How Can You Detect Fake Rupee Notes? Check out Paisabolthahai!

With the ATMs mushrooming everywhere, many of us do not roam around with deep pockets. Wherever we go, we just carry these slim ATM/Debit cards or Credit cards to purchase the stuff we want. However, there may be times when we have to transact rupee notes at some places. But, not many of us bother to check whether the rupee note we give or receive is genuine or fake. Years back, I have seen some shoppers scrutinising the rupee notes by rising them above their heads and squinting at something on the note or touch and feel the rupeenotes to check their genuineness. These days, I see no one doing that! Probably, we believe that our rupee notes are printed using hi-tech machines and are completely fool proof. Or, a lot of us may not how how to check whether our Rupee note is fake or not.

As per the latest reports from Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) that issues the currency notes in India, Fake or counterfeited rupee notes are on the rise within the country. In the year 2010- 2011 alone, about 435, 607 forged rupee notes were detected by RBI and other banks in India! Most of these forged notes seep in to our country from the neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. The counterfeiters in these foreign countries use ultra-sophisticated rupee printing machines that print top quality rupee notes that are hard to detect for its fake nature.

In a measure to curb the inflow of fake rupee notes, RBI has launched a website named Paisabolthahai. This website can help us people to identify and detect the fake notes that come to our hand. RBI believes that one of the best ways to curb the fake rupee notes is, people developing a habit to check these notes for genuineness regularly. I believe, by all means, this is a great initiative by RBI and we have to learn to check the Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes, as there are high chances of faking these notes.

Why should we check the genuineness of the rupee notes? Reason no.1 is, even when you get hold of such fake notes without your knowledge, there is absolutely NO exchange Value for these notes. Reason No. 2 is, printing or circulating these forged notes is a punishable offence.

RBI is taking every measure to design and print rupee notes that includes a lot of security features in them. Now, the onus is on us to verify whether the notes we receive have those security features intact. That way, I found Paisabolthahai to be a simple website and very enlightening. Here, you can learn about various denominations of the rupee notes like Rs.1000, Rs.500, Rs.50, Rs.20 and Rs.10 and its security features in detail. Also, the site has links to videos or films made by RBI in several Indian languages that will educate people on ways to check the security features of the rupee notes.

I'm sure you will take some time out to spread the word about this website and also check it out to learn about our rupee notes. Let us, in a small way, help RBI in curbing the fake notes from our country.

How Facebook Makes Money By Using Your Data?

Facebook is one of the best things that happened in the recent years. It is one of the drawing powers of this decade (along with Twitter and Linked In) with millions of people joining the social network every moment. No doubt, Facebook gives us a great opportunity to look beyond boundaries and help us connect with people scattered around the world. It also helps small businesses drum up their businesses to a great deal and help them play and win in the Global stage. All's well! But, does it stop right there?

For most of us, Facebook is a fun tool, because it is FREE and easily connects us to our friends, old classmates, relatives and other networks. As per the latest records, Facebook has 900 million+ active users. These users fall into any of these three major categories. 1. Consumers (like you and me) 2. Advertisers 3. App Developers. Facebook proves a boon for Advertisers and App Developers and help them gain great bucks in a short frame of time.

But, what about for us consumers who regularly login to Facebook and enjoy its services for FREE. We spend a lot of time on Facebook and share our updates, photos, videos and also take a quick peek at others' updates and photos - All for FREE. We pump in so much of our private data on a regular basis without worrying about the fact that Facebook is making great bucks out of mine and your data! So, have you ever wondered how Facebook makes money with a huge chunk of FREE consumers signing up every moment somewhere in the world? It's by Social Network Advertising!

Internet Advertising
You may be aware that Google and Yahoo are forerunners in Internet Advertising. You see a lot of Google Ads on the websites you browse. Online Advertisers can place their Ads based on the content of the web page that may catch the eyes of the visitors, which may result in buying the service or product. Well, the best part of Internet Advertising is, it is quick, often inexpensive and the reach is beyond geographical boundaries. After the launch of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, Social Network Advertising too has become a smashing hit!

