Twitter used for Email Harvesting!!!!

Click Like If you Agree

Your favourite social networking site Twitter can now be used for
Email Harvesting making it a threat to your online security and
privacy . Well even I was shocked to learn this at the first place
when I learnt how simple it was !!!

Social Networking site Twitter has this great feature of searching
twitter for the latest twitter updates at http://search.twitter.com/
Just go to this twitter search page , enter your search keyword and
there you have the latest tweets on twitter regarding the keyword
you have searched .

Spammers use the same technique for Email Harvesting  .In your
twitter search box type in @gmail.com OR @yahoo.com OR
the keyword mail me at and you can get the list of Email address
in your twitter search page .  People tweeting usually have this bad
habit of leaving their email address in their tweets while tweeting and
this eventually becomes a threat to their online privacy .Email Harvetsers
can write a simple program that runs every X seconds fetching them
new email address . So the next time you leave your Email address
online in Twitter or any of the Web directories ,get ready to be the
target of the spammers .

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Google Groups targetted for Email Harvesting!!!

Email Harvesting??
Well to many who dont have much idea what email harvesting is ,
let me put it down in few words. E-mail harvesting is the process
of obtaining lists of email address using various methods for use in
bulk email or other purposes usually grouped as spam. 


Why is Email Harvesting done for ??


Email Harvesting is a great tool that can be used to market your 
product .You get a list of email address using Email Bots that 
crawl the web to get the email address from different websites
all over the web .

What are the tools available for Email Harvesting ?? 

• Email Grabber 
• GSA Email Spider
• Email Extractor

Google Groups a Target of Email Harvesting??

 I recently found a great increase in spam in my inbox & 

liitle research on Google showed me Google groups was

one of the major targets of Email Harvesting Bots  .The major

reason for it being targetted was some of the google groups 

used to make their posters email address publicly visible ,

this would make it easy for the spammers extract the email

address.Still the question remained was how were the spam

mail being sent ending up in my Gmail Inbox rather than the

Gmail Spam section?? The spammers joined this group using 

their spam email address & hence they could easily bypass the

Gmail's Spam Filter which resulted in spam reaching your inbox.

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Periodic Table of Google API's

Did you know ? Google has its own periodic table just as periodic table of
chemical elements . So spend more time developing , rather than spending
time searching for which API will suit your developing needs . Well I myself
found it to be a gift & I bet it will be same for you .

                               Click on the image to zoom 




Google Periodic Table also lists the different categories of API's
like Search ,Books API,Gadgets,Chrome,Location based API's .
So next time an API gets added all you have to do is view the
periodic table & you know whats new in Google Products??

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Geocode Address for free

Note : The current page looks has been disoriented due to the
           new design to the blog . We will try to bring this back to
           normal as soon as possible . Sorry!!!

