“Best Countries to Visit ” according to Tourists…

October 23, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Condé Nast Traveller (CNT) just released the results of its annual Readers’ Choice Awards, and for the fifth year in a row, Italy is the No. 1 destination that travellers want to visit.

The awards are based on the ratings and feedback of more than 128,000 readers — the highest level of participation in the magazine’s history.

Other Readers’ Choice Awards include the world’s best cruise lines, hotels, spas, airlines, and much more, all of which you can check out here.

ITALY: Who can resist the call of pasta and beautiful people? Not many, according to the CNT readers who’ve voted for Italy as the world’s best country to travel for five straight years. Italy is all about leisure — sip wine for hours in Venice’s Piazza San Marco, make friends with a hammock on a villa in Tuscany, or find a spot on the cliffs of Riomaggiore with a good book.

iStock / Lukasz Janyst

Riomaggiore, one of the colourful villages of Cinque Terre.

FRANCE: The country that gave us cabaret, Champagne, and hundreds of cheese varietals is one of the most romantic places on earth. In the springtime — an excellent season for a trip to France — the editors of CNT tout Morzine for some of the most beautiful hiking you can imagine. Under two hours by car from Morzine, Lake Annecy is an enchanting detour.

Mny-Jhee / Shutterstock.com

The beauty of Lake Annecy in the French Alps.

AMERICA: CNT readers are highly drawn to America’s glittering metropolises, family-friendly theme parks, and beautiful nature. New York’s Catskill Mountains, Georgia’s Golden Isles, and an investment banker’s hotel passion project in Montana, The Ranch at Rock Creek, are a few of the destinations that the magazine’s editors recommend.

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Autumn in the Adirondacks.

SPAIN: Since Ferran Adria’s ell bulli restaurant rose in Catalonia, Spain has been the world’s undisputed epicentre of cutting edge cuisine. Planning an entire vacation around the fine dining restaurants you want to splurge at and the most famed tapas spots is a good idea. A Fodor’s forum suggests visiting Spain in April for the best weather. You can also catch Barcelona’s food-filled April Fair.

Paella sizzles at Barcelona’s annual April Fair.

GREECE: CNT named Athens, Greece, one of its cities to watch in 2015. In the midst of a financial disaster, a spate of new museums, hip hotels and shops, and pop-ups are spurring a cultural renaissance in the capital city. For travellers, the turquoise waters and salt air of Mykonos will always be a draw.

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A restaurant in Mykonos’ Little Venice neighbourhood.

NEW ZEALAND: This is destination for adventurers. You can rough it in a cabin with no electricity on the beautiful Great Barrier Island, submerge yourself in the healing waters of Maruia Springs, hike through volcanic terrains in Tongariro National Park, or enjoy world-class fly fishing in Queenstown, where you can also get what many say is the best burger on the planet at Fergberger.

Sheep on the mountains of the north island of New Zealand. Shutterstock

THAILAND: Whether you choose to eat your way through Bangkok, island hop around Phuket, or board the glamorous Eastern & Oriental Express, Thailand will seduce you with its vibrant culture, exotic cuisine, and Utopian resorts. Recently there’s been a rise in holistic health and wellness resorts, where you can detox and refuel with yoga and Ayurvedic spa treatments.

Floating food purveyors tend to their stock………Shutterstock

TURKEY: Go to Turkey to see the gorgeous mosques, majestic castles, and natural wonders such as Pamukkale (aka ‘Cotton Castle’), a plethora of glittering white travertines filled with mineral-rich water. Also go for the newly built Soho House in Istanbul’s romantic Beyoğlu district.

Pamukkale, natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey.

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INDIA: From the sandy beaches of Goa to the ancient Buddhist caves of Ajanta, the sites to see in the second most populous country in the world are endless. Far from the crowds of Mumbai, the northern Kashmir is often described as India’s Switzerland, where the pace is slower the skiing is quite good.

