New Google Interface

You might have heard that Google is slowly introducing a new search interface.

The new Google user interface.

Gizmodo discovered how you too can get this preview of Google to come.

1. You must have a Google account and be signed in.
2. Do a Google search for something.
3. Wait for the search to finish loading, then copy and paste this into the URL bar, OVER the existing http://www.google.com/…

javascript:void(document.cookie=”PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com”);

You should then be able to refresh and see the changes.

Contact me at joseph.a.marlin at gmail dot com.

The 12 Scams of Christmas

The crunched economy has made scammers all the more desperate. Seriously, viruses are real, and they can happen to you! You really need anti-virus. AVG makes free anti-virus programs if you need it.

Anyway, the point is, David Marcus, from McAfee, outlined twelve major points to be on guard against in a recent podcast.  Here they are, as transcribed by Larry Magid of CNET.

1. Charitable phishing scams: Marcus warns consumers to be wary of e-mails that appear to be from legitimate charities. Not only will they take your money and deprive charities of needed funds, but they will also steal your credit card information and identity.
2. Fake invoices from delivery services: During this period, scammers will send out fake invoices and delivery notifications appearing to come from Federal Express, UPS, the U.S. Postal Service or even the U.S. Customs Service saying that they were unable to deliver a package to your address. They ask you to confirm your address and give them credit card information to pay for delivery.
3. Social networking friend requests: Bad guys take advantage of this social time of year by sending out authentic looking friend requests via e-mail. Marcus recommends that you not click on those links but sign into Facebook and other services and look for friend requests from the site itself. Clicking on a link could install malware on your computer or trick you into revealing your password.
4. Holiday e-cards: Be careful before clicking on a holiday e-card, especially if it’s from a site you haven’t heard of. This is a way to deliver malware, pop-ups, and other forms of unwanted advertising. Some fake e-cards will look like they come from Hallmark or other legitimate companies, so pay close attention and make sure it’s from someone you know. If you’re going to send an e-card, be sure you’re dealing with a reputable service lest you risk infecting yourself and your friends.
5. Fake “luxury” jewelry: If you see an offer for luxury gifts from companies like Cartier, Gucci, and Tag Heuer at a price that’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. These links could lead you to malware and take your money or merchandise that will probably never arrive (or be fake if it does). Some of these sites, according to McAfee, even display the logos of the Better Business Bureau.
6. Practice safe holiday shopping. Make sure your wireless network is secure and be sure you’re shopping on sites that are secure. Though it isn’t an iron clad guarantee, you should look for the lock icon in the lower right corner of your browser and make sure the Web page starts with https. The “s” stands for “secure.”
7. Christmas carol lyrics can be dangerous: Bad guys know that people are searching for holiday related sites for music, holiday graphics, and other festive media. During this time, they create fraudulent holiday related sites.
8. Job search related scams: With the unemployment rate at 10.2 percent, there are plenty of job seekers looking for work. Beware of online offers for high paying jobs or at-home money making schemes. Some of these sites ask for money up front, which is a good way for criminals not only to steal your “set up fee” but misuse your credit card too. Marcus said that some “get rich quick” sites are all about money laundering, asking you to accept an inbound financial transfer and pay them.
9. Auction site fraud: McAfee has observed a rise in fake auction sites during the holidays. Make sure you’re actually going to eBay or whatever site you plan to deal with.
10. Password stealing scams: Criminals use low-cost tools to uncover passwords, in some cases planting key logger software to record keystrokes. Once they get your passwords, they gain access to bank accounts and credit card accounts and send spam from your e-mail accounts.
11. E-mail banking scams: A common type of phishing scam is sending out official looking e-mails that appear to come from your bank. Don’t click on any links but type in your bank’s Web address manually if you need to access your account.
12. Files for ransom: Hackers use malware to gain control of your computer and lock your data files. To access your own data you have to pay them ransom.

C++ Compiler on Linux Ubuntu 9.10, version 2.0

Over here, I showed an easy way to compile and run C++ on Ubuntu 9.10. I have since slightly tweaked this method. Use the following steps:

Open your .bashrc file and add: PATH=”$HOME/bin:$PATH”

You’ll need to have GCC (type sudo apt-get install gcc in Terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal)).

Create a folder called “bin” in /home/YourUsernameHere/ , then open gedit (Applications > Accessories > gedit Text Editor).

Copy the following into a new document:

#!/bin/bash

#change to the directory where all files are saved
cd ./path/to/project_directory/

echo "Compiling $1..."

#compile project
g++ $1 -o compiled

#run it
./compiled

#keep running it while user wants to
echo "Do you want to continue? '0' if no, '1' if yes: "
read CONTINUE

while [  $CONTINUE -gt 0 ]; do
 ./compiled
 echo "Do you want to continue? '0' if no, '1' if yes: "
 read CONTINUE
done

#clean up
rm ./compiled

#completed
echo "Operation completed."

#and change back
cd

Save that code as “run” in home/YourUsernameHere/bin/. (Note: no file extension.) Don’t forget to change the cd command to point to the directory where your project C++ files are held.

Back in the terminal, type the following commands:

cd bin

chmod 0744 run

To use, simply use command “run filename.cpp”. The compiler will attempt to compile and run. If it compiles, the program will run; otherwise, if your program has errors, you’ll see the error reports. Don’t forget the .cpp at the end of the file name.

Oftentimes however, you might be interested in just seeing if a program will compile, and not interested in running it. So, in a new document in gedit, and copy and paste:

#!/bin/bash

#change to the directory where all files ares saved
cd ./path/to/project_directory/

echo "Compiling $1..."

