Author: Rubayat M.

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2016 Year End Review of Technology, Trending, Nature, Life and Deaths

Posted on by Rubayat M.

Year 2016 was an eventful year. Citizens of this beautiful planet ware overwhelmed with crisis and calamities. Yet science and technology continued to thrive. Here are some of the notable events that happen in 2016.

Health Industry

Molecular Machine
Number for molecular components combined together forms a machine. This  movement can be manipulated through external input. Molecular machines are thousand times smaller than the width of a hair. Molecules are made up of atoms that are held together by chemical bonds and are the smallest particle in a chemical element.
Impact: This technology is still in the very early stage. But one day these machines will work inside the human body.These machines can deliver drugs within the human body directly to cancerous cells or target a specific area of tissue to medicate.Their potential is unimaginable

Three Parent Baby
Mitochondria supply energy to cell by converting food to fuel. Some people carry genetic defects in mitochondria and they can pass these on to their children. Scientist took healthy mitochondrial DNA from a donor then combined them with the DNA from the parents (DNA that contain the genetic code of the parents family).
Impact: This method can rectify the inherently transferred disease like leigh syndrome.

Information Technology Industry

Internet of Things – IoT
Every single individual device will be connected with the main network or the internet and will be able to send and receive data from other.In other word, it is more than a machine to to machine communication without human interaction. This is a cloud based system.
Impact: It’s impact is huge. One example – let say your favorite yogurt is out of stock. Your IoT equipped fridge(it comes with sensor and knows it’s inventory list) will then inform your phone(if that is what you use for order online) and your phone can place the order. Next day you received the yogurt.

Ransomware
One of the most notorious security issue of 2016. Carleton University of Canada was one the major victim of ransomware.
Read : Ransomware what it is ?

Hacking
Some high-profile hacking took place. Yahoo’s massive data breach with over a billion accounts was the biggest one.
Read: Carleton University of Canada Hacking News

Fake News
Fake news became the most discussed topic of 2016 during the US elections. Fake News like “Pope Francis shocks world, endorses Donald Trump for president” or “FBI agent suspected in Hillary email leaks found dead in apartment in murder-suicide” became the talk of town. Facebook, Twitter came under serious criticism after failing to stop spreading the fake news.

Automobile and Electronics Industry

Autonomous or Self Driving Car
These cars can sense its surrounding environment and can navigate from point A to B with human interaction. This technology is in the advanced stage now. More new companies joining the race. Recently Apple announce that they are also joining the club.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7
Galaxy Note 7 was prone to heating up and catching fire. Resulting in multiple injuries for consumers across the and spread panic among consumers. Some airlines also banned this phone on board. Where passengers need to switch-off their phone while on board. Samsung pulled the plug on the product and announced it was ending production.

Blackberry
Canadian technology firm BlackBerry announced it will halt in-house production of smartphones.They will focus on software, security and management. Blackberry will depend on their partners to manufacture the phones.

Aerospace Technology and NASA

Interplanetary Space Mission
After five-year journey to the solar system’s largest planet, NASA’s Juno spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit July 4.
Read: Nasa’s Fascinating Juno Mission

Rosetta Space Probe
Rosetta was launched on 2 March 2004 and traveled 6.4 billion kilometers through the Solar System before arriving at the comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 6 August 2014. It successfully made the first soft landing on 12 November 2014. On 30 September 2016, the Rosetta spacecraft ended its mission by landing on the comet.

Mother Nature

Supermoon
Planet earth was blessed with the sight of three supermoon. They appear on October 16, 2016, November 14, 2016, and December 14, 2016.

Notable Deaths

Some people work tirelessly through out their entire life.The result of their efforts improve human life and lifestyle.Yet in most cases their death news never get to see the daylight. Here are some notable people in the field of science and technology who died in 2016.

