Tuesday 5 May 2020

Resetting password of Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (7th Generation)

What to do to in case one forgets the password of an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (7th Generation)?


The answer is to type in 111222777 and press OK. Be warned that this resets the device to factory defaults and one would be required to set up the device afresh.

Wednesday 22 April 2020

Perceived Flaws of Zoom Meetings

Zooming in on Security Threats of using Zoom
In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, Zoom Cloud Meetings has arguably consolidated its position as the top videotelephony and online collaboration software. 

With the impact of coronavirus felt deep and wide across countries and continents, demands to identify and adopt videoconferencing and collaboration software have skyrocketed. Social distancing has never been so imaginable before COVID-19 virus managed to kill several thousands in a space of only few months.

At the top of the pack of remote collaboration and videoconferencing software platforms, Zoom Cloud Meetings is currently witnessing a surge in popularity around the world. However, that has not been without its perceived failings. In a spate of moves, governments of US and India, along with those of several other countries, have been quick to issue advisories, circulars, memos and warnings to spread general awareness on Zoom's fallibility insofar as addressing security measures are concerned.


Emails from Hackers claiming to be from Zoom
In an article, dated April 21, 2020, that appeared in the Times of India, readers were made aware of a report from Proofpoint, a cyber security company based in the United States. The TOI article, citing the report published by Proofpoint, has detailed how malicious users can gain access to users' computers by sending three different emails each bearing any of the respective subject lines:
  • Zoom Account
  • Missed Zoom Meeting
  • ServLoader/NetSupport with “[Company] Meeting cancelled - Could we do a Zoom call?”
Users may receive any one or all emails bearing those subject lines.


How to Avoid Taking the Bait
Software embedded in those emails remain harmless and inert so long as users do not attempt to click on any link inside or follow instructions posted by hackers in such emails.

In order not to fall into the trap set by hackers through such emails, users need only to look at the originating email address carefully. The "To:" address field in suspected emails will almost invariably contain an email address that does not end in "@zoom.us". 

Images of emails, as examples, have been collected and made available by Proofpoint in its report that it has published on April 19, 2020 and which forms the basis of the TOI article.


What the Proofpoint Report Also States
The TOI article is silent on the fact that the Proofpoint report also highlights a similar issue with Cisco WebEx.


Are We Witnessing Such Cases For the First Time?
These are not isolated cases and has nothing specifically to do with Zoom as a special case. Each year, users everywhere are almost always inundated with emails containing harmful content from hackers. Which is why, almost all leading internet email providers have spam filters, and virus or Trojan-removal systems in place to protect users. 

In the case of Zoom, its rising popularity has also caused the ranks of hackers, detractors and critics to swell.




Saturday 18 April 2020

A Life-giving Drug?

Remdesivir - a drug that holds hope against the scourge of the novel corona virus.

Friday 10 April 2020

Network Issues in iPad Pro

For those who cannot make do without their iPad Pro devices, a sudden drop in speeds while downloading from App store can be a major irritant.

The solution for this malady is actually straightforward in many cases. Reset the network and uninstall any proxy app. Reboot your iPad and one is good to go.

Still, if one is reluctant to let go of the benefits that VPN offers, one need only to try 1.1.1.1 public DNS resolver from Cloudfare. Even under sedate network conditions, download speeds through 1.1.1.1's public DNS service can serve to lower frustration levels of the impatient. Reboot your iPad device as always after installing / uninstalling any VPN app.




Tuesday 7 April 2020

Trending Words and Articles in the wake of Corona virus pandemic

These are the list of the top trending words and articles that are being bandied about with consummate ease (almost every English daily or news channel regardless of national affiliation), in the wake of Corona virus (COVID-19) global pandemic.

Incidentally, the word "trending" describes an event that begins to deviate from the normal.

1. Pandemic
2. Epidemiology
3. Chinese wet market
4. Morbidity
5. Comorbidity
6. Home schooling
7. Virus's (singular possessive form of virus)

History: Coronavirus
June Almeida, in 1964, was the first to discover and identify corona virus (or coronavirus) as most would prefer online or on print media. She developed microscopic identification techniques that enabled her and her fellow scientists at the Ontario Cancer Institute, Ontario, Canada to use electron microscopes which helped detect corona viruses. She and her fellow scientists saw how "viral spike peplomers emanating from each proteinaceous envelope" formed a corona (or halo) around each virion, June Almeida was born June Hart. She had no formal education. She was the daughter of a bus driver in Glasgow Scotland. After marrying Enriques Almeida, a Venezuelan artist, the couple emigrated to Canada.



Sunday 22 December 2019

Philosophizing

Work calls. And I shall have to finish my tasks. For what we do in modernity, echoes in eternity.

Friday 20 December 2019

Quickly Find Out Blank Cells within a Column

The headline is misleading or is incomplete at best. I agree. You will, too, after you have gone through this post. As bland as it may seem at first, you might find this a tad interesting for the application it was designed and intended to perform. 

Microsoft Excel VBA macro programming is a powerful way to experience how data can be manipulated and viewed.

I was given this assignment to find out number of blank cells between two non-blank cells within a range in a spreadsheet. For example, if A1 was a non-blank cell and A4 was the same, too, then B1 should have a display of 2 to indicate that there are two cells that are blank in between. 

Following is the full extract of the macro that I wrote to accomplish the task at hand. In case you need help, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.


Function CheckBlanks(CheckRange As Range)
'Created: Satadru Sengupta.
'Dated: 18-12-2019
    Evaluate "CheckBlanksSub(" & CheckRange.Address(False, False) & ")"
    CheckBlanks = "Difference of blanks created"
    MsgBox ("Range difference created. You may delete the formula / user-defined function used.")
End Function
Private Sub CheckBlanksSub(CheckRange As Range)

        Dim getRowNum As Integer
        Dim getColNum As Integer
        
        Dim initiatePointRow As Integer
        Dim endPointRow As Integer
        Dim differenceRows As Integer
        
        getRowNum = CheckRange.Row
        getColNum = CheckRange.Column


         initiatePointRow = 1
         differenceRows = 0
        
         initiatePointRow = getRowNum
         endPointRow = initiatePointRow
         
         For row1 = 2 To CheckRange.Columns(1).Cells.Count
         
         If CheckRange.Cells(row1, 1).Value = "" Then
            differenceRows = differenceRows + 1
         Else
            ActiveSheet.Cells(endPointRow, getColNum + 1).Value = differenceRows
            endPointRow = getRowNum + row1 - 1
           
            differenceRows = 0
         End If
         
    
         Next
            
     
End Sub

Resetting password of Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (7th Generation)

What to do to in case one forgets the password of an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (7th Generation)? The answer is to type in  111222777  and...