, and this product carries lifetime warranty plus insurance to all of the interconnected devices. I tried to call them on Saturday but no one was available. I guess I’ll have to try during weekdays.

So today (Saturday, as I was late in posting this entry) I went to Low Yat plaza to buy a new DSL modem. To nicely pair up my Linksys wifi router I decided to go for AM-300.

AM-300

It retails at RM119.00, which is a few Ringgits more than the Aztech DSL 600E.

I also got me a few AVR units to plug the TVs once they get back from repair, if they have not went FUBAR.

About the AM-300 modem, I’ve got to tell you that it’s really easy to set up. Initially I just plugged it in to replace the old modem and got online instantly.

Out of curiosity, I tried out the wizard from the installation CD and everything is a whiz!!! When I selected my country and my ISP, the proper selections of the technical settings are selected. This is really fool-proof, not like the Netgear wifi router that I helped my friend with few months ago (and failed).

AM-300 Wizard

The modem itself is a full-featured router. With DHCP, with an additional switch you can actually leave the dialing and routing to it and share your Internet connection. As for me, of course I am using the WRT to dial my connection. Although the modem keeps wanting to reboot after every Save done on the settings pages, I am quite satisfied with it especially the wizard part. Not surprising from Linksys (I am a fan so I might be a bit biased).

If you want to have a shared wifi, get a different model with wifi and perhaps additional ethernet ports. Some people asked me on what the difference are between brands. I told them there’s not so much difference considering their functions, but the things like going on an extra mile to determine user ISP settings is definitely a plus with Linksys. Well done.

Hey while messing up with the modem I find that my ADSL link has also been upgraded:

2m-streamyx.jpg

And the bandwidth test verified it (while connected to only one machine directly). I forgot to take the screen shot.

Firefox 2.0 Spell Checker in Action

I knew Firefox 2.0 contains built-in spell checker, but was not really looking for it.

To my surprise while typing in my previous post, it starts underlining misspelled words. The funny thing is that even Firefox is considered as wrongly spelled? It suggested “Firebox” or “fire fox”. 🙂

This is, however not a big deal. This functionality is very good indeed, especially when posting entries. By the way in the screen shot below my active dictionary is en-GB.

Spell check

Cold Day In Hell

Not really in hell. I’m at the office and it’s raining very heavily since this afternoon and I have no jacket. Brought it back home last Monday for laundry.

I miss my fleece jacket so much!

To think that I will have to work until midnight… 🙁

Traffic Shaping According to Time Of Day?

Looking at my traffic graph generated from the router, I can see that my traffic increases at night and gradually slows down right after 0800. Traffic remains slow until going up again at about 2300. Interesting.

Streamyx 1 day

Streamyx 1 week

Is TMNET implementing traffic shaping based on hours of the day? Anyway the traffic at night hovers around 10kB/s download and 7kB/s upload, not that much 🙁

I guess it’s better than nothing but I really hope they can increase it a bit more… come on..

Don’t Play With Firecrackers

Every Raya, there will be boom, bangs everywhere. I know that have been a tradition, but is it really necessary? Furthermore, it’s not even a Malay tradition.

I can understand when Chinese lights up firecrackers, it’s their tradition since forever. It’s their belief. It’s their culture. In fact, I rarely see any Chinese lighting up firecrackers during nonsense hours and at 10.00pm when people are trying to sleep. Rarely. What I usually see is during Chinese New Year they have an event, invites lion dance groups, and light up long chains of firecrackers. That was fun especially it was always done during the day.

I was really pissed off last night when a Malay neighbour started firing up firecrackers, one by one and throwing them on the road in front of his house. This is because as you see today I have to work.

Don’t play with firecrackers or worst create homemade firecrackers. If you do, there’s a possibility you’ll end up like this or this or this.