Small Businesses Gain and Win on FB!
Small businesses especially the online ones, see Facebook as one of the quickest and hottest venues for Advertising than TV or Print Ads. Most of the small businesses have a Facebook Fan page where they can interact with their Fans and potential customers about their products and services. So, how much does a Facebook Ad cost? The pricing for Facebook Ads differ and Small businesses can pay as minimum as $5/ day per Ad and get started. If you run a small business and plan to advertise on Facebook, check out FBAdsLab page. Well, whether buying Facebook Ads will reap profit for your business is a different subject that has to be tested over time. However, one must agree that Facebook does give a crucial starting point for any business to widen its customer network.

How do you help Facebook Earn Money?
As a regular user of Facebook, you might find these Facebook Ads (appear on the right hand side of every page) quite annoying. But, Facebook makes huge money with these Ad revenues! So, how do YOU help in this Facebook revenue game? By regularly using Facebook, sharing your updates, liking a product or a service, you help Facebook earn a good part of its revenues.Let's learn how that's done.

The more you share on FB, more targeted Ads on your FB page!

Facebook can easily dig into every detail of yours and widely distribute them to data-gathering agencies and advertisers, so that your FB Home Page will receive more specific and targeted Ads! For instance, if you 'liked' a particular cuisine website, given a status update about the latest restaurant you ate in or updated about the latest movie you watched, chances are high that you will receive Ads about multi-cuisine websites, popular restaurants in your city or the website that sells movie tickets online on your FB page! Ah, so let's think twice before sharing our status updates the next time, particularly if you hate those Ads.

Click the Ads and Get noticed!

Another way of getting noticed through Facebook is by clicking specific brands ads or purchasing them right from your Facebook page. The moment you click on the Ad, the advertisers will learn about who you are and where you are from! Result ? More targeted ads, sponsored stories etc., on your Facebook page.

Facebook's 'Like' Button Plays its part too!

The 'Like' button, one of the most admired and oft-used features of Facebook plays a silent game. But, do you know that whenever you visit a website that has a Facebook 'Like' button, your details are collected and distributed to the relevant parties? Yes! Facebook reports every detail like the date, time of your visit, your Computer's IP address, whether you clicked the Like button or not etc., Note again: This happens, even when you don't click the Facebook Like button on that website!

Say 'No' to Facebook Apps!

A lot of us get invites to those freaky, funny Facebook Apps every now and then. How? A Friend of yours who's using these Apps, can easily transfer your details to these third-party app developers and data-gathering agencies without your knowledge! Once you accept the App invite, your details are permanently stored in the third-party database for more and wider distribution! What's more apart from these Apps getting hold of your public data, some smart apps can delve deeper in to your data and can learn what your friends share with you on Facebook. So, its better to Block all the Facebook Apps Invites beforehand!

Facebook is a great tool when used in moderation- Like salt in our food! You can't shun the top social networking site altogether, but you can be prudent before you share your details and thoughts on FB!

Do You Want the Internet To be Censored in India ?

For most of us, Google is very sacred because, it is the only search engine today, that brings to us the information, literally on any subject in fraction of a second. Ironically, Google, the top website that can sustain the maximum number of hits from the internet users across the world, is continually subjected to increasing pressure in quite a different manner. Yes, do you know that these days Google is under pressure to remove a fair chunk of content from its search results? Yes, In fact India is one of the many countries that has been putting a great deal of pressure on Google to remove contents, search results and YouTube videos related to Pornography, Politics, Defamation allegation, Hate speeches, National security threat, anti-religion etc., 

Much like the films or movies, books which are censored by the respective authorities, Internet is facing a heavy censorship too! Every six months, Google discloses a report called Transparency report in which it gives a complete report on content removal requests from several goverment agencies, copyright owners, courts across the world including India.However, Google doesn't budge to remove all the contents that are requested to be removed by the countries. In this report, it lists how many were Content Removal Requests (CRRs) were raised and how many were removed every six months.

As an internet user, how do you react to this content censorship requests from the Indian Government to Google? Do you think our Indian Government should have a firm hand on the internet content that is read, watched or shared by its people? This surely is a matter of debate! There is a group called Anonymous India, which works strongly against Indian Government, as the group feels the Indian Government is trying to rip off people's freedom of expression on the internet.

Personally, I feel to a certain extent Internet Surveillance laws and policies by the Goverment are welcome, especially under these cases.

