All Stories
By Tyrone P. Rollins


OCD tests are a very important part of the diagnosis procedure, this should come ahead of what your friends or family tell you. If you think that someone you know shows the tell-tale signs of OCD its extremely important to get a proper diagnosis from a qualified physician, the symptoms are not usually seen, until the teens as children are eccentric as part of their normal growing up process, so to properly diagnose a child who may be suffering from OCD is extremely difficult. If the thought of going to a professional person may be too expensive then there is another option, you could take an online test.

At home tests.There are going to be a lot of questions asked during an OCD test. Questions about concerns with germs will be there as will questions about keeping things in order. There will also be questions about thoughts that come to mind and regular worries that go on throughout the day. The test will move on to inquire about repetitive acts that are performed, how they make someone feel and if there is a chronic need to do them all the time. It's extremely important to answer all of these truthfully, as incorrect answers can change the results of the test.Doctor's office tests.When at the office of a physician, they will likely give patients a number of different tests. These will help the doctor come to the proper diagnosis so they can rule out other illnesses or disorders that could be a result of the symptoms as well. The physical exam will be much like a regular checkup. The physician will check blood pressure, heart rate, height, weight and listen to the lungs and heart to make sure they are functioning properly.

The first signs generally emerge in childhood, but it is not usually until the teenage years that people become self-aware of the problem. As children often have quite eccentric personalities generally, it is harder to identify those mild cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder amidst regular attention-seeking behaviour. If required, you should start formulating a plan for therapy with a medical professional afterwards if the results indicates a problem may exist.

After yet another display of lining up toys or endlessly performing the same behavior over and over it's not unusual for parents to wonder if their child may have not one but two disorders - autism and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).OCD is a neurological disorder that causes obsessive thoughts and behaviors and can greatly disrupt a person's life. There are two main elements to OCD, thoughts or obsessions and compulsions or behaviors.The obsessions are experienced as thoughts, images or impulses and can be persistent. Whereas compulsions are repetitive behaviors that the sufferer feels compelled to carry out whether they want to or not. The performance of the repetitive behaviors is usually done to reduce distress or to stop a particular event.

Psychotherapy is effective for many people because it retrains the mind to control thought patterns. This also helps diminish compulsive behaviors by gradually exposing the patient to the things they fear the most. There are a lot of different techniques that therapists use with their patients. Sometimes this treatment can be stressful; it varies with each person and their reasons for having the disorder.Other treatment options are available to explore. Residential treatment and psychiatric hospitalization are both options for people who want to be watched by professionals. These put them in a safe environment where they can learn which treatments are best for them. Deep brain stimulation and ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) are other options available as well. Some individuals even try out self-help and home remedies, which can be effective.

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that sufferers have to perform in order to get rid of their obsessive thoughts. This is only temporary relief, the thoughts and compulsions will come back. Everyone has different compulsions based on their individual personality. Some examples of symptoms include: counting, keeping order, repeating actions, washing, cleaning and checking on things. Some people have to flip their light switch ten times when they come home while others have to wash their hands 100 times per day to help them avoid germs. There are thousands of different examples of these.

Behavioral therapy can be another way to reduce repetitive behaviors, however there is not one treatment that has been found to be consistently effective for all cases of autism. This is due to the fact that no two cases of autism are exactly the same.

Despite the person's realizing that these thoughts are irrational, these thoughts are irresistible to the person affected by the OCD.The diagnosis of OCD has been described in medicine for more than 100 years. OCD occurs fairly equally among people, regardless of culture. The largest onset group by age is typically 15-24 years old however OCD can be triggered at almost any age. Individuals with OCD are more likely to also develop an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia, or other behavioral concerns such as depression.While there is no known specific cause for OCD, family history and bio-neurological disorder in the brain are thought to be factors in who will get the illness. People who have relatives with OCD are generally at a somewhat higher risk of developing the disorder themselves. It is thought that an imbalance of the chemical serotonin in the brain may also contribute to the development of OCD. 50-60% of those who reported having OCD stated a stress event was occurring or had occurred around the time of onset, and almost all state that stress increases the symptoms of OCD.

Some common compulsions in children include: clearing the throat, twitching, rituals that have to be followed exactly, counting items, repeating things, washing hands, showering often and many more. Compulsions are not always as common as obsessions are. Just because a child is cleaning their room often and washing their hands doesn't necessarily mean they have OCD. Sometimes these symptoms will go away as a kid grows up; it all varies based on the individual.

