New addition:Changes to the comments

New size of comments on this blog

Hello everyone, due to launching of Google's new threaded comments system on blogger this month, all blogs where updated automatically to reflex the change. This new update changed the font type and size of the comments to the default on every blog and this made the appearance/user experience of some blogs terrible. In our case the comments where too small so it was difficult for anyone to read them on a PC even though the mobile version of the site was still its normal way and was still viewable.

We have rectified that and now the size of the comments is back to normal, you can test it by leaving a comment below this post. 

Remember that you can add color and pictures to your comments to make them more fun and interesting, click here for the post showing more details. We would love if you send us feed backs about this blog on how to make it better, your feed-backs will be most welcomed and appreciated...

Thanks,

Giga Frequency

...learning at gigabyte speed...

New Flash Memory from Sony

Sony has announced a new flash memory card called  an XQD flash memory card. It is developed with better speed and capacity than its CompactFlash predecessor.

The new card which is supposed to come in two models, the 16GB QD-H16 card and the 32GB QD-H32 goes for $129.99 and for $229.99 respectively. The cards are scheduled to be available in February this year. 

The SD card technology is making the cards smaller and smaller and most devices these days are manufactured to use these smaller SD Card technology. On the contrary high-end SLR cameras from Sony, Canon and Nikon, still use CompactFlash memory cards because of their performance and capacity.

The new XQD format developed by Sony also trys to keep ahead of SD by borrowing the PCI(Peripheral Controller Interface) Express; (PCIe) high-speed serial communications link interface from computers. Users can transfer data off the cards without having to plug their cameras into a USB port, Sony also announced the $44.99 MRW-E80 card reader that plugs in with USB 3.0 and the $44.99 QDA-EX1 adapter that plugs into laptops with ExpressCard slot. 

These cards can read and write data at up to 125MBps. That's not necessarily faster than CompactFlash--Lexar's new 1000X CF cards read at 150MBps and write at 145MBps. But though faster CompactFlash cards helped photographers, cameras can hardly keep pace with the full card speed.

Card speed compared with the XQD memory card(credit Sony)

 XQD will be able to exceed 2 terabytes capacity eventually, according to the  CompactFlash Association, which developed the format. Second-and third-generation versions of PCIe double and quadruple transfer speeds to 250MBps and 500MBps. The initial cards use the first-generation interface, but PCIe provides for backward compatibility so that newer devices will be able to use older XQD cards.

The XQD cards don't fit into CompactFlash slots, and vice versa. The XQD cards are smaller than CompactFlash but larger than SD cards.

Facebook Accounts login Information has been stolen by a Worm

For all you facebook users/lovers or facebookers as they are sometimes called, you all should be more careful and cautious as it has been reported that a bit of malware known as Ramnit that has making its rounds on Facebook since two years ago, has made off with more than 45,000 usernames and passwords.

According to a bulletin issued by security researchers at Seculert, most of those reported to have been affected by the worm are from France and the United Kingdom. The said worm is capable of infecting Windows executables, Microsoft Office, and HTML files, according to anti-virus manufacturer, McAfee.

Securlet said in its bulletin and i quote "We suspect that the attackers behind Ramnit are using the stolen credentials to log-in to victims' Facebook accounts and to transmit malicious links to their friends, thereby magnifying the malware's spread even further". They also said that  "In addition, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the fact that users tend to use the same password in various web-based services (Facebook, Gmail, Corporate SSL VPN, Outlook Web Access, etc.) to gain remote access to corporate networks". 

The discovery of the worm was first reported two years ago( in April 2010), it was known for stealing sensitive information such as stored FTP credentials and browser cookies. The worm later "went financial" a few months back( August 2011 to be precise) after malware developers borrowed source code from the Zeus botnet. With its new borrowed code form Zeus botnet, Ramnit was given the power to be able to "gain remote access to financial institutions, compromise online banking sessions and penetrate several corporate networks." Approximately 800,000 machines were infected between September 2011 and the end of the year, can you imagine that!!!.

