Agriculture is an important sector in the overall growth of the country. It acts as the pillar for economic growth. All India Entrance examination for Admission (AIEEA) is the national level entrance test offered by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) New Delhi for admission into UG engineering degree programs. The Agricultural Universities and National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) Karnal accept AIEEA score for the admission process. AIEEA governs 3 areas which include Agriculture, Mathematics and Biology. The candidates from different category can opt for appropriate course in an agriculture university for their study. Different entrance exams are offered by AIEEA for various subjects according to candidate’s interest in all three categories.

Structure and Syllabus of ICAR AIEEA

AIEEA ICAR Entrance Exam for undergraduate program consists of one question paper with MCQ pattern in bilingual model. The applicant can pick any of the streams depending upon his / her subject of choice.

There will be two streams with 180 questions, Stream A and Stream B:

STREAM – A

• Agriculture
• Horticulture
• Fisheries
• Forestry
• Home Science
• Sericulture
• Biotechnology

STREAM – B

• Agriculture Engineering
• Dairy Technology
• Food Science
• Agricultural Marketing
• Banking & Co-operation

For stream A entrance test,  the subject’s composition is

• Physics
• Chemistry
• Biology / Agriculture

For stream B, the subject’s combination is

• Physics,
• Chemistry
• Mathematics

Eligibility Criteria

The candidates must have cleared higher secondary exam with minimum 50% marks in  in or equivalent/Inter (Agriculture) with specific subject grouping like PCM and PCB. Only 40% marks in aggregate is needed for the SC, ST and PH categories. Candidate who has supplementary papers in plus two examinations is not eligible for the same. Candidates who are going to write final examination can also take the entrance test. Candidates above 17 years of age but not more than 23 years are only eligible to apply.

How to Apply?

The forms will be available by payment OF Rs 400/- from Registrars of Agricultural Universities. It is also obtained from the specified branches of Syndicate Bank and from five ICAR Institutions by payment through DD of Rs 450 /- from last week of December to mid of February .Candidates can also download the form from the official website of ICAR which is http://www.icar.org.in .

How to fill the Form?

Candidates should fill up the form very tidily and carefully sticking on to the instructions. The application number given in the form should be taken down by the candidate to verify whether the number is same as in the Identity Verification Card and Information Bulletin. The application form should be sent along with Identity Verification Card, one blank envelope for mailing the application and Acknowledgement card. For any future correspondence applicants may keep a photocopy of the filled application form. The application should be filled in bold with black pen in fine handwriting in block letters. Any wrong information given by the candidate will result in the rejection of application form.

Important Dates (Tentative)

AIEEA exam will be carry out on mid of April, 2012. The other significant dates associated to AIEEA as announced by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research are :

AIEEA start of sale of application form- Last week of December, 2011

AIEEA last date for submission of application form- Mid of February, 2012

AIEEA Exam Date- Mid of April, 2012

AIEEA Exam Timing- 10 AM – 12 30 PM

AIEEA Result- Around 3rd week of May, 2012

AIEEA Counselling- Mid of June to Third week of June , 2012

List of ICAR AIEEA centers

The centre for AIEEA examination shall be:

• Varanasi
• Udaipur
• Tirupati
• Srinagar (Kashmir)
• Solan
• Shillong
• Ranchi
• Raipur
• Pusa (Bihar)
• Pune
• Port Blair
• Patna
• Pantnagar
• Palampur
• Nagpur
• Mohanpur
• Mannuthy
• Ludhiana
• Lucknow
• Kota
• Kolkata
• Karnal
• Jammu
• Jabalpur
• Indore
• Imphal
• Hyderabad
• Hisar
• Guwahati
• Gangtok
• Dharwad
• Delhi
• Coimbatore
• Cochin
• Chennai
• Bikaner
• Bhubaneswar
• Bangalore

Contact Address for the ICAR AIEEA

• Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Bhavan ,  Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi-110 114
• Website: www.icar.org.in

