Thursday 25 December 2014

'Laziness' has made modern humans' bones brittle

'Laziness' has made modern humans' bones brittle, reveals new studies

A new study has revealed that the shift to farming and more sedentary lifestyles over time has resulted in modern humans having more fragile bones.

The comparatively light bone structure of modern humans compared to early human species and other modern primates may be due to the modern abandonment of the constant physical activity, which was inherent in the life of early hunter gathers.

The most plausible explanation, is that a lack of constant physical activity causes the bone in the head of the femur, the long bone in the thigh, to become thinner and lighter than that found in more mobile populations or modern primates such as chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.

The other two possible explanations is that humans and non-human primates have different bone structure because of genetics, with humans evolving to a lighter, more gracile structure, or that the large joint surfaces required for upright, two-legged movement decrease the strain on bone and therefore the development of strong bones, do not appear to be true.

Ryan, working with Colin N Shaw of the University of Cambridge, UK, looked at the hip joint to determine which of the three possible explanations was likely. The researchers found that the agriculturalists had significantly lower bone mass than the foragers. However, the bone characteristics of the more mobile foragers overlapped with those of the nonhuman primates. This knowledge might aid in prevention of osteoporosis and hip fracture in the elderly.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Monday 10 November 2014

How the Internet is Changing Life and Business

The Internet is probably the most revolutionary idea since the invention of cell phones. The reason for this is that they are changing the way in which we live our lives and run our businesses in ways that we had never imagined before. There are several examples of how the Internet has made our lives better and easier. Take for consideration, the number of those that they have been able to go back to school because they are taking online classes through a university. This is an opportunity that many would not have had if it were not for the Internet. In addition, people are now doing their banking and paying bills online, limiting the financial sensitive information that is written down on paper that is floating around in the world just waiting to be taken and misused.

The Internet has also given us the ability to find out information at the simple click of a mouse and a few strokes of the keys. If we need to find a recipe for a new dish, find the product review of something that we are considering or simply want to learn more about the new scientific finding, we turn to the Internet. Years ago, we would simply have to find this information through others or books, which was time-consuming. Now, we can get right down to business and get what we want. And we may find that in the progress of getting what we need, we are able to find it for lower prices since we are utilizing the Internet, thus saving a little money in the process of this.

For businesses, the Internet has proven to be most successful with what they are doing. For example, the Internet encourage social networking that has led to businesses doubling their profit due to the marketing advantages that the Internet has made possible. Also consider that the businesses are able to reach more people than if they were to simply rely on word of mouth. If we are looking for a business that specializes in shoe repair, we simply go online and have a slue of choices. We can then read reviews from other consumers and make our decision based on the information that we have found there.

Businesses have always benefited from the use of the Internet in that they are now able to offer their products and services online. People can purchase these through the major credit card without even having to step foot into a store. For those that are wanting it all, it does not seem to get any better than that.

For those businesses that are located online and entirely online, then they know that without the Internet, their business would not be. And many self-employed people work online. It would mean that the economy had a higher unemployment rate if it was not for those that have their online business. As you can tell, the Internet has made many things easier and have brought to mind many new ways of doing the things that we normally do. For more information visit centertech.org.

Thursday 6 November 2014

Maharashtra: Woman sells off her mangalsutra to build toilet in village

Mumbai: A feisty woman in Maharashtra who sold her gold "mangalsutra" - the wedding chain and pendant - to raise money to construct a toilet in her remote village home has earned kudos from people, and a felicitation by Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde.

Sangita Awhale, from Saikkhed village in Washim district of Vidarsbha, recently set off a social revolution by insisting on women's dignity and a toilet for the womenfolk in her humble dwelling.

Her husband Narayan ignored her demand, pleading resource constraints, and even her in-laws did not support her, she told media persons Thursday.

Image used for representational purposes only. AFP.

The womenfolk in her home were compelled to go to nearby fields to answer nature's calls, dodging stares from men.

"Toilet is a basic requirement for any family, not ornaments. I decided to sell my gold 'mangalsutra' to finance the construction of a toilet in my home," she told media persons in the minister's office here Thursday afternoon.

Her feat earned admiration from not only her family but the villagers, and as the news spread through local media, from people across Maharashtra. For, 'mangalsutra' is not a mere chain and a pendant, but dearest to a married Maharashtrian woman as it symbolises her wedlock.

"We want to construct maximum number of toilets in the state and shall ensure that women don't face any embarrassment on this count," Munde said, lauding Awhale's unique initiative.