• If the internet content can put the country's security at severe risk, then it must be monitored. Because, If Internet paves way for causing security loopholes with respect to National security, it is going to put innocent lives at risk. None of us want another Terrorist attack, do we?!

• India is a multi-cultural nation, where more than one language is spoken and more than one religion is followed. In India, people try to co-exist peacefully with this culture and religion mix. However, If the internet content is blasphemous and talks ill of other religions, then it must be generously removed.

• Pornographic content on the intent, unarguably, does more harm to the children and youth of the nation. It sure is disruptive on young minds and must be under constant surveillance.

Most of us are hooked up to Facebook and Twitter through which we freely share files and videos with others. Some of us use Google's services like Blogger that helps us to post your ideas and thoughts about anything. YouTube gives the platform for us to upload your videos and share.

Internet is a place where you can freely express your point of views, but stay within your limits while doing so. Especially when it comes to expressing your strong views against your country or a religion, intense hatred towards your politicians or senior government authorities etc., As Indians we must be glad that India is not like China or Saudi Arabia where the Internet Surveillance Laws and policies are extremely stringent.

The more you go free expressing offensive and derogatory content on the internet,the judicial system will even more tighten up its web surveillance measures in future. Then, we will be left with little freedom to manoeuvre. So, Let's take the freedom of expression on the internet to influence the country and the world in a positive way!

How To Remember and Manage Your Multiple Passwords Smartly

I always have a terrible time recollecting the passwords of some of my accounts that I rarely login. I use a couple of Email accounts like Gmail, Yahoomail, Rediffmail and Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Internet Banking Webiste etc., To add to the confustion, I have signed up for a few dozen Forums which ask my user name / password as part of the registration process and for future Sign-ins. Ocassionally, I also login to Flipkart to buy books and Amazon to look for new and old stuff on sale. Not to mention, Usernames and Passwords seem to take control of my internet browsing altogether. Now, how do I remember all my Username and passwords to have a better online experience?


Ofcourse, there are a few known and simple ways to remember your passwords but they are not without their shortcomings.
 
A smart way to solve the problem of remembering multiple passwords is to use a simple Password Managers or Password Management Software. Password Managers are programs that let you store your all your passwords in an encrypted database. This database is again password-protected with a master password. Important thing to note here is that you must remember this master password, or else you will lose access to the whole list of password residing inside the database! However, I'm sure it's pretty easy to remember one Master password instead of having to remember many passwords.

Today you are spoilt for choice because, the web space offers you umpteen password managers for download - both FREE and Paid. In this article, I will list out few password mangers whose latest versions I tested for features and benefits.

PassKeeper 1.2

PassKeeper is the simplest password manager ever designed exclusively for Windows platforms. The interface is ultra simple with just 3 buttons: add, edit, remove. The list of usernames and passwords you enter via the interface is stored in an encrypted data file. This data file (.dat) requires a master password to open it. You *must not* forget this master password.

PassKeeper 1.2 FREE Download 

Target Users : Home/ Individual users
Cost: Free
System Requirements: Windows (All Versions)

KeePass 2.19

KeePass is one of my favourite password managers. It has tons of very useful features and has an impressive, organised and user-friendly interface. Its full version is FREE, Open-Source, Cross-Platform and Portable. Your data ie., username and passwords are stored in AES encrypted database. Again, to open this database you need to specify a master password which you *must not* forget.

Top features in KeePass 2.19 

• Ability to export the password list to various file formats
• Searching of data entries in the database.
• Multi language support
• Random Password Generator
• AES Encrypted Database to store data
• Quick Database Transfer

KeePass 2.19 FREE Download
Target Users : Home, Business
Cost: FREE
System Requirements: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Pocket PC.  Runs on mobile devices like iPhone, Windows Phone, Android, Blackberry and Palm OS.

  

LastPass

LastPass is very different from the above two softwares. It is a web-based Password Management Tool that sits as an Add-on in your Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari and few other browsers. So, install this add-on once, specify a Master password and your Email-id. Though LastPass is an online tool, it encrypts all your data (ie., your usernames and passwords) in your local PC and the data transferred on the network is again SSL Encrypted. Much like the above two softwares, here too, you are required to have one master password that will again be encrypted in your PC. Everytime you wish to require to access a web service, you can go through Lastpass and in a single click, you can automatically get the credentials filled in.