Colleges Accepting the ICAR AIEEA score

• West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences,Kolkata
• Visva Bharati, (Palli Siksha Bhavana),  Birbhum (W.B.)
• Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, (West Bengal)
• University of Agricultural Sciences, Karnataka
• University of Agricultural Sciences, K, Bangalore
• University of Agricultural Sciences, (Karnataka)
• University of Horticultural Sciences, Sector No. 60, Karnataka
• Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, (Tamil Nadu)
• Tamil Nadu Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, (Tamil Nadu)
• Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, (Rajasthan)
• Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University Tirupati, (Andhra Pradesh)
• Sher-E-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu
• Sher-E-Kashmir Univ. of Agril. Sciences & Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar
• Sardarkrushinagar-Dantiwada Agricultural University (Gujarat)
• Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Univ. of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut
• Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology& Sciences (SHIATS),Allahabad
• Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior
• Rajendra Agricultural University,(Bihar)
• Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
• Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology, Orissa
• Navsari Agricultural University, Eru Char Rasta, (Gujarat)
• National Dairy Research Institute, (Haryana)
• Narendra Deva University of Agri. and Technology,(Uttar Pradesh)
• Nagaland University, School of Agricultural Sciences & Rural Development(SASARD), Nagaland
• Marathwada Agricultural University, (Maharashtra)
• Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth,(Maharashtra)
• Maharashtra Animal Science & Fishery University, Nagpur
• Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology, Udaipur
• Kerala Agricultural Universit , (Kerala)
• Karnataka Veterinary Animal & Fisheries Sciences University, Karnataka
• Junagadh Agricultural University, (Gujarat)
• Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur
• Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya,(Chhattisgarh)
• Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana
• G.B. Pant University of Agri. & Technology,(Uttarakhand)
• Dr.Balasaheb Sawan Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth. (Maharashtra)
• Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar Univ. of Horticulture & Forestry, (HP)
• Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, (Maharashtra)
• Ch.Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi VishvaVidyalaya
• Ch.Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, (Haryana)
• Central Agricultural University, (Manipur)
• C.S. Azad University of Agri. & Technology, Kanpur
• Birsa Agricultural University, (Jharkhand)
• Bihar Agricultural University, Bihar.
• Bidhan Chandra Krishi, Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, (West Bengal)
• Banaras Hindu University (Institute of Agricultural Sciences)Varanasi
• Assam Agricultural University, (Assam)
• Anand Agricultural University Anand  (Gujarat)
• Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University Rajendranagar, Hyderabad
• A.P. Horticultural University, Venkataramannagudem,(A.P.)

Reference Books for ICAR AIEEA

• University Physics by Sears and Zemansky
• R. S. Aggarwal – Maths XI & XII
• Problems in Physics by A.A Pinsky
• Problems in General Physics by I.E. Irodov
• Problems in Calculus of One Variable by I.A. Maron
• Plane Trigonometry Part I by S.L. Loni
• Physics: CBSE PMT set of 3 Volumes by Anil Aggarwal
• Peter Atkins and Julio de Paula for Physical Chemistry
• Oswaal Chapter-Wise Solutions of Haryana P.M.T.(Medical) Medical Entrance Examination Solved Papers
• Numerical Chemistry by R.T. Morrison, R.N. Boyd and R.C. Mukhrjee
• NCERT- Biology Part 1 and Part 2
• MTG (Biology Today) CBSE PMT (Subscription)
• Morrision Boyd for Organic Chemistry
• HC Verma for Physics,
• Haryana PMT Entrance Exam Solved Papers By Editorial Compilation
• Ebbing General Chemistry
• Dinesh Chemistry
• Dinesh Biology
• Co-ordinate Geometry by S.L. Loni
• Concept of Competition Physics for CBSE PMT by Aggarwals
• Chapter Wise Solutions of HARYANA PMT Medical Entrance Examination
• Bahal & Bahal Organic Chemistry
• Arihant PMT Haryana Medical Entrance Test
• Arihant Organic Chemistry
• AC Dutta for Botany (Oxford Publication)
• ABC Chemistry
• A collection of questions and Problems in Physics by L.A. Sena

Coaching Centers for ICAR AIEEA

• Cavalier pvt. Ltd. Delhi.
• Test Bag Academy, Delhi.
• Tara Institute, Delhi.
• Sachdeva New P.T College, Delhi.
• Cavalier India, Secunderabad.
• Colonel P R Khandekar’s Eagle Academy, Maharashtra.
• Ground Zero Institute, Uttarkhand.