While autism and OCD can occur in the same individual, it is much more common for children with autism to simply display behaviors that are similar to those of OCD, but that are in fact a part of their autism symptoms and not a separate case of obsessive compulsive disorder. Nonetheless, it is believed that autism and OCD based repetitive thoughts and behaviors are quite similar in the early stages of development, but become dissimilar over time as they often serve different functions within the two disorders.Dealing with autism and OCD at an early age should be prioritized to ensure that regular childhood and life experiences such as early education occurs more smoothly. The fewer obsessive-compulsive symptoms a child with autism has generally, the more positive their educational and life experiences will be.If you believe your child is suffering from OCD contact your doctor to discuss diagnosis and treatment options.




About the Author:



OCD Test

By Tyrone P. Rollins


OCD tests are a very important part of the diagnosis procedure, this should come ahead of what your friends or family tell you. If you think that someone you know shows the tell-tale signs of OCD its extremely important to get a proper diagnosis from a qualified physician, the symptoms are not usually seen, until the teens as children are eccentric as part of their normal growing up process, so to properly diagnose a child who may be suffering from OCD is extremely difficult. If the thought of going to a professional person may be too expensive then there is another option, you could take an online test.

At home tests.There are going to be a lot of questions asked during an OCD test. Questions about concerns with germs will be there as will questions about keeping things in order. There will also be questions about thoughts that come to mind and regular worries that go on throughout the day. The test will move on to inquire about repetitive acts that are performed, how they make someone feel and if there is a chronic need to do them all the time. It's extremely important to answer all of these truthfully, as incorrect answers can change the results of the test.Doctor's office tests.When at the office of a physician, they will likely give patients a number of different tests. These will help the doctor come to the proper diagnosis so they can rule out other illnesses or disorders that could be a result of the symptoms as well. The physical exam will be much like a regular checkup. The physician will check blood pressure, heart rate, height, weight and listen to the lungs and heart to make sure they are functioning properly.

The first signs generally emerge in childhood, but it is not usually until the teenage years that people become self-aware of the problem. As children often have quite eccentric personalities generally, it is harder to identify those mild cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder amidst regular attention-seeking behaviour. If required, you should start formulating a plan for therapy with a medical professional afterwards if the results indicates a problem may exist.

After yet another display of lining up toys or endlessly performing the same behavior over and over it's not unusual for parents to wonder if their child may have not one but two disorders - autism and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).OCD is a neurological disorder that causes obsessive thoughts and behaviors and can greatly disrupt a person's life. There are two main elements to OCD, thoughts or obsessions and compulsions or behaviors.The obsessions are experienced as thoughts, images or impulses and can be persistent. Whereas compulsions are repetitive behaviors that the sufferer feels compelled to carry out whether they want to or not. The performance of the repetitive behaviors is usually done to reduce distress or to stop a particular event.

Psychotherapy is effective for many people because it retrains the mind to control thought patterns. This also helps diminish compulsive behaviors by gradually exposing the patient to the things they fear the most. There are a lot of different techniques that therapists use with their patients. Sometimes this treatment can be stressful; it varies with each person and their reasons for having the disorder.Other treatment options are available to explore. Residential treatment and psychiatric hospitalization are both options for people who want to be watched by professionals. These put them in a safe environment where they can learn which treatments are best for them. Deep brain stimulation and ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) are other options available as well. Some individuals even try out self-help and home remedies, which can be effective.

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that sufferers have to perform in order to get rid of their obsessive thoughts. This is only temporary relief, the thoughts and compulsions will come back. Everyone has different compulsions based on their individual personality. Some examples of symptoms include: counting, keeping order, repeating actions, washing, cleaning and checking on things. Some people have to flip their light switch ten times when they come home while others have to wash their hands 100 times per day to help them avoid germs. There are thousands of different examples of these.

Behavioral therapy can be another way to reduce repetitive behaviors, however there is not one treatment that has been found to be consistently effective for all cases of autism. This is due to the fact that no two cases of autism are exactly the same.

Despite the person's realizing that these thoughts are irrational, these thoughts are irresistible to the person affected by the OCD.The diagnosis of OCD has been described in medicine for more than 100 years. OCD occurs fairly equally among people, regardless of culture. The largest onset group by age is typically 15-24 years old however OCD can be triggered at almost any age. Individuals with OCD are more likely to also develop an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia, or other behavioral concerns such as depression.While there is no known specific cause for OCD, family history and bio-neurological disorder in the brain are thought to be factors in who will get the illness. People who have relatives with OCD are generally at a somewhat higher risk of developing the disorder themselves. It is thought that an imbalance of the chemical serotonin in the brain may also contribute to the development of OCD. 50-60% of those who reported having OCD stated a stress event was occurring or had occurred around the time of onset, and almost all state that stress increases the symptoms of OCD.