  • (Medicine) Henry Heimlich (2016). Thoracic surgeon and medical researcher Henry Heimlich Invented the Heimlich maneuver.(saving choking victims via a series of abdominal thrusts)
  • (Astrophysicist) Vera Rubin(2016). Work on galaxy rotation rates. Her word confirmed the existence of dark matter.
  • (Game Theory) Thomas Schelling(2016). Known for his study of game theory.Game theory is mainly used in economics, political science, and psychology,
  • (Biochemistry) Roger Tsien (2016). Helped develop a method to track cancer cells and track the progress of Alzheimer’s disease
  • (Astronaut) Edgar Mitchell (2016). Apollo 14 astronaut who was the 6th man to walk on the moon.
  • (Artificial intelligence) Marvin Minsky (2016). Pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence.
    Read: IBM Watson
  • (Computer Programmer) Ray Tomlinson (2016). Invented modern email.

Writer – Rubayat M.

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Gooligan Malware Infected Millions of Android Devices And Google Accounts

Posted on by Rubayat M.

AndroidSecurity researcher recently discovered a new malware called Gooligan. When a user download the infected app from a third part app store, this malware get installed in the root. Then it steals the authentication tokens (some thing that your phone/device use to access google account).

Once the malware gain the access of the authentication tokens, it can then access device owner’s google account.Which include Google Play, Gmail, Google Photos, Google Docs, Google Drive etc.

 

Main Purpose Of This Malware
After install it self, Gooligan takes full control of the device and runs silently. It’s main purpose is to generate revenue. It can install apps from Google play store and then rate them. So ad companies think, an actual human is making those ratings. This means all those five stars ratings that you have seen in many apps, those may not be provided by actual human !

 

What Devices are at Risk
Android based devices are at risk. Specifically android 4 and android 5.If you use a higher version of android and If you always download from Google app store, then your devices may be in safe zone.

Check your device’s app list. If you see any one of these app, in your device, then your device may be infected. Download an antivirus app (from Google Play store of course) and remove the malware.

** List collected from checkpoint blog

•Perfect Cleaner
•Demo
•WiFi Enhancer
•Snake
•gla.pev.zvh
•Html5 Games
•Demm
•memory booster
•แข่งรถสุดโหด
•StopWatch
•Clear
•ballSmove_004
•Flashlight Free
•memory booste
•Touch Beauty
•Demoad
•Small Blue Point
•Battery Monitor
•清理大师
•UC Mini
•Shadow Crush
•Sex Photo
•小白点
•tub.ajy.ics
•Hip Good
•Memory Booster
•phone booster
•SettingService
•Wifi Master
•Fruit Slots
•System Booster
•Dircet Browser
•FUNNY DROPS
•Puzzle Bubble-Pet Paradise
•GPS
•Light Browser
•Clean Master
•YouTube Downloader
•KXService
•Best Wallpapers
•Smart Touch
•Light Advanced
•SmartFolder
•youtubeplayer
•Beautiful Alarm
•PronClub
•Detecting instrument
•Calculator
•GPS Speed
•Fast Cleaner
•Blue Point
•CakeSweety
•Pedometer
•Compass Lite
•Fingerprint unlock
•PornClub
•com.browser.provider
•Assistive Touch
•Sex Cademy
•OneKeyLock
•Wifi Speed Pro
•Minibooster
•com.so.itouch
•com.fabullacop.loudcallernameringtone
•Kiss Browser
•Weather
•Chrono Marker
•Slots Mania
•Multifunction Flashlight
•So Hot
•Google
•HotH5Games
•Swamm Browser
•Billiards
•TcashDemo
•Sexy hot wallpaper
•Wifi Accelerate
•Simple Calculator
•Daily Racing
•Talking Tom 3
•com.example.ddeo
•Test
•Hot Photo
•QPlay
•Virtual
•Music Cloud

Writer – Rubayat M.

 

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Twitter Accidentally Suspend Their CEO Jack Dorsey’s Account

Posted on by Rubayat M.

NewspaperNov 22, 2016 news and social network giant Twitter, accidentally suspend their CEO Jack Dorsey’s account ! Jack Dorsey is also the co-founder of Twitter. Mr.Dorsey described the incident as an internal mistake.