The last news above – I saw this the news once during the early of Ramadhan that there was a case where a neighbour was killed by another angry neighbour because he played firecrackers. TV3 naughtily said “there’s a reason why the Government doesn’t allow you to play firecrackers”. 😉

Kedah state has organized anti-firecracker squads, but I wonder they succeeded in preventing people from playing firecrackers.

Be considerate. Be safe. Firecrackers can cause (1) deafness (2) blindness (3) burn injuries, (4) and a fire hazard to other people as well. If you want to burn down your bungalow it’s fine, but please consider other people if you live in linked houses (where walls are shared).

Last but not least:

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri
Maaf Zahir dan Batin

EON Hari Raya Song

Nostalgic… I can still remember this song which was introduced by EON during my primary school times. And that was in the 90s.

Hari Raya hari yang mulia,
Sungguh bererti kepada kita,
Tua muda miskin dan kaya,
Menyambutnya dengan gembira…

Berhati-hati di jalan raya,
Semoga anda selamat tiba,
Ucapan selamat hari raya,
Dari EON untuk semua…

Ucapan selamat hari raya,
Dari EON untuk semua…

It’s short, due to the fact that it was sung in a Hari Raya commercial produced by EON. I am not sure who wrote that song. But for those who were in the same era, for sure you can remember this song!

As I can’t find the original version of the video, here’s the new version of the song, performed by Akademi Fantasia participants. I guess the copyright is still with EON.

Yahoo! Time Capsule

Time capsule? Isn’t that idea kinda old? Not really, if combined with today’s multimedia techniques and technologies. Quite a while ago, Yahoo! has introduced Yahoo! time capsule, created by Jonathan Harris, an internet artist.

For 30 days, from October 10 until November 8, Yahoo! users worldwide can contribute photos, writings, videos, audio, even drawings, to this electronic anthropology project.

There are several themes in which you can contribute to, namely FUN, SORROW, FAITH, BEAUTY, PAST, NOW, HOPE, YOU, LOVE, ANGER.

Why you don’t have a try? At the moment this is posted, time left is 21 days, 1 hour, and 40 minutes.

A Real Computer Expert, At Last

At last in yesterday’s edition of the articles about Internet Banking, the same newspaper as mentioned in the previous post interviewed Datuk Abdul Hamidy Abdul Hafiz, the chairman of the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM). In the interview, Datuk Hamidy explained about the problem like an expert. I am not sure about his background, but he sure know about it better than the “computer expert”.

Quote:

ABDUL HAMIDY: Phishing bukanlah satu trend. Ia merupakan satu penipuan dan tidak boleh dihentikan kerana ada sahaja orang yang hendak mencuba.

Tetapi kalau kita melihat cara phishing ini dia bukan hendak menembusi (penetrate) sistem bank, tetapi ingin menembusi sistem milik pelanggan. Ini bermakna, penipuan tersebut berlaku terhadap pelanggan yang masih kurang berpengetahuan mengenai keselamatan di Internet.

Maksud Datuk pelanggan yang tidak cekap menggunakan Internet.

ABDUL HAMIDY: Ya. Mereka yang masih tidak cekap menggunakan Internet.

Oleh kerana itu semua bank yang mempunyai kemudahan perbankan Internet sentiasa memberitahu peraturan dan langkah-langkah keselamatan.

Pelanggan kadangkala mengabaikan peraturan yang diberikan oleh pihak bank kerana menganggap peraturan itu terlalu panjang.

Kita berharap pelanggan akan membaca dan memahami peraturan yang telah disediakan. Kalau mereka (pelanggan) tidak faham mengenai peraturan atau langkah yang disediakan, mereka boleh menghubungi Pusat Pengurusan Pelanggan.

Original news: http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/…

This time I am short of time to translate anything. If you are interested just let me know.

As a summary, he said that the problem is not with banking website, but with the users’ Internet skills. Criminals are not attacking banking websites, but users. Right on target, Datuk.

