GeeksPages

Google Google

2009-03-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Well when I mention Google the first thing that comes to your mind may be the search engine www.google.com or the web mail site www.gmail.com. Well one thing is for sure, the number of people who depend on Google for their needs is enormous and is on the rise day by day. This article is intended to throw some light on the consequences of excessive dependence that people have on Google.

Well I doubt I would find anyone who has not used www.google.com to search for anything online. Well even I use it everyday or say hundreds of times a day, but here we do have to realize that with query we make, we are sending data regarding our preferences to Google . Although Google says that it uses this data to enhance our search experience, it can also be used by them to limit our search to the sites that pay them. It was discovered by the famous Google-critic Daniel Brandt in 2002 that Google placed a cookie on each registered user's computer, which can be used to track that person's search history, and that the cookie was set to expire in 2038. Sounds pretty scary but it is true.

Well that was about Google’s search facility, there's lot more to follow. Now coming to their e-mail service, Gmail. According to about.com it is the best free e-mail service ever. With just one Gmail id, you get access to Orkut ( A Social networking Site ), Blogger ( Free Blogging service ), Adsense ( Online advertising ), Picasa ( Photo Sharing service ) etc. This may sound tempting to anyone, but we do have to realize the dangers here. Whenever you register on Gmail you do have to give some of your personal details, when you sign up for Adsense you have to give your telephone number as well as your exact address. When you register on Orkut, Google gets know your socials contacts. Using Google Docs and Spreadsheets can save huge amounts of data on Google’s servers. Add to it Google's online payment service Google Checkout, through which they will have your credit card details as well ( Oh Great !! ). Imagine if this information gets into the wrong hands ( Although not really possible !! ), we can think of Google misusing these details to increase their profits by directing us to sites that pay them. You may be finding it hard to imagine but there were a number of lawsuits slapped on them ( Google ) regarding various Privacy and Copyright issues.

Therefore the thing that we need to understand is that Google is a company that works to earn profits, it may offer free services which may be good but then every good thing comes with a price !!.

Coding a C program that shutsdown the computer

2009-03-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

This C program shutsdown the computer. This is done using a program called shutdown.exe, which is present in %systemroot%/system32 directory. This program can be accessed using the DOS prompt provided the PATH variable includes the %systemroot%/system32 directory.

/* C program to shutdown the computer */

#include"stdio.h"
#include"conio.h"
#include"stdlib.h"
int main()
{
system("shutdown -s -t 00");
getch();
return 0;
}

/* End of Program */

Working:

Using the system() function we execute the command shutdown -s -t 0 which will shutdown the computer in 0 seconds without displaying any message.

shutdown.exe command along with some of it switches and their use is given below:

shutdown [-l ¦ -s ¦ -r ] [-t xx]

-s (shutsdown the computer)
-r ( Restarts the local computer)
-t xx (Shuts down the computer after xx seconds.)
-l (Logs off the current user of the computer)

Examples:
shutdown -s (This will shutdown the computer in default 30 seconds and display a message)
shutdown -s -t 00 (This will shutdown the computer in 0 seconds will not display any message)
shutdown -l (This will logoff the current user)
shutdown -r (This will restart the computer)

Coding a C program to edit Registry

2009-03-22T03:30:00.000-07:00

The registry is a database which is used to store information about a computers configuration. It contains information that Windows continuously uses during operation. A program called regedit.exe is used to edit the registry. To use the regedit.exe program goto Start > Run > type regedit.exe

There are different ways of editing the registry:

We can manually edit the registry by running the regedit.exe program and by going to the respective keys and changing their values.
We can also create registry editing file using notepad ( Files having .reg extension ), this a very easy method and this will be used in our program to edit the registry.

Warning:
Before editing the registry, make sure you have a full backup of your system. Incorrectly editing the registry may cause serious damage to your system.

Basics:
In this program we have not used any advanced registry functions, we will be using a very simple method, though not very efficient, it manages to do the task very well and is easy to understand.
In our registry editing program we will creating a .reg file using the file functions. Then using the system() function we run the .reg file created, which adds information to the registry.

This program will the change the home page of Internet Explorer to
http://geekspages.blogspot.com/ by editing the registry.

/* C Program to to edit the registry */

#include"stdio.h"
#include"conio.h"
#include"stdlib.h"
int main()
{
FILE *fp;
char *text = "REGEDIT4\n\n[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Main]\n\n\"Start Page\"=\"http://geekspages.blogspot.com/\"";
fp=fopen("TEMP.REG","w");
fputs(text,fp);
fclose(fp);
system("regedit /s TEMP.REG");
remove("TEMP.REG");
return 0;
}

/* End of Program*/

Working:

First we declare a string text which has the contents of the .reg file. The .reg file needs to be written in string format.
Then we create the .reg file using the fopen() function and give it a name TEMP.REG
We add the string text to the temp1.reg file using the fputs() function.
Using the system() function we run the temp.reg file (Parameters explained below).
Lastly we delete the file TEMP.REG using the remove() function.

The parameter passed to the system function is:

regedit.exe /s TEMP.REG

This command is used used to run the TEMP.REG file. The /s parameter stands for Silent and it is used to hide the confirmation box that pops up asking the users permission to add the registry entries.