Some common compulsions in children include: clearing the throat, twitching, rituals that have to be followed exactly, counting items, repeating things, washing hands, showering often and many more. Compulsions are not always as common as obsessions are. Just because a child is cleaning their room often and washing their hands doesn't necessarily mean they have OCD. Sometimes these symptoms will go away as a kid grows up; it all varies based on the individual.

While autism and OCD can occur in the same individual, it is much more common for children with autism to simply display behaviors that are similar to those of OCD, but that are in fact a part of their autism symptoms and not a separate case of obsessive compulsive disorder. Nonetheless, it is believed that autism and OCD based repetitive thoughts and behaviors are quite similar in the early stages of development, but become dissimilar over time as they often serve different functions within the two disorders.Dealing with autism and OCD at an early age should be prioritized to ensure that regular childhood and life experiences such as early education occurs more smoothly. The fewer obsessive-compulsive symptoms a child with autism has generally, the more positive their educational and life experiences will be.If you believe your child is suffering from OCD contact your doctor to discuss diagnosis and treatment options.




About the Author:



Posted at 1:12 AM |  by taoufiq
By Robert R. Ng


Reading is very important since it helps to enrich everyone in all aspects of life. When you are reading for pleasure, savoring every phrase or word slowly will enable you to truly appreciate the author's writing craft. However, there are times when faster and effective reading will be required. In this case, learning speed reading techniques will help you to bypass the rhetoric phrases and get only the most important details and facts. The information below will share some helpful suggestions on how to read fast and effectively.

What is Speed Reading? Speed reading was discovered by several psychologists, educational experts and the US Air Force with the use of the tachistoscope. However, the term was defined by school teacher: Evelyn Woods. The term defines the ability to read words at high rate of speed, with or without affecting comprehension rates.

Get a book or novel, whatever interests you, and start reading it. Force yourself to read faster. You may miss some of the words in the beginning. After reading a particular chapter, try to comprehend it. Keep a tab on your reading time. After every chapter, you'll see a change in your reading time. It decreases continuously. After a while, you'll be able to absorb the complete phrase quickly at a glance.

Stop vocalizing the text if you're in a habit of doing that. It decreases your reading speed and looks bad when you're in office or at a public place. If you think you'll lose concentration, use you finger instead in order to learn how to maintain proper eye control.

Skimming is the process where the reader visually searches for the information on the page for clues on the meaning. It might be useful for short articles; however, for large amount of reading that require analysis it is best to avoid this habit. Nevertheless, in the workforce, some readers tend to skim past the non relevant information. It does save time, but care must be taken that you do not skip past the required information. The best way to increase the rate of comprehension during reading is to make you concentrate.

Here is an important tip to remember when learning how to read fast.You should never vocalize or sub-vocalize as these two actions will prevent you from improving your comprehension and reading speed. Vocalizing is reading out loud or moving your lips to match words while reading. Sub-vocalizing is when you are trying to pronounce the words in your mind. Once you look at the material as something that you should understand instead of pronounce, your comprehension and reading skills will improve for the better.

These are just some of the tips that you can follow when you want to improve your reading speed. Some other effective tips including using index card to focus only on a single line or move your hand to match your reading speed.At the end of day, you will find many tips on how to read fast but practicing speed reading exercises can prove to be extremely beneficial. Reading fast and effectively will require you to learn how to absorb the written word. So, the new strategies that you learn will only become easier when they are applied repeatedly to your reading.




About the Author:



How to Read Faster and Comprehend More

By Robert R. Ng


Reading is very important since it helps to enrich everyone in all aspects of life. When you are reading for pleasure, savoring every phrase or word slowly will enable you to truly appreciate the author's writing craft. However, there are times when faster and effective reading will be required. In this case, learning speed reading techniques will help you to bypass the rhetoric phrases and get only the most important details and facts. The information below will share some helpful suggestions on how to read fast and effectively.

What is Speed Reading? Speed reading was discovered by several psychologists, educational experts and the US Air Force with the use of the tachistoscope. However, the term was defined by school teacher: Evelyn Woods. The term defines the ability to read words at high rate of speed, with or without affecting comprehension rates.