Internet Banking Risks – Computer Expert Fooled, Refuse to Use Service

This article from a local Malaysian newspaper website caught my eyes. The funny thing is that the person interviewed by the journalist claimed his/her self as a computer expert. And he/she was fooled by an Internet banking scam. Expert? I don’t think so.

Anyway, my point being, articles like this will surely deter usage of Internet banking in Malaysia. Internet banking is safe indeed, and with a few precautions in mind it’s a great experience. Of course, somebody from the bank can steal your money. But can they also do that without Internet banking? Think about it.

Here are some things (there may be more) that you always need to remember when using Internet banking:

  • NEVER NEVER NEVER click on links in email. For a few years now my banks have never sent me an email with links to click on!
  • Look for the padlock in your browser (please see image below). This means that the connection is secure.
  • Ensure that the address bar is pointing to the correct website. Banks have specific websites from where they operate. For example Maybank have www.maybank2u.com.my and BCB (CIMB) have www.cimbclicks.com.my. Don’t use the site even if a letter missing!!!
  • Make sure that before the site name, it shows https:// and not http:// or any other thing. This only applies to the login page. Some banks like Maybank have their main page with information served with http://
  • If a warning pops up in your face saying that this site may be forged, just believe it first, ask questions later.
  • Use a reliable browse like Firefox. In this post you can see it detects a phishing site correctly. If you’re not currently viewing this page using Firefox, consider using the link on top of the page to download it.
  • Banks will never ask for your username or password in emails or call you to ask for those information. Keep your login information to yourself.

maybank2u_verify.png

maybank2u_verify_ie.png

If you are unsure, email or call the bank helpline. Previously I suggested for you to contact me so that I can help in confirming, but changed my mind. Trust only the bank.

In my point of view, articles from a computer expert like the guy/gal below should be explaining and helping instead of complaining. He/she said he/she advices people to be careful, but how?

Get your points straight, media!

Direct translation follows:

Internet Banking Risks – Computer Expert Fooled, Refuse to Use Service

By YULPISMAN ASLI

Do you feel safe and convinced making financial transactions via Internet banking?

Do you know that Internet banking sites can be cloned by anyone – from a school kid to a cyber criminal – in only one or two hours?

Ironically, Utusan Malaysia was told by a computer expert that he/she him/her self doesn’t want to use the service anymore.

Why? Because he/she has been fooled via the online banking service.

“I made a transaction online but never received the money. Now I prefer going to the bank to make transactions,” said the computer expert (who refused to reveal his/her identity) from a government agency, here today.

For that particular case experienced by the computer expert, the acitivity was finally detected by National ICT Security & Emergency Response Centre (NISER).

The phenomenon that is happening is real.

Yesterday police arrested four university students and nine others because they created a forged web site of local banks to steal customer information before withdrawing their money.

According to the expert, with only a computer, Internet and browser software, a person can create a forged bank website that can potentially cause millions of customers’ ringgits disappear.

“Furthermore to create such website, they don’t need a long time, only about one to two hours,” he/she said.

He/she said, what the creators of the forged website needed to do is create a website that looks like the original website.

This can be done by copying the whole website, while the software is available in the market.

He/she said, the activity however can’t use the same original URL (domain address) of the website as it is protected, but they can create an alternative network that can confuse the bank customers.

“In the Internet world you can do anything (create forged bank websites). It’s not hard to copy, it takes only a while,” he/she said.

He/she said, usually, those who don’t have the knowledge and doesn’t know about IT world will be exposed to the forged websites.

In relation to that, he/she advices the public to be a lot more careful when doing online banking transactions to prevent from becoming a victim.

Yesterday, Assistant Director of Cyber Crime and Multimedia, Assistant Commissioner Ismail Yatim said, police have arrested four university students who were lead by a government officer’s son/daughter as they are involved in creating forged bank websites to steal customer information before withdrawing their money.

The four students were among the 13 people arrested for their involvement in the cyber crime. They were arrested in multiple raids in Kelantan, Selangor, and KL.

