QA Distiller is a great quality control tool I came across when I was working on the Marketing project I already mentioned in an article about XML in Localisation.
Developed and distributed by Yagamata Europe, this tool has a lot to offer to client-side engineers, multilingual vendors and freelancers alike. In fact I was even using it to enforce proper and consistent use of Terminology in source marketing content, before sending for localisation.

With the impending release of version 7 at the end of this month, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to talk about it on Loc Loc. The purpose of QA Distiller is to batch process quality checks on bilingual files. Essentially, it performs similar tasks to the QA Checker in Trados’s TagEditor, but with some major differences.

The benefits

Multiple file processing: QA Distiller allows you to run a highly customizable list of checks on batches of files. There is no need to open of each individual TTX file, or run the QA Checker successively on each one. Just select the files to process, the settings to apply and run the tool to output a comprehensive report for your follow-up. This is a great way to control and enforce consistency across entire handoffs or projects. Translation quality, Terminology consistency etc. are simultaneously audited across all the files selected.

Multi-lingual processing: better yet, this can also be done across all languages at once, which is particularly powerful for controlling Do Not Translate instructions have been adhered to, for example.

Interactive reporting: the report output is another great selling point. It rates and classifies errors and lets you update it as you review and fix or discard candidate errors. It can be exported to a variety of formats where source, target and error details are summarised and categorised. This is very helpful to communicate with vendors on queries, as well as measure the quality od deliveries. Finally, the report has hyperlinks not only to the file, but to the actual segment where the potential error was detected. This makes the implementation of fixes really quick and easy. No more peeling your eyes out to find typos or endless finger-cramping Ctr+F session. If there is an error, QA Distiller will get you right there!

Software stability: my experience (version 6 in Windows XP) has shown very solid performance and compatibility, and certainly far less crashes than SDL’s QA Checker.

Some rare shortcomings

One of the limitations I found in the current version was that the Translation Consistency check did not work when running QA Distiller across several languages. Instead of reading the language code of each file and filtering the comparison, it reported the fact that translations differed from one language to the next. Not particularly helpful.

Secondly, although the pricing structure offers good choice, the full version seems a bit steep at €1000, especially since it also requires Trados to function on TTX files.

Additionnal Technical Information

QA Distiller supports all languages, and a variety of file formats: TRADOStag documents (TTX), FrameMaker RTF (STF), Translation Memory eXchange (TMX).
Terminology can be checked against proprietary-format dictionnaries (DICT) or the industry-standard Term Base eXchange (TBX).

The upcoming version 7 introduces:

• Tag and ID-aware terminology checks
• New Wrench icon funcitonnalities: batch correction of multiple quotation mark and number formatting
• Fine-grained ignore option for improved noise filtering
• Tag and case-independent consistency check
• Full support for Georgian, Malay (Rumi and Jawi), Serbian (Latin and Cyrillic)

The little green man also told me that there are plans to add support for the many different XLIFF flavours like SDL XLIFF, MemoQ XLIFF, WorldServer XLIFF by the first quarter of next year.

For more details, check the cool demo at http://www.qa-distiller.com/movie/‏

Summary:
anaconda-12.46 Ok
Installation Ok
firstboot ok

Bugs (filed):
Desktop = Nil
i18n =  Nil
l10n = Nil

Detail:

Major Changes:
Removed Package:
Updated Package:
anaconda-12.46-1.fc12 – RH#531932
gdm-2.28.1-24.fc12

Summary:
Added Packages: 0
Removed Packages: 0
Modified Packages: 4

Complete Rawhide Report

Bug (or expected Bug): Kannada Translation is missing for network configuration

Updated bug:
Closed Bug:

installation language: Kannada (kn_IN)

install.log file error/warning:

install.log file warning: No

Machine:
Intel C3Q + Intel Chipset

Summary:
anaconda-12.45 Ok
Installation Ok
firstboot ok

Bugs (filed):
Desktop = Nil
i18n =  Nil
l10n = Nil

Detail:

Major Changes:
Removed Package:
Updated Package:
anaconda-12.45-1.fc12 -
fedora-release-notes-12.0.0-4.fc12 -
glibc-2.11-2
gtranslator-1.9.6-2.fc12 – rebuild
kernel-2.6.31.5-122.fc12 – nouveau: fix rh#532924,
metacity-2.28.0-9.fc12
xorg-x11-server-1.7.1-7.fc12

Summary:
Added Packages: 0
Removed Packages: 0
Modified Packages: 17

Complete Rawhide Report

Bug (or expected Bug): Telugu Translation is missing for network configuration

Updated bug:
Closed Bug:

installation language: Telugu (te_IN)

install.log file error/warning:

install.log file warning: No

Machine:
Intel C3Q + Intel Chipset

Summary:
anaconda-12.44
Installation Ok
firstboot ok

Bugs (filed):
Desktop = Nil
i18n =  Nil
l10n = Nil

Detail:

Major Changes:
Removed Package:
Updated Package:
NetworkManager-0.7.996-6.git20091021.fc12
anaconda-12.44-1.fc12 – bz#531932
fedora-logos-12.0.3-2.fc12 – kde icon
ibus-1.2.0.20091024-1.fc12- Update to 1.2.0.20091024
kernel-2.6.31.5-117.fc12
livecd-tools-031-1.fc12 – livecd-iso-to-disk capable of installing installer DVD to USB
plymouth-0.8.0-0.2009.29.09.18.fc12
pulseaudio-0.9.19-2.fc12 – Bug #532583 gdm should not require pulseaudio
qemu-0.11.0-11.fc12
xorg-x11-drv-nouveau-0.0.15-17.20091105gite1c2efd.fc12 – rh#532322,
xorg-x11-server-1.7.1-6.fc12 – #524244

Summary:
Added Packages: 1
Removed Packages: 0
Modified Packages: 35

Complete Rawhide Report

Bug (or expected Bug): Hindi Translation is missing for network configuration

Updated bug:
Closed Bug:

installation language: Hindi (hi_IN)

install.log file error/warning:

install.log file warning: No

Machine:
Intel C3Q + Intel Chipset

Summary:
anaconda-12.41
Installation Ok
firstboot ok

Bugs (filed):
Desktop = Nil
i18n =  Nil
l10n = 1

Detail:

Major Changes:
qt-4.5.3-7.fc12
system-config-printer-1.1.13-6.fc12

Summary:
Added Packages: 0
Removed Packages: 0
Modified Packages: 25

Complete Rawhide Report

Bug (or expected Bug):
New Bug:  anaconda Translation bug
Updated bug:
Closed Bug:

installation language: Hindi (hi_IN)

install.log file error/warning: fontpackages-filesystem-1.29-1 Nokey (warning)

install.log file warning:

Machine:
Intel C2Q + Intel Graphics (Profile)

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ROHIT SHARMA

När Debian är ett stort projekt med tusentals utvecklare och ännu fler som bidrar utan att vara en del av själva apparaten och regelverket så är LXDE något helt annat. LXDE är fortfarande ganska så utan regler, det finns ingen tydlig ledare och gott om informella viljor och visioner.

LXDE är alltså ett försök att skapa det som i Linux-sammanhang kallas för fönstermiljö eller skrivbordsmiljö med kravet att allting ska gå att köra på lågpresterande maskiner, äldre datorer eller nedbantade bärbara datorer och dylikt. LXDE nyttjar i grunden Openbox som sin fönsterhanterare och det finns en oerhört snabb och smidig menyhanterare som är det absolut minsta man kan ha igång för att ens kunna kalla det för LXDE. Allting är fristående komponenter men med samma grundfilosfi enligt utvecklarna.

