20 Amazing Motivation Hacks

1. Chart your Progress.

2. Hold yourself back.
3. Join an online or offline group to help keep you focused and motivated.
4. Post a picture of your goal somewhere visible – near your desk or refrigerator etc.
5. Get a workout partner or goal buddy.
6. Just get started through it.
7. Make it a pleasure or create interest in that.
8. Give it time, be patient.
9. Break it into smaller, mini goals.
10. Reward yourself by doing whatever you like. For example watching movies, playing
badminton or cricket, hang out with friends etc.
11. Find inspiration, on a daily basis.
12. Get a coach or take a class for more guidelines.
13. Have powerful reasons. Write them down.
14. Become aware of your urges to quit, and be prepared for them.
15. Make it a rule never to skip two days in a row.
16. Visualize your goal clearly, on a daily basis, for at least 5-10 minutes.
17. Keep a daily journal of your goal.
18. Create a friendly, mutually and supportive competition.
19. Always think positive. Squash all negative thoughts.
20. Make a big public commitment to your goal. Be fully committed to the goal.

- Rashi Sharma
CSE – 3rd year

Life of an Engineering student

Engineers are people who solve problems and focus on making things work more
efficiently and effectively. They apply the theories and principles of science and
mathematics to research and develop economical solutions to technical problems. That is
the definition of an Engineer. Agreed. But who are the engineering students? They are
often the ones who are overburdened with their assignments, deprived of sleep, low on
social life (maybe) and busy in their own world of sci-fi movies and series. In this
article, I had tried to compile, what all engineering students go through.
They spend hours on assignments that worth 1% hardly, which is the most annoying
part. In engineering colleges, everyone is competing in the race of securing the highest
grade points and even a per cent matters. Hence, they have no option but to do those long
assignments worth just that one per cent. They are burdened with those laws on gravity
and forces, physics, maths, chemistry theories. Resultant? It is they cribbing and living a
life of self-pity. The problem with every 'male' engineering student, from IIT to DTU to
SRM, each one of them.
Engineering is if you’re not tired then you’re not doing it right. Those dark circles,
sleepless nights are what defines their lives. This one is in praise of all the hard work they
do. They take all together and make the greatest ventures of all times.

The life of trade-offs. You choose one, you lose another. In no circumstance would
you enjoy them all in one hand. There are always those super-brainy 'nerds' who would
not even waste a minute. They would study and study and study study study. When they
are fresher’s then they have no idea what they are doing and when they graduate, they
have still no idea about what they are doing. All life is an experiment. At no point in
time will you have any idea of the results of the experiment. They are often trapped in
their own life and are capable & competent enough to survive on energy drinks and pizza
slices.

Yes, we are Engineers! Because they have the 'jugaad' for everything. You give them
any problem, they'll solve it all. According to an Engineering fact, long time ago, people
who sacrifice their sleep, family, food, laughter and other joys of life were called saints.
Now, they are called engineers. All hail the engineers, they are the real heroes!

- Rashi Sharma
CSE – 3rd year
Importance of Internet of Things (IoT) in Our Life
Internet of things (IoT) plays a key role in our day to live from managing airports’ passenger
flow to heating building and taking care of the elder. The capability to network electronics in a
standard means is set to modernize intelligent device control. It represents the world described
by the so-called IOT where electronic machines transfer data into the cloud over the internet
with TCP/IP.

Nowadays, Internet-based home automation is possible with the invention of low-cost

computing devices such as Raspberry Pi, RF network, and infrared to IP interfaces. Till now
IoT has been a greater influence in our routine activities. For instance, if someone who is
usually losing or misplacing valuable items such as keys, TV remote, smartphone or wallet.
For such peoples, there’s IoT that can help! Beacons are tiny, a square red device that connects
to your Android phone to find any things you attach it to. You can easily connect the TEKT
Tracker to your items. If you lost something you can open up the app and get a map that will
get you in the vicinity of your valuables.

From inside the home to right across society, the IoT is a rebellion that guarantees to change
people’s lives. This will happen due to the boom in affordable computing. In fact, the principal
designer of the ARM processor Steve Furber says that IoT will be next big growth area for
ARM. The technologies IoT support can sense the surroundings in many ways such as
monitoring pressure, temperature, viscosity, and geo-positioning. Even in food preparation, its
systems are being used. While in past, sensors have to be connected to a local computer
system and are controlled by an embedded module. IoT allows us to use affordable wireless
technology and transmit the data into the cloud at a component level. It also provides a place
to save data as well as management and security.

IoT supports a way to build systems flexible and cost-effective way, by an open set of
components which are included and connected easily to your workplace. The airport of
London city is also using the internet of things to improve the journey experience for
 customers. To measure the speed of the journey they use face recognition. In the airport,
Hitachi technology is used to measure the customer’s movement.

They have built the system to measure the journey through the airport and get real-time data
for e.g. in baggage hall how passenger flow is working. This information is stored in central
control and development to make the procedure better. This is proven much helpful for them
to prioritize their investment. Whatever the future holds for IoT, Smart devices will become
convoluted into our lives. The moral implications were such devices to take on a day to day
task that would conventionally do by humans.

- Rashi Sharma
CSE – 3rd year

How hackers can access your computers?

The internet is so huge; no one will attack my computer. This is a common belief. And it’s a
myth. Most hacking targets are vulnerable, unpatched computers that can be hijacked and
used to launch a thousand attacks and more. Find out why it’s not personal but you’re just as
much as a target as the big bank on the corner.