Study Plan

To enroll into agriculture courses, candidates should study in a systematic way as the competition to join this field is increasing day by day. Reference to books related to agriculture and awareness about the current affairs related to this sector will be helpful to achieve high scores. The candidates can also refer the books in the higher secondary level and prepare with the previous year papers. There are many model questions available for the candidates in the internet and through the recommended books. Make use of such materials for preparation.

How and Where To Get the Results?

The results can be obtained by the candidates through the official website of ICAR by entering the register number. The website is http://www.icar.org.in/ .

Score Validity

The score validity of ICAR AIEEA is for one year.

Read more ...

Oh Shit, Not Again!

Oh Shit, Not Again!

Order Now

What a way to start the first book review on a blog - but that's the name of the book I just finished reading. Its not a line to start the blog with. :)

Oh Shit, Not Again! is a book by Mandar Kokate and published by Expression Publications and this is the first book that they have published.

Its a story of five friends and their trials and tribulations across a period of few months. The central character is Raj who moves into the locality of the novel's setting, meets with the other characters in the book and talks about it in a first person perspective.


Why did I pick up this book from an obscure writer?
The name is the first attraction. When you see a novel name like that you have to pick up the book and see what it is about. Then you turn to the back cover to get a summary of the contents. Kudos to the publishers for making that quite interesting as well.

Have you ever experienced what happens when a porn movie is mistakenly played in front of your grandma and the CD player refuses to stop? 
OR 
Have you ever experienced what happens when a mixture of vodka and soft drink is server to hundreds of people gathered for a party? 
OR 
Have you ever experienced what happens when you are conspired into a murder that you had merely witnessed?

And a few more such questions adorn the back cover. The book promises to answer these questions through the eyes of the five friends. Most of us have been caught in one such situation and would love to read about it from a different perspective.

The story sounded interesting and coming from an Indian author in an Indian setting, I decided to pick it up. It cost me Rs 150/-

Was the book worth it?
The story had tremendous potential and in the right hands could have worked out to be a great book.

Mandar's writing style is rudimentary and you can see that he is desperately trying to be an author. His prose uses words like preclude, perjure and conspire where they are not needed. You can see that he uses these 'big' words because he thinks that's how good authors write and so he should use them as well. Given also that his characters are all college going students in the age bracket of 19 - 22, the use this language is completely unnecessary.

How many times have you told your friend "C'mon yaar, you can't perjure" or "What if someone precludes me over there?" I wonder if Mandar even knows the meanings of these words and the correct usage of them.

His characters are not well developed and there are gaping holes in the storyline. A lot of situations are mentioned that have not been developed well and no justifications are given for them. The main character is carrying on an 'affair' with two women - a girl of his age and an older married woman with a child. He seems to take them to hotels and spend money but there is no explanation of where he gets that kind of money from. After all he is just a student and does not have a job. Then again he gets caught up in a murder mystery that just seems to disappear in a whimsical manner.

Mandar also cannot seem to decide if he is writing for an Indian audience or a global audience. His writing seems to suggest that he writes for India but hopes that the global audience also picks up his book. Money for e.g is referred to in Million rupees denominations. Mandar also is unable to decide if his story is a love story or a murder mystery or a story of his main character's growth into adulthood. There are liberal doses or innuendos of sex - Raj gets to kiss three women and sleeps with two.

In all an average first attempt at a novel. Mandar should have read through at least a couple of more drafts of his story before sending it for publication and the publishers should have done the same.

The first page of the book reads - "Beware before you read...........you may die laughing". We do die laughing but unfortunately not because of the writing but because of the lack of it!

Read more ...