Jag ramlade över projektet förra hösten (typ november/december eller så) när KDE 4.x blev alldeles för tung för min Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook B-2562 från 2001. Installerade LXDE på prov och det var helt skönt bara. Allting flöt på och det var inget större besvär att använda de program jag brukar. Men så var det det här med översättningen till svenska. Den var ju inte dålig precis men den var ju inte komplett heller. Så på menyn “Visa” i PCManFM hittade jag så väl “Visa som ikoner” som “View as compact list”. Till slut så hade jag irriterat mig på det till den grad att jag letade upp filerna och sändlistan för översättningar, sen skickade jag ut frågan om det var nån som översatte till svenska och förklarade att jag tänkte börja göra det. Så klart visade det sig att Daniel Nylander (som bidrar till massor med svenska översättningar men som jag stött på i arbetet med Debians installationsprogram bl.a.) hängde på listan även han. Runt nyår så delade vi alla LXDE-komponenter och gjorde hälften var, de han översätte läste jag och vice versa. Det tog typ två dagar sen var hela arbetet klart och svenska var komplett översatt och viss kvalitetsförbättring kunde skådas.

Men att bara göra själva översättningen är ju ingenting i och med att det är vad jag redan gör i Debian. I fallet LXDE så stannade jag kvar och det anslöt fler och fler översättare från andra språk, problemet var bara att systemet och bristen på tid från andra involverade i projeketet var väldigt låg så efter att jag lotsat folk rätt och hjälpt dem på traven så fick jag tillstånd att sända färdiga översättningar rakt in i koden för LXDE. Ett ansvar och ett erkännande. Jag övervakar sedan dess alla rapporter i felrapporteringen och tar hand om översättarnas filer och kollar så att de följer det regelverk som finns och funkar att använda. Sen lägger jag till de i koden och aktiverar. Fortfarande i februari var det här arbetet rätt träligt och svårt att ha att göra med, det fanns en diskussion i projektet om att använda sig av något webbaserat system för att sköta översättningarna. Man valde mer eller mindre mellan två; Transifex och Rosetta. Trasifex används flitigt inom Red Hat-sfären och Rosetta är en produkt kopplad till Ubuntus launchpad. Jag var bara bekant med Rosetta då och inte särskilt imponerad. Men när inget hände så gjorde jag som man gör i andra projekt när det står stilla, jag byggde en lösning på Pootle – kopplade mitt konto för koden till servern som donerades av Blekinge studentkår och satte ihop en kort instruktion på hur man översätter med Pootle.
Sedan dess har jag gjort ungefär 350 bidrag till LXDE-projektets kodbas.

Att gå från Debians välstrukturerade men lite stappliga värld där allting styrs utifrån det sociala kontrakter och ungefär 15 år av erfarenhet och tusentals personer som åtminstone bryr sig om sin lilla del till LXDE med en handfull starkt bidragande personer och inget regelverk är skoj och jobbigt samtidigt. En stor del av huvudutvecklarna i LXDE sitter i sydöstra Asien, Taiwan och Hong kong. Någon enstaka i Australien. Utöver det är det jag och två eller tre till i Europa och ungefär två från Amerika. Medan utvecklarna bygger på nästa variant av programmen eller lägger till alldeles nya program som kan vara bra och ha så fortsätter jag att samordna alla våra översättare, från svenska som jag tar hand om själv via Hebreiska med två personer till Taiwanesisk Kinesiska och Brasiliansk Portugisiska med ett helt översättar team och massor med struktur. Det är utmanande att kunna säga till översättarna att nu har ni två veckor på er att uppdatera filen för GPicView sedan kommer vi att skeppa en ny version, är ni inte klara då så kommer inte ert språk att ha en komplett översättning. Men det är samtidigt oerhört tillfredsställande att se hur de sluter upp, de inte bara tar hand om de nya texterna utan det finns en kärlek till helheten så det sker uppdateringar i de redan befintliga översättningarna då och då med. LXDE är idag tillgängligt på nästan 30 språk. Lägger man till att en del språk är nästan helt översatta och att jag inte har pushat översättarna där så passerar vi lätt över 40 språk runt hela jorden, Afrika är den världsdel som är sämst representerad tyvärr. Från de Europeiska storspråken Tyska, Franska och Spanska via minispråket Arpitian i Frankrike, de båda Norska varianterna, Polska och Serbiska till Hebreiska, Arabiska, Urdu och Malajiska så har vi stöd för att visa LXDE på modersmålet för över en och en halv miljard människor. Lägger man därtill att många klarar sig bra med Engelska eller något av de särskilda språken vi översatt till som andra språk blir siffran helt absurd. Detta har vi åstadkommit på ett halvår.

En komplett översättning från noll i LXDE tar ungefär två till tre dagar att göra, det beror lite på hur mycket tid man kan lägga per dag och hur van man är vid att göra översättningar (och på språket man nyttjar i vissa fall =)). vi började med ungefär 20 språk och försöker nu hålla översättningar för nästan 50 språk uppdaterade, vissa är helt övergivna emedan andra bara släpar efter litet. Det är sjukt kul. Det är väldigt intressant vad lite instruktioner och målmedvetet tjatande kan göra dessutom. Det är i nio fall av tio så att personer kommit till oss som projekt och bett om att få översätta än tvärtom. Det finns en vilja.

Under hösten kommer vi troligen att ta nästa steg i att automatisera och strukturera översättandet, Transifex verkar har vuxit till sig och kan ersätta Pootle (som har en hel del irriterande egenheter och begränsningar) som vårt huvudverktyg. Hur min roll som koordinator utvecklas i och med det är svårt att sia om, å andra sidan kan jag ibland känna att det ska bli skönt att få göra något annat på den tid jag lägger på att få ihop LXDE och alla dess viljor så att vi kan leverera. Nästa version av LXDE beräknas ramla ut under senhösten dessutom, även det är ju oerhört kittlande.

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om LXDE, pcmanfm, pootle, transifex, open source, öppen källkod, översättning, l10n

Hade tänkt skriva den här fortsättningsposten under torsdagen och publicera den igår men så blev det inte.

Jag skriver alltså ned lite tankar och funderingar baserat på mitt deltagande i projekt som har någon typ av bas i öppen källkod. Det här inlägget tar upp hur det är att arbeta för Debian.

Debian har alltså varit mitt första val av distribution i ganska många år tillbaka nu (även om jag har experimenterat kort med andra) men steget från att använda distributionen till att hjälpa andra att använda den till att ta hand om sin installation till att skicka felrapporter till att försöka lösa fel i felrapporterna till att faktiskt och rent bidra till att distributionen förbättras och/eller växer är ju helt egna delar i det här.

Debians breda användarbas är en bra grejj som jag verkligen gillar. Om jag ska göra något så har ofta någon annan gjort ungefär samma sak, så himlans unik är man ju inte i sina önskningar. Det är helt enkelt väldigt lätt att få hjälp. Några snabba slagningar med en sökmotor brukar vara vad som behövs. Ibland får jag väl ta hjälp av en eller annan sändlista eller kanske använda mig av chattmöjligheten. Men hjälpen är oftast inte långt borta, det är vitkigt.