Some times later Twitter was able to re-instead the account. But after login, Mr.Dorsey discover that all his previous tweets and followers are missing. Eventually Twitter was able to completely restore the account.

 

20161203_002834Jack Dorsey then twitted – : “Just setting up my twttr…again (account suspension was an internal mistake).”

 

 

Twitter users can deactivate their account, but only Twitter has the ability to suspend an accounts.
Other Twitter founders are Evan Williams, Noah Glass and Biz Stone. So far no such accidental suspension did not happen to their account !

Read More : June 9, 2016 co-founder Evan Williams’s account was hacked.

Writer – Rubayat M.

Latest technology news from all over the world. Technology is constantly changing and it’s hard to keep up with it. This is Linkmeshin Blog’s effort to keep you posted all the time with interesting tech news.

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Carleton University of Canada is The Latest Victim of Hacking Attack

Posted on by Rubayat M.

NewspaperNov 29, 2016 Carleton University of Canada confirms their computer network was attacked by ransomware. Mostly the windows based systems ware compromised. To stop further attack and to fix the issue, users ware advised not to use windows based system.

University’s other operation remains unchanged and classes continued without interruption.

Attacker demands payment in bitcoins. To release the encrypted files, they demanded two bitcoin per machine which is equal to $38,941 (Canadian dollar). But university management did not pay anything. Systems are coming back online slowly when we wrote this article.

Carleton University  (www.carleton.ca) is located in Ottawa, capital of Canada. University was found in 1942.

What is Ransomware ? Click here to learn more about Ransomware.

Writer – Rubayat M.

 

Latest technology news from all over the world. Technology is constantly changing and it’s hard to keep up with it. This is Linkmeshin Blog’s effort to keep you posted all the time with interesting tech news.

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This tools will help you delete your internet history

Posted on by Rubayat M.

NewspaperAround The World

This website (www.deseat.me) will help you to delete your internet history. This site uses Googles’s OAuth protocol so they will not have to access to user’s login information. Deseat.me will run the program in user’s computer, not in their server. Once logged in it will show you a list of account that you want to delete.

Is it safe to use this service ?
You can always deactivate your online account by your self, but your previous record will still be in the online account’s server as archived files. And there may not be much you can do about it.

Writer – Rubayat M.

 

Latest technology news from all over the world. Technology is constantly changing and it’s hard to keep up with it. This is Linkmeshin Blog’s effort to keep you posted all the time with interesting tech news.

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Rise of the Machine 1 – IBM Watson

Posted on by Rubayat M.

Recently we have noticed a significant change in artificial intelligence related technology. From house hold robots to self driven car. Any where you look around you will notice how much of this technology slowly changing our life. At the beginning of the year 2016 some of the most smartest person of our time signed a petition against the unsupervised rise of this technology.

Rise of the Machine is a series of a article that I will be writing, describing how artificial intelligence will affect our life and job sectors. This is the part 1

IBM Watson

IBM Watson

IBM Watson

Watson is a supercomputer developed by IBM. It has the ability to process natural language OR NLP and can analyze billions of information with its extremely sophisticated analytical engine. It’s users can interact with verbal communication – just like we human communicate with each other. Watson is named after IBM’s founder, Thomas J. Watson.

 

 

 

Unique Features
Watson has two unique features. These two feathers makes it so special and different then a regular computer –

  • Features 1 : Cognitive Computing.
  • Features 2 : Natural Language Processing OR NLP.

Features 1 : Cognitive Computing
Traditional computing deals with structured data. Data that is stored in the database and well defined by rules and logic. But this is not the situation any more. Today’s data are known as big data. An example of big data “Most of us have Facebook account, LinkedIn account, Instagram account ,email accounts and other social networking account. All our data are scattered all over the place. We are all interconnected to other people through these accounts made a massive data sphere. If some one try, they can find my information in this data sphere”.

Watson’s can pinpoint and analyze any specific information from this big data easily and faster then any other computer.