LastPass FREE Download 

Target Users : Home, Business or Enterprise

Cost: FREE for Limited set of features. $1 per month for full set of features

System Requirements:Cross-Platform. Works on all OS, Browsers and Mobile devices.

Clipperz
Clipperz again is a FREE online password manager, but quite different from LastPass in certain aspects. To sign up for Clipperz, all you need is a username and a Passphrase (much similar to a regular password, but lengthier one). Again, you *must not* forget this paraphrase! Further on, all your credentials like Username and Password are encrypted in your local browser before getting on to Clipperz servers.

Top Features in Clipperz

• One-click Login
• Dump all your encrypted details from Clipperz servers to your PC
• Import and Export your credentials
• No installations, No Email Id or personal details specification while signing up.
• Access your private data anytime, anywhere

Sign up for Clipperz FREE
Target Users : Any and All
Cost: FREE. Ofcourse, you can donate if you wish!
System Requirements: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera

There above ones are all FREE softwares and can be very useful for Home Users or Business users. Try these out and write to me your experience.

How Safe Are Your Passwords To Your Online Accounts and Services?

Passwords rule our electronic life today because, every system, application, program or online service is password-protected. Passwords as you know are some kind of secret words that has a mix of alphanumeric and special characters. If you have a memory like a sieve and forget passwords often, you are in great trouble as you will be denied access to the system or service temporarily or permanently!

Many of us spend hours trying to recollect our lost or forgotten passwords. Resetting the passwords is a handy option but this will not be helpful every time, especially when you wish to do a sensitive, safe and quick browsing! So, my question to you is "Do you have strong passwords to nail up all your accounts, so that outsiders or hackers cannot break into your confidential accounts?"  If you think so, check out the below pointers that will help you to rethink your password policies.

• Having very simple passwords: Many of you will have very simple and easy to remember passwords like your Spouse, Kid, Pet names etc., Of course, you can remember these passwords anytime, but at the same it will easily help hackers to have an 'educated guess' at your passwords and most likely, in no time you accounts will be hacked!

• Some of you might have the 'Same' password for all or most of your accounts. That's grave too because, all your accounts will be hacked at one go!

• Some Browsers have the "Auto complete ON" Or "Remember My Password" feature. However there is a danger lurking in if you turn on these features, because anyone who logs in to your computer can gain access to your services with little or no effort. 

• Also, there are webservices that keep you signed in for a day, week or more. But I guess it’s more a hassle than a comfort for you. Especially if you have multiple accounts for the same service, you really cannot use this feature.

• Writing down all the user names and password in a piece of paper or a diary can be a very strange idea as its prone for an easy misuse.

• Another common way is to search for the username and password in your Email Inbox (Which you used for the Registration process) that has the very first email from the service. However, that's really not a great idea too when you have difficulty in remembering which Email Id you gave during the registration!

Password Management is crucial and if you are not fussed about that, chances are that you will run into difficulties. So, check out how you can manage your passwords smartly and securely.

Choosing a VPN Service Provider

You finally decide to set up a VPN service for your Home Network. The next thing you probably do is to google about some of the best VPN services available, read reviews about VPN providers and compare the VPN providers etc. Your search may be broadly of two categories, FREE VPN services and Premium or Paid VPN services. However, you must remember that if you opt for FREE VPN services, you must put up with a lot of displeasing things like slow connectivity, Advertisements, Lesser bandwidth, Security loopholes etc., . Eventually, having a FREE VPN service at your end does not serve the real purpose of getting your network VPN-protected.  

Alternatively, you could budget for a good service provider who offers ‘features that you look for in VPN service’ at an affordable pricing. Well, how do you choose such a VPN service for your Home purposes? I have listed below four aspects that will help you in deciding on the right VPN service provider. In fact most of the top VPN service providers give FREE trials that vary from 3 days to 1 month.  Now, you can step up to the plate and try out the FREE trials offered by that VPN provider. Once you are pleased with the FREE trial, you can buy it to avail a whole range of services and also enjoy their 24/7 customer support.