Så jag bidrar med goda tankar för andra som ska göra saker som jag gjort, jag hjälper gärna till med allmänna funderingar eller raka råd på ex. den svenska sändlistan för Debiananvändare eller deltar sporadiskt i chattsessionerna på IRC. I mån av tid.

I maj 2008 hände något speciellt dock. Jag kan inte svära på exakt vad det var som hände men av någon anledning så öppnade jag källfilen till översättningen för något program och insåg hur enkelt det var att själv fixa till eller utöka översättningen.
När jag kollar i arkivet verkar det faktiskt som att mitt första bidrag i karusellen med översättningar var för TZData, alltså paketet som håller reda på tidszoner och platser och sånt. Kan inte för mitt liv påminna mig om varför jag stötte på något besvär med den men så är det ibland.

Efter några stapplande steg i leta upp information om hur översättningsprylen görs i Debian så hittade jag fram till sändlistan debian-i18n som är någon form av sammanhållande länk mellan alla översättare som hjälper Debian att finnas tillgängligt på så många språk. Deras insats i sig sprids sedan till en mängd olika system som använder sig av Debians översättningar så mina bidrag kan numera hittas en bra bit utanför Debianvärlden. I sanning en märklig tanke.

Sedan maj-juni 2008 har jag nästan varje vecka bidragit till att flytta fram positionerna för Svenska språket i Debian. Jag har främst jobbat med den delen som kallas debconf, informationsmeddelandena som visas när användaren installerar nya eller uppdaterar redan installerade paket. En vanlig debconf-översättning tar mellan 30 och 60 minuter att göra, i vissa fall behöver jag kolla upp vissa termer som kan vara knepiga att översätta – ett bra exempel på en samling med såna är de som tillhör Kerberossfären. Det finns en hel del märkliga begrepp som är fullt normala att använda inom Kerberos och att få in de i vanlig svenska meningsbyggnad är inte helt enkelt. Det känns som att jag vänder mig ut och in varje gång jag ska uppdatera en påbörjad Kerberosöversättning.

Största enskilda insats som jag gjort för Debian är nog dock Kommentarer till utgåvan Lenny som tog närmare en veckas jobb, mycket av texten kunde kopieras från förra versionen som Daniel Nylander gjorde. Kommentarerna till utgåvan är ett oerhört viktigt dokument av precis samma anledning som att andelen översatta debconf-texter är viktiga. Kommentarer till utgåvan beskriver viktiga ändringar mellan utgåvor men det beskriver och rekomenderade installations- och uppgraderingsprocesser som bör beaktas av användaren. Det är alltså ett dokument som många personer kan förväntas titta på innan de gör sin installation eller möjligen under tiden av installationsprocessen. Att den finns på svenska är ett gott stöd. För debconf-texterna gäller att det är ett av de mest omedelbra ansiktena utåt för Debian till användarna. Utan komplett översättning i informationstexterna saknas en brygga för användarna. Den svenska översättningen av debconf är idag nästan helt komplett, till nästa version av Debian så är det min fasta övertygelse att svenska är ett av de språk som är helt kompletta, utöver engelska brukar endast franska, protugisiska och tyska vara kompletta. Fjäder i hatten!

Just debconf och de stora grunddokumenten för Debian är “enkla” att hålla reda på genom att det finns en rad verktyg som visar hur väl översatt dokumentet är, rent beräkningsmässigt då inte kvalitetsmässigt. Genom samordningen på sändlistan debian-i18n så blir översättarna uppdaterade på när saker och ting måste vara fördigt och genom att använda särskilda sändlistor för språken som översätts till kan flera personer dela på arbetet. Ett problem för svenskan är att vi är ganska få som bidrar, framför allt saknas korrekturläsningen vilket jag tror att vi skulle ha nytta av. Med lite fler personer i systemet så kunde vi införa det kravsteget med. På det hela taget är det ett enkelt och billigt sätt att bidra tillbaka till ditt favoritprojekt att skriva svenska översättningar. Det bidrar till att tröskeln för andra blir lägre när de ska börja använda systemet och det i sin tur kan vara en del i att bredda användningen av öppna system, Debian eller något annat. Att göra det för Debian innebär att du får lite extra hjälp med strukturer och regleringar som i vissa fall saknas eller inte funkar så bra i andra projekt.

Jag stannar där för nu. Nästa steg blir att skriva om hur jag jobbar med LXDE, ett projekt jag bara varit en del av i typ åtta månader.

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om öppen källkod, open source, debian, öersättning, l10n

One of the more frequent means by which customers are defrauded is by cheque interception. On average, a cheque is handled by up to 20 people from the time you make it out to the time your branch pays it. This means that there are numerous opportunities for the cheque to be intercepted. Most commonly this happens when cheques are posted.

Another common way in which customers are defrauded is in accepting a cheque or bank deposit when selling goods. Often the cheque or the deposit turns out to be fraudulent and the seller is out of pocket. Sellers are advised never to release goods until they are certain that the payment is valid.

Always wait for the funds to be cleared before releasing goods, even if it seems to be a bank issued cheque. While the cheque may appear to be genuine, fraudsters have even gone so far as to print their own cheques. The cheque could also be stolen. Even if the cheque is genuine, there are certain circumstances when bank issued cheques will not be honoured.

A fake cheques scam estimated to the tune of Rs.52 crore has been unearthed in the State Bank of India’s (SBI) main branch in kanpur. Seven bank officers have been suspended, According to the official, the fraud, which was detected Tuesday evening, was being carried on with the active connivance of the branch officials. Most of the fake cheques were credited into the account of an influential petrol pump owner and one of his associates, who have reportedly fled the country.

“The suspended officials include an assistant general manager, two chief managers and some senior managers, who were suspected to be directly involved in pilfering the bank by crediting fake cheques into select accounts,” he said.

The Kanpur branch head and deputy general manager have been divested of the charge with immediate effect.

The scam was detected by SBI’s audit team in Hyderabad from which a special team had been sent here to this city, 80 km from state capital Lucknow.

A vigilance team from the Lucknow-based state head office was also sent to Kanpur.

While describing the case as the “biggest fraud in the Lucknow-Kanpur region in recent decades”, the bank official did not rule out the possibility of “more heads rolling” over the next few days.

Significantly, barely a few months back, a fake note racket involving SBI officials was discovered in a small SBI branch in Domariyaganj town on the India-Nepal border, about 200 km from Lucknow.

ATM fraud issues in the most part involve credit card fraud and debit card fraud. The ATM machine may be the ‘common purchase point’ (CPP) where analysis shows that a significant number of credit cards or debit cards were used genuinely in one specific location prior to detection of subsequent fraudulent transactions. Even when not the CPP, automated teller machines may be the mechanism used to convert compromised credit cards and debit cards into hard cash, so long as the credit card fraud or debit card fraud included compromise of the personal identification number (PIN).

ATM skimming is now common in most parts of the world that have a mature network of ATMs, self-service terminals and point of sale (POS) terminals that accept magnetic stripe based credit cards and debit cards. Most bank ATM security issues and ATM fraud issues involving ATM skimming are the result of criminals attaching an ATM skimmer to the ATM card reader slot. Europe has historically been one of the most targeted geographies for ATM skimming attacks, although the world-wide spread of such ATM skimming fraud has been, and continues to be significant.