Features 2 : Natural Language Processing or NLP
Watson does not match text or synonyms like search engine. instead it read and interpret like a human begin. Watson uses grammar to understand the meaning of the word. So when some one verbally ask a question like this “Is black spots on the skin are symptom of skin cancer ? ”

Watson can interpret and understand this question and can answer back.

 

How Watson Think
Watson think like a human. It follows the 4 main principle steps that a human takes when it come to make decision –

  • Step 1 Observation : Like human Watson observe and collect visual data.
  • Step 2 Interpretation : Watson then verify the collected information with information that it collected in past, just like human use their memory.Based on new and existing data, Watson then try to build an hypothesis.
  • Step 3 Evaluation : This stage Watson analyze the hypothesis and try to find the best solution.
  • Step 4 Decision: Once a concrete hypothesis has been generated, Watson then execute the decision.

Of course all these steps happen extremely fast.

 

Fields That Watson is Working Now
Because of the Cognitive Computing and Natural Language Processing features Watson has become a good fit for some specific field. Fields where one require advance knowledge and training. Here are some fields that Watson is currently working and eventually will replace human work force in the future.

Healthcare
Watson is helping physicians with diagnoses. Watson helps identify potential symptoms and treatments. Additionally, Watson uses vision recognition to help doctors read scans such as X-rays and MRIs to better narrow the focus on a potential ailment. The medical field is the sector that is likely being impacted most by Watson.

Finance
Client who need financial can ask questions directly to Wason.Watson can not only answering questions, but also analyzing them as well. Watson can help give financial guidance and help manage financial risk. Just like a regular financial advisor.

Legal
Client who need legal help can ask questions to Watson, just like we ask legal question to a lawyer. Watson can analyze and answer with relevant legislation. Due to legal issue, Watson cannot work in court room as a regular lawyer at the moment. But I believe it will happen soon.

Retail
Today’s retail experiences are all about personalization. Companies are using Watons’s NLP abilities to present the most relevant product in the the most relevant time when potential clients are shopping. This help reduce the unproductive click and get the most success.

 

Watson is slowly taking over jobs sectors that require analytic ability.In near future you may find it difficult to stay employed, if currently you are working in any one of these field mention above.

Writer – Rubayat M.

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Coolest Online Translator

Posted on by Rubayat M.

I love online translator. This beautiful piece of technology makes our life easy and interesting. It’s not just a tool for translating language, but it is a great tool to learn new language also. Thanks to online-translator, now I can say – “hello”, “good morning” and “how are you” in more than 5 different major languages fluently.

Reliable Online Translator
Every body has their own choice. But still most people use Google or Bing when it comes to translate language. But there are other similar services is available also. So which one is a reliable online translator ? I decided to conduct some research on it.

** Please remember, purpose of this article is not to do marketing for any online-translating service.

How I conducted the research ?

  • My criteria : I start looking for online-translator service that support Bengali or other less known language.
  • Step 1: first I select Google and Bing, as they are the two most prominent online-translating service.
  • Step 2 :Then I use Google search engine with the following query “Online translator”. And I randomly selected few from the first page.
  • Step 3 : I open the each website (from step 2) and start exploring, how many of this online translator service support Bengali and other less known languages.

** Wikipedia link for Bengali

And these are my findings –

PROMPT online translator
Website: http://www.online-translator.com

prompt-online-translator

prompt-online-translator

PROMT is the company that created the “www.online-translator.com“. PROMT was founded in 1991 by two researcher from Herzen University (St. Petersburg, Russia). PROMT is marketing its software in Europe and the USA. The company has opened a subsidiary in Germany and is developing distribution networks in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Italy, the USA, Canada, and other countries. One thing I notice – some other online-translator service use PROMT’s translating engine.
PROMPT online translator do not support Bengali or other lesser known language. They support less than 20 different language.