The peaceful ebb of Dal Lake in Kashmir Shutterstock

SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town ranked No. 6 on CNT’s Readers’ Choice Awards for the world’s best cities. With the glorious Table Mountain and one of South African hotelier Sol Kerzner’s luxurious One&Only resorts, it’s certainly a draw, but the vineyards of Franschhoek and the safari lodges of Kruger National Park also beckon.

Table mountain, one of the seven new world wonders of nature, in Cape Town.

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VIETNAM: Wandering chef Anthony Bourdain says going to Vietnam changed his life. ‘It just seemed like another planet; a delicious one that sort of sucked me in and never let go,’ he told CNT. We’d be happy just to sip Vietnamese coffee and eat pho all day, but the adventurous can descend into the world’s largest cave, Hang Son Doong, in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

Rice fields in Mu Cang Chai, Vietnam. Shutterstock

SRI LANKA: If you’re lost, this is where you can find yourself. Fill a backpack and take the island’s ‘charmingly decrepit’ railway to wherever. Buy fritters and curry dishes from train hawkers, look out onto seemingly endless fields of tea, and hop off to see sites like the Golden Temple of Dambulla and the famous markets of Pettah.

A train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy travels through the highlands of Sri Lank

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NETHERLANDS: Forget why twenty-somethings flock here. Go to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and other crannies of this gorgeous country for the incredible museums, unparalleled coffee, and stunning countrysides. We suggest splurging on a stay at the newly built Waldorf Astoria — a collection of six townhouses with a Guerlain Spa — on Amsterdam’s oldest and most storied canal.

Dusk in Amsterdam. Shutterstock

MEXICO: Look out Spain and Italy, Mexico’s culinary scene has entered the ring. The country logged three restaurants — Pujol, Quintonil, and Biko — on the 2015 World’s 50 Best Restaurants List. All three are in Mexico City.

Mariachi on the streets of Campeche. Shutterstock

PORTUGAL: Small but mighty, the Spain neighbour has a distinct culture, cuisine, and language. In the summer, head to the western village of Comporta, Portugal’s answer to Ibiza. And no trip to the country is complete without a glass of port wine from the Douro Valley.

Wooden footbridge to Camilo beach. Shutterstock

IRELAND: From castle hotels to boisterous pubs and the greenest countrysides your eyes will ever behold, Ireland is a feast for the senses. CNT recommends renting a car and taking the world’s longest road trip on the Wild Atlantic Way.

Nightlife at Dublin’s Temple Bar quarter. Shutterstock Patricia Hofmeester

JAPAN: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka are a few of the hot spots to explore in Japan. Home to more than 2,000 breathtaking Buddhist temples and shrines, Kyoto was voted the No. 1 city in the world by Travel and Leisure magazine this year.

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Three geishas walk on a street of Gion in Kyoto.

CANADA: From wilderness camping on Vancouver Island to a stay at North America’s oldest Ritz-Carlton in Montreal, Canada nets travellers of all types. A ride down the toboggan lanes in Quebec City is a must in the wintertime.

Quebec City in winter. Shutterstock

MOROCCO: The home of Casablanca is a treasure trove of spice markets, surrealist landscapes, jaw-dropping mosques, and world-class surfing. The cuisine is like none other, with a mix of Arab, African, Persian, and French flavours.

Camel caravan going through the sand dunes in the Sahara Desert.

Shutterstock

Source…..APRIL WALLOGA http://www.businessinsider.com.au

Natarajan

Know this Word …” Social Security”

October 22, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Social Security

A general term used to refer to the programs mandated in the United States by the Social Security Act of 1935. With the amendments made to the act since then, it now consists of benefits for old age, survivors, and disability. Through social security, programs that provide assistance to certain segments of the public are administrated, such as Public Assistance.