ATM deposit fraud which includes both cash deposit fraud and cheque fraud (check fraud) at automated teller machines is one type of ATM fraud that is particularly common in the US where many banks have a culture of crediting and allowing drawings against the deposit prior to manual reconciliation and verification.

ATM hacking should really only be used to describe attacks against the internals of the ATMs software or the ATMs systems security but is commonly used to describe attacks against card processors and other components of the transaction processing network. The US  have experienced a number of high profile ‘ATM hack’ attacks against well known credit card and debit card processors. Some of the systems security breaches have included compromise of the PIN in addition to the card data, with subsequent fraudulent spend using cloned credit cards and cloned debit cards at ATMs.

Another ATM fraud issue is ATM card theft which includes credit card trapping and debit card trapping at ATMs. Originating in South America this type of ATM fraud has spread globally. Although somewhat replaced in terms of volume by ATM skimming incidents, a re-emergence of card trapping has been noticed in regions such as Europe where EMV Chip and PIN cards have increased in circulation.

ATM funds transfer fraud is prevalent in Asia. This ATM scam involves criminals tricking victims into using the automated teller machine to transfer money into the criminals account.

ATM security attacks involving physical attacks against the ATM security enclosure are widely spread. ATM explosive attacks although originating and not uncommon in Europe are more prevalent in Australia and South Africa.

ATM ram raid incidents also occur globally but are most prevalent in the US, perhaps partly due to the large number of ATMs deployed in soft-target locations such as convenience stores.

ATM security incidents involving a high degree of precision to gain access to the ATM security enclosure occur globally. The UK and Canada have experienced many such precision ATM security attacks in recent years.Never accept a faxed bank deposit slip as proof of payment. Amounts and details can easily be changed to reflect a higher value or that it is a cash deposit. Check with your bank first that the correct amount has been deposited and whether the deposit is cash or cheque. If it is a cheque deposit, wait until the cheque has been paid (usually this will take seven days) before you release goods.

What is card skimming?

‘Card skimming’ is the illegal copying of information from the magnetic strip of a credit or ATM card. It is a more direct version of a phishing scam.

The scammers try to steal your details so they can access your accounts. Once scammers have skimmed your card, they can create a fake or ‘cloned’ card with your details on it. The scammer is then able to run up charges on your account.

Card skimming is also a way for scammers to steal your identity (your personal details) and use it to commit identity fraud. By stealing your personal details and account numbers the scammer may be able to borrow money or take out loans in your name.
Warning signs

* A shop assistant takes your card out of your sight in order to process your transaction.
* You are asked to swipe your card through more than one machine.
* You see a shop assistant swipe the card through a different machine to the one you used.
* You notice something suspicious about the card slot on an ATM (e.g. an attached device).
* You notice unusual or unauthorized transactions on your account or credit card statement.
Protect yourself from card skimming
* Keep your credit card and ATM cards safe. Do not share your personal identity number (PIN) with anyone. Do not keep any written copy of your PIN with the card.
* Check your bank account and credit card statements when you get them. If you see a transaction you cannot explain, report it to your credit union or bank.
* Choose passwords that would be difficult for anyone else to guess.

As well as following these specific tips, find out how to protect yourself from all sorts of other scams.
Do your homework

If you are using an ATM, take the time to check that there is nothing suspicious about the machine.

Ask yourself if you trust the person or trader who you are handing your card over to. If a shop assistant looks like they are going to take your card out of your sight, ask if it is really necessary.

If an ATM looks suspicious, do not use it and alert the ATM owner.

If you are in a shop and the assistant wants to swipe your card out of your sight, or in a second machine, you should ask for your card back straight away and either pay with a cheque or cash, or not make the purchase.

Now how to use ATM in Secure Way. Check it out

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First of all locate an ATM which you wan to use. They can commonly be found either on the outside walls of banks (inbuilt ATMs) or in convenience and department stores (freestanding ATMs). In terms of security they are similar because of the fact that freestanding machines are more closely watched and are in more public places. Bank ATMs are more difficult to tamper with and are regularly checked by the bank, however they are more often in secluded areas where thieves can take their time to work on them.
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Step 2

Look around the immediate area where the ATM is located for security cameras. Thieves are much less likely to try to target an ATM if it is being watched by a camera. similarly if the machine is in a place with constant attention, such as a busy shopping mall, thieves are less likely to strike.
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Step 3

When approaching the machine, look closely at the front of the card slot. If this has been burned and melted somewhat, of if the slot protrudes more than it usually would then a cloning device may have been fitted. Many devices for cloning cards fit over the existing slot, so if the colors of these parts are slightly different in color to the rest of the machine, this is also something to look out for.
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Step 4

If the ATM look different to the last time that you used it, then look at the new pieces, as they might contain a cameras used to recording pin numbers, These cameras are often hidden in either plastic panels which are fitted over the original or in ordinary looking pamphlet holders on the side of the ATM. Real ranks pamphlet holders are always located to the side of the machine altogether rather than in a position that could be used for recording pin numbers.
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Step 5

Contact your card provider if you suspect any ATM which you have seen has been tampered with. As an extra precaution, using a smart card is also a good idea These cards have a chip built into them and so are much harder for thieves to read. Because of this they are often impervious to most kinds of fraudulent card reader as the technology needed to read this chip is fairly large and bulky, and cannot easily be hidden on the outside of an ATM.

ATM skimmers are devices that thieves install on ATM machines to steal the financial information of others. Sometimes there is also a tiny camera installed that will record the user’s pin number. The criminals that use these devices are also called skimmers. Here are some Tips you can do to protect yourself from ATM skimmers.
#1

Learn to recognize a skimmer when you see one. If you see wires poking out, a scanner that does not seem secure, multiple scanning devices, or a sticker that says scan here first, do not use the machine.
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Step 2

Do not use a machine if someone offers to help you with it. Often the criminals who install skimmers stay nearby and “assist” users with their transaction. They may pose as another customer, or a technician working on the machine.
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Step 3

Be secretive when entering your pin number. Cover the keys with one hand in case someone is looking over your shoulder, or there is a hidden camera nearby.
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Step 4

Make it a habit of using the same ATM machine as often as possible. If you do this you will be familiar with the ATM machine and will be able to spot if someone has installed a device or tampered with the ATM machine.
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Step 5

Use ATM machines where video cameras are installed so that criminals will have a harder time installing skimmers.
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Step 6

Check the balance on your ATM card often so that if someone steals your information, you can minimize the damage. The faster you respond to ATM card theft, the better your chance is that the bank will fully reimburse you.