 

Collins
Website : http://www.collinsdictionary.com/translator

Collins Online translator

Collins Online translator

Collins has been publishing educational and informative books for almost 200 years. They produce resources for UK and International curricula to support teachers and pupils at school and outside the classroom environment. This is one of the oldest running company who deals with education and language-translation related services. Their corporate website http://www.collins.co.uk/
Collins online translator do not support Bengali or other lesser known language.

 

Worldlingo
Website : http://www.worldlingo.com/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html

Worldlingo

Worldlingo online translator

Worldlingo support less than 20 different language. But also support on-request based translation. Their website did not mention clearly who they are and how long they are in the business. Worldlingo online translator do not support Bengali or other lesser known language.

 

 

 

Google

Google Online translator

Google Online translator

Google offers two different methods to translate language

  • Method 1 : You can go to https://translate.google.ca and translate language.
  • Method 2 : You type in the search box “Translate aeroplane ” and hit search. It will give you another search box and some options. Surprisingly Method 2 offers more options.

You can actually hear how the word is pronounced by different accent ! Something that no other online translator service offer. Yes – Google online translator support Bengali and many other lesser known language.

 

Microsoft Bing
Website : http://www.bing.com/translator

Bing online translator

Bing online translator

For the last few years Microsoft has been trying to make Bing a popular search engine. I must say they have made some significant improvement. But I was surprised to find one specific language that Bing online-translator service offers.

First of all – Yes Bing online translator support Bengali and some other lesser known language. And Microsoft Bing online translator is the only online translator that supports Klingon !!! Yes Klingon !!! This makes Bing online translator is most coolest online translator.

** Wikipedia link for Klingon

 

 


Conclusion
Language translation is in its advanced stage. But it is still evolving.Yes there are many other online-translator service available, but if you need to translate a language for professional or business purpose, then it is better to use a professional service. Must say again, it is a great tools to learn new language and words.

Phila futhi eside ube nempumelelo (Zulu)

Writer – Rubayat M.

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Cellphone Encryption – do we need it or not

Posted on by Rubayat M.
encryption-graphics-image

Encryption (Image Source PCMag)

Encryption is one of the most discussed topic through out the year 2016. At the beginning of 2016 tech giant Apple was involved in a legal battle with FBI regarding Apple’s encryption technology. This legal battle raises many questions and concerns about encryption.

We are here to shed some light on the encryption technology and to understand whether we need to encrypt our phone or not. Not to discuss about the legal battle.

 

 

What is encryption

Before we go further, let me explain, what is encryption-
Encryption is the process of convert readable information in such a way that only authorized parties can read it. Here is a simple example:
Plain message “welcome to linkmeshin blog”
Encrypted message “w2345 5abbjdy3 tas563dfr afdrer 66ggww rt2swe”

Encryption is not a security tool like antivirus or firewall. Some one who do not have authority, will not be able to see the actual message. Authorized user will require another technology called “decryption” to convert the encrypted message to a plain message again. Encryption and decryption is an extremely complex algorithm. A topic that I will discuss in another article.

 

Who use encryption

Cell-phone

Cell phone

In past only government and large corporation used to use encryption in their devices. Present days most the latest mobile and non-mobile(laptop, desktop, tablet etc.) devices available for general consumers comes with encryption technology. If you use upgraded version of Windows 7 or upgraded version of Android or upgraded version OS Mac OS, then you already have the encryption technology in your possession.

 

 

 

Do you actually need encryption ?

For your cell phone – yes, as it the most common device people lost frequently or stolen frequently. For other device it is a personal choice. Here is the most important reason – encryption add protection in case your device is stolen. If your cell phone is stolen, the bad guy will have access to the following-

  • Private correspondence (your personal or business contact, email account)
  • Personal details (Your home address, personal and family picture)
  • Sensitive company information (if your work provide the phone)
  • Financial information ( Bank-account information, Credit-card information )
  • Social network information (Facebook, Instagram, snap chat and similar other)
  • Professional network information (LinkedIn, Twitter and other related network.)
  • Social Security numbers(if you save it in your phone)

Even though most thieves will not try too hard to break the encryption, as they are more interested in the device it self. So they will wipe the data and sale it. But still it is a good practice to encrypt the phone.

