Month: April 2014

horizontal divider lines in Word

There are a few different ways to create horizontal divider lines in Word 2007 and Word 2010. The most commonly used one is done by typing three hyphens (—) and then pressing Enter:

Line

If you want a dotted line, use three asterisks (***):

Dotted line

Three equal signs (===) gives you a double line:

Double line

Three underscores (___) makes a divider of medium thickness:

Medium line

Three number signs (###) generates a thicker line with borders:

clip_image005

And three tildes (~~~) creates a wavy line:

Wavy line

If you ever want to delete one of these lines, you may find it tricky to remove. That’s because they’re not actually lines, they are borders. To remove one, select the line and the paragraph that precedes it, click on the Border button on theHome tab in the Paragraph group and select No Border.

The easiest way to enter an em dash ( — ) is to let Word do it.  Simply enter two hyphen characters between the two words you want to connect, and Word will turn the hyphens into an em dash. If this doesn’t work for you, one of two possibilities exist:
  • You’ve inserted space characters between the words and the hyphen characters. When you enter spaces between the hyphens, Word formats the hyphens as an en dash ( – ), which is shorter than an em dash.
  • Someone has disabled the AutoCorrect option that formats hyphens as an em dash.

Now, this default won’t work for everyone every single time. If you occasionally need two hyphens instead of an em dash, you can press [Ctrl]+Z and Word will undo the em dash character and restore the hyphens. If you find yourself doing this a lot, it might be more efficient to disable the AutoCorrect option and enter an em dash, when you require it, manually. You can disable this option as follows:

 

  1. From the Tools menu, choose AutoCorrect Options.
  2. Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
  3. Uncheck the Hyphens ( — ) With ( — ) option.

After disabling the AutoCorrect option, you’ll have to enter an em dash manually. Fortunately, there are three easy methods:

  • Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+-. You must use the minus sign (-) on the numeric keypad; if you use the hyphen character on the alphanumeric keypad, Word will change the cursor.
  • Hold down the [Alt] key and type 0151 on the numeric keypad.
  • Choose Symbol from the Insert menu, click the Special Characters tab, highlight the em dash, and click Insert.
Entering an em dash character is easy, whether you let Word do it or you choose to enter the character yourself.
microsoft word automatically creates it when you type in two dashes — followed by a space. 

alternatively, you can hold down the ALT key, and then type in 0151 on the numeric keypad to create it. 

make sure to type in all four digits, not 151, but 0151. 

if you want more special characters. go to windows start, click on programs, then click on accessories, and select the character map.

the Stuxnet computer worm

When first discovered in 2010, the Stuxnet computer worm posed a baffling puzzle. Beyond its sophistication loomed a more troubling mystery: its purpose. Ralph Langner and team helped crack the code that revealed this digital warhead’s final target. In a fascinating look inside cyber-forensics, he explains how — and makes a bold (and, it turns out, correct) guess at its shocking origins.

Ralph Langner’s Stuxnet Deep Dive is the definitive technical presentation on the PLC attack portion of Stuxnet. He did a good job of showing very technical details in a readable and logical presentation that you can follow in the video if you know something about programming and PLC’s.

The main purpose of Ralph’s talk was to convince the audience with “100% certainty” that Stuxnet was designed specifically to attack the Natanz facility. He does this at least four different ways, and I have to agree there is no doubt.

Ralph Langner is a German control system security consultant. He has received worldwide recognition for his analysis of the Stuxnet malware.

  • Stuxnet worm hits Iranian centrifuges – from mid-2009 to late 2010
  • Iran complains facilities hit by Stars malware – April 2011
  • Duqu trojan hits Iran’s computer systems – November 2011
  • Flame virus targets computers in PCs across the Middle East, including Iran and Israel – June 2012
  • Iran says Stuxnet worm returns – December 2012

Continue reading “the Stuxnet computer worm”

the lamest


Study Finds Earth Located In Lamest Part Of Universe

PARIS—Citing factors ranging from the dumb, ugly asteroid belt separating the terrestrial planets from the gas giants, to the super-boring and practically empty interstellar medium extending in nearly every direction, new research published Wednesday by the International Astronomical Union has concluded that Earth is located in “by far the lamest” region of the observable universe. “Despite years of intensive analysis, we have failed to uncover even a single pulsar, black hole, lenticular galaxy, binary star system, quasar, or any other cool stuff within 50 light years of this stupid dump of a solar system,” read the study, which noted that to date, no telescope—either ground-based or in earth orbit—has been able to locate a portion of space more dull and tiresome than our own. “Maybe if we were a little closer to the center of the Milky Way galaxy instead of piddling away on one of its lame-ass outer arms, that’d be one thing, but we are right smack-dab in the middle of nowhere. All we’ve got is a bunch of crappy old cosmic background radiation and dumb-as-shit magnetic fields out here. Ugh.” The study’s authors added that they “so wish” they were on board one of the Voyager probes currently racing out of this mind-numbingly shitty planetary backwater.

Inkscape

Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, or Xara X. What sets Inkscape apart is its use of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an open XML-based W3C standard, as the native format.

QR codes

A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols)[1]

Malicious QR codes combined with a permissive reader can put a computer’s contents and user’s privacy at risk. QR codes intentionally obscure and compress their contents and intent to humans.[19]They are easily created and may be affixed over legitimate QR codes.[20] On a smartphone, the reader’s many permissions may allow use of the camera, full internet access, read/write contact data,GPS, read browser history, read/write local storage, and global system changes.[21][22][23]
Risks include linking to dangerous websites with browser exploits, enabling the microphone/camera/GPS and then streaming those feeds to a remote server, exfiltrating senstive data (passwords, files, contacts, transactions),[24] and sending email/SMS/IM messages or DDOS packets as part of a botnet, corrupting privacy settings, stealing identity,[25] and even containing malicious logic themselves such as JavaScript[26] or a virus.[27][28] These actions may occur in the background while the user only sees the reader opening a harmless webpage. [29]

KeePass

What is KeePass?
Today you need to remember many passwords. You need a password for the Windows network logon, your e-mail account, your website’s FTP password, online passwords (like website member account), etc. etc. etc. The list is endless. Also, you should use different passwords for each account.

KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way.

The databases are encrypted using  AES and Twofish. For more information see the features page.

KeePass 2.26 has been released today!

You can get it here: Download KeePass 2.26.

This is a stable release. It is recommended to upgrade from any previous 2.x version to 2.26.

KeePass 2.26 mainly features auto-type improvements, integration and usability enhancements, and various other minor new features and improvements.

Hash sums and OpenPGP signatures for integrity checking are available. The .NET assemblies are signed,public keys for verifying are available.

For a comparison of the current KeePass 1.27 and 2.26, see: Editions Comparison.

If you like KeePass, please don’t forget to donate.

Tech hotshots: The rise of the UX expert

Blame Apple’s aesthetic: Even the stodgiest of enterprise shops are engaging user experience experts who can design logical, beautiful interfaces for mobile computing’s limited spaces.

Blame Apple’s aesthetic: Even the stodgiest of enterprise shops are engaging user experience experts who can design logical, beautiful interfaces for mobile computing’s limited spaces.