As a token of appreciation for taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Munde presented Awhale with a brand new 'mangalsutra', which she asked her husband Narayan to tie it round his wife's neck amidst cheers and claps.

Awhale expressed hope that now more men in villages would heed to their womenfolk's demands for toilets to ensure they meet a basic necessity as well as dignity.

Robert Vadra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Vadra
Robert Vadra
Born	18 April 1969 (age 45)
Nationality	India
Occupation	Trader

Robert Vadra is an Indian businessman and the husband of Priyanka Vadra.^[1][2][3] He is the son-in-law of Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, and a member of the Nehru family by marriage. In the recent times, he is being highlighted in media because of his controversial relations and land dealings with DLF group^{[citation needed]}.

3.1 Vadra-DLF Controversy

4 References

Biography

Robert Vadra was born to Rajendra and Maureen Vadra on 18 April 1969. Rajendra Vadra hails from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, and Maureen (née McDonagh) was of Scottish origin.^[4] Rajendra was a resident of Civil Lines, Moradabad and ran a brass and wood handicrafts business. The family is originally from Sialkot, West Punjab, and Rajendra's father moved to India at the time of partition. Robert Vadra, who completed his schooling from The British School, New Delhi ^[5] had two siblings, Richard and Michelle.^[6][7]

Vadra met Priyanka Gandhi when she was aged 25 and they married in 1997. The couple have two children: a son Raihan and daughter Miraya.^[8] Vadra has a keen interest in fitness.

Rajendra Vadra, father of Robert Vadra was found dead at a guest house in Yusuf Sarai area of New Delhi in 2009. His elder brother Richard committed suicide in 2003 and Michelle, his sister, died in a car accident in 2001.^[7][8]

Businesses

Rents from DLF Limited for purchase of land, India's largest real estate conglomerate.^[9]
Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd (owned by Vadra and his mother Maureen Vadra), is a partner in a firm that owns Hilton Garden Inn in the South Delhi business district Saket. DLF Hotel Holdings is another partner in this firm.^[10]
North India IT Parks Pvt Ltd
Real Earth Estates Pvt Ltd
Sky Light Realty Pvt Ltd.

Controversies

Vadra-DLF Controversy

In October 2012, Arvind Kejriwal accused Vadra of taking an interest-free loan of 65 crores and heavy bargains on land from DLF Limited in exchange for political favors. DLF responded that it had dealt with Vadra as a private entrepreneur, that the loan was Business Advance which was given, as per practice of trade, to make payments for land purchased from Vadra, that the company did not sell him land at a throwaway price, and that no quid pro quo took place.^[11]

His Facebook comment “Mango people in a banana republic" that was later deleted, had become widespread punch line for the news reporters and the public to talk about.^[12][13]

On Monday, 8 October 2012, his Facebook account was shut, days after a controversy broke out over his business deals with realty major DLF. Civil society activist Arvind Kejriwal had raised questions over the rise in his fortune. In his account on Twitter, Kejriwal tweeted, “Evidence pouring in from mango men from across the country. Mango men would prove to be nemesis for the powerful.”^[14]

Numerous reports have questioned veracity of balance-sheets of Vadra-owned companies, which claim to have received an overdraft of 7.94 crores from Corporation Bank. Corporation Bank has now denied ever providing an overdraft facility to that amount.^[15]

In response to the alleged DLF-Vadra controversy, the entire Congress came out to defend Vadra.^[16][17] After a few days when another controversy about the alleged financial irregularaties in an NGO run by congressman and then-law minister Salman Khurshid broke out, Rajdeep Sardesai had tweeted:

"Irony: when law min in dock, no UPA minister there to defend him. When Vadra in dock, cabinet ministers line up to defend."^[18]

References

1. https://twitter.com/whenaboyloves

2. http://www.livemint.com/Politics/bIyiB4vh8SxBgjy54H1BGP/DLFRobert-Vadra-controversy-A-news-roundup.html

3. http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-robert-vadra-not-new-to-controversy/20121008.htm

4. "Another tragedy in Vadra family", The Times of India, 20 September 2003.

5. http://www.indiatoday.in/story/who-is-robert-vadra/1/224119.html

6. "Priyanka’s father-in-law found dead in guesthouse", Indian Express, 4 April 2009.

7. "Priyanka's father-in-law hanged himself: Police sources", The Times of India, 3 April 2009.

8. "Who is Robert Vadra?", India Today, 10 October 2012. Retrieved on 15 February 2013.