While googling on the web for a geocode address database which I needed for one of my projects and after visitng a number of sites that did give me an geocode address database but at an cost ranging from $30-$200 that I couldn't afford at any cost. So I decided to use Google Maps , Yahoo Maps and Microsoft Bing Maps to create my free geocode address database.So the first thing I had to check out was which of this mapping giants would me give me the most accurate results .So I started by testing out the values returned by each of the maps. For well known places all 3 of them would give me accurate results, but as places became less famous, Microsoft Bing really sucked & was giving me a city level accuracy only!!!!
So Microsoft Bing Maps was ruled out as being suitable for creating an geocode address database . Now the next option was Google Maps & Yahoo Maps and the good news was that both were giving the most accurate & almost the same reuslts all the time .I wonder if this two Mapping Giants use the same common database ??
Is there any difference between Google Maps and Yahoo Maps ??? Each has its own pros & cons and telling which one is better is still a tough job . 1)Google Maps is extensively used in many web applications as comapred to yahoo and graphic wise Google Maps is far more superior than Yahoo Maps . 2)Yahoo Maps takes less time to load than Google Maps . 3)Google Maps allows you to geocode address at 2000 queries per day . 4)Yahoo Maps on the other hand allows you to geocode address at the rate of 50,0000 queries a day i.e almost 25 times more queriies a day . 5)Google Maps Api allows you to use their Directions Api but Yahoo Maps Api doesn't allow you to use their Directions Api expect on the Yahoo Maps homepage .
So lets get started setting up the geocode address database !! Yahoo Maps Geocode Address Database Creation
// Json encode the data function json_code ($json) { $json = substr($json, strpos($json,'{')+1, strlen($json)); $json = substr($json, 0, strrpos($json,'}')); $json=preg_replace('/(^|,)([\\s\\t]*)([^:]*) (([\\s\\t]*)):(([\\s\\t]*))/s', '$1"$3"$4:',trim($json)); return json_decode('{'.$json.'}', true); } // function to get the geocode of the address function geoCodeYp($point) { $yahoo_appid = 'Your yahoo app id'; // Replace your Yahoo AppID here $pointenc = urlencode($point); // URL Formation that will fetch you the results on query $url="http://where.yahooapis.com/geocode? location=".$pointenc."&gflags=R&appid=".$yahoo_appid."&flags=J"; // get the contents of the URL formed $jsondata = file_get_contents($url); $json_data= '{ a: 1, b: 245, c with whitespaces: "test me", d: "function () { echo \"test\" }", e: 5.66 }'; $coord=explode(" ",$point); // this will json encode the data . $convertedtoarray=$this->json_code($jsondata); // line1 of addrress comprising of house,street no etc // line 2 of address comprising of city state country $line1 =$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['line1'] ; $line2 =$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['line1'] ; $county =$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['county'] ; $street =$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['street'] ; if(($line1=="")||($line2=="")||($county=="")||($street=="")) { $yahooresults['status']="noresult"; } else { $countrycode=$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['countrycode'] ; $statecode =$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['statecode'] ; //$county =$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['county'] ; $city =$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['city'] ; $house =$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['house'] ; $latitude =$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['latitude'] ; $longitude =$convertedtoarray['ResultSet']['Results']['0']['longitude'] ; $yahooresults = array('countrycode'=>$countrycode,'statecode'=>$statecode, 'county'=>$county,'city'=>$city,'street'=>$street,'house'=>$house, 'latitude'=>$latitude,'longitude'=>$longitude); } return $yahooresults ; }
This are the two functions which you need to create the geocode address  database . So how do I call this geocode function . Include this two functions in a single php file . 1)Suppose you want to get the geocode address of a  place say "Bohemia" . You can simply call the function as  geoCodeYp("Bohemia") . To further store the result in database : $result=geoCodeYp("Bohemia") ; // get each of the values as $latitude=$result['latitude']; $longitude=$result['longitude']; .............remaining variables.................. You can store each of the results in database by retrieving the remaining values . 2) To geocode address of a point(latitude&longitude) //Example $latitude="72.5632" $longitude="19.756"; // You have to include space between the latitude & longitude $point=$latitude." ".$longitude ; //call the geocode function geocode($point);
Time required to setup the geocode address database?? Suppose you have to want to geocode the address of around 5,00,000 address 1 yahoo appid -> 10 days 2 yahoo appid -> 5 days 10 yahoo appid -> 1 day This way you can create your own geocode address database .  "If you liked anything about this post or have any queries free feel to comment . If you are not a developer & want help in setting up the geocode address database you can send me a mail or comment on this post ."
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Create your first Android App , You donot need to be a programmer for that !!!!!!

Google Labs comes up with another invention & this one 
I bet you is gonna be a super hit !!!

Google App Inventor (Beta) is an Android app maker which 
lets you create your own Android apps & that too on a browser , 
and best thing about it is that you donot need to be

a programmer for that !!!!!

So lets get started 

     Computer requirements 

      1 . You need to have java 6 installed on your computer .
           You can download the  latest jdk from www.java.com

       2.Install the App Inventor Setup 

          a) For Windows users you can download it from 

          http://dl.google.com/dl/appinventor/installers/windows/appinventor_setup_installer_v_1_1.exe

          b) After the installation of app inventor it may ask for the location 
          of the software , if it does so  then specify it as 
           C:\Program Files\Appinventor\commands-for-Appinventor  
           because this is where the adb.exe file is located .

       3.  Once you are done with this please login using your 
             google account to appinventor.googlelabs.com.         

            Click on My Projects and now you are ready to create 
            your first app .

            

           Building my first App

           

           Click on New , Give a name to your project . Oki Lets 
           name it MyHome .

          

            MyHome:- Its a simple app in which you have pics of 
            your family member ,when you click on the pic a call is 
            established  to the family member .

             

           Step1:

           

           So first you decide what your screen should look like .

           For that we will be using Labels & Buttons .

           On the left hand side of your browser you have Basic List

           From that select the Components Button and drag & drop it

           on to the screen .

           Next add a Label to the screen .

           

           Step2:

           In my MyHome App I have included four buttons for 4 family

           members & a label for each of them .

           Step3 :

          

           Set the Label text properties to the text of 

           of your choice  .

           Label1: Mother

           Label2:Father

           Label3:Brother

           Label4:Sister 

           

               

          

                 

          

          Step 4: 

          

           Your screen should look like this now .

           Once done with this,the next step is to set the properties of the

           Button .Clear the text properties of the button .

           To set the Image Properties : Click on Image on the Properties box

           and upload the image of your choice .

           Your screen should look like this now 

            

            Step 5 :

            You need to establish a call when you click on the pic for that 
            you need to add the phone component .The Phone component 
            is available in the  Social  Tab of the Pallete .

             Choose the Phone Call Component and drop down it to the Screen .

             We have four members & so we will be using four phone call 

              components .

             Step6 :

             Set the Phone Call Properties .

             Enter the phone nos in each of the phone call component with the

             nos of the corresponding members .

 So this ends up the Design of your App . 

Now the next step is to build the Application Logic .  


