Online Language - Acronyms

Online written language is different from the common written language; And, online language, even changes if you are writing an email, instant messaging or just posting to a forum or blog.

All languages has theirs particularities, whether they be acronyms or slang words. Understanding this special words will contribute to an easier understanding of the subject you are reading about!

In this post I'll talk about acronyms and what they mean.

Acronym - Meaning

AKA - Also Known As
ASAP - As Soon As Possible
ASL - Age/Sex/Location (normally a question)
BRB - Be Right Back
BS - Back Stab (on gaming), Bull Sh*t
BTW - By The Way
ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival
FAQ - Frequently Asked Question
FYI - For Your Information
FUBAR - F*ed Up Beyond All Recognition
GG - Good Game
GL - Good Luck
LMAO - Laughing My A* Off (equivalent to LOL)
LOL - Laughing Out Loud
M8 - Mate
MOTD - Message of the Day
NP - No Problem
NSFW - Not Safe for Work (be very careful with email carrying this word on subject)
OMG - Oh, My God!
OS - Operating System
PLS or PLZ - Please
SRY or SOZ - Sorry
THX - Thanks
TY - Thank You
U - You
Ur - Your
W8 - Wait
WTF - What The F*
WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get (applied to programs)

This is not a complete list (not even close), but it's a list of the ones I came across through out the years browsing online! There are many I use daily and others i see now and then on some website...

Feel free to comment and/or add others you think are important!

Sources:
Netlingo - www.netlingo.com
Wikipédia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_slang

Private Password Policy

Many are aware of the dangers of Internet, the more data we have available online the more exposed we are to online crime, and this information is, in most cases, just protected by a thin layer. Login and Password!

Because login is often public, the password is the user ultimate defense.

But despite being aware of all the dangers many users doesn't give much a thought when picking their password. Unlike username that have to be unique, very few site enforce some kind of password policy. This way is up to the user be self-disciplined and find a secure way of protection.

There are some guidelines we can follow when creating a password:

From CERN IT Department we have a few guidelines on How to choose good passwords

A good password is:
* private: it is used and known by one person only
* secret: it does not appear in clear text in any file or program or on a piece of paper pinned to the terminal
* easily remembered: so there is no need to write it down
* at least 8 characters
* a mixture of at least 3 of the following: upper case letters, lower case letters, digits and punctuation
* not guessable by any program in a reasonable time, for instance less than one week.

If you choose a password under these parameters you will end-up with a fairly secure password.

But like any security expert will tell you, having a password for every account is suicide. But i also recognize that having a password for each account, the best-case scenario, is almost impossible. You'll end up forgetting some of the passwords...

So we face a problem... Having one password is insecure, but having many is too! Let's find something in between!

My way of dealing with this situation is having a short number of different password that i use according to the site I'm registering.

It can be depicted as levels of security. The higher the level, the complex is the password.

I use four levels, or four different passwords.

The first level password (the easier), i use for public foruns, have-to-register-to-see websites and other websites of unknown ownership! This password is very simple, and doesn't obey even one of the guidelines...

But attention, although this is meant to be a simple password, it hasn't to be a stupid password. Never, but never, use login (or any combination of that word) for password and, if you can, try to avoid the top most common passwords. You can find a list of the top 10 here.

Second level, for social-network websites, instant messaging, secondary mail accounts, every site that evolves some kind of personal information, but nothing sensitive. This password will have to be much more complex than the first. And fulfill every guideline, at least.

Third level, primary email and every site that has sensitive private information (like financial...). This has to be a very strong password, you have examples of strong passwords in this Wikipedia article.

Fourth level, not so much because of the complexity of the password, but by the times it is changed... Meaning it isn't just a password but a group of them! This passwords are used for logging at systems that require a periodical change of password. I recommend this password be as complex as second level one, and the group make sense when putted together in a phrase.

The more users are aware of how to create a secure password, the harder it will be to compromise account someone's account.