9. National Real Estate Development Council. Naredco.in. Retrieved on 13 October 2011.

10. "Robert Vadra ties up with DLF, makes low-key entry into Real estate business" by Rohini Singh & Sruthijith KK, Economic Times, 14 March 2011, 02.30am IST

11. "Full statement: DLF denies Kejriwal's allegations", NDTV, 6 October 2012. Retrieved on 15 February 2013.

12. Veeresh Malik (8 October 2012) , "Mango People in Banana Republic", The Times of India. Blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 15 February 2013.

13. "IAC asks Vadra to apologise for 'banana republic' FB post", Moneycontrol, 8 October 2012. Retrieved on 15 February 2013.

14. "Vadra's Facebook Account Deleted". The Hindu. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.

15. "Corporation Bank denies giving overdraft to Robert Vadra", The Times of India, 13 October 2012. Retrieved on 15 February 2013.

16. Modi slams Congress for defending Vadra – India – DNA. Dnaindia.com (14 October 2012). Retrieved on 15 February 2013.

17. "Congress defends Vadra, BJP demands judicial probe", Yahoo News, 5 October 2012. Retrieved on 15 February 2013.

18. Twitter / sardesairajdeep: Irony: when law min in dock. Twitter.com. Retrieved on 2013-02-15.

Saturday 1 November 2014

# Intrusion Prevention Systems #

Intrusion Prevention Systems

MetaFlows Security System

VENDOR: MetaFlows

WHAT: Cloud-based IDS/IPS/forensics managed security service.

PRICE: Bronze Software Sensor starts at $1,089/year (single core performance).

WEBSITE: http://www.metaflows.com

Mitigation

VENDOR: Silver Tail Systems

WHAT: Adjusts website flows to stop fraudsters while offering no impact to legitimate users.

PRICE: No actual price provided. Two-year term licenses based on the number of users monitored.

WEBSITE: http://www.silvertailsystems.com

IPS 5500 Model 75EC

VENDOR: Corero Network Security

WHAT: A standalone, purpose-built IPS.

PRICE: $12,495

WEBSITE: http://www.toplayer.com

Sourcefire Next-Generation IPS

VENDOR: Sourcefire

WHAT: A distributed appliance-based offering modeled on the Snort detection engine.

PRICE: $8,995

WEBSITE: http://www.sourcefire.com

NitroGuard IPS 4245

VENDOR: NitroSecurity

WHAT: An intelligent packet-filtering system that detects sophisticated network intrusion attempts and actively records and/or stops such attempts.

PRICE: $54,495 as tested (lower performance models start at $6,495)

WEBSITE: http://www.nitrosecurity.com

McAfee Network Security Platform

VENDOR: McAfee

WHAT: Provides threat protection for demanding networks.

PRICE: Range from $10,995 to $229,995

WEBSITE: http://www.mcafee.com

CounterSnipe APS

VENDOR: CounterSnipe Technologies

WHAT: Provides network-based intrusion prevention security.

PRICE: from $500/site license

WEBSITE: http://www.countersnipe.com

Symantec Managed IDS/IPS with Sourcefire

VENDOR: Symantec

PRICE: starts at under $500 per month per device

WEBSITE: http://www.symantec.com

SecureWorks Managed IDS/IPS

VENDOR: Secure Works

PRICE: starting at $550 per month

WEBSITE: http://www.secureworks.com

Perimeter eSecurity Firewall and Intrusion Prevention

VENDOR: Perimeter eSecurity

PRICE: $300-$800 per month

WEBSITE: http://www.perimeterusa.com

Network Box v3.2

VENDOR: Network Box USA, Inc.

PRICE: from $2,200 first year

WEBSITE: http://www.networkboxusa.com

IBM Managed Protection Service

VENDOR: IBM ISS

PRICE: starts at $575/month

WEBSITE: http://www.ibm.com

F-Secure Protection Service for Business v4

VENDOR: F-Secure

PRICE: Pricing per license for one year is about $44

WEBSITE: http://www.f-secureusa.com

Clone Systems Clone Guard Managed IDS/IPS

VENDOR: Clone Systems

PRICE: $525/month

WEBSITE: http://www.clone-systems.com

AT&T Network-Based Firewall v3

VENDOR: AT & T Corporation

PRICE: starts at under $1,000/month

WEBSITE: http://www.att.com

Alert Logic Threat Manager v3.5.4

VENDOR: Alert Logic

PRICE: $1,100/month

WEBSITE: http://www.alertlogic.com

ZyWALL USG 200

VENDOR: ZyXEL Communications

PRICE: $999.99 Security Service Kit (content filtering, AV, IDS/IDP); $609.99/year