Company/Institute: HINDUSTAN INSECTICIDES LIMITED
 Post/ Job: Vegetable Breeder
 No of posts: 1
  Qualification: M.Sc. (Agriculture) in any discipline of Horticulture, specialization in Plant  Breeding with minimum 2 years’ experience in Vegetable Breeding especially in cucurbits in Public/Private institution. The candidate having Ph.D. in Plant Breeding shall be given preference
 Salary: Total CTC would be Rs.4.30 lac to 4.50 lacs p.a.

Location: NEW DELHI
 Last Date: 11th Feb, 2012
Visit: http://www.hil.gov.in/(S(ued3av55lcya4545c5rnfb45))/writereaddata/VegetableBreeder.pdf

Read more ...

The Run command on Microsoft Windows operating system allows you to directly open anapplication or document with just a single command instead of navigating to it’s location and double-clicking the executable icon. However, it only works for some of the inbuilt Windows programs such as Command prompt (cmd), Calculator (calc) etc. So, have you ever wonderedhow to create your own customized Run commands for accessing your favorite programs, files and folders? Well, read on to find out the answer.

Creating the Customized Run Command

Let me take up an example of how to create a customized run command for opening theInternet explorer. Once you create this command, you should be able to open the Internet explorer just by typing “ie” (without quotes) in the Run dialog box. Here is how you can do that.

1. Right click on your Desktop and select New -> Shortcut.

2. You will see a “Create Shortcut” Dialog box as shown below

3. Click on “Browse”, navigate to: Program Files -> Internet Explorer from your Root drive (usually C:\) and select “iexplore” as shown in the above figure and click on “OK”.

4. Now click on “Next” and type any name for your shortcut. You can choose any name as per your choice; this will be your customized “Run command”. In this case I name my shortcut as “ie”. Click on “Finish”.

5. You will see a shortcut named “ie” on your desktop. All you need to do is just copy this shortcut and paste it in your Windows folder (usually “C:/Windows”). Once you have copied the shortcut onto your Windows folder, you can delete the one on your Desktop.

6. That’s it! From now on, just open the Run dialog box, type ie and hit Enter to open theInternet Explorer.

In this way you can create customized Run commands for any program of your choice. Say “ff” for Firefox, “ym” for Yahoo messenger, “wmp” for Windows media player and so on.

To do this, when you click on “Browse” in the Step-3, just select the target program’s main executable (.exe) file which will usually be located in the C:\Program Files folder. Give a simple and short name for this shortcut as per your choice and copy the shortcut file onto the Windows folder as usual. Now just type this short name in the Run dialog box to open the program.

I hope you like this post! Pass your comments.

Read more ...

1. Open the Registry Editor (Open the “Run” dialog box, type regedit and hit “Enter”).

2. Navigate to the following Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\
3. Create a New Key named as StorageDevicePolicies. To do this right-click on Control, and click on New->Key and name it as StorageDevicePolicies.

4. Now right-click on StorageDevicePolicies and create a New->DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it as WriteProtect.

5. Double-click on WriteProtect and set the Value data to 1.

Now the right-protection for USB drives is enabled on your computer (no restart required) and thus it would not be possible for anyone or any program to add/delete the contents from yourUSB flash drive. Any attempt to copy or download the files onto the USB drive will result in the following error message being displayed.

To revert and remove the write-protection, all you need to do is just change the Value data for WriteProtect (Step-5) from 1 back to 0. Now write access to all the USB devices is re-enabled.

Sometimes it may seem difficult to remember and follow the above mentioned steps each time you want to enable/disable the write protection. Hence as an alternative way, there are many tools available to automatically enable/disable the write-protection feature. One of my favoritetool is USB Write Protect by Naresh Manadhar. Using this tool you can limit write access to your USB drives with just a click of a button.

Read more ...

Order Now

Cash On delivery

Read more ...

Order Now

Cash On delivery

Read more ...

Get Now

Read more ...

Buy Now (Order Now)

Key Features of Transcend Memory Card MicroSDHC 8GB Class 4

• 8 GB Micro SDHC Memory Card
• Class 4 Memory Card
• Built-in Error Correcting Code
• Mechanical Write-protection Switch
• Durability: 10000 insertion/removal cycles

Read more ...