Use Social Security in a sentence

After she retired, my mother started collecting Social Security payments in order to supplement her other forms of retirement income.
There are several people who rely on social security in the United States to meet all of there needs, they receive money from the government to help them survive either after retirement or if they become disabled and unable to work.
Your social security number is very important in the United States; it’s a number that signifies who you are to those who don’t know you.
Source….www.businessdictionary.com

Natarajan

Daily Views of Earth on NASA Website….

October 21, 2015Natarajan1 Comment

Earth rotates through an entire day as captured in this animation of 22 still images taken on Sept. 17, 2015 by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft.

Credits: NASA

NASA launched a new website Monday so the world can see images of the full, sunlit side of the Earth every day. The images are taken by a NASA camera one million miles away on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Air Force.

Once a day NASA will post at least a dozen new color images of Earth acquired from 12 to 36 hours earlier by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC). Each daily sequence of images will show the Earth as it rotates, thus revealing the whole globe over the course of a day. The new website also features an archive of EPIC images searchable by date and continent.

The primary objective of NOAA’s DSCOVR mission is to maintain the nation’s real-time solar wind monitoring capabilities, which are critical to the accuracy and lead time of space weather alerts and forecasts from NOAA. NASA has two Earth-observing instruments on the spacecraft. EPIC’s images of Earth allow scientists to study daily variations over the entire globe in such features as vegetation, ozone, aerosols, and cloud height and reflectivity.

EPIC is a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope. The color Earth images are created by combining three separate single-color images to create a photographic-quality image equivalent to a 12-megapixel camera. The camera takes a series of 10 images using different narrowband filters — from ultraviolet to near infrared — to produce a variety of science products. The red, green and blue channel images are used to create the color images. Each image is about 3 megabytes in size.

“The effective resolution of the DSCOVR EPIC camera is somewhere between 6.2 and 9.4 miles (10 and 15 kilometers),” said Adam Szabo, DSCOVR project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

Since Earth is extremely bright in the darkness of space, EPIC has to take very short exposure images (20-100 milliseconds). The much fainter stars are not visible in the background as a result of the short exposure times.

The DSCOVR spacecraft orbits around the L1 Lagrange point directly between Earth and the sun. This orbit keeps the spacecraft near the L1 point and requires only occasional small maneuvers, but its orbit can vary from 4 to 15 degrees away from the sun-Earth line over several years.

EPIC was built by Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center, in Palo Alto, California. Using an 11.8-inch (30-centimeter) telescope and 2048 x 2048 CCD detector, EPIC measures in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared areas of the spectrum. The data from all 10 wavelengths are posted through a website hosted by the Atmospheric Science Data Center at NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. All images are in the public domain.

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives, and safeguard our future. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth’s interconnected natural systems with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.

For daily images from EPIC, visit:

http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/

For more information about the DSCOVR mission, visit:

http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR/

Source……www.nasa.gov

Image of the Day… Earth Art From Australia as seen from International Space Station

October 21, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

On Oct. 12-13, 2015, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly took a series of seventeen photographs from the International Space Station during a single flyover of Australia. This first photo of the series was posted with the caption, “#EarthArt in one pass over the #Australian continent. Picture 1 of 17. #YearInSpace”.

Image Credit: NASA

Source…..www.nasa.gov

A 23-year-old Google employee lives in a truck in the company’s parking lot…!!!

October 20, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Justin Sullivan/GettyGoogle’s headquarters.

When 23-year-old Brandon S. headed from Massachusetts to the Bay Area in mid-May to start work, he opted out of settling into an overpriced San Francisco apartment.

Instead, he moved into a 128-square-foot truck.

The idea started to formulate while Brandon — who asked to withhold his last name and photo to maintain his privacy on campus — was interning at Google last summer and living in the cheapest corporate housing offered: two bedrooms and four people for about $US65 a night (roughly $US2,000 a month), he explains to Business Insider.

“I realised I was paying an exorbitant amount of money for the apartment I was staying in — and I was almost never home,” he says. “It’s really hard to justify throwing that kind of money away. You’re essentially burning it — you’re not putting equity in anything and you’re not building it up for a future — and that was really hard for me to reconcile.”