WEBSITE: http://www.zyxel.com

Proventia Network Mail Security System

VENDOR: IBM

PRICE: $10,500

WEBSITE: http://www.ibm.com/us

Proventia IPS GX6116

VENDOR: IBM-ISS

PRICE: just shy of $200,000

WEBSITE: http://www.iss.net/

NitroGuard IPS

VENDOR: NitroSecurity

PRICE: $10,495 (Enterprise Security Manager device adds $19,995)

WEBSITE: http://www.nitrosecurity.com/

IPS 5500-150E v 5.12

VENDOR: Corero Network Security

PRICE: starting at $35,000

WEBSITE:

Interceptor 1000

VENDOR: Reflex Security

PRICE: $35,000

WEBSITE: http://www.reflexsecurity.com

IDS/IPS

VENDOR: SecurityMetrics

PRICE: $6,000

WEBSITE: http://securitymetrics.com/

DefensePro, Version 3.10

VENDOR: Radware

PRICE: starts at $12,500; the InSite appliance is $2,000 for software-only version or $10,000 for the appliance

WEBSITE: http://www.radware.com

CounterSnipe Technologies Active Protection Software 3.0

VENDOR: CounterSnipe Technologies

PRICE: $5,000

WEBSITE: http://www.countersnipe.com

NetScreen-IDP 500 (Special report Intrusion prevention)

VENDOR: NetScreen Technologies

PRICE: NS-IDP 500 - includes management server and IDP sensor: $34,995

WEBSITE:

McAfee Entercept (Intrusion Prevention group test)

VENDOR: Network Associates

PRICE: $1,295 (standard agent); $1,595 (web server agent); $2,995 (database agent); $4,995 (management server)

WEBSITE: http://www.entercept.com

BeadWindow! 100 (Intrusion prevention group test)

VENDOR: BeadWindow!

PRICE: $11,995

WEBSITE: http://www.beadwindow.com

Attack Mitigator IPS 2400 (Special report Intrusion prevention)

VENDOR: Corero Network Security

PRICE: List price for the IPS 2400 is $80,000

WEBSITE:

TippingPoint UnityOne-1200 (Special report Intrusion prevention)

VENDOR: TippingPoint Technologies

PRICE: UnityOne IPS pricing starts at US$24,995 list (200 Mbps, (2) 100Mbps Ethernet segments); SMS pricing starts at US$9,995 list. Tested device was UnityOne-1200, US$64,995 list (1.2 Gbps, (4) Gbps Ethernet

WEBSITE:

Sentivist IPS Sensor 500 (Group Test: Intrusion prevention)

VENDOR: NFR

PRICE: from $13,000

WEBSITE: http://www.nfr.com

ActiveScout Site Solution and Enterprise Solution (Intrusion Prevention group test)

VENDOR: ForeScout Technologies

PRICE: $2,995

WEBSITE: http://www.forescout.com

DP Inspector 100e (Group Test: Intrusion prevention)

VENDOR: Barbedwire

PRICE: $1,995

WEBSITE: http://www.barbedwiretech.com

McAfee Entercept (Special report Intrusion prevention)

VENDOR: Network Associates

PRICE: Management Server $4995 (support extra)

WEBSITE:

CounterSnipe APD 1000 (Intrusion prevention group test)

VENDOR: CounterSnipe Technology

PRICE: $7,495

WEBSITE: http://www.countersnipe.com

STAR Engine (Intrusion Prevention group test)

VENDOR: Barbedwire Technologies

PRICE: $9,995

WEBSITE: http://www.barbedwiretech.com

Internet Security Systems Proventia G200 (Special report Intrusion prevention)

VENDOR: Internet Security Systems, Inc.

PRICE: Pricing for the Proventia G200 starts at $11,995 and includes the SiteProtector centralized management system

WEBSITE:

V-Secure V-100 (Group Test: Intrusion prevention)

VENDOR: V-Secure Technologies

PRICE: $25,000

WEBSITE: http://www.v-secure.com

Primary Response (Intrusion Prevention group test)

VENDOR: Sana Security

PRICE: $6,500 (management server); $1,750 (application server agent)

WEBSITE: http://www.sanasecurity.com

McAfee IntruShield 4000 (Special report Intrusion prevention)

VENDOR: Network Associates, Inc.

PRICE: McAfee IntruShield 4000 Appliance - $99,995 McAfee IntruShield Starter Manager Software - $0 PC for McAfee IntruShield Starter Manager - $3,000 (approximate cost) Optional redundant hot-swappable power-supply for IntruShield 4000 - $2,495

WEBSITE: