Better Performance for MacBook Users

One important piece of advice I can give mac users is to invest in a good quality USB type-C hub for your MacBook Pro for better performance. In other words, if you have an amazing engine and a nice looking exterior, what good it is if the car doesn’t have wheels/tires to go anywhere?

More and more people are buying the MacBook Pro however they face the common woes of just enjoying 2 to 4 ports. If you have purchased a model manufactured after 2016, you will find there are 2-4 ports, and this makes it hard for users to connect their laptop to multiple devices. This is why the USB-C hub steps in to solve the issue.

There are many products available in the market for you to choose from however getting the best hub for your device takes some time and research. Tech experts suggest that when you are looking for the best USB-C hub for your device, you must ascertain your needs first. If you are looking for a Thunderbolt 3 Dock, opting for a good product from a top brand is the need of the day.

Check the salient features of the product before purchase:

There is a wide array of USB-C hubs available online and in the market today. Most of them are known for their durability, quality, and performance. There is indeed tough competition as USB-C hub manufacturers are vying for the attention of tech buyers.Most tech enthusiasts consider a product that is reliable and known for its latest features for your MacBook. The best USB-C hub for MacBook Pro will be both compact and powerful. A good hub occupies very less space on your desk. It can be placed in the upright position, and you can get that extra space for work and placing other things you may need.

High-end products in the market have 3 USB-A ports, one DisplayPort. HDMI port and 2 USB-C ports. Besides the above, if you wish to ultra- charge your iPad or iPhone together, these hubs allow you to do so as well. They support 2.1A and may be compatible with a SuperDrive feature of Apple as well.

Unique selling features of this hub:

A good hub will bring you extra features like special ports for connecting your storage boxes, external hard drives, etc.  Such a USB Type C hub is in fact, one of the most popular Thunderbolt 3 docks that buyers prefer in the competitive market today. To know the product better before purchase, check what other customers have to say about it online. Many experienced tech enthusiasts post reviews and publish their opinions about a particular hub. You should never rush through your purchase. It is prudent to spend some time and go through credible online resources to be aware of the product you can buy. In case, you are not keen to spend time reading or still have doubts, log onto to tech forums and post your queries. Several experts are ready to guide and help you with the best USB type-C hub for your MacBook.

Some products have amazingly sleek designs that make them easy to maintain.They can even be stored with your books in an upright position as well. In this way, you can look after your hub well and keep it safe from the prying eyes of onlookers!

Ways to Transfer Contact List from Excel to Android Phone

Lots of time users face a situation to which they have no solutions. These are essential mechanisms which can be helpful to any regular person or a technical professional. These are simple methods like how to transfer contact list from Excel to Android phone. These can help to migrate workbooks from laptop or PC to a mobile device. Users can carry their financial statements or latest 3D diagrams even when traveling or on a meeting abroad. There are few manual as well as an automated solution to convert XLS file in vCard or VCF format, we have mentioned both methods this post. Read carefully to find more information related to it.

“There are lots of good relations we have created with our clients and customers. Most of them look to use for regular help and consultation. We have created a database of most important ones but do not know how to export Excel to Android contacts. It is a fairly simple method I presume, but I do not know anything about it. I am a non-technical person. Could you help me find a great solution to this problem?”

How to Transfer Contact List from Excel to Android Phone Manually?

Here are the instructions to move contacts to a mobile device. Follow them carefully to avoid data loss during transfer:

1. 1. First, launch the Excel application from the Windows PC. This can be done by double-clicking on the desktop icon or go to Start >> Run.
   2. Then, go to File >> Open >> Computer >> Browse. An Open window will appear on the screen.
   3. Now, make sure that the All Excel Files option is selected in the drop-down box next to File Name. The application only displays XLS files if this option is selected. It won’t if another one is chosen, giving an operation that the file can’t be opened.
   4. Now, move to the folder that contains the XLS file. Using the inbuilt browser, select the file and click on Open button to open it in Excel 2013.

Limitation of Manual Method

1. 1. • Can be tricky and confusing for some individuals. All the steps are jargon for a non-technical businessman.
      • Any professional looks for direct and convenient ways to move Excel to Android contacts. They search for workarounds in simple tools and online conversion sites.
      • There may be issues with column names and how they are saved in the output format. Some of the first names do not appear on the mobile device due to this glitch.