It’s not surprising when mega-hacks hit the headlines, millions of credit card details scooped
in the searing hack, millions of addresses and ID details lost to lax security, millions of email
details, dates of birth and social security numbers swiped in the audacious attack.
 
It’s embarrassing for the companies involved not to mention the serious dent in their
reputation. But often, as a result, we as individuals make unconscious assumptions that we
are safe. The hackers are only going after the big fat boys, the ones wif the wedge, the ones
who can absorb the blows. This attitude is a mistake.

Most hacks are based on sweeping and indiscriminate probes of all computers connected to
the internet. Every computer is a target. These probes will detect if a computer is not
protected and the information will be picked up by the hacker.
 
Unprotected computers can be valuable for hackers because of their computing power and
internet connections. A hacker can simply add it a botnet or use it as a zombie computer to
send out spam and emails containing viruses and other malware, spread illicit materials or
take part in hacking campaigns against other computer networks.

Hackers can use your computer in a number of ways some of which are listed below:

 Install a keylogger and capture every username and password typed on the keyboard.
A hacker can tan use your computer to log into your bank accounts, carry out transactions
and basically steal your money.
 Send malicious emails to all the contacts in your email folders in order to spread
viruses, malware and spyware.
 Use your computer as part of a larger network of hijacked computers to direct attacks
against targets such as banks and governments.
 Carry out click fraud. This is a type of fraud in which a person, automated script or
computer program imitates a legitimate web user by clicking on an ad, to generate a charge
per click.
 Sniff out and copy traffic on your network, which could include traffic from credit
card or other data processing servers.
 Use your computer to send or exchange illicit, illegal or stolen materials. In fact, your
computer can be used as a proxy to hide the true origin of content and communications or as
a message board for shady activities.

As you can see if a hacker gets a foothold in your computer they can expand to every
computer on your network using different techniques. To expand on the points above your
computer could be used for any of the points below:

8 Common ways through which hackers access a personal computer

 Emails containing viruses and malware - dis is one of the most popular methods of
spreading malware hidden in an attachment in the email. Once the attachment is opened, the
malicious software executes and/or downloads onto the computer that receives it.
 Emails wif links to malicious websites - Often referred to as phishing these emails
attempt to emulate legitimate emails from well-known organisations that the receiver would
tend to trust such as a bank. The HTML links lead to fake websites which try and trick the
user entering sensitive information such as passwords and banking details. Sometimes these
websites also attempt to install malware, viruses or spyware on the recipient’s computer.
 Probing for weaknesses - Sometimes hackers send out mass emails in an attempt to
compromise firewalls, intrusion detection systems and intrusion prevention systems to gain
access to computer systems behind these defences. It’s a numbers game with millions of
emails going out to identify malfunctioning, misconfigured or un-patched equipment.
 Social networking pages - People tend to let down their guard and be less wary of
social networking sites. With his method, a fake profile entices real users into following links
to malicious websites or giving up sensitive personal information.
 Inserting malicious packets - dis relies on access to a swathe of zombie computers to
send out large quantities of data packets to a large number of recipients targeting a specific
port. The aim is to identify a router or firewall with the specific port open and gain access to
the computers behind the firewalls
 Hijacking ads - Cybercriminals often place ads containing malicious code on
legitimate websites. They do this either by purchasing ads directly, hijacking the ad server or
hacking someone else’s ad account.
 Malware sold as legitimate software - Fake antivirus programs have infected millions
of computers. Software is offered as free, available through the internet that includes malware
designed to infect computers.
 Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) - APT means a sustained multi-pronged attempt
to break into a specific organization’s or institution’s data networks. With APTs, hackers use
many methods from sending fake promotional material to network attacks. The aim is to
breach the network and steal information. APTs are different from other forms of attack coz
generally take place over the long term and can last months and years.

So as you can see, your humble computer is a big attraction for hackers. Automatic probes
initiated by hackers are a common tool. You could see the scale and frequency of these
probes if you have an intrusion detection system on your computer. And you’d be surprised at
the frequency at which your firewall is probed. The probes are simply trying to detect
vulnerabilities for which they have been programmed to identify.
If your still not convinced check out these myth-busting statements from Stanford
University’s tech department, one of the most pre-eminent educational IT security
institutes on the planet.

BONUS: Computer Security myths

Myth: The internet is so huge; no one will attack my computer.

Fact: Hackers use automated tools that continually probe computers to find attack vectors. A
new, unprotected computer installed on the internet will be generally be compromised
within seven minutes.

Myth: My computer contains no valuable information.

Fact: Anyone who uses their computer often probably has relatively valuable data stored in
many places. Online services often have their passwords cached on your computer, in
addition to credit card numbers, usernames, and passwords for various sites.

Myth: I'll worry about security once someone finally tries to attack me.

Fact: Attacks are ongoing, day and night. Your system must have good anti-virus software (to
keep out bad/dangerous files) and have up-to-date system software in order to close newly-
discovered security holes.
Yes, your humble computer could be a very valuable prize for a hacker. It’s a means to break
into computer networks and steal intellectual property, customer information, personally-
identifiable information, credit card details, medical and health insurance records, personnel
records, tax records, strategic business plans and any other potentially valuable or exploitable
data that can be used in identity theft or sold on for others to exploit.
Everyone is a target. Stay safe. Stay secure!

- Rashi Sharma
CSE – 3rd year