Average Ping Response Time

A colleague asked me what is the average ping response time for internet browsing. I surprisingly asked why did he ask me to which he replied that he saw my profile and found that I have worked as Technical Support Engineer with VCustomer and therefore thought that I will be able to answer him and help him with the slow speed that he is receiving while browsing.

For general internet browsing, under 200ms in most parts of the world is usually good (under 100ms if the server is in your own country). 200-400 is adequate, depending on how far away the server is, and how many nodes data has to go thru to get there (e.g., other side of the world). 400+ ms is really quite bad, but the internet will still function, it will just seem a bit sluggish.
For most online gaming, aim for ~120ms or less (local servers in your own country are usually the best).
LAN gaming should be below 50ms easily.

Be Alert Be Secure

IT has revolutionised the entire world. Banking sector has also been revolutionised by this IT revolution.  Gone are the days when you had to stand in the queue in a bank to get your cheques cleared, or stand in a queue to pay your Electricity bills and fight with a Bill collecting clerk at BSNL office.  Internet has revolutionised the way users use to do their daily businesses. It had made it easy to shop and avail services like internet banking from anywhere, anytime without physical presence.

However, it has also increased the opportunity for fraudsters to target their preys and commit frauds. It is important for online users to be aware of such frauds and protect themselves against them.

If you are using your online internet banking account, then you should know following two kinds of frauds:-

1. Phishing - Phishing is an act of identity theft undertaken by fraudsters to gain your private and sensitive information by sending emails that appear to be sent by your bank. Such fake emails encourage you to click on a link in the email that leads you to a fake website with a similar look and feel as that of the Bank’s authentic website. It is designed so, to capture your personal confidential account information such as Customer ID, IPIN, Credit/Debit Card number, Card expiry date, CVV number, etc. Customers’ email addresses are purchased by the fraudster through non-trusted sites where the customer would have revealed his email ID by means of casual browsing or shared it on chat rooms, blogs or mailing lists, etc.
2. Money Mules – Extraction of information using Phishing or other means of identity theft, the fraudster may get a person’s Net Banking credentials i.e. customer ID and IPIN with a motive to transfer money from customer account to another account holder of the same or different bank. The beneficiary account holder is known as a “Money Mule.” The beneficiary becomes accomplice unknowingly by social engineering techniques employed by the fraudster.

Some tips to follow while using Online Banking services:-

1. URL: Use the correct URL of the bank. Do not click on any random link that claims to take you to the bank’s website. It is better if you manually type the URL on the browser. Never click on a link in an email to take you to a website and enter personal details in either the email or the website.

1. Password and PIN security:  Never disclose any personal information or your debit/credit card PIN or online password to anyone. Be wary if you receive unsolicited emails or calls asking you to disclose any personal information, PINs or card numbers. This information should be kept secret at all times.

1. Conned Emails: Do not be conned by convincing emails offering you the chance to make some easy money. It probably is an Internet fraud or Email scam. Be cautious of unsolicited emails from overseas – it is much harder to prove legitimacy of the organisations behind the emails.

1. PC Security: It is important that you always have an updated anti-virus software and anti-spyware software on your machine and keep it active always. Spyware records information about your Internet use and transmit it without your permission. This can compromise your PC security. It is important to run anti-virus and anti-spyware programs regularly.

1. Check your statements: It is important to check your statements regularly; a quick check will help identify any erroneous or criminal transactions that might have been performed on your account without your knowledge.

1. Secure Banking Session: Make sure that your banking session is secure. Make sure that the URL uses secured-http, i.e., it starts with https://abc.com. Some browsers such as Mozilla Firefox change the colour of the address bar (where you type in the URL) when you are in a secure session. The other indicator is the presence of a digital certificate represented by a padlock or key in the bottom right hand corner. If you double click on this icon, it should provide you with information about the organisation with which you have entered in to a secure session.

1. Closing Banking Session: It is important to log off from your Internet banking session. Simply closing the window you performed the transaction in may not close the banking session. If your computer is infected with a Trojan, you session may become hijacked by a criminal and financial transactions performed without your knowledge. It is also advisable to disconnect from the Internet if you are not planning to use it.

1. Educate Others: It is important that you follow the above tips. In addition, it is equally important that you educate others as well. Spread the knowledge to curb the security threats and have a safe online banking experience.

This information is not exhaustive. Read the security tips that your bank shares with you. Till then Safe and Happy Online Banking.