Their MO so far that has caused loss amounting to RM36,000 is sending emails to bank customers and requesting them to update the details in their bank account.

They then asked the customers to click on a link in the email, to update the details.

After clicking on the link, they are requested to input their username and password without realizing that the website is forged.

The information filled by the customers will be saved automatically in the data created by the syndicate, accordingly making it easy for them to access the victim’s bank account and transfer all the money.

Original news:

Risiko perbankan Internet — Pakar komputer pernah ditipu, enggan guna lagi perkhidmatan

Oleh YULPISMAN ASLI

KUALA LUMPUR 11 Okt. – Selamatkah atau yakinkah anda menggunakan perkhidmatan transaksi wang dan urusan seumpamanya menerusi perbankan Internet?

Tahukah anda bahawa laman web perbankan boleh diciplak oleh sesiapa sahaja – daripada murid sekolah sehinggalah kepada penjenayah siber – dalam tempoh satu hingga dua jam sahaja?

Ironisnya, Utusan Malaysia diberitahu oleh seorang pakar komputer tempatan bahawa beliau sendiri tidak mahu lagi menggunakan perkhidmatan itu.

Mengapa? Kerana dia pernah ditipu menerusi perkhidmatan perbankan secara online itu.

Saya membuat urusan secara talian tetapi bank tidak menerima wang itu. Sekarang saya lebih suka pergi ke bank untuk membuat urusan, kata pakar komputer (yang enggan mendedahkan identitinya) dari sebuah agensi kerajaan itu, di sini hari ini.

Bagi kes yang dialami oleh pakar komputer itu, kegiatan tersebut akhirnya dikesan oleh Pusat Keselamatan dan Tindak Balas Kecemasan Teknologi Komunikasi dan Maklumat Negara (NISER).

Fenomena yang berlaku ini adalah nyata.

Semalam polis menangkap empat pelajar universiti dan sembilan yang lain kerana mencipta laman web palsu bank-bank tempatan untuk mencuri maklumat pelanggan sebelum mengeluarkan wang mereka.

Menurut pakar itu lagi, dengan hanya memiliki sebuah komputer, Internet dan perisisan pelayar, seseorang itu boleh mencipta laman web palsu bank sehingga boleh melesapkan berjuta-juta ringgit wang pelanggan.

Malah untuk mencipta laman web palsu itu, mereka tidak perlukan masa yang lama, hanya kira-kira satu hingga dua jam sahaja, katanya.

Beliau berkata, apa yang perlu dilakukan oleh pencipta laman web palsu itu ialah mencipta laman web seakan-akan laman web asal.

Ini boleh dilakukan dengan meniru keseluruhan laman web terbabit, sementara perisian pula boleh didapati di pasaran.

Katanya, kegiatan itu bagaimanapun tidak boleh meniru URL (alamat domain) asal laman web berkenaan kerana ia dilindungi, tetapi mereka boleh mewujudkan rangkaian alternatif sehingga boleh mengelirukan para pelanggan bank terbabit.

Dalam dunia Internet memang semua boleh buat (mewujudkan laman-laman web palsu bank). Nak tiru bukan susah, sekejap sahaja , katanya.

Beliau berkata, selalunya, mereka yang tidak mempunyai pengetahuan dan tidak tahu tentang selok-belok dunia IT akan terdedah kepada laman web palsu tersebut.

Sehubungan itu, beliau menasihatkan orang ramai supaya lebih berhati-hati ketika membuat urusan bank secara online bagi mengelak menjadi mangsa.

Semalam, Penolong Pengarah Jenayah Siber dan Multimedia, Asisten Komisioner Ismail Yatim berkata, polis telah memberkas empat pelajar universiti yang didalangi anak seorang pegawai tinggi kerajaan setelah terlibat dalam kegiatan mencipta laman web palsu bank-bank tempatan untuk mencuri maklumat pelanggan sebelum mengeluarkan wang mereka.