Alternative Way to Convert Excel Spreadsheet to Android Contacts

There are thousands of different ways to transfer contact list from Excel to Android Phone. Some are professional tools while others are simple basic manual methods. Both are great, and there is a choice for users to choose from. Experts recommend opting for a relevant third-party tool like Excel to vCard Converter to export Excel contacts to vCard format in a perfect way. It is a powerful application which has all the basic functionalities to move multiple contacts in one go. It has some of the following features:

1. 1. Load complete file and preview content
   2. Map Excel columns with vCard details
   3. Import VCF files to multiple mobile devices
   4. Compatible with all latest Windows versions

Conclusion

There is a lot of important information stored on business cards. Users often download them directly from an email and save it to their email client. Typically, this would suffice, but there are people who search other means of storing data. They search for solutions on how to transfer contact list from Excel to Android phone. A CSV file can be easily extracted from any of the leading emailing services like Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc. This can be changed to another format in few simple steps manually or use an alternative tool. Both methods have been amicably described in here. A user can opt for any of these depending upon their availability of resources like time, efforts, and budget.

Improve Internet Security by Blocking Malicious Domains

What is this post about?

In this post, I will show you how can you block all malware domain which hosts malicious code on their sites which can compromise your system or your browser by saving some bad cookies or malware on your computer, not only this it will also block ads and online tracking cookies.

How does it work?

This work by creating a host file by replacing your host file. This host file gets a list of all those malicious domain names and will create a rule to block all those sites on your system.

How does it block the site?

They redirect all those domains to your local address that means all those blocked sites in the list will redirect to 127.0.0.1 which is your own computer and your computer will never allow communicating to that address.

How to use this… 

Using this program is very easy just follow some easy steps below and you are good to go

STEP 1.  Open your terminal and type git clone https://github.com/zant95/hBlock && cd hBlock

STEP 2.  Now in the program directory type ./Makefile this will configure some important settings.

STEP 3.  That’s it now run ./hblock with your desired options or just simply run ./hblock and you are good to go all those malicious domains will be blocked on your computer.

Does it really work?

To check this, I tried to ping a malicious site from the list to check what DNS it is pointing.

We can see in the above image, the script did its work.

Artificial Intelligence In The Cyber Domain

While it’s true that there is a growing need to fill the cyber workforce with human talent, artificial intelligence will play a vital role in the future. This notion often reminds me of the movie the Matrix where a cyber intelligence is self-aware. However, this is a highly exaggerated and fictional scenario.

Automating what can be done with incident response is not science fiction.  However, it is becoming more of a reality. So where does this lead? Even highly technical personnel in software engineering and all things cyber-related must be cognizant of the changes taking place around them and be able to adapt. The skills needed to perform certain job functions will become more technical while some less so. Code will be developed with security in mind, but also rely more on automation. Sound too far-fetched that things will be more automated? Don’t be so sure.

I remember reading an article back in April about MIT making some amazing advances in cyber security. In particular, MIT was able to develop an artificial intelligence system that detected 85% of cyber-attacks. Not bad for a first go around, wouldn’t you say? And that was only earlier this year. I have included a link to the original article here: http://thehackernews.com/2016/04/artificial-intelligence-cyber-security.html It also includes a video demonstration on how this stuff works.

If MIT was able to do this with 85% accuracy, imagine two or three years from now. It then begs the question: What will happen to the human side of cyber-security? Does this now put all of us involved in cyber-security in some kind of jeopardy? To some extent yes. However, there will continue to be a need to have some humans involved with monitoring and maintaining systems.

Fast forward a few months, and there are some other interesting advances being made with artificial intelligence in regards to cyber-security. I won’t list all the details here, but I’m sure you can find them yourself searching google.

So some final thoughts. If you’ve read the book Where Wizards Stay Up Late, Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon mention Licklider’s interesting view about the role of machines. In his paper, J. C. R. Licklider notes about the symbiotic relationship between man and machine. It’s an interesting paper and I recommend you read it. Machines essentially are not a threat to man’s existence so long as we keep them in check. In reality, there continues to be little evidence of artificial intelligence really overtaking us like in the Terminator scenario. Cyber-security therefore will involve both man and machine working side by side. It is crucial that we have systems that can automate our cyber defenses and offenses, especially given the threats we face around the world. Let’s face it, the bad hackers are winning. With AI on our side however, this changes things drastically.