Avoiding emails without Subject

More often than not I used to compile a fantastic mail to send to my colleagues (even managers) in office and just after clicking “Send” button, it used to strike me that I have missed mentioning the subject. So, I requested few friends on Infosys internal blogs to send me the script for Outlook. And Nikhil Kurien mailed me the requested piece of code. It was back in 2007. I was just cleaning up my mails and thought it would be better if I keep it on my blog as it would make it easy for me to access it whenever I wish rather than searching for the mail. So, here are the steps that we need to follow:-

1. Open your outlook

2. Press Alt+F11 (this opens the Visual Basic editor)

3. On the Left Pane you’ll see “Microsoft Outlook Objects”, expand this. Now one can see the “ThisOutLookSession”.

4. Click on “ThisOutLookSession”.

5. Copy and Paste the following code in the right pane. (Code Pane)

Private Sub Application_ItemSend(ByVal Item As Object, Cancel As Boolean)

Dim strSubject As String

strSubject = Item.Subject

If Len(strSubject) = 0 Then

Prompt$ = "Subject is Empty. Are you sure you want to send the Mail?"

If MsgBox(Prompt$, vbYesNo + vbQuestion + vbMsgBoxSetForeground, "Check for Subject") = vbNo Then

Cancel = True

End If

End If

End Sub

6. Save this and now close the VB Code editor and take a breath. From now on, this macro will make sure you do not make the mistake of sending an email without subject.

ISA Centennial Jam - Right to Express

#I found this as a private post. So, thought to share it with world. Anyways time of this post and time mentioned  at the start of the post may not be in sync.

7 hrs. 53 mins. 40 secs left when I started writing this post. For what? For ISA Centennial Jam to end. A great experience, lot of thoughts, plenty of discussions, great ideas and a sense of satisfaction that it brought with it was a wonderful time that one might have spent in IBM.

IBM India/SA (ISA) came up with a brilliant idea to organize a JAM to celebrate the centennial year of IBM. ISA Centennial JAM gave all IBMers in the region a unique opportunity to collaborate directly with each other, share ideas, have direct access to key executives and initiate meaningful conversations. And what we have in return is:-

Since the start of the Jam on 23rd Feb 2011
# of total posts: 10755
# of total logins: 18284

And still there are over 7 hours to go. JAM was a place to watch. So many people having lot to say and relate to. It was amazing to have such a wonderful discussion inside IBM. Even if you do not have any idea to share or anything to respond, just going through the responses on different threads would be a wonderful experience - an experience that will educate you and by the time you will complete reading few threads there will be plenty of ideas that will come into your mind and that others would cheerfully like to know. Otherwise too it will be an education session for the next JAM or to implement in real life. The only question is "What Next?" Will this be the end in itself. Probably not. Because Shanker Annaswamy  has promised that some top ideas across discussion forums will be sponsored by the India Leadership team for further evaluation/implementation. Other select ideas that tie in directly with IBM Centennial plan will be shared with the Corporation.

For others it is high time to realize the potential of their ideas and brainstorm further so as to make the idea a big hit next time.

Hope that we have more such JAMs in the future and also that chosen Ideas hit the market. Till then keep thinking.

MTS MBlaze – Worst Internet Service Provider

This is my story of sufferings that I faced with MTS MBlaze. It was a red-letter day when thought of buying MTS MBlaze entered my mind and that was the day when I had given open invitation to trouble, frustration, and tension.

I bought MTS Mblaze in first week of Feb 2010. However, after 1 week it stopped working. I contacted their Customer Care and they informed that the device was not registered in your name and so they cannot help with any issue. I was shocked and surprised. I contacted the persons from MTS Pune and they told me that by mistake they have mixed the documents of two customers that is why there was all the confusion. They gave me their demo device, which used to stop working at 10PM. After a months time (March 2010 last), they returned my device with changed number.

However, the connectivity was still very bad. There were hardly any signals and whenever there were any the websites used to open very late. This was very frustrating. Later on 30 August 2010, I got it recharged and within few days, I was unable to connect to internet. I again called their customer care and was informed that my number does not exist. I told them I got it recharged few days back but of no use. The person was not even ready to listen anything and disconnected. I again contacted local MTS personals and they told me that my number has again changed. They provided me with the new number in mid-September, but the recharge that I got on 30 August was never returned to me nor credited to my device.

Two days ago (Nov 2010), after returning from Diwali holidays, I got it recharged again. It got connected but no website could be opened including MTS Blaze’s homepage. I am still trying!

MTS is worst service provider. I have used Reliance Netconnect (USB) and Airtel broadband in Pune and BSNL Broadband in Agra. They are far ahead of MTS. I will recommend everyone to refrain from buying MTS because the Reebok shoes they provide free with their connection will only be used running after MTS personnel to get your work done. At least till they get their service competitive enough.