On your browser click on the Open Block Editor Button . 
A file will be downloaded(AppInventorForAndroidCodeblocks.jnlp)


Double Click on the file and wait till the Block Editor opens , it may 
take sometime though around 30-50 secs .


Once the block editor is open the next step is to connect it with
a device .
If you are using a emulator click on New Emulator& select a emulator .
Now click on Connect to the Device button & wait till the device is 
connected .


           Step 7 .
           Select Button1 on My Blocks Editor .
           From the list of options select the Onclick block 

              

            Step 8
            Select Phone Call on My Blocks Editor
            Form the list of options select the   MakePhoneCall Block

              

               Repeat this step for each of the buttons .
               
             So finally you are done with the application logic  & you can
             download it to your Android Phone or computer to use .


             If you want to emulate it in an emulator then you will have
             to install it on your computer .
             Download the app you have created :- For that next to the
             Open Block Editor Button you have one more button that
             gives to the option of downloading it to the computer .
             
              For trying your app on a emulator :
             1. Download the app and place the app in the folder         
               C:\Program Files\Appinventor\commands-for-Appinventor    

              2. Open the cmd prompt on your computer .
                Make the root directory of cmd prompt as
                cd  C:\Program Files\Appinventor\commands-for-Appinventor    
               3. Install the apk file my running the command 
                adb install MyHome.apk 
          
            So you have finally installed  the apk file & now you can 
            view your working MyHome app on your emulator !!!!!!
                            
    If you still have any problems creating  your first app , please do 
    write.
    
    If you liked something about this article ,you can show your appreciation
    by a vote of thanks .


Thanks for reading ,
Vaishakh Thayyil 
   

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Google Latitude Mashup With Google maps

My Second post was on getting the user's location using

google latitude/badge api .This thread is definitely a

continuation of the earlier post , here i will show you how

to display the user location on google maps .

For that we will be using a jquery plugin called JQUERY:GMAP3

Step1

Create a php file that will return the latitude & longitude

Step2 

Make an ajax call to the php file

Step3 

Display the google latitude result on google maps

Step1

######getposition.php #######

<?php

//Replace the YOURUSERID in the url below with your Badge userid . 

$url="http://www.google.com/latitude/apps/badge/api?user=YOURUSERID&type=json" ;

// We get the content

$content = file_get_contents( $url );

print($content); //This will return the data in json format

?>

Step 2 & Step3

For the ajax calls we will be using jquery functionalities directly ,a call

will be made to the php page, which will return me data in json format

which we will parse using jquery parseJSON() function .After this  using

the jquery GMAP3 library(http://plugins.jquery.com/project/gmap3)

we will be displaying the marker on google map .

#### Showmap.html ######

<html>    

  <head> 

    <script type="text/javascript" src="jquery-1.4.4.min.js"></script>        

    <script src="http://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?sensor=false" type="text/javascript"></script>

    <script type="text/javascript" src="gmap3.js"></script> 

    <style>

      .gmap3{

        margin: 20px auto;

        border: 1px dashed #C0C0C0;

        width: 500px;

        height: 250px;

      }

      #container{

        overflow: auto;

        text-align:center;

        width: 100px;

        margin: 20 auto;

      }

      .box{

        float: left;

        width: 20px;

        height: 20px;

        margin-left: 20px;

        background-color:#FFF;

        border:1px solid #000;

      }

    </style>

    <script type="text/javascript">   

      $(function(){

// ajax call to the php page   

$.ajax({

type: "POST",

url: "getposition.php",

success: function(msg){

var obj=$.parseJSON(msg);

// Parse data recived .For more details check  //http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.parseJSON/

var latitude=obj.features[0].geometry.coordinates[1];

var longitude=obj.features[0].geometry.coordinates[0];

var coord=new google.maps.LatLng(latitude,longitude); 

$('#test1').gmap3(

{ action: ':addMarker',

latLng: coord,

map:{

center: true,

zoom: 14,

mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROAD

}

}

);

}

});

      });

    </script>  

  </head>

  <body>

    <div id="test1" class="gmap3"></div>

  </body>

</html>

This was just a basic mashup of google latitude & google maps .

If you want to use all the functionalities of google maps you can

refer the site http://night-coder.com/jquery-plugin-gmap3.html

which has clear explanation of using google maps jquery plugin.

If you have still queries about this thread , please do comment .

Thanks !!


Download Code


Related Articles
Geocode Address For free

Google Speech Recognition Mashup with Google Maps

Read more...

Easier way to use Google Latitude

Click Like If you Agree

Hi Everyone ,

My first post was about getting the Location using Google Latitude Api using OAUTH,

it is extremely useful when you want to create an application that gets your app users

location and you can mashup with google maps api or yahoo maps to create killer apps .

But if you are creating a system in which you create google latitude account for your

customers  or you want to track your kids from your home , there's  a simpler method

 for doing that , a shortcut rather than going the OAUTH way i.e. Google Latitude Badge .

Step 1

Log into your google account through which you are linked to Google Latitude

Step 2

Goto https://www.google.com/latitude/b/0/apps

Read more...