Get a book or novel, whatever interests you, and start reading it. Force yourself to read faster. You may miss some of the words in the beginning. After reading a particular chapter, try to comprehend it. Keep a tab on your reading time. After every chapter, you'll see a change in your reading time. It decreases continuously. After a while, you'll be able to absorb the complete phrase quickly at a glance.

Stop vocalizing the text if you're in a habit of doing that. It decreases your reading speed and looks bad when you're in office or at a public place. If you think you'll lose concentration, use you finger instead in order to learn how to maintain proper eye control.

Skimming is the process where the reader visually searches for the information on the page for clues on the meaning. It might be useful for short articles; however, for large amount of reading that require analysis it is best to avoid this habit. Nevertheless, in the workforce, some readers tend to skim past the non relevant information. It does save time, but care must be taken that you do not skip past the required information. The best way to increase the rate of comprehension during reading is to make you concentrate.

Here is an important tip to remember when learning how to read fast.You should never vocalize or sub-vocalize as these two actions will prevent you from improving your comprehension and reading speed. Vocalizing is reading out loud or moving your lips to match words while reading. Sub-vocalizing is when you are trying to pronounce the words in your mind. Once you look at the material as something that you should understand instead of pronounce, your comprehension and reading skills will improve for the better.

These are just some of the tips that you can follow when you want to improve your reading speed. Some other effective tips including using index card to focus only on a single line or move your hand to match your reading speed.At the end of day, you will find many tips on how to read fast but practicing speed reading exercises can prove to be extremely beneficial. Reading fast and effectively will require you to learn how to absorb the written word. So, the new strategies that you learn will only become easier when they are applied repeatedly to your reading.




About the Author:



Posted at 2:31 AM |  by taoufiq
By Bob Savage


Guiding a IT services business takes a lot of time and energy. To go the additional steps needed to keep your IT services business augmenting - while you're going - may feel impossible at times. Save time and energy by referring to these tips to help you grow your IT services business.

Watch market trends. If your industry is in a constant state of flux, watch market trends and stock prices. This research will provide information on the state of your industry and point you in the right direction.

When you're trying to make your IT services business reputable, it's significant to learn from others. It's always a wise idea to read as many IT services business books and biographies as possible. You'll acquire lots of valuable insight!

Post information about recent popular news events on your IT services business' social networking page. Allow commenting to spark reader interest and communication. Monitor the board for comments that are inappropriate, yet encourage a healthy discussion.

Host workshops and give free information to individuals seeking help. This is a smart way to network and pitch your products and ideas as well. Introduce your IT services business to the people and tell them how it can help their lives.

It is easy to fall into the trap of putting off important decisions. Take time to consider the facts. Once everything has been considered, make the call. Decisiveness is well received and gives a since of control and stability.

Try to have an oven and a mini fridge in the "break room". With this facility available inside the office building, the employees will not have any need to leave the building to have a snack. Moreover, they will also not be late for the next shift. This little effort will increase your employees accountability.

Check out your competitions commercials and see what you may do that would make you stand out from the rest. You wish to make sure to be different from any other competitor. So assure you get a good feel and look at their advertising plans and logos.

Keep loose paper to a minimum. File folders are great to help with this problem. Keep a box of blank file folders near your work space. Any loose paper on your desk at the end of the day goes into a folder. If there is not a right folder for the paper, grab a blank folder and start a new one. Anything worth keeping is worth putting in a folder.




About the Author:



Beyond Billboards: Reviewing Methods To Advertise Your It Services Business

By Bob Savage


Guiding a IT services business takes a lot of time and energy. To go the additional steps needed to keep your IT services business augmenting - while you're going - may feel impossible at times. Save time and energy by referring to these tips to help you grow your IT services business.

Watch market trends. If your industry is in a constant state of flux, watch market trends and stock prices. This research will provide information on the state of your industry and point you in the right direction.

When you're trying to make your IT services business reputable, it's significant to learn from others. It's always a wise idea to read as many IT services business books and biographies as possible. You'll acquire lots of valuable insight!

Post information about recent popular news events on your IT services business' social networking page. Allow commenting to spark reader interest and communication. Monitor the board for comments that are inappropriate, yet encourage a healthy discussion.

Host workshops and give free information to individuals seeking help. This is a smart way to network and pitch your products and ideas as well. Introduce your IT services business to the people and tell them how it can help their lives.

It is easy to fall into the trap of putting off important decisions. Take time to consider the facts. Once everything has been considered, make the call. Decisiveness is well received and gives a since of control and stability.

Try to have an oven and a mini fridge in the "break room". With this facility available inside the office building, the employees will not have any need to leave the building to have a snack. Moreover, they will also not be late for the next shift. This little effort will increase your employees accountability.