Some sensible safety tips:

* The person writing out a cheque should always attempt to use a ballpoint pen instead of making use of pens with more erasable inks like fountain pens or felt tip pens.
* To prevent unauthorised additions and/or alterations, commence all writing as close as possible to the left-hand margin, leaving no gaps and drawing a line through unused spaces.
* Any cheques that the account holder does not wish to be cashed should be crossed and, to ensure that a cheque is paid into the intended beneficiary’s account, the cheque should be marked with the words “Not Transferable” between two transverse lines.
* The customer should take responsibility for keeping his/her chequebook in a safe place to prevent unauthorised use.
* The customer should always keep his chequebook separate from his credit cards, ATM cards or any other document that bears his signature. If a thief gets hold of your chequebook, but does not have a sample of your signature, a forged signature will probably not resemble yours.
* All paid cheques that are returned with your bank statements should be kept in a safe place because they contain your signature. Fraudsters may even try to re-use these cheques.
* The customer should make a habit of doing monthly reconciliations on the cheques that were issued on his/her account.
* Regular recons should be done on all unused cheques in a chequebook against counterfoil or carbon copy records.
* The customer should report a stolen chequebook to his/her account holding or nearest FNB branch as soon as he/she detects that the chequebook is missing. There is also the ability to stop a cheque online via FNB Internet Banking.
* The posting of cheques should be avoided and, should it be necessary, cheques should be placed in non-transparent or dark envelopes without any staples / paper clips, which can be felt through the envelope.
* Never have any cheques lying around that have not been completed or fully signed.
* Many alternative payment methods exist that are safe and convenient and can even save on bank charges. These alternatives include Visa Cheque Cards, Visa Electron debit cards, Internet, Telephone and Cellphone Banking, ATM payments, debit orders and future dated payments.

Ashish Ravindranathan the 18-year-old IIT-Bombay first-year student has allegedly duped 25 credit card-holders and made a whopping Rs 6.5 lakh in just six months. Ashish completed studies at Delhi Public School in Ahmedabad in 2008, with 90% marks and went on to IIT-Bombay.

Ashish Ravindranathan modus operandi

Ashish used to pose as a bank executive, Ashish got credit card details from customers. He then used the data to book air tickets and buy laptops. He had tied up with a travel agent to cancel the tickets and share the booty, while the laptops he sold across the country at a discount. Every day, Ashish would call 50-100 credit card holders, offering to issue credit cards. He would then get details of credit cards that they already had. Some gullible customers fell for his ploy and even parted with the critical CVV number.

Ashish Ravindranathan was operating since October last year, said crime branch officers. It was like a movie the way he was trapped – disguised as gardeners and security guards, police trailed him to some of his favourite haunts in Ahmedabad to catch him red-handed as he made calls to credit card holders, posing as a representative of Barclays Bank.

A resident of Hyderabad – his father works in the US. Ashish lives with his mother and younger sister and the family is very comfortable financially. Ashish allegedly told the cops that he had got used to lavish spending and wanted to make quick money on the sly.

how all this Techniques used ,we start with a credit card cloning technique used by conmens.

Credit card cloning, or “skimming” as it is sometimes called, is a new technique whereby someone obtains your credit card details, copies them onto a bogus card and begins using the credit card. While credit card theft itself is not new, the manner in which the information is stolen is.

The first step is to recruit an individual willing to participate in the scheme. Bartenders, wait staff or shop assistants are often prime targets because of the sheer volume of credit cards they handle.

Recruits are given a pocketsize device with a scanning slot, something that resembles a pager and can be worn on a belt. They are instructed to swipe customers’ credit cards through the device. Because the process takes only a few seconds it can be done easily and inconspicuously without the customer or another employee noticing.

Swiping the credit card through the device copies the information held on the magnetic strip into memory. That information can subsequently be copied to a counterfeit card, complete with security holograms.

Alternatively, the information can be used to overwrite a stolen credit card which has become too hot to handle.

Do not underestimate the size of this problem. In the U.K. alone an astonishing $200m was spent with cloned credit cards in 2000. That’s over $500,000 every single day!

Finally Tips & Warnings
DO NOT REVEAL YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION OR ANY RELEVANT INFORMATION TO ANY KNOWN OR UNKNOWN PERSON.
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If you suspect any problems with the ATM machines, do not use it and report it to the bank or establishment where it is installed.
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If you see suspicious looking people around the ATM machine, do not use it.

GUARD YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION.
Be careful with giving out your personal information. Never give anyone your information for a reason you don’t understand or are not comfortable with. Whenever possible, request to use other types of identification.

**Additionally, never carry around your social security card,Passport,Voters Id card,. Always keep it in a secure, private place.
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Step 2

PROTECT YOUR E- MAIL,Post mailers,Telephone bills,Electricity bills,credit card recipts,credit card bills.
To keep a thief from stealing personal information about you by snooping through your trash or recycling bin, protect your all bills: Always tear or shred your charge receipts, credit applications, insurance forms, bank statements, expired charge cards, and preapproved credit offers. Additionally, put all outgoing mail in mailboxes or at your local post office and promptly take your mail from your mailbox after it’s delivered. If you’re going on vacation, call your post office to request a vacation hold.
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Step 3

PROTECT YOUR CREDIT CARDS.
Keep the number of cards you carry in your wallet to a minimum. If you lose a card, contact the fraud division of your credit card company. If you apply for a new card and it doesn’t come in a reasonable amount of time, contact the card issuer. Watch cashiers whenever you give them your card for a purchase. Whenever you receive a new card, sign it in permanent ink and activate it immediately.
In addition, pay attention to your credit card billing cycles. Contact creditors if your bills arrive late or not at all. Missing bills could mean an identity thief has taken over your credit card account and changed the billing address.
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Step 4

PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AT HOME.
Make sure you keep all personal information about you in a secure place in your home especially if you are having work done, employ outside help, or live with a roommate.
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Step 5

PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AT WORK.
Verify that your personal information is kept in a secure location and is only accessible to employees with a legitimate reason to review it.
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Step 6

BE CAREFUL WITH PASSWORDS AND PINS.
In general, it’s best to memorize passwords and personal identification numbers instead of carrying them with you. Avoid using obvious or easily available information such as: your name or birth date, your mother’s maiden name, the last 4 digits of your SSN or phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers or letters.
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Step 7

MONITOR YOUR CREDIT REPORT.
To guard against identity theft, check your credit report regularly to ensure that the information it contains is true and accurate. Report any suspicious looking information to the credit agency.
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Step 8

BE VIGILANT!
But if you ever suspect that you might be the victim of possible identity theft, you can place an Initial 90 day Fraud Alert by calling any of the 3 national credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian. The agency that accepts your request will notify the other 2 agencies, and will add the alert to your file or request additional information. You will receive a confirmation when the alert is added to your file.

Protect yourself from credit card scams

* NEVER send money, or give credit card or online account details to anyone you do not know and trust.
* Check your bank account and credit card statements when you get them. If you see a transaction you cannot explain, report it to your credit union or bank.
* Keep your credit card and ATM cards safe. Do not share your personal identity number (PIN) with anyone. Do not keep any written copy of your PIN with the card.
* Choose passwords that would be difficult for anyone else to guess.
* Try to avoid using public computers (at libraries or internet cafes) to do your internet banking.
* Do not use software on your computer that auto-completes online forms. This can give internet scammers easy access to your personal and credit card details.
* Do not give out your personal, credit card or online account details over the phone unless you made the call and the phone number came from a trusted source.
* Never send your personal, credit card or online account details through an email.
If you are buying something over the telephone or internet and want to use your credit card, make sure you know and trust the other party. If you want to provide your credit card details to a telemarketer, take their name and call them back on a phone number you find independently (i.e., not a number they give to you).

Check over your credit card and bank account statements as soon as you get them so that if anybody is using your account without your permission you can tell your bank.

Whenever you want to give out your credit card details, ask yourself if it is safe to do so. If you are very careful with your credit card and PIN, you can greatly reduce the chances of your credit card details ending up with a scammer.