#compile project
g++ $1 -o compiled

#clean up
rm ./compiled

#completed
echo "Operation completed."

#and change back
cd

Save that code as “compile” in home/YourUsernameHere/bin/. (Note: no file extension.) Don’t forget to change the cd command to point to the directory where your project C++ files are held.

Back in the terminal, type the following commands:

cd bin
chmod 0744 compile

To use, simply use command “compile filename.cpp”. The compiler will then attempt to compile the program. If you don’t see anything besides “Operation Completed”, the code compiled correctly. Otherwise, you will see the typical C++ errors.

If this isn’t working for you, please let me know – joseph.a.marlin at gmail dot com.
Thanks!

C++ on Ubuntu 9.10 Linux

This post is now obsolete. Please see here for an updated version.

Over here, I discussed the pros and cons of my experience with Ubuntu Linux. One thing that didn’t work nicely with Wine was my C++ compiler, DevC++. Instead of trying to get another compiler to work, I wrote a shell script that cleanly compiled and ran a C++ project. To use this program, you’ll need to have GCC (sudo apt-get install gcc).

Create a folder called “bin” in /home/user/ , then open gedit.

Code:

#!/bin/bash
#change to the directory where all files are saved
cd ./Documents/Dropbox/CS/

echo "Compiling $1..."

#compile project
g++ $1 -o compiled

#run it
./compiled

#keep running it while user want to
echo "Do you want to continue? '0' if no, '1' if yes: "
read CONTINUE

while [  $CONTINUE -gt 0 ]; do
 ./compiled
 echo "Do you want to continue? '0' if no, '1' if yes: "
 read CONTINUE
done

#clean up
rm ./compiled

#and change back
cd

Save that code as “compile” in “home/user/bin/“. (Note: no file extension.) To use, simply use command “compile filename.cpp”. If it compiles, the program will run; otherwise, if your program has errors, you’ll see the error reports. Don’t forget the .cpp at the end of the file name.

ignore this

This post is now obsolete. Please see here for an updated version.

sudo aptitude install build-essential

Trial By Fire: Ubuntu 9.10

After I tried to upgrade my system to Windows 7 and the install DVD failed, I found myself in an uncomfortable situation: I had no OS. So I hastily burned an ISO of Ubuntu 9.10 and installed that. Installation went fine, though I had a bit of trouble installing wireless drivers. Turns out that after you install the Broadcom broadband drivers, you need to restart your system *right away*. Otherwise, you can expect a kernel panic, which meant for me a reinstall. Installing Flash was bit tricky too: trying to install it from the website failed. So in order to install, go to “Applications” > “Ubuntu Software Center” and search for it. Currently, I’m having a bit of a problem with sound: while the headphone jack does work, it doesn’t mute the sound coming from the main speakers. This is annoying, but not fatal.

Ubuntu is a bit tricky sometimes, but other things are nice: I can run Microsoft Office fine with the latest version of Wine, and I can now print to our network printers, which are connected to Macs. This is something I couldn’t do when I was on Vista and 7.

YubNub: make your browser a super useful command line!

This, with the following trick, is single-handedly the greatest productivity boost I have ever experienced, and it takes but 30 seconds.

1. type about:config into Firefox’s URL bar.
2. change the value of keyword.URL to http://yubnub.org/parser/parse?command=

You are done.

Now your URL bar is a functioning command line. Typing something like g yubnub commands will display a page of Google search results of yubnub commands.

Example usage of a Yubub command.

Here is a list of common YubNub commands. Some of my favorites include:

• g – Google Search
• gim – Google Image Search
• wp – Wikipedia search
• yt – Youtube search
• d – dictionary search
• tw – twitter search
• fb – facebook search
• imdb – International Movie Database search
• wa – wolphram alpha search
• gmaps – Google Maps search
• bitly – shortens a long URL

You can get multiple searches displayed at once with the mash command: mash falcon gim yim.

There are close to 18000 commands, so chances are if you can do it, there is a command for it. Keep in mind, that they meant it when they said “command line”. The ‘ls’ command lists all commands, and ‘ls cliffsnotes’ searches for all commands relating to CliffsNotes. There are scripting commands (for each, if/then), and other scripting commands. There are many, many incredible useful commands, so do poke around.

PS – Try ‘neverending’

Ubuntu 9.10 with VirtualBox

Ubuntu 9.10 is nice, though it doesn’t feel that different.  Here is a photo tour of the install process of the beta build of Ubuntu 9.10 on  VirtualBox running on Windows Vista. The only slightly tricky part was installing the guest additions. The intuitive first step is to try to install the Guest Additions. However, the CD drive must be mounted before selecting that. So, first mount the drive, *then* you can install the guest additions. Doing this is definitely a good idea, as it allows full screen mode and seamless cursor integration.

If you need any help getting this to work, feel free to shoot me an email – joseph.a.marlin at gmail dot com.

I love spam…

A quick analysis of an amusing spam letter.

Mystery Google

This site could keep me occupied for hours.

It is a search site: type in a search query. You will get what the person before you searched for. The person who searches after you will see your search results. Pretty awesome. Results included “murder”, “This site is stupid”, “tree” and “Sakamoto ryoma”. Interesting.

Coming soon…

Ubuntu 9.10 on Virtual Box Review…

As soon as the .ISO download completes, which, by the way, is taking forever. (average is about 35 kbps.)

In unrelated news: ignore this…