Brandon S.

Brandon lives in this 2006 Ford, which cost him exactly $10,000.

He started laying the groundwork for living out of a truck immediately, as he knew he’d be returning to work full-time in San Francisco. A school-year later, he was purchasing a 16-foot 2006 Ford with $US157,000 miles on it.

It cost him an even $US10,000, which he was able to pay upfront with his signing bonus. His projected ‘break-even point’ is October 21, according to the live-updating ‘savings clock‘ he created on his blog, ‘Thoughts from Inside the Box.’

Brandon S.

The dark, minimalist space includes only a bed, a coat rack, and dresser.

His one fixed cost is truck insurance — $US121 a month — as he doesn’t use electricity, and his phone bill is handled by Google.

‘I don’t actually own anything that needs to be plugged in,’ he explains on his blog. ‘The truck has a few built-in overhead lights, and I have a motion-sensitive, battery-powered lamp I use at night. I have a small battery pack that I charge up at work every few days, and I use that to charge my headphones and cell phone at night. My work laptop will last the night on a charge, and then I charge it at work.’

The space is sparse and minimal, he says: ‘The main things that I have are a bed, a dresser, and I built a coat rack to hang up my clothes. Besides that, and a few stuffed animals, there’s pretty much nothing in there.’

Brandon can shower and eat on Google’s campus.

As for food and showers, that’s all on Google’s campus. He eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner at work, and showers every morning in the corporate gym post-workout.

So few expenses means significant savings: ‘I’m going for a target of saving about 90% of my after-tax income, and throwing that in student loans and investments,’ he says.

He graduated with $US22,434 worth of student loans, and has paid it down to $US16,449 over the course of four months. ‘As a conservative estimate (and taking bonuses into consideration), I expect to have them paid off within the next six months, saving thousands of dollars over the standard 10-year, or even 20-year plans,’ he says.

Additionally, saving on rent has allowed him to dine at nice restaurants and enjoy San Francisco more than if he opted for living in an apartment.

Brandon S.

Inside the box.

Another perk: His commute from a parking spot on the periphery of Google’s campus is a few seconds on foot, rather than a few hours sitting in San Francisco traffic.

Besides one friendly run-in with security after getting home late from a movie one evening, his truck lifestyle hasn’t been a problem. He was greeted by about 10 security personnel that night, but after showing them his corporate badge — and even offering to move the truck — they apologised for waking him and even said he had a ‘sweet setup.’

The trade off for such low-cost housing is space — and modern conveniences such as heat, air conditioning, and a bathroom — but Brandon says the 128-square-foot space is larger than any of the bedrooms he’s ever lived in prior, and he’s usually only home to sleep.

Brandon S.

Brandon is really only home to sleep.

The truck lifestyle provides more than financial freedom. It forces him outside of his comfort zone, an essential learning experience considering he hopes to travel the world in the future.

‘If I do plan on travelling the world, I’ll need to be comfortable with unconventional living situations, and this is certainly a good place to start,’ he writes. ‘Plus, there is never going to be a better time in my life for me to try this. I’m young, flexible, and I don’t have to worry about this decision affecting anyone else in my life.’

He’s not sure how permanent life inside a box will be, so he hasn’t put a deadline on it. ‘It’s been five months so far, and I don’t see it stopping soon for any reason,’ he says.

Business Insider has reached out to Google for comment on this story and will update if we hear back.

Source….KATHLEEN ELKINS http://www.businessinsider.com.au

Natarajan

These are the songs that make astronaut Scott Kelly feel less alone while travelling through space

October 20, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Scott Kelly recently broke the record for most time spent in space by a US astronaut, logging his 383rd day aboard the International Space Station. He’s also on pace to break another record on October 29th, when he spends his 216th consecutive day orbiting the earth — the most in a row.

For many people, this seems like a dream. The idea of floating up in space, where so few people in the history of the world have ever been, is intoxicating. But it can, of course, get intensely lonely, Kelly says.

