How to do encrypt a string in PHP?

Encryption converts our string into some random characters there by making it difficult for hackers to know the real string. It is always recommended to encrypt the passwords of your website users before saving it to a database.

Here we will be using “crypt()” function in PHP for encryption. The method defined here will not let your users to reset their passwords via reset form. Here is the code which can be used for encryption.

crypt

The strip tags function used here helps in removing the HTML tags.

Do you really need an Ultra Book?

Ultra Books are now becoming more and more popular as times passes but they still considered as a costly or luxurious version of a normal Notebook. The most basic featured Ultra Book from Dell that is XPS 13 costs around massive Rs, 76,000 and you can get the same or more powerful configuration from Dell at a price of Rs. 44,000 in the form of Inspiron 15R. This is around Rs, 32,000 cheaper than XPS 13.

What is Ultra Book?

dell xps 13 ultrabookUltrabook is the term first used by Intel to market their low TDP CPUs.In simple language it is a Notebook only with its body made up of materials like carbon fibre to make it light weight and use a low TDP CPU to power it so that it consumes less power than a normal notebook at same price. Usually the increase in battery life is significant because of the highly efficient CPUs used in an Ultra Book. They can also contain special Hard Drive known as SSD which stands for Solid State Drive. SSDs don’t have any moving parts and contain memory cells which make its reading and writing speeds much faster than a normal hard drive. Because of these SSDs the boot time of an Operating System decreases significantly.

Most of the Ultrabooks don’t contain a dedicated GPU instead they use integrated graphic chip as their main graphic processor.

Why are Ultrabook so costly?

You may have been thinking of the fact that as Ultrabooks contain a lower TDP and less powerful processor, it should cost much lower than a normal notebook with powerful components. But it is not so. On average the price difference between a Notebook and Ultrabook in Indian is around Rs. 30,000. Ultrabook are costly because of the following facts:

  • High quality display with Corning Gorilla Glass
  • Use of SSDs as booting drives
  • Premium carbon fibre body
  • Use of highly efficient and lower TDP CPUs which offers maximum performance at lower power.

Should you buy an Ultrabook?

If you want a premium product than yes you should buy an Ultrabook but keep this thing in your mind that Ultrabooks are not value for money product according to me. You can get the same or more powerful configuration in a Notebook at a price Rs. 30,000 lower than a basic Ultrabook. But in case if you travel frequently and want a laptop with longer battery life and at the same time you need that thing to be light weight than also Ultrabook is a great choice. On average the weight difference between an Ultrabook and a Notebook is around 1.4 kg which is quite significant.

Which companies has launched their Ultrabook in India up till now?

Many laptop makers has already launched their Ultrabooks in India and last one to follow is Sony which had recently launched some of their Ultrabooks in India. Here is the list of the Ultrabooks available in India with prices:

Dell

  • DELL XPS 13 Ultrabook at Rs. 76,000

HP

  • HP Folio 13 Ultrabook at Rs. 67,500
  • HP Envy 4 1002 TX at Rs. 57,000
  • HP Envy 4 1025TX at Rs, 52,000
  • HP Envy 4 1003 TX at Rs. 46,000
  • HP Envy 6 1003 TX at Rs. 46,000
  • HP Envy 6 1001 TU at Rs. 41,000
  • HP Envy 4 1002 TU at Rs, 41,000

How to reduce ping in BSNL broadband for online gaming?

There are times when some of the BSNL broadband customers face ridiculously high ping even to local servers which increased the chances of lag in online gaming and ruined your gaming experience. The method which i will discuss in this article is not a scientific method. I came across this method by accident and it helps in reducing my ping from three figures to two figures only. Here are the steps:

  1. First dial your broadband connection.
  2. After dialling you will be assigned a dynamic ip address for that particular session.
  3. Now go to speedtest.net and measure your connections speed on the server which is nearest to your location.
  4. If ping is normal than its OK but in case if your ping is high than follow next step
  5. Disconnect your present session and dial up you broadband again.
  6. Now again you will be assigned a new ip address.
  7. Now again test your speed at speedtest.net and 99% of times your ping will get reduced to 2 figures for Indian server and low 3 figures to European severs.

This directly shows that ping is some how related to the ip assigned to your broadband session and on changing the faulty ip with new one problem gets resolved. Why it get resolved?

Even i don’t know the answer to this question. I still have to study networking. Smile

I hope this helps frustrated BSNL broadband users out there.

What is Sony SmartWatch?

sony smartwatchWell you can say it is just look a normal wrist watch but it is not so. It is much more than a normal watch. it is a wrist watch which is compatible with your Android device ( Smart Phone particularly ). The colour of the strap comes in three different colours that is Blue, Sea Green and Pink. This watch will let you to do many tasks with your android smart phone. Some of its features and specifications are listed below:

  • It has an OLED display.
  • You can read SMS using it provided that your phone is based on Android.
  • You can even pick or reject calls via this watch.
  • It is Bluetooth 3.0 compatible.

It will be launched in India at end of this month that is June, 2012 at an expected retail price Rs. 6,299. Will it be a success or a flop?     You decide.

Nvidia GTX 680M is now available

nvidia gtx 680mThe mobile edition of the Kepler based Nvidia GTX 680 that is GTX 680M is now available in high end laptops. Nvidia has announced this new beast at the on going Computex 2012. This chip will compete the AMD’s high end mobile offering 7970M. Desktop edition of GTX 680 had already defeated the corresponding GPU from AMD that is 7970 though by small margin. Now it will be interesting to witness who will win in the fight of GTX 680M and AMD 7970M.

GTX 680M is also based on the brand new, power efficient and 28nm Kepler architecture from Nvidia. This is the same architecture used in the desktop edition of GTX 680. Nvidia initially was criticised for the power requirements of their GPU. But after the launch of Kepler architecture, Nvidia seals the mouth of these criticisers.

This GPU will also have the Nvidia Optimus technology which allows the live switching between the dedicated and integrated GPU depending on the task. This features helps in the reduction of heat produced and also extends battery life of the notebook. This chip also has something known as “Adaptive V Sync” which helps in reducing lag during the gameplay.

This chip will replace the previous generation GTX 580M GPU in high end laptops such DELL AlienWare M17X and M18X. M18X will have models depending on the SLI or non SLI configuration of GTX 680M. In SLI configuration there will be 2 GTX 680M chips present inside the laptop. GTX 680M has 2GB GDDR5 VRAM which helps one in playing games at high resolution.