So how do you protect yourself? You know the answer.

by Rohit Sharma for Gyandotcom

]]> http://b4winckler.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/using-gettext-in-a-cocoa-application/ Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:07:15 +0000 b4winckler http://b4winckler.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/using-gettext-in-a-cocoa-application/ http://gyandotcom.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/the-original-photgraph-of-jhansi-ki-rani-1850-gyandotcom-exclusive/ Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:34:30 +0000 gyandotcom by Rohit Sharma http://gyandotcom.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/the-original-photgraph-of-jhansi-ki-rani-1850-gyandotcom-exclusive/

जी हां ये है झांसी की रानी की 1850 मैं खींची गई मूल तस्वीर, जिसे सन 1850 में अंग्रेज फोटोग्राफर हॉफमैन ने लिया था। पिछले दिनों विश्व फोटोग्राफी दिवस यानि 19 अगस्त को पद्मश्री वामन ठाकरे द्वारा खींचे गए छायाचित्रों, कैनवास पे उकेरे चित्रों, लेखन कार्य और अन्य कलाकृतियों की प्रदर्शनी का आयोजन भोपाल में किया गया था। इस प्रदर्शनी में उनके विशेष आग्रह पे अहमदाबाद के एक एंटिक संग्रहकर्ता ने यह छायाचित्र भेजा था।

Communication link with Chandrayaan-1 broke on Saturday 29-8-2009

India’s moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, came to an abrupt end today after communication link with the spacecraft snapped. The spacecraft, which has 11 instruments on board including six from overseas, will now continue to orbit the moon and may eventually taste the lunar dust. Launched on October 22 last year, it was expected to orbit the moon for two years.

“We lost communication link with the spacecraft for the first time in the wee hours of Saturday. Attempts to re-establish contact have been futile. The mission is as good as lost,” Indian Space Research Organisation Director S Satish said. “We may have to abandon the spacecraft if we are not able to establish radio contact with it again,” he added. “The mission is definitely over. We have lost contact with the spacecraft,” Chandrayaan-1 Project Director M Annadurai told to gyandotcom.

The problem surfaced at 0130 hrs when ISRO suddenly lost radio contact with the spacecraft. Since then it has neither been able to receive nor send any data to the spacecraft. The Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bangalore received data from Chandrayaan-1 up to 0025 hrs. A detailed review of the telemetry data received from the spacecraft is in progress and health of the spacecraft subsystems is being analysed, said a statement from ISRO.

The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The project cost was around Rs 390 crore. The 1,380 kg spacecraft has completed 312 days in space and has made over 3,400 orbits around the moon. It has provided large volume of data from sophisticated sensors, and has met most of the scientific objectives of the mission.

ISRO had said last month that Chandrayaan-1 had sent more than 70,000 images of the lunar surface which provide breathtaking views of lunar mountains and craters, especially craters in the permanently shadowed areas of the moon’s polar region. It was also collecting valuable data pertaining to the chemical and mineral content of earth’s satellite. “It ( Chandrayaan-1) has done its job technically…100 per cent. Scientifically also, it has done 90-95 percent of its job,” PTI quoted Annadurai as saying.

However, in July, Chandrayaan-1 had developed a malfunction that put some experiments in jeopardy – it had lost a vital sensor. ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair had said that scientists had worked around the problem and patched two other instruments to help the spacecraft to the desired locations.

It was then that he had indicated that the life of Chandrayaan-1 may be reduced.

Still, on August 21, ISRO and NASA performed a unique joint experiment that the Indian space agency said could yield additional information on the possible existence of ice in a permanently shadowed crater near the North pole of the moon.

The idea of undertaking an Indian scientific mission to Moon was first mooted in a meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999 that was followed up by discussions in the Astronautical Society of India in 2000.

But it was only in November 2003 that the government approved ISRO’s proposal for the first Indian Moon Mission called Chandrayaan-1.

The government had also announced its plans to launch Chandrayaan-2, the second unmanned lunar exploration mission proposed by ISRO, at a cost of around Rs 450 crore.

The mission will include a lunar orbiter as well as a lander/rover.

However, the abrupt end of Chandrayyan-1 may now raise doubts about its proposed launch in 2012.

“Radio contact with Chandrayaan-I spacecraft was abruptly lost at 1.30 a.m. (IST) on August 29, 2009. The Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bangalore received data from [it] during the previous orbit up to 12.25 a.m. (IST),” the agency said in a short statement.

Senior officials connected with the Rs 380-crore lunar orbiter mission were not immediately available to say what had gone wrong. The statement said telemetry data received from the spacecraft were being reviewed and the health of the spacecraft subsystems was being assessed.

Mr S. Satish, Director, Publicity and Public Relations, said: “We are able to neither send commands nor receive any data from the spacecraft.” He said the spacecraft did not show any recent sign of deterioration.

Asked if this was the end of the mission and about the fate of the spacecraft, he said: “As we have lost contact with the spacecraft, we do not know what has happened to it.”

The timing of the announcement of Chandrayaan-1 is ironical. ISRO, along with the Astronautical Society of India, is hosting a five-day international conference on low-cost planetary mission in Goa, where 40 overseas participants are expected. ISRO’s Chairman and Secretary of the Department of Space, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, is also the President of ASI.

EARLY PROBLEMS

Chandrayaan-I was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on October 22, 2008. It was built for a life of two years and was to circle Moon pole to pole from a distance of 100 km to map its surface and look for water and vital minerals. The first signs of trouble started showing within months, although ISRO acknowledged it only three months later.

On May 19, ISRO doubled the orbiting distance to 200 km, explaining that this was to save the instruments from the intense heat of radiation from Moon’s surface. Again, on July 17, Mr Nair told newspersons that the two onboard star-tracking sensors had failed in April and the lunar craft was facing an orientation problem.

It had been stabilised by an alternative mode with gyroscopes. This did not mean the craft was crippled or dying, he said.

Mr Nair had also said all other instruments were functioning well but there was concern about the High Energy X-ray Spectrometer or HEX, which may have been hit by radiation. HEX is meant to detect water, uranium and thorium. “A complex mission like this can encounter unexpected problems,” was the refrain of senior officials.

On the plus side, it had achieved most of the scientific objectives, including dropping the Tricolour on to lunar surface on November 14 last and the 3D lunar surface mapping, he had said.

Until Saturday, the spacecraft completed 312 days in orbit, made over 3,400 orbits around Moon and provided a large volume of data.

It carried 11 sophisticated sensors from ISRO and five agencies – including the Terrain Mapping Camera, Hyper-spectral Imager and the Moon Mineralogy Mapper. ISRO has at least one more lunar mission in the pipeline for 2012-13 and has teamed up with Russia for Chandrayaan-2.

however On Aug. 20, 2009 last week NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)  attempt a novel joint experiment that could yield more information on whether ice exists in a permanently shadowed crater near the north pole of the moon. Currently the ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft are orbiting the moon.  While LRO is in its commissioning phase the two spacecraft pass close enough to each other when they are over the lunar north pole to attempt a unique experiment.  Both spacecraft are equipped with a NASA Miniature Radio Frequency (RF) instrument that functions as a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), known as Mini-SAR on Chandrayaan-1 and Mini-RF on LRO.  The experiment uses both radars to point at Erlanger Crater at the same time.