“A year really is a long time…a long time to never be able to go outside, or feel the sun on your face, or to see your family through anything besides a computer screen,” he muses.

And one of the ways he stays connected to the world below is through music.

“When living in a place isolated from the rest of the world like here aboard the International Space Station, [music] becomes more significant,” he tells Spotify.

Kelly has created a playlist that reflects his space journey so far. It spans many genres, but there is a contemplative wistfulness that runs through it. It’s not hard to imagine listening to these songs as you stare across the void back at your home planet.

And to be honest, it’s a bit dorky — the kind of earnest emotion unconcerned with looking cool.

Here are the tracks, which Kelly suggests you listen to in order:

Stay — Jasmine Thompson
Lose Yourself — Eminem
Feel This Moment — Pitbull and Christina Aguilera
Speed of Sound — Coldplay
These Are Days — 10,000 Maniacs
Hazy Shade of Winter — The Bangles
Chasing Cars — Snow Patrol
Fire And Rain — James Taylor
Imagine — John Lennon
Lights — Ellie Goulding
Black — Pearl Jam
Dark Horse — Katy Perry and Juicy J
In Your Eyes — Peter Gabriel
Just Like Heaven — The Cure
Wish You Were Here — Pink Floyd
1. Leader of The Band — Dan Fogelberg
2. Babylon — David Grey
3. Hotel California — Eagles
4. Adagio for Strings — Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, and the New York Philharmonic
5. The Promise — Michael Nyman
6. Sunrise — Norah Jones
7. A Thousand Years — Christina Perri
8. Landslide — Fleetwood Mac
9. Wide Open Spaces — Dixie Chicks
10. Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro) — Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli
11. Brand New Day — Sting
12. Kryptonite — 3 Doors Down
13. Thunder Road — Bruce Springsteen

Source…..www.businessinsider.com

Natarajan

Scott Kelly Becomes U.S. Astronaut to Spend the Most Time in Space…

October 17, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Just before the 15th anniversary of continuous human presence on the International Space Station on Nov. 2, 2015, U.S. astronaut and commander of the current Expedition 45 crew, Scott Kelly, is breaking spaceflight records. On Friday, Oct. 16, Kelly begins his 383rd day living in space, surpassing U.S. astronaut Mike Fincke’s record of 382 cumulative days. Kelly will break another record Oct. 29 on his 216th consecutive day in space, when he will surpass astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria’s record for the single-longest spaceflight by an American. Lopez-Alegria spent 215 days in space as commander of the Expedition 14 crew in 2006.

In this July 12 photograph, Kelly is seen inside the Cupola, a special module which provides a 360-degree viewing of the Earth and the space station. On each additional day he spends in orbit as part of his one-year mission, Kelly will add to his record and to our understanding of the effects of long-duration spaceflight.

Kelly is scheduled to return to Earth on March 3, 2016, by which time he will have compiled 522 total days living in space during four missions.

Image Credit: NASA

Source….www.nasa.gov

Natarajan

இமெயிலில் வரும் வில்லங்கங்கள்!…

October 16, 2015October 16, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

இ-மெயில் மோசடிகள் மீண்டும் தலைப்புச் செய்திகளில் இடம்பிடிக்கத் தொடங்கியுள்ளன. அமெரிக்காவின் பிரபலமான ‘ஃபோர்ப்ஸ்’ பத்திரிகை இணையதளத்தில் இடம்பெற்றுள்ள கட்டுரை இப்படித்தான் தொடங்குகிறது!

‘பிஷிங்’ வகையான மோசடியை இப்படிக் குறிப்பிடும் அந்தக் கட்டுரை, பத்து முன்னணி மோசடிகளையும் பட்டியலிட்டு எச்சரித்துள்ளது.