Empat pelajar itu adalah antara 13 orang yang ditangkap kerana terbabit dalam kegiatan jenayah siber terbabit. Mereka ditahan dalam beberapa serbuan sekitar Kelantan, Selangor dan ibu negara.

Modus operandi mereka yang setakat ini telah menyebabkan kerugian sebanyak RM36,000 ialah menghantar e-mel kepada pelanggan bank dan meminta mangsa mengemas kini maklumat akaun bank mereka.

Mereka kemudian meminta mangsa klik pada satu pautan yang tertera di e-mel tersebut kononnya bagi tujuan mengemaskinikan akaun simpanan mereka.

Setelah klik pada pautan itu, mereka disuruh memasukkan nama pengguna dan kata laluan tanpa menyedari laman web tersebut sebenarnya palsu.

Maklumat yang diisi itu akan disimpan secara automatik dalam data yang dicipta sindiket itu, seterusnya memudahkan mereka mengakses akaun bank mangsa dan memindahkan semua wang milik mangsa.

Contents above directly copied from http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/…

Hans Reiser Held for Murder

No, it’s not Hans Reiser the actor, it’s Hans Reiser the creator of ReiserFS. ReiserFS is a journaled computer file system mainly used in Linux.

He was taken into custody 10th October at 10am in Oakland. He is suspected of murdering his wife, Nina Reiser. Nina is currently missing, but the authorities think that she has been murdered.

Hans got into UC Berkeley when he was 15, where he obtained his Bachelors in Systematizing. I hope he didn’t do it. I want Reiser4 in Linux kernel!!

Original news here.

Google In Malaysia

While playing around with some Google caches today I found this intriguing page. It’s an opening for Malaysia Country Consultant for Google Inc. I wonder if they are planning to open up an office in Malaysia, or better still, a research center perhaps?

google-malaysia-opening.jpg

Digging deeper, Azidin found out that Jeff mentioned that this position has been filled by Hanson Toh in his CNET Blog, Lemak Lemang.

Update: JAKIM is Hosting PayPal Phishing Site?!

Today I received an email from JAKIM (baheis/JAKIM [at] JAKIM.islam.gov.my) that redirected me to this site:

Aduan Jakim

Well done. Despite of what happened I am quite pleased and proud of their immediate action (3 days is immediate for government bodies, give them a break). First time I’ve ever seen an email address with slash (/) though. Hey they incorrectly spelled my name! 😐

Er.. why do we have to use IE to view the page? Direct translation to the highlighted item: This form must be viewed with IE 😉 It looks fine on my Firefox, though.

Aduan Jakim 2

Pikom reports dip in PC sales nationwide

Hey hey hey… PC sales has dropped? From The Star Online TechCentral:

PETALING JAYA: Despite the recent tax relief offered by the Government to help spur PC ownership in the country, PC sales have dropped by about 20% in September, compared to August.

The Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) said its members had reported the dip in sales, but it declined to provide details.

The intriguing paragraph:

Pikom, however, does not know the cause of the decrease. (But) “it is clearly evident that PC sales have dropped,” Pikom treasurer Low Wai Sun told In.Tech.

One thing that immediately popped up my mind is fuel price.

For people like me who is really nuts about PC and technology, nothing would stop me of course. But for others, would they buy more PC stuff if a big part of their income have to be allocated for a more important purpose – transportation.

I think I am not the only one who is feeling some effect on the fuel price increase. As we have to go places everyday fuel is nowadays very very very important indeed. No no I am not saying that anything is wrong or whatever, the point here is that we all feel something from the fuel price increase unless we are earning 5 digit income monthly.

What do you think?

Hey while I was at The Star Online I noticed that they also have a ‘Digg This’ button. 😉

The Star Digg This

Read more about the story here: http://star-techcentral.com/tech/…

As usual, click on the link below in case the original story link is no longer valid.

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