Normally the Mini-RF Instrument sends radio pulses to the moon and precisely records the radio echoes that bounce straight back from the surface, along with their timing and frequency.  From these data scientists can build images of the moon that not only show areas they otherwise couldn’t see, such as the permanently-shadowed areas near the lunar poles, but also contain information on the physical nature of the surface.

For the Bi-Static experiment the Mini-SAR on Chandrayaan-1 performs its normal SAR imaging (transmitting and receiving) while the Mini-RF is set to receive only.  The two instruments look at the same location from different angles.  Comparing the signal that bounces straight back to Chandrayaan with the signal that bounces at a slight angle to LRO provides unique information about the surface.

Arecibo Radiotelescope Puerto Rico – Low resolution Earth-based radar image of the North Pole of the Moon, showing the position of the crater Erlanger (arrow). Radar image (70 cm wavelength).

Stewart Nozette, Mini-RF principal investigator from the Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute, said, “An extraordinary effort was made by the whole NASA team working with ISRO to make this happen”

While this coordination sounds easy, this experiment is extremely challenging because both spacecraft are traveling at about 1.6 km per second and will be looking at an area on the ground about 18 km across.  Due to the extreme speeds and the small point of interest, NASA and ISRO need to obtain and share information about the location and pointing of both spacecraft.  The Bi-Static experiment requires extensive tracking by ground stations of NASA’s Deep Space Network, the Applied Physics Laboratory, and ISRO.

Even with the considerable planning and coordination between the U.S. and India the two instrument beams may not overlap, or may miss the desired location.  Even without hitting the exact location Scientists may still be able to use the Bi-Static information to further knowledge already received from both instruments.

“The international coordination and cooperation between the two agencies for this experiment is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate future cooperation between NASA and ISRO, “says Jason Crusan, program executive for the Mini-RF program, from NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.

ISRO/NASA/JHUAPL/LPI – Mosaic of Mini-SAR image strips of the north polar area, showing the crater Erlanger, just south of the crater Peary. North Pole is in the direction of left top, out of frame. Mini-SAR radar image, Chandrayaan-1 mission.

“In the last few years we have seen a renaissance in international interest and cooperation in the study of the moon” says Gordon Johnson, program executive for the LRO, from NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.  “As LRO completes its commissioning phase, we look forward to LRO’s contribution to this international effort.”

LRO was launched June 18, 2009. Its objectives are to scout for safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. built and manages the mission for NASA’S Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington. LRO is a NASA mission with international participation from the Institute for Space Research in Moscow. Russia provides the neutron detector aboard the spacecraft.

Instrument principal investigators Stewart Nozette (LRO) and Paul Spudis (Chandrayaan-1) are from the Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute. NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, manages the Mini-RF program.  NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, manages the LRO.

In addition to Mini-SAR the Chandryaan-1 spacecraft, which was launched in October 2008 from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre, also carries NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper for assessing the moon’s mineral resources.

In the next six months the team will wrestle with the details of launching such a mission, including its cost-effectiveness and the areas in which Indian scientists can significantly add to the mountain of knowledge that has already been collected about the moon. It will form the basis of a project report that ISRO will submit to the Central Government for approval. The objective: to have an Indian lunar mission sent up by  October 2008. “As a motivator, it will electrify the nation,” Kasturirangan explained  last week. “If we go ahead, it will demonstrate to the world that India is capable of taking up a complex mission that is at the cutting edge of space. The spins-offs for us are going to be many.”first planetary mission, Chandrayaan-1, has now been rescheduled to take place in the first week of July as the mission personnel work overtime to sort out payload integration and launch-related issues. “We are targeting the end of June. We will try to make it in the first week of July,” a senior scientist associated with the Rs 386 crore moon mission told here on Monday on condition of anonymity.
The lunar mission was originally scheduled for April this year, a time-frame targeted four years ago to get all the payloads well ahead of time and to galvanise the scientists into mission mode with a target to work on.

Indian Space Research Organisation officials insisted that there are no hardware problems and that the space agency is moving more cautiously to ensure that all systems are well tested before and after integration at each stage.

The 525-kg lunar orbiter will carry as many as 11 instruments (payloads), including six from overseas — two from the US and one each from Britain, Sweden, Germany and Bulgaria.

“Normally we have 2-3 instruments (on board satellite). For the first time, we have 11 instruments from different institutions. We have to ensure that the integration work takes place to our satisfaction
Project Director of Chandrayaan-1.

Stressing on inter-compatibility of various instruments on board, Annadurai said ISRO is working on ensuring that “all the systems (one system) does not disturb other systems’ performance”. “Any system of this volume will have its own issues that need to be solved before proceeding to the next step,” he said.

“The issue gets compounded as the organisations are many. When we do this, it will add to taking away schedule cushions. Just to keep the launch target, we don’t want to overlook any issue that will compromise the unqualified success of the mission”.

ISRO had earlier proposed to launch the lunar probe on April 9 and if not on that day, then on April 23.

“If systems (once integrated and with propellants loaded) are kept for 14 days, then there could be some deterioration”, he said, adding, ISRO is now working on a strategy that would allow it to have more number of launch opportunities. “We have almost arrived at a strategy”.

ISRO would keep a half-an-hour launch window on a given day, and if it is not in a position for the mission during that period, it could be done in the subsequent two days as well, Annadurai explained.While the spacecraft itself will not land on the Moon, it will act as an orbiter and land a rover on the surface. The spacecraft is being launched next month sometime between October 22 and October 26 2008. The spacecraft payload includes 11 payloads (including one from NASA) and will perform remote sensing and studies of the lunar surface. The mission is estimated to cost Rs 386 crore (~ 84.3 million USD).”

The Working Model of Chandrayaan-1

Chandrayaan-1

How it Works?

The primary objectives of the Chandrayaan-1 mission are simultaneous chemical, mineralogicaland topographic mapping of the lunar surface at high spatial resolution. These data should enableus to understand compositional variation of major elements, which in turn, should lead to a betterunderstanding of the stratigraphic relationships between various litho units occurring on the lunarsurface. The major element distribution will be determined using an X-ray fluorescence spectro-meter (LEX), sensitive in the energy range of 1–10 keV where Mg, Al, Si, Ca and Fe give their Kαlines. A solar X-ray monitor (SXM) to measure the energy spectrum of solar X-rays, which areresponsible for the fluorescent X-rays, is included. Radioactive elements like Th will be measured byits 238.6 keV line using a low energy gamma-ray spectrometer (HEX) operating in the 20–250 keVregion. The mineral composition will be determined by a hyper-spectral imaging spectrometer(HySI) sensitive in the 400–920 nm range. The wavelength range is further extended to 2600 nmwhere some spectral features of the abundant lunar minerals and water occur, by using a near-infrared spectrometer (SIR-2), similar to that used on the Smart-1 mission, in collaboration withESA. A terrain mapping camera (TMC) in the panchromatic band will provide a three-dimensionalmap of the lunar surface with a spatial resolution of about 5m. Aided by a laser altimeter (LLRI)to determine the altitude of the lunar craft, to correct for spatial coverage by various instruments,TMC should enable us to prepare an elevation map with an accuracy of about 10m.Four additional instruments under international collaboration are being considered. These are:a Miniature Imaging Radar Instrument (mini-SAR), Sub Atomic Reflecting Analyser (SARA),the Moon Mineral Mapper (M3) and a Radiation Monitor (RADOM). Apart from these scientificpayloads, certain technology experiments have been proposed, which may include an impactorwhich will be released to land on the Moon during the mission.Salient features of the mission are described here. The ensemble of instruments onboardChandrayaan-1 should enable us to accomplish the science goals defined for this mission.Chandrayaan-1 is a remote sensing mission pro-posed to be launched from the Satish DhawanLaunch Station at Sriharikota in 2007 by theIndian Space Research Organization using thePolar Satellite Launch Vehicle. It will be injectedinto 240×36,000 km Elliptic Transfer Orbit (ETO)around the Earth and will be inserted in a circum-lunar orbit (LOI) via Lunar Transfer Trajectory(LTT). The launch profile is discussed in detail inan accompanying paper (Adimurthy et al 2005). Itwill enter the lunar orbit at about 1000 km altitudeand brought down to 100 km polar circular orbitin one or two stages. The lunar craft is designedto orbit the moon for a period of two years duringwhich it will carry out chemical, mineralogical andtopographic study of the lunar surface.There are several questions which are critical forunderstanding the formation and early evolution-ary history of the Moon, and the Chandrayaan-1mission objectives have been formulated keepingthis in mind.The main objective of the mission is simultane-ous chemical, mineral and topographic mappingwith the specific goal of understanding the earlyevolution of the Moon. Chemical stratigraphy canprovide better estimation of the average lunar com-position and processes responsible for chemical dif-ferentiation of the Moon. Transport of volatiles,specifically water, and their deposition in thecolder regions of the Moon and degassing of theMoon can be understood by using radon and itsdaughter nuclide210Pb as tracers.