If this is the case, then what is the reason for many people to lose their accounts?

The answer is very simple. They don’t know how to protect themselves from being hacked! In fact most of the people who lose their email accounts are not the victims of hacking but the victims of Trapping. They lose their passwords not because they are hacked by some expert hackers but they are fooled to such an extent that they themselves give away their password.

Are you confused? If so continue reading and you’ll come to know…

Now I’ll mention some of the most commonly used online scams which fool people and make them lose their passwords. I’ll also mention how to protect your email account from these scams.

1. WEBSITE SPOOFING

Website spoofing is the act of creating a website, with the intention of misleading the readers. The website will be created by a different person or organisation (Other than the original) especially for the purposes of cheating. Normally, the website will adopt the design of the target website and sometimes has a similar URL.

For example a Spoofed Website of Yahoo.com appears exactly same as Yahoo Website. So most of the people believe that it is the original site and lose their passwords. The main intention of spoofed websites is to fool users and take away their passwords. For this,the spoofed sites offer fake login pages. These fake login pages resemble the original login pages of sites like Yahoo,Gmail,Orkut etc. Since it resemble’s the original login page people beleive that it is true and give away their username and passwordsby trying to login to their accounts.

Solution:

• Never try to login/access your email account from the sites other than the original site.
• Always type the URL of the site in the address bar to get into the site. Never click on the hyperlink to enter the site.

2. BY USING KEYLOGGERS

The other commonly used method to steal password is by using a Keylogger. A Keylogger is nothing but a spyware. The detailed description of keylogger and it’s usage is discussed in the post Hacking an email account. If you read this post you’ll come to know that it is too easy to steal the password using a keylogger program. If you just access your email account from a computer installed with keylogger, you definitely lose your password. This is because the keylogger records each and every keystroke that you type.

Solution:

Protecting yourselves from a keylogger scam is very easy.Just install a good anti-spyware program and update it regularly. This keeps your PC secure from a keylogger. Also there is a program called Anti-keylogger which is specially designed to detect and remove keyloggers. You can use this program to detect some stealth keyloggers which remain undetected by many anti-spyware programs.

3. ACCESSING YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT FROM CYBER CAFES

Do you access your email from cyber cafes?  Then definitely you are under the risk of loosing your password.In fact many people lose their email account in cyber cafes. For the owner of the cyber cafe it’s just a cakewalk to steal your password. For this he just need’s to install a keylogger on his computers. So when you login to your email account from this PC, you give away your password to the cafe owner. Also there are many Remote Administration Tools (RATs) which can be used to monitor your browsing activities in real time.

This doesn’t mean that you should never use cyber cafes for browsing the internet. I know, not all the cyber cafe owners will be so wicked but it is recommended not to use cafes for accessing confidential information. If it comes to the matter of security never trust anyone, not even your friend. I always use my own PC to login to my accounts to ensure safety.

Read more ...

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the most widely used technology for providing a secure communication between the web client and the web server. Most of us are familiar with many sites such as Gmail, Yahoo etc. using https protocol in their login pages. When we see this, we may wonder what’s the difference between http and https. In simple words HTTP protocol is used for standard communication between the Web server and the client. HTTPS is used for a SECURE communication.

What exactly is Secure Communication ?

Suppose there exists two communication parties A (client) and B (server).

Working of HTTP

When A sends a message to B, the message is sent as a plain text in an unencrypted manner. This is acceptable in normal situations where the messages exchanged are not confidential. But imagine a situation where A sends a PASSWORD to B. In this case, the password is also sent as a plain text. This has a serious security problem because, if an intruder (hacker) can gain unauthorised access to the ongoing communication between Aand B , he can see the PASSWORDS since they remain unencrypted. This scenario is illustrated using the following figure

Now lets see the working of HTTPS

When A sends a PASSWORD (say “mypass“) to B, the message is sent in an encrypted format. The encrypted message is decrypted on B‘s side. So even if the Hacker gains an unauthorised access to the ongoing communication between A and B he gets only the encrypted password (“xz54p6kd“) and not the original password. This is shown below

How is HTTPS implemented ?