இது அமெரிக்கர்களுக்கான எச்சரிக்கை என்று நம்மவர்கள் கண்டுகொள்ளாமல் இருக்க முடியாது. ஏனெனில் பிஷிங் மோசடி உலகம் தழுவிய பிரச்சினையாக இருப்பதால் எல்லா நாடுகளில் உள்ள இணையவாசிகளும் இதற்கு இலக்காகும் ஆபத்து இருக்கிறது.

அதோடு இந்தியாவில் இன்னமும் இந்த வகை மோசடி குறித்துப் பரவலான விழிப்புணர்வு இல்லாததால் நமக்கு இரட்டிப்பு ஆபத்து இருப்பதாகக்கூடச் சொல்லலாம்.

ஏற்கெனவே பிஷிங் மோசடி இங்கு பலவிதமான பாதிப்பை ஏற்படுத்திக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது. அவற்றைப் பார்க்கும் முன்னர், முதலில் பிஷிங் என்றால் என்னவென்று சுருக்கமாகப் பார்த்து விடலாம்.

பொய்யான இ-மெயில் மூலம் ஏமாற்றிப் பயனாளிகளிடம் இருந்து வங்கிக் கணக்கு எண், பாஸ்வேர்டு போன்ற பாதுகாப்பான தகவல்களைக் கறந்துவிடும் முயற்சிகளே பிஷிங் மோசடி என்று குறிப்பிடப்படுகின்றன.

பெரும்பாலும் முன்னணி வங்கிகள் மற்றும் நிறுவனங்களிடம் இருந்து வந்திருக்கும் மெயில் போன்ற எண்ணத்தை ஏற்படுத்தும் இந்த மெயில்கள், ஒருவருடைய வங்கிக் கணக்கு அல்லது கிரெடிட் கார்டு எண் மற்றும் பாஸ்வேர்டை சமர்ப்பிக்குமாறு கேட்டுக்கொள்ளும்.

இவற்றை நிஜம் என நம்பிப் பாஸ்வேர்டு போன்ற விவரங்களைச் சமர்ப்பித்தால் பின்னணியில் உள்ள டிஜிட்டல் களவாணிகள் கைவரிசை காட்டி, இணையவாசிகளின் கணக்கில் இருந்து பணத்தை அபகரித்து விடுவார்கள்.

வடிவமைப்பிலும் சரி, வாசகங்களிலும் சரி இந்த மெயில்கள் அச்சு அசல் உண்மையான மெயில்கள் போலவே தோற்றம் தரும் என்பதால், பல இணையவாசிகள் ஏமாறும் வாய்ப்பு இருக்கிறது. அதிலும் இவற்றின் உள்ளடக்கம் இணையவாசிகள் மத்தியில் ஒரு பதற்றத்தை ஏற்படுத்தி, உடனே செயல்படும் வகையில் அமைந்திருக்கும் என்பதால், பார்த்தவுடன் ஒரு சிலர் யோசிக்காமலேயே பாஸ்வேர்டு உள்ளிட்ட விவரங்களைக் கண்ணை மூடிக்கொண்டு கொடுத்துவிடும் நிலை இருக்கிறது.

‘உங்கள் வங்கிக் கணக்கு முடக்கப்பட உள்ளது, அதைத் தவிர்க்க இங்கே கிளிக் செய்து புதுப்பித்துக்கொள்ளவும்’ என்பன போன்ற எச்சரிக்கையைப் பார்த்தால் திடுக்கிடத்தானே செய்யும். அதில்தான் பலரும் ஏமாறுகின்றனர்.

பல நேரங்களில் இவை பெரும் பரிசுத்தொகை விழுந்திருப்பதாக அறிவித்து, அதைப் பெற வங்கிக் கணக்கு விவரங்கள் தேவை என ஆசை வலை விரிப்பதும் உண்டு.