When
Chandrayaan-1 planned to be launched in 2008 using spacecraft and launch vehicle of ISRO. The mission is expected to have an operational life of about 2 years.

The idea of undertaking an Indian scientific mission to Moon was initially mooted in a meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999 that was followed up by discussions in the Astronautical Society of India in 2000. Based on the recommendations made by the learned members of these forums, a National Lunar Mission Task Force was constituted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Leading Indian scientists and technologists participated in the deliberations of the Task Force that provided an assessment on the feasibility of an Indian Mission to the Moon as well as dwelt on the focus of such a mission and its possible configuration.

Government of India approved ISRO’s proposal for Chandrayaan-1 in November 2003.

Chandrayaan will be ready to launch in between October 19 and October 28.

chandrayaan 1 is now in lunar orbit. the scientific objective of the mission is

The Chandrayaan-1 mission is aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the moon in visible, near infrared (NIR), low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions. Specifically the objectives are

To prepare a three-dimensional atlas (with high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10 m) of both near and far side of the moon. To conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of mineral and chemical elements such as Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium as well as high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium with high spatial resolution.

The Simultaneous photo geological, mineralogical and chemical mapping through Chandrayaan-1 mission will enable identification of different geological units to infer the early evolutionary history of the Moon. The chemical mapping will enable to determine the stratigraphy and nature of the Moon’s crust and thereby test certain aspects of magma ocean hypothesis. This may allow to determine the compositions of impactors that bombarded the Moon during its early evolution which is also relevant to the formation of the Earth. Scientific Objectives The Chandrayaan-1 mission is aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the moon in visible, near infrared (NIR), low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions. Specifically the objectives are To prepare a three-dimensional atlas (with high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10 m) of both near and far side of the moon. To conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of mineral and chemical elements such as Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium as well as high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium with high spatial resolution. The Simultaneous photo geological, mineralogical and chemical mapping through Chandrayaan-1 mission will enable identification of different geological units to infer the early evolutionary history of the Moon. The chemical mapping will enable to determine the stratigraphy and nature of the Moon’s crust and thereby test certain aspects of magma ocean hypothesis. This may allow to determine the compositions of impactors that bombarded the Moon during its early evolution which is also relevant to the formation of the Earth. Click here to enlarge Radiation Environment of the Moon Radiation environment of the Moon produced by solar radiation and solar and galactic cosmic rays: The reflectance spectrum is useful for mineral identification, the fluorescent X-ray spectrum and solar and galactic cosmic-ray produced gamma radiation for chemical mapping, and radiogenic gamma and alpha particle spectrum for mapping of radioactive nuclides (U, Th, K, etc.) and in understanding the leakage of radon from the lunar interior and its transport on the lunar surface. The uranium decay chain, which produces 222Rn and its daughters, forming a thin ‘paint’ on the lunar surface, are shown on the right. The temperature regimes on the sunlit and night side of the Moon and the permanently shadowed cold Polar Regions are shown schematically Mission Objectives To realise the mission goal of harnessing the science payloads, lunar craft and the launch vehicle with suitable ground support systems including Deep Space Network (DSN) station. To realise the integration and testing, launching and achieving lunar polar orbit of about 100 km, in-orbit operation of experiments, communication/ telecommand, telemetry data reception, quick look data and archival for scientific utilisation by scientists.

by Gyandotcom

One of the goals for my summer internship is to improve performance of l20n. The initial implementation was a parser written entirely in JavaScript that operated on .lol files. For more details about our choices for file formats, see my previous post. After some failed attempts to rework the parser’s use of regular expressions that regressed performance, I experimented with JSON as an alternative file format. The hope was that we could leverage the performance of Gecko’s built-in JSON parser to speed up l20n. We did see some tremendous improvements: on a large testcase constructed from browser.dtd, JSON cut our parsing time from ~140 milliseconds down to just a few ms. Unfortunately, we were still slow when it came to evaluating and displaying all those entities. We still had a big chunk of parsing left that we couldn’t outsource to JSON. Each string value in l20n may contain variable placeholders. Here’s an example (in JSON):

"droponbookmarksbutton" : {
    "value" : "Drop a link to bookmark it"},

"popupWarning" : {
    "value" : "${brandShortName}s prevented this site
              from opening a pop-up window."}

(Line breaks inserted for clarity.) The first string doesn’t use any variables, but the second does. In order to catch all these placeholders, we scanned each string with a regular expression to match the ${…}s syntax, even though many strings don’t use any variables. That translated to a linear traversal of every single string before it could be returned, costing us a lot of time. In tests conducted in the xpcshell, rendering all the elements from browser.properties took roughly 40ms. In comparison, the current framework for properties files can parse and display all the elements in under 20ms. Since we can’t afford to regress overall performance, that meant we still had work to do to get faster.

One way to eliminate checking every single string is to add extra information to the encoding for strings. Many languages define different behavior for single- vs. double-quoted strings, performing replacements in one but not the other. We could also have added a special flag to indicate simple (no replacements) vs. complex strings. Either of these approaches would have added further complexity to the localization process, so we did not seriously consider this approach.

Instead, on the advice of the brilliant Staś Małolepszy, we embarked on an experiment to compile our l20n objects into native JavaScript. As a result, we saw another impressive performance jump. In an xpcshell test, we can load and display all of browser.properties in roughly 4ms (an order of magnitude improvement!). Here’s what our previous example looks like as compiled JavaScript:

this.droponbookmarksbutton="Drop a link to bookmark it";
this.__defineGetter__("popupWarning",
  function() { return "" + (brandShortName) +
    " prevented this site from opening a pop-up window.";});

Another great thing about compilation is that our runtime performance doesn’t depend on our choice of source file format. Here’s a diagram showing the different ways an l20n file can get inflated into a localization context:

Inflating l20n source into a context

Current l10n scheme

Intercompatibility with Silme