HTTPS is implemented using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). A website can implement HTTPS by purchasing an SSL Certificate. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology protects a Web site and makes it easy for the Web site visitors to trust it. It has the following uses

1. An SSL Certificate enables encryption of sensitive information during online transactions.
2. Each SSL Certificate contains unique, authenticated information about the certificate owner.
3. A Certificate Authority verifies the identity of the certificate owner when it is issued.

How Encryption Works ?

Each SSL Certificate consists of a Public key and a Private key. The public key is used to encrypt the information and the private key is used to decrypt it. When your browser connects to a secure domain, the server sends a Public key to the browser to perform the encryption. The public key is made available to every one but the private key(used for decryption) is kept secret. So during a secure communication, the browser encrypts the message using the public key and sends it to the server. The message is decrypted on the server side using the Private key(Secret key).

How to identify a Secure Connection ?
In Internet Explorer, you will see a lock icon  in the Security Status bar. The Security Status bar is located on the right side of the Address bar. You can click the lock to view the identity of the website.

In high-security browsers, the authenticated organization name is prominently displayed and the address bar turns GREEN when an Extended Validation SSL Certificate is detected. If the information does not match or the certificate has expired, the browser displays an error message or warning and the status bar may turn RED.

So the bottom line is, whenever you perform an online transaction such as Credit card payment, Bank login or Email login always ensure that you have a secure communication. A secure communication is a must in these situations. Otherwise there are chances of Phishing using a Fake login Page.

Read more ...

What is SPAM?

Spam is the abuse of electronic messaging systems (including most broadcast media, digital delivery systems) to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately. Most widely recognized form of spam is email spam.

Where do these SPAM come from?

These spam come only from spammers and never from a legitimate user or a company. These spammers send a single email to hundreds (some times thousands or millions) of email addresses at a time. They either send it manually or use spambots to automate the process of spamming.

Why do spammers SPAM?

The main goal of spammers is to send the spam (unsolicited bulk messages) to as many people as possible in order to make profit. For example, John builds a small website to sell an ebook which gives information about weight loss. In order to make sales he needs publicity for his website. Instead of spending money on advertising, John decides to create an email which contains information about his site along with it’s link and send this email to say 100 email addresses in his contact list. If 1 person out of hundred buy this book john gets $10. What if he sends this email to 1000s of email addresses. He gets $100. Imagine, if he sends this email to 1 Million email addresses he gets $100000.

Now I hope you understood the idea behind spamming. So in order to make money, spammers send their advertising emails to as many people as possible without respecting the recipient’s privacy.

From where do SPAMmers get my email address?

On the Internet there exists many sites who collect the email IDs of people and sell them to spammers in bulk. Most often, people sign up for monthly newsletters and take up surveys. This is the time where these scam sites get their email addresses. Also many spammers collect email addresses by using spambots. These spambots collect email addresses from the Internet in order to build mailing lists. Such spambots are web crawlers that can gather email addresses from Web sites, newsgroups, forums, special-interest group (SIG) postings, and chat-room conversations.

Spammers also use the trick of creating Hoax Emails for gathering a huge list of email IDs. For example, a spammer sends a hoax email which says “Forward this Message to Help Severely Burned Child”. This email claims that 11 cents will be donated to the child’s family every time the message is sent to others. Most of the people believe this and start forwarding this hoax email to all of the IDs in their contact list. In this way the email spreads rapidly and eventually when it reaches the creator (spammer), the spammer gets a huge list of valid email addresses in the email header. When you get these kind of hoax emails, you can see for yourself in the email header which contains a huge list of email addresses of all those people to whom the email is being forwarded to. This is one of the effective methods used by spammers to gather email addresses.

Is SPAMming legal?

Spamming is completely illegal. Yet it is really difficult to stop spammers from spamming since they keep moving from one hosting company to another after getting banned. This makes it practically impossible to catch spammers and prosecute them.