சூழ்நிலைக்கு ஏற்ப அப்போதைய செய்திகளைப் பயன்படுத்திக்கொண்டு ஏமாற்றுவதும் நடக்கிறது. உதாரணத்துக்குச் சில காலம் முன் யு.டி.ஐ. வங்கி, ஆக்சிஸ் வங்கி எனப் பெயர் மாறியபோது இதைப் பயன்படுத்திக் கொண்டு, பெயர் மாறிய வங்கியில் கணக்கைப் புதுப்பித்துக்கொள்ளவும் எனக் கூறி ஏமாற்ற முயற்சித்தனர்.

இந்த மெயிலுக்கும் ஆக்சிஸ் வங்கிக்கும் எந்தத் தொடர்பும் இல்லை. உண்மையில் ஒரு போதும் வங்கிகள், இது போன்ற மெயில்களை அனுப்புவதில்லை. பாஸ்வேர்டு போன்ற விவரங்களை வங்கிகள் இப்படிக் கேட்பதற்கான அவசியமே இல்லை.

ஆனால், இணையவாசிகளின் பலவீனத்தைப் பயன்படுத்திக்கொண்டு இ-மெயில் மூலம் வலைவிரிக்கும் முயற்சி, டிஜிட்டல் களவாணிகள் அதிகம் நாடும் உத்தியாகவே இருக்கிறது.

இந்தியாவைப் பொருத்தவரை இந்த வகையான சைபர் தாக்குதல்கள் நடப்பு ஆண்டில் இரு மடங்காகி இருப்பதாக ‘பிரைஸ்வாட்டர் கூப்பர்ஸ்’ அறிக்கை தெரிவிக்கிறது. தனி நபர்கள் மட்டும் அல்லாமல், நிறுவனங்களும் இந்தத் தாக்குதலுக்கு இலக்காகின்றன.

இவ்வளவு ஏன், சில மாதங்களுக்கு முன் கர்நாடக மாநில உயர் போலீஸ் அதிகாரி ஒருவரே, இப்படிப் பிஷிங் தாக்குதலுக்கு உள்ளாகிக் கிரெடிட் கார்டு மூலம் 12,000 ரூபாயை இழந்தார். தனியார் வங்கி வாடிக்கையாளர் ஒருவர் பிஷிங் மூலம் பணம் இழந்த சம்பவம் நீதிமன்ற வழக்காகி இருக்கிறது.

இதில் கவலை தரும் விஷயம் என்ன என்றால் இந்தியாவில் பிஷிங் மோசடிக்கு இலக்காகும் பலர், அது பற்றி அறியாமலேயே இருப்பதாகவும் உண்மையில் பாதி அளவு மோசடிகளே புகார் செய்யப்படுவதாகவும் ஒரு அறிக்கை தெரிவிக்கிறது.

இந்தியாவில் டிஜிட்டல்மயம் தீவிரமாகி வரும் நிலையிலும், இ-காமர்ஸ் மற்றும் டிஜிட்டல் வங்கி சேவை பயன்பாடு அதிகரித்து வரும் நிலையிலும் இத்தகைய மோசடிகள் அதிகரிப்பதற்கான அபாயம் உள்ளதாகச் சைபர் வல்லுநர்கள் எச்சரிக்கின்றனர். எனவே இணையவாசிகள் எச்சரிக்கையாக இருப்பது நல்லது.

பொதுவாக மோசடி மெயில் வலையில் விழாமல் இருக்க வல்லுநர்கள் சொல்லும் வழிகள் இவை:

# அறிமுகமில்லா இடங்களில் இருந்து வரும் மெயில்களைத் திறக்க வேண்டாம். அவற்றில் உள்ள இணைப்புகளில் இன்னும் எச்சரிக்கை தேவை.

# தனியே எட்டிப்பார்க்கும் பாப் அப் விண்டோ மூலம் தகவல் கோரும் பக்கங்களில் எந்த விவரங்களையும் சமர்ப்பிக்க வேண்டாம்.

# போன் அல்லது இ-மெயில் மூலம் பாஸ்வேர்டை தெரிவிக்க வேண்டாம்.

# பாஸ்வேர்ட் போன்றவை மிகவும் பாதுகாப்பானவை. வங்கி ஊழியர்களுக்குக்கூட அவை தெரியாது. எனில், யாரோ கேட்கும்போது ஏன் கொடுக்க வேண்டும் என யோசியுங்கள்.