Absolute safety is a myth but nothing wrong comes from trying!

10 Reasons to go Open Source

Wikipedia defines Open Source as

a set of principles and practices that promote access to the design and production of goods and knowledge. The term is most commonly applied to the source code of software that is available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent intellectual property restrictions. This allows users to create software content through incremental individual effort or through collaboration.

Open Source concept as we know it, is the effort of a wide group of people, one of those, Richard Stallman, responsable for the creation of GPL, the licence that brought some fairness to Open Source Software.

Despite all the work done around FOSS (Free/Open Source Software) many aren't fully aware of the benefit of using Open Source.

But there are plenty!

1. Free
• It cost's absolutely nothing! On the other hand commercial software can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. See thing this way, because it's free, cost-effeciency coundn't ever be negative!
2. Changeable
• One can, with no problem at all modify the code in order to acomplish one's needs. This is maybe the feature that describes better open-source, you can have free software and still can't access the code source (freeware) but, if the code is public you have an open-source software. And the fact that anyone can modify the code and publish the modifications makes open-source software evolve pretty quickly.
3. Easy
• Opposing to "more difficult to learn than commercial software". Software coded by individual users doesn't make it difficult to understand and work with. That's a myth! Like commercial software the learning curve both depends on the people who work the interface and the user background experience.
4. Portable
• Most (NOT ALL) open-source sofware is written in languages that are compatible with multiple OS, like Java, Python, C and web-base applications. This mean that you are able to run the application in most computers, unlike propriety software that often just run on Windows or Mac.
5. Online Communities
• Online communities grow around open-source software. This communities usually consist in developers, the ones responsible for the coding, and the users, that can ask questions, post suggestions, report bugs, etc... It's so simple getting the answers to solve a problem that Online Communities are the primary source of helpful information.
6. Tech support
• You still have it!
  But it's often paid :( This has to do with the commercial model around open-source software, companies profit in providing tech support. For those who have such a complicated issue that the online community can't provide an answer, or simply don't want to waste time in troubleshooting, payed tech support is definitively the answer.
7. Keeps Improving
• Because everyone has access to the source code, corrections are introduced quickly. Open Source Software is constantly being updated, with new functionalities added besides bug and error fixing.
  
8. Simple
• When you acquire an open-source software who don't need to register the product nor there is the need of getting an individual license for each computer. The all process is very simple and clear; Install and use it!
9. Reliable
• Due to high maintenance open-source software can be more reliable than proprietary one. This isn't true in every cases, but if you consider stability and duration (as in the time a software is able to preform the original task) open-source software beats propriety by far.
10. Summing up: It's Better
• Open-source software can do all the things propriety does, and even do it better! And if it isn't enough, it's free...

Open Source can (and probability will) be the future, the more people use open-source software the closer we'll be of achieving this goal.

So, what are you waiting for?

42th Zone v2.0

After a few months and only 3 posts, I resolved to start from scratch again!

The blog was given a new design; Used a blogger template from 99 Computer and with a little help from Photoshop changed a few items;

The top banner was also made with Photoshop and I followed two tutorials two create the brick wall and the rusty effect in the plate (I didn't save the links!).

Other addition is the tag cloud, the source code is from phydeaux3 blog and i just change it a little bit.

From now on, I plan to post two new topics a month and talk about different subjects, all related with Information Technology.

I also urge all the visitors to comment the stories :)

Happy Readings!

1st Post

This is the first post of 42th Zone, and i suppose that an introduction to the subjects i'll write here would be in order.

As a little background on me; I'm a computer engineering student, working as webdesigner for a couple of years (a webpage with portfolio will be posted soon), also doing some work in the management programs development.

In this blog i'll write my perspectives about the IT world in general. I'll certainly write some stuff i am not fully credit to write about, so don't take any of the words here posted for absolute truth.

And by the way, i am Portuguese, so a few mistakes would be expected!