Check out your competitions commercials and see what you may do that would make you stand out from the rest. You wish to make sure to be different from any other competitor. So assure you get a good feel and look at their advertising plans and logos.

Keep loose paper to a minimum. File folders are great to help with this problem. Keep a box of blank file folders near your work space. Any loose paper on your desk at the end of the day goes into a folder. If there is not a right folder for the paper, grab a blank folder and start a new one. Anything worth keeping is worth putting in a folder.




About the Author:



Posted at 1:48 AM |  by taoufiq
By Dorothea Garner


You will encounter much uncertainty in the world that you really cannot be sure what happens next. It is not easy to attain security. You have to ensure you have a constant source of income and also be ready with contingencies. There are lots of means to getting a good job. It is convenient to find jobs working from home online.

It can be really difficult to get a job which is well suited for an individual especially with so much cut backs happening. You would need to look long and hard to find one. Not all people are lucky enough to have the job that they want to have. Instead of settling though, you could find other ways to do things you love. At the very least, you can find something which you could learn to be passionate about.

The internet is a vast resource for many things. It has allowed for people to do more in less time. It also enables man to be anywhere he is but still be there where he is needed. You can be at two places or more at once. It has really brought so much convenience. It allows for one to function even while away.

Work has become rather easy. You can stay where you want. You can do your work without needing to report to the office. You would just need to get the tasks and submit after it is done.

You really have several choices here. There are various types of work that you could do while home. There is no need to limit yourself. One can choose the work that he wants. One could indulge himself into a thing that he finds joy in. You would really enjoy your work. Time spent on it will just seem to pass. It also could motivate you to improve. Satisfaction in the work you do is important and you get that easily if you are doing what you love.

You will also have more time with family. You do not have to be away during lunch. You will also be waiting once they get back from school or their jobs. This is really important for parents who want to spend more time with their kids. You will also be able to attend to chores easily.

It is also a great way for you to save some money as well. You will no longer spend for your food and drinks because they are readily available in your kitchen. You also will not spend gas money because you do not have to commute to work. Help need not be hired because you will be there to supervise.

It is great to get freedom in whatever you do. This kind of living gives you much flexibility. There are a lot of opportunities and you could even make one on your own. You just need to have great discipline that you are able to do what is needed of you. Taking responsibility is important to gain success.

Jobs working from home online really offers a lot of benefits. You can enjoy them thoroughly if you set yourself to succeed. Self driven people would really do well in these kinds of jobs.




About the Author:



Benefits Of Taking Jobs Working From Home Online

By Dorothea Garner


You will encounter much uncertainty in the world that you really cannot be sure what happens next. It is not easy to attain security. You have to ensure you have a constant source of income and also be ready with contingencies. There are lots of means to getting a good job. It is convenient to find jobs working from home online.

It can be really difficult to get a job which is well suited for an individual especially with so much cut backs happening. You would need to look long and hard to find one. Not all people are lucky enough to have the job that they want to have. Instead of settling though, you could find other ways to do things you love. At the very least, you can find something which you could learn to be passionate about.

The internet is a vast resource for many things. It has allowed for people to do more in less time. It also enables man to be anywhere he is but still be there where he is needed. You can be at two places or more at once. It has really brought so much convenience. It allows for one to function even while away.

Work has become rather easy. You can stay where you want. You can do your work without needing to report to the office. You would just need to get the tasks and submit after it is done.

You really have several choices here. There are various types of work that you could do while home. There is no need to limit yourself. One can choose the work that he wants. One could indulge himself into a thing that he finds joy in. You would really enjoy your work. Time spent on it will just seem to pass. It also could motivate you to improve. Satisfaction in the work you do is important and you get that easily if you are doing what you love.

You will also have more time with family. You do not have to be away during lunch. You will also be waiting once they get back from school or their jobs. This is really important for parents who want to spend more time with their kids. You will also be able to attend to chores easily.

It is also a great way for you to save some money as well. You will no longer spend for your food and drinks because they are readily available in your kitchen. You also will not spend gas money because you do not have to commute to work. Help need not be hired because you will be there to supervise.

It is great to get freedom in whatever you do. This kind of living gives you much flexibility. There are a lot of opportunities and you could even make one on your own. You just need to have great discipline that you are able to do what is needed of you. Taking responsibility is important to gain success.

Jobs working from home online really offers a lot of benefits. You can enjoy them thoroughly if you set yourself to succeed. Self driven people would really do well