Lavanya Deepak

I was trying to learn a bit of Sockets programming with C# and as a test tool, I have made a small opensource product called 'Whois Helper'. Check out the screenshot of the same below:

• Built-in static database (embedded resource) of Whois servers for all TLDs in the world.
• An option for the user to override the built-in server and query the custom server.
• Optionally copy the output (automatically) to clipboard.

OpenDNS is an amazing cloud based computing infrastructure where in you can configure your internet enabled devices to use that service and through the best engineered anycast DNS service by the team, you can ensure your living room is safe and secure from malware and unwanted websites.

I have made two small opensource utilities and have made the first draft of the same available through Codeplex (under Microsoft Public License). They are the following:

1. Codeplex Share URL: https://opendnsutils.codeplex.com/
2. autoupdate.php. You just need to host it on your WAMP or anywhere and it would pick your address and update to Dns-o-Matic (and hence OpenDNS). This comes in handy similar to OpenDNS updater.
3. When configuring OpenDNS on corporate laptops, it is a common problem that when we connect to our corporate networks, DNS configuration fails and we have to manually rollback the settings. Again we have to repeat the step in reverse when we are back at home. I have made a simple Windows Utility (using .NET framework 4.5) which manages this. If the system uses custom DNS servers, I am trying to preserve them too. It just uses a simple XML file to save the preferences and OpenDNS IPs:

1. Five questions with Deepak Kumar Vasudevan
2. Cross platform cloud based IP Updater

I have been using Web2Project for planning my personal and professional tasks for a few years now. Now I have bifurcated the tools into the following:

1. Project Pier
2. Address Book

For me, I had to send my weekly time sheets to the employer along with a word document highlighting the details of the work sent. Instead of being another element in the crowd to use one of those routine methods of visiting a fax machine in the front office, I just thought I would innovate on a quick browser based utility which would pick up the documents, format them neatly, send one copy to the employer and archive one copy with us for our reference.

I am sharing one stripped down baseline version of this utility here (code shared through Github Gist).

You can run using any PHP version (5.2 or above). You need Interfax username and password for the same.

Several years back, I had written a small review on a .NET Encryption library called 'XCrypt'. I have also been recommending this library to most of them in discussion forums since it has an elegant presentation and wrapper on the cryptography layer of .NET base class library. Unfortunately, the original article referred in the article has an update date of 2003 which was turning back several users. Today I saw another writer publishing an article about two additional encryption algorithms with their implementation in C#. It just struck me, why shouldn't I take a proactive stand in putting the new kid into XCrypt and giving it a new lease of life.

My first humble initiative is here (a query to CodeProject webmaster) and as per their directions, I have written the new XCrypt article as an alternative proposal to the classic legendary XCrypt. I am glad to have done a small service to the legendary encryption library of .NET.

The URL for the new article is available here. Incidentally the accompanying test application in the application turns to be one of my maiden venture in Windows forms programming. Hence do feel to share your observations, bug reports, healthy comments and constructive criticisms towards the same. Due to pressures of time, you may not be elected for a personalized response but rest assured that due diligence attention would be given your suggestion with an appropriate feasibility analysis towards incorporating the points in your note.

OpenDNS, the pioneers in protective family shield and undeniably uncrowned leaders in parental controls and fail-safe fault-free non-authoritative name resolution (DNS) services are ushering in with another innovative service 'Umbrella'.

Stay update for the release notes on Umbrella by subscribing at http://www.umbrella.com/

If you are not using OpenDNS yet, it is almost akin in writing your personally identifiable information in the notice-board of your community complex. With the amount of 'bad things' that are spread across the Internet, OpenDNS is a must for any computer -- business or personnel. You ought not go online without fortifying its perimeters with OpenDNS.

We have also emphasized this thought as part of 'Best Practices for Local Data Organization'.

I was looking at a discussion forum where some one had asked about recovery of data before the hard disk is upgraded. I just thought I would share a related thought on best practices in local (private) computing practices. This can also be applied to our cloud drives like Google, Skydrive and Dropbox.

Once upon a time people used to partition hard drives into C:/ D:/ E:/ and F:/. Optionally because 32 bit computers may not be able to comfortably address larger volumes. Nowadays when you buy a computer from Bestbuy or other stores, it just comes pre-loaded with a default operating system (and I admit it would also be a defunct* operating system) along with a single drive.

*Missing security software, reduced functionality desktop office software.

I would suggest instead of scattering our data all across the computer it is better to follow unix practice in defining our custom root folder (say by username) and narrow down through the same. This way, the separation between system and our application data is distinct. This also helps achieve flexible and seamless backup besides the best data recovery in case of disasters.

An example from my local computer would be:

1. Install your preferred Anti-Security software in case of Windows. For Ubuntu and Linux users fortify it by appropriately disabling the daemons.
2. Scotty from WinPatrol (http://www.winpatrol.com/) is the most recommended tool to ensure no application installs or hijacks your computer settings without your knowledge.
3. Configure your computer's DNS to route through OpenDNS. This ensure safe surfing from malware websites. You may like to refer my previous post on parental control configuration. Following is a a sample block page on my computer for a bad website suggested in Google Search results. I would also suggest a periodic review of your OpenDNS account to ensure safe surfing from your home-office network.