Four important points to consider before choosing a VPN service provider

Speed. This aspect, needless to say is very important before you zero in on a particular VPN service provider. Optimum speed is a ‘must’ if you wish to watch streaming video and audio content on the internet, play online games or just to enjoy a faster web browsing in general.

Bandwidth. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data transfer that happens in the network. VPN service providers offer specific bandwidth based on the amount you pay. Before you buy a service, be aware of the bandwidth consumption/ usage calculations done by the service provider. Some of them will restrict the amount of bandwidth you use in a month and a few of them may slow down the connectivity speed if your bandwidth consumption goes beyond the limit.  

Cost. VPN service providers offer packages that range anywhere between 4$ and 20$. However, very cheap ones do not offer a FREE trial. So, make sure you pick a service that offers FREE trial before you buy it.

Level of Security. Security is by far the most important aspect while choosing the VPN service provider. As the reader knows, security in a VPN service is implemented via various types and combination of protocols. Most of the VPN providers offer multi-protocol support, like a combo of OpenVPN, L2TP, PPTP protocols and also offer a seamless transition or effortlessly switch between these protocols based on user’s needs.

Like I said, Free Trials offered by the VPN providers are of great advantage to you. So, before you fork out money on setting up a VPN, try out the FREE trials and analyze whether the features, security offered by the provider suits your budget and then set out to buy one.

Virtual Private Networking Basics

Virtual Private Network (VPN) may be a technical jargon for some of you. Corporate companies, Big organizations glorify VPN and extensively make use of the technology for their own benefit as well as for the comfort of their employees. However, from a home user perspective, it is still an underrated technology, mainly because he/she thinks “Why do I need a VPN”? This article will clarify the concept of VPN and help you understand what it is in simple terms.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) makes up three words that you need to clearly understand – “Virtual”, “Private”, and “Network”. Let me briefly clarify what these three words actually mean here. Well, the word “Network” is pretty much simple to understand. A “Network” connects a number of devices like computers, laptops, printers, routers that are spread across different places or geographical locations. These networked devices send and receive data among each other in a certain fashion.

Next, “Private” means as you know, something “secret” or “confidential”. That means, the data transferred or exchanged in the network remains totally secret and even the devices transmitting and receiving the data do not know the data content. Bingo! You know this is the most important aspect of VPN- ‘Complete Data privacy’!

Lastly, what does “Virtual” mean? Here, the network is ‘Virtual’ because, not just a single company or organization shares the network, but many of them do. The underlying physical network is “Logically partitioned” so that more than one organization share the base network resources without issues.

Early VPN days or Legacy VPNs

Years before today’s VPN was introduced, some companies, universities and institutions used Leased circuits or “Private circuits” for confidential communications among them. These private circuits were managed by Service providers. Top Business organizations, companies, universities and institutions hired these circuits from the service providers for a pay and enjoyed the benefit of dedicated private communications.

Back then, these were a boon to these companies and institutions, as it helped them connect to their cross-border offices, communicate with their counterparts and access or share data with them privately. These were often noted as old or Legacy VPNs. A bit later, something called Trusted VPN came in to existence.

Trusted VPNs

The Legacy VPNs gave companies using them the freedom of having their own IP addresses and security policies and best of the business practises. The service providers took the onus of maintaining the integrity of these circuits and the companies simply trusted or relied on them for the same. However the data transferred via these circuits were clearly under threat or snooping. Thus, even though these Trusted VPNs were good enough at that point of time, there were no rigid security measures to protect data. This lead to the introduction of a new type of VPN called Secure VPN.

Secure VPNs

Secure VPNs have been an instant super hit since its inception. To tighten up data security via the VPNs, protocols were created. These protocols encrypted the data from the sending terminal of the network and decrypted back at the receiving end. This way, the Secure VPNs gave a death blow to Hacking, Snooping and similar fraudulent activities.

Hybrid VPNs

This is something new in the VPN market that offers a good amount of flexibility to large organizations. Based on the customer’s requirement, the service provider suggests and picks the best network connectivity options and offers it to the customer for a reasonable pricing. The customer or the service provider after proper agreement must ensure to deploy proper security mechanisms to make the Hybrid VPN successful

Now that you have got a brief idea of what a VPN is you can learn why you need to use a VPN for secure browsing. Post your queries below.