 

Final word
Encryption is a method to scramble information for protection. In case you lost your phone or some one stole your phone, your personal information will be safe if you encrypt your phone. Now a days most of us have a regular human life and then a digital life. We do everything to keep our regular life protected and safe. It is time to think seriously about the security of our digital life.

 

Writer – Rubayat M.

 

 

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Tribute to Dennis Ritchie

Posted on by Rubayat M.
dennis_ritchie

Dennis Ritchie

Every once in while human civilization get a forward leap by the work of some individual. In the past we had Galileo, Newton, Einstein and others. In our life time we have Hawkins. All these individuals had different work field and had significant impact in their own respective areas. Because of the nature of their work, it’s not possible to compare each person’s achievement or work with another. But their work impacted and shapes our life. They are all well-respected to all of us. We always wanted to be someone like them. One such unique Individual was Dennis Ritchie.

 

Short Bio
Dennis Ritchie was born in Bronxville, New York in September 9, 1941. His father Alistair E. Ritchie was a scientist at Bell Labs and co-author of The Design of Switching Circuits on switching circuit theory. Ritchie went to Summit High School and graduated from Harvard University with degrees in physics and applied mathematics. Even though he defended his PhD thesis in 1968 on “Program Structure and Computational Complexity” but never officially received his PhD.

In 1967, Ritchie began working at the Bell Lab’s Computing Sciences Research Center. Ritchie worked together with another legend Ken Thompson. Ken was the designer of the original UNIX operating system. Ritchie made some important contributions to UNIX. But his most significant work was creating the C programming language.

ken_thompson_dennis_ritchie

Ken Thompson & Dennis Ritchie

Ritchie wins numerous awards in his life. On April 21, 1999 he along with Thompson received the National Medal of Technology from President Bill Clinton. They were given the award because “their work led to enormous advances in computer hardware, software, and networking systems and stimulated growth of an entire industry, thereby enhancing American leadership in the Information Age”.

On October 12, 2011, Ritchie was found dead at his home. He was 70. Ritchie’s full name was “Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie” but was known by his username “dmr”.

Programming Language C
Ritchie’s most significant work was the development of the programming language C. C is relatively small and portable language (it means it can be written for one computer, but can be easily run on another computer, without making any major change). This is a versatile language. That means you can write code, to make changes in the computer hardware (commonly known as driver) and you can also write code to create user interface (commonly known as software).

Impact of his work
Ritchie was a very private person through his life. His death news did not create any significant impact in social media or any main stream news media. His death was like the “death news of some well-known person”. After Ritchie’s death,

Paul E. Ceruzzi (curator of Aerospace Electronics and Computing at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C) wrote “… his name was not a household name at all, but… if you had a microscope and could look in a computer, you’d see his work everywhere inside.”

It is difficult to fathom the impact of his work. Most of the major software and computer system ware created using Ritchie’s C programming language.

But before I write the list – let me know explain about the “kernel”. All operating system has kernel. Consider it as the muscle of human body. A human body has skeleton as the base structure(as hardwire) and then has the muscle(kernel) and other parts(software) on top of skeleton. And finally we have the outer skin(user interface) as protector.

Official Definition of Kernel
The core of an operating system of a computer, responsible for resource allocation, file management, and security.

Here is the list of some of the major software and computer system used by billions. Most of them written in C or different upgraded version of original C.

Operating System
What we use in our regular computer and handheld device as user interface.

Operating System Written in
Microsoft Windows Operating System kernel written in – C
Apple Operating System kernel written in – C
Linux Operating System kernel written in – C
Android Operating System Android is an edited version of Linux operating system. Therefore without the Linux, there is no Android.
Google Chrome Operating System kernel written in – C
Symbian Operating System Written in different upgraded version of original C (C++)

Major Browsers
Like the operating system, most of the major browsers are written in different upgraded version of original C.