Facebook has been notified by the security researcher and they(Facebook) have been provided with all the stolen credentials that were found on Ramnit's server.

The C Beginnings: part 3

A couple of days back, someone left a comment on the C Language discussion page of this blog stating that a compiler(miracle compiler) was giving issues/errors. So today in this post, I want to focus on the different type of C compiler I have come across and highlight their advantages/features and the major disadvantage or difficultly that may be experienced in using them. I shall keep it very brief, here goes:

Dev C++  This is an open source (GNU) compiler developed by  ”bloodshed”. It can compile both C and C ++ source files, it can be used to write and edit header and resource files in addition to its primary use for C and C ++. It has ready-made template and can be used to develop windows Applications, Console Applications, DLL (digital linkage library) files.

A major difficulty a beginner might have with this compiler (especially if that person doesn’t know anything about the command prompt) is how to run the compiled source file(i.e. the generated  .exe file). 

A snapshot of the Dev C++ compiler

If the run button is clicked on the user interface of the compiler, it often opens the command prompt, runs the code and closes the command prompt, all these happen so fast that the user does not have enough time to see/view solution or the results of the written program that is displayed on the command line.

A simple solution to this is to put the whole code in a perpetual loop (usually a continuous while loop), for example

int main()

{

while(1)

{

                                // your code goes into this place

}

}

When the code is run, the while loop will prevent the command prompt from closing and the display on the command line can be read. If you wish to close the command prompt just close the command prompt window…

Another method is to place this 

getchar(); 

just before the  return 0;   in your code. This will force the command window to remain open until a character on the keyboard is pressed.

This compiler is free and available for download at their website http://www.bloodshed.net   you can check out their forum here http://www.bloodshed.net/forum

 

Borland C ++   is a C and C++ programming environment (that is, an integrated development environment) for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. It was the successor to Turbo C++, and included a better debugger, the Turbo Debugger, which was written in protected mode DOS.

A snapshot of the Borland C++ compiler

This compiler solves the problem encountered in the Dev C ++ compiler by running the compiled (.exe) file and displaying the results in an environment(like notepad) made by the compiler developers. This method takes the burden of having to run the file in the command prompt off the user by providing an easy way to see the results of the program/application. It is easy to use and has a simple user interface; most people find this compiler the best for them when they begin their journey into C programming.

 

You can check their website for more details on how to download the commercial one or the free one. Just go to this address http://www.borland.com  

Visual C ++  This compiler is made by Microsoft, it is a commercial  compiler even though a free version is available. It has a robust integrated development environment (IDE) for the C, C++, and C++/CLI programming languages user interface.  

A snapshot of the Microsoft's Visual C++ compiler

  It has tools for developing and debugging C++ code, especially code written for the Microsoft Windows API, the DirectX API, and the Microsoft .NET Framework .I personally think this compiler is too big in terms of size occupied by it on your computer when compared to other C compilers; it also uses a lot of system resources when compared to the other compilers I discussed above.

 
You can check their website(Microsoft visual C++) for more details on how to download the commercial one or the free one. Just go to this address  http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-cpp-express 

Miracle C Compiler  

 The Miracle C Compiler runs under MS-Windows targeting MSDOS, all the  traditional C syntax are implemented in the compiler, including record (structures/unions) and enumerated data types, integer (int), long and floating point data types, user type definition, bit fields in structures, initializers for all data types.

Miracle C compiler snapshot

It spots a comprehensive library of functions, some example programs demonstrating compiler features and Windows Helpfile documentation is supplied with the installation package. To download this compiler point your browser to this address http://www.c-compiler.com

The above is just an overview of a few of the numerous available C compilers; it is not in any way a detailed list or even represents a large fraction of the available C compilers available today. It just merely shows you that compilers differ sometimes slightly while at other times very greatly from each other. My suggestion for you is to extensively read up materials on the compiler you wish to use before you use it. Some compilers introduce other keywords that are not present in the standard C library, so know your compiler well.

Happy New Year from Giga Frequency