How to protect my email account from getting SPAMmed?

The following methods can be used to combat email spam.

1. Use spam filters for your email account. If you’re using email services like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc. then spam filters are used by defaut. Each spam filter has it’s algorithm to detect spam emails and will automatically move them to SPAM folder. This keeps your inbox free from spam. However some spam emails become successful to make their way into the inbox by successfully bypassing the filters.

2. Do not post your email address in public forums, user comments and chat-rooms. Give your email address only to trustworthy websites while signing up for newsletters.

3. While taking up online surveys and filling up feedback forms, it is better not to give your personal email address. Instead singup for a dummy email account and use this for surveys and feedback forms.

4. While posting your contact email address on your website use this format:emailaddress [at] yoursite.com instead of emailaddress@yoursite.com. This protects your email address from being indexed by spambots.

5. Do not respond to hoax messages. When you receive a hoax email, avoid forwarding it to your friends. Examples of hoax messages can be found at www.hoax-slayer.com. If you really want to forward it to your friends, make sure that you use “Bcc” (blind carbon copy) option to send the email. This will hide all the email IDs to which the mail is forwarded to.

Read more ...

1. Email is one of the common ways by which your computer can catch a virus. So it is always recommended to stay away from SPAM. Open only those emails that has it’s origin from a trusted source such as those which comes from your contact list. If you are using your own private email host (other than gmail, yahoo, hotmail etc.) then it is highly recommended that you use a good anti-spam software. And finally NEVER click on any links in the emails that comes from untrusted sources.

2. USB thumb/pen drives is another common way by which viruses spread rapidly. So it is always a good habit to perform a virus scan before copying any data onto your computer. NEVER double-click the pen drive to open it. Instead right-click on it and select the option “open”. This is a safe way to open a pen drive. 

3. Be careful about using MS Outlook. Outlook is more susceptible to worms than other e-mail programs, unless you have efficient Anti-Virus programs running. Use Pegasus or Thunderbird (by Mozilla), or a web-based program such as Hotmail or Yahoo (In Firefox).

4. As we all know, Internet is the main source of all the malicious programs including viruses, worms, trojans etc. In fact Internet contributes to virus infection by up to 80%. So here are the tips for safe surfing habits so that you can ward off virus infection up to the maximum extent.

• Don’t click on pop-up windows that announce a sudden disaster in your city or announce that you’ve won an hourly prize. They are the ways to mislead Internet users and you should never trust them.
• You can also use a pop-up blocker to automatically block those pop-ups.

5. Most of us use search engines like Google to find what we are looking for. It is quite obvious for a malicious website to get listed in the search results. So to avoid visiting those untrusted malicious websites, you can download and install the AVG LinkScanner which is a freeware. This tool can become very handy and will help you to stay away from malicious websites.

6. Install a good antivirus software and keep it updated. Also perform full system scan periodically. It is highly recommended that you turn on the automatic update feature. This is the most essential task to protect your PC from virues. If PC security is your first option then it is recommended that you go for a shareware antivirus software over the free ones. Most of the antivirus supports the Auto-Protect feature that provides realtime security for your PC. Make sure that this feature is turned on.

7. Install a good Antispyware program, that operates against Internet malware and spyware.

8. Never open any email attachments that come from untrusted sources. If it is a picture, text or sound file (these attachments end in the extensions .txt, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .tif, .mp3, .htm, .html, and .avi), you are probably safe, but still do a scan before opening.

9. Do not use disks that other people gave you, even from work. The disk could be infected with a virus. Of course, you can run a virus scan on it first to check it out.

10. Set up your Windows Update to automatically download patches and upgrades. This will allow your computer to automatically download any updates to both the operating system and Internet Explorer. These updates fix security holes in both pieces of software.

11. While you download files from untrusted websites/sources such as torrents, warez etc. make sure that you run a virus scan before executing them.

12. And finally it is recommended not to visit the websites that feature illegal/unwanted stuffs such as cracks, serials, warez etc. since they contribute much in spreading of viruses and other malicious programs.

Read more ...