Browsers Name Written in
Firefox browser Written in C and other upgraded version of original C (mostly C and C++)
Chrome browser Written in other upgraded version of original C (Objective-C and C++)
Safari browser Written in other upgraded version of original C (Objective-C and C++)
Internet Explorer browser Written in other upgraded version of original C (All C++)

Major Databases
Like the operating system, most of the major database is written in different upgraded version of original C. And these databases are used my all major and minor corporation and various governments.

Databases Name Written in
Oracle kernel is written in C
SAP – Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise Written in C and other upgraded version of original C (C, C++)
Microsoft SQL Server Written in C and other upgraded version of original C. (C, C++).
MySQL Written in C and other upgraded version of original C.(C, C++)

Programming Language
Like the operating system, most of the Programming Language are written in C and other different upgraded version of original C.
Widely use languages are –
C++, C–, C#, Objective-C, Java, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python
Other languages are –
AMPL, AWK, csh, BitC, D, Go, Julia, Limbo, LPC, Pike, Processing, , Rust, Seed7, Vala, Verilog.

Other Hardware Devices
Our home internet router and many other devices like that is has tiny operating system or instruction set. Which was written using C or a different upgraded version of original C.

Our Tribute to Dennis Ritchie
Think about a world without computer, cell phone, internet? Our life and our modern economy are practically standing on this these. Our life would be completely different without these technologies and devices. Ritchie’s work shapes these technology and thus shapes our life. Famous tech giants and billionaires are actually standing on Ritchie’s shoulders. We are forever grateful to this person.

Writer – Rubayat M.

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Government Relinquishes Control of Internet

Posted on by Rubayat M.
ICANN

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

On October 1, 2016 ICANN or Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers went to private sector. That means ICANN is no longer governed by the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) of United States Department of Commerce. Is that mean government relinquishes control of internet ?

Before I provide an answer for the question, there are few key players that you need to know.

IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) – responsible for the allocation of internet address and related system like IP address, domain naming system etc. IANA is a department of ICANN.

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) – ICANN administer IANA’s activities and coordinates with NTIA.

NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) – executive branch agency that works as an adviser for the President of the United States. NTIA is part of the United States Department of Commerce.

ICANN and NTIA had a contract that let NTIA oversees ICANN’s activity and that contract ended in Oct 1, 2016.

History of ICANN
Before ICANN there was IANA. IANA works as a technical resource for the ARPANET (earlier version of today’s internet). ICANN was founded on September 18, 1998 and incorporated on September 30, 1998 in California USA as a nonprofit organization. It’s primary focus was to manage Internet protocol and Domain Name System. IANA became a part of ICANN.

What ICANN do –
Without using any technical or corporate jargon here in plain word-

“Along with other responsibilities ICANN also maintain a global record book of internet address. And information of this record book is shared by the rest of world. So everybody knows who is who. This is how internet remains as a global entity.”

Simple example – when you type www.linkmeshin.com in your browser, your computer send the request to your local ISP (the company that you pay your internet bill). Your local ISP have the access the ICANN’s global address book (there are other technical thing happen in the back end), they collect the necessary information regarding your request and let your browser open the www.linkmeshin.com webpage in your computer screen.

What ICANN Cannot Perform

  • ICANN do not control content on the Internet.
  • ICANN cannot stop spam.
  • ICANN do not control the access of internet for general users.


What is the Importance of ICANN

Domain Name Services is one of the major service of ICANN. So what is Domain Name Services ?
Simple example – consider the domain name service as a phone book. Phone book contains name and phone number. You can remember names but not the number. So from your “phone book” you can select your friend’s name and your phone can call your friend by using the “number” associated with the name.

So a domain name services system contain something like this –

For Human For Computer
www.yahoo.com 98.138.253.109
www.amazon.com 54.239.26.128

Final Thought
Transitioned to private sector does not affect ICANN. ICANN will continue its core responsibility and functionality. Instead of government agency it will be managed by various volunteer-based community. Users will not see change or difference. Internet users and internet service provider company will continue following all the rules and policies that they used follow all these years.

Writer – Rubayat M.