# மெயில் மற்றும் குறுஞ்செய்தி மூலம் வரும் இணைப்புகளைக் கிளிக் செய்ய வேண்டாம். அதிகாரப்பூர்வ இணைய முகவரிகளை நாடவும்.

# பாஸ்வேர்டை அடிக்கும் முன் முகவரியில் பாதுகாப்புத் தன்மையை உணர்த்தும் கூடுதல் ‘எஸ்’ ( ‘https://’ )இருக்கிறதா என உறுதி செய்துகொள்ளவும்.

# ஒருவேளை உங்கள் வங்கியிடம் இருந்து மெயில் வந்திருக்கலாம் எனச் சந்தேகம் இருந்தாலும்கூட அதனடிப்படையில் செயல்படும் முன், முதலில் வங்கியைத் தொடர்புகொண்டு உறுதி செய்துகொள்ளுங்களேன்.

Source…. சைபர் சிம்மன் …www.tamil.thehindu.com

Natarajan

Singapore Airlines joins Qantas with launch of a 19-hour flight: Non-stop route to New York set to open in 2018 ….

October 15, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

In-flight entertainment systems will need to be top quality in the future as ultra-long non-stop routes are becoming all the rage.

Qantas announced a non-stop 19-hour flight between Australia and the UK within two years – and now Singapore Airlines is set to launch a non-stop journey that’s the same, gruelling length.

In a statement this week Singapore Airlines announced that it would resume offering 19-hour flights from Singapore to New York in 2018.

The carrier previously operated the long haul route until 2013.

Singapore Airlines says that due to demand the service will resume with the help of a brand new aircraft.

The plane in question will be Airbus’ new ‘ultra-long range’ version of its A350-900, of which Singapore Airlines will be the launch customer.

The high-tech newly converted planes will have the capability of flying up to 19 hours using the increased fuel capacity of its system from 141,000 litres to 165,000 litres.

Our customers have been asking us to re-start non-stop Singapore-US flights and we are pleased that Airbus was able to offer the right aircraft to do so in a commercially viable manner,’ said Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong.

The airline has placed an order for 67 of the Airbus A350s, and as more of the efficient planes are added to the fleet, the plan is to resume the 19-hour Singapore-LA route in the near future as well.

At the moment, fliers wishing to make the 8,700-nautical-mile journey to the Big Apple from Singapore have to face the delights of a 22-hour journey, with at least one connection.

LA-bound passengers have a slightly shorter ordeal, with the trip currently taking around 17 hours or more, also with a stop.

Battle is on: Qantas also plans to offer 19-hour flights – from Perth to London

The news comes after Qantas revealed plans to offer a non-stop 19-hour flight between Australia and the UK within two years.

If it does launch before Singapore Airlines’ 19-hour route it will briefly give Qantas the crown of operating the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight.

The airline’s chief executive Alan Joyce said they aim to fly between Perth and London using its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner by 2017.

‘This opens up direct service from Australia to Europe for the first time,’ he said.

The potential flight path would need two pairs of pilots, extra cabin crew and a proper rest area for airline staff.

Ever Wondered How Astronauts Get Into Their Spacesuits….?

October 11, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

photo credit: brownpau/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

It turns out it’s even harder to get into a spacesuit than getting into a pair of skinny jeans after a few drinks.

NASA has released a video of astronaut Peggy Whitson putting on her spacesuit before an underwater training session. The video was filmed earlier this summer at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. It’s fairly understandable that it’s a bit of a pain to put on when you appreciate the amount of equipment it has to hold. Essentially acting as a one-man spaceship, it has multiple layers of insulation, oxygen supplies, a power supply, communication equipment, and even an emergency propulsion system.

Source….www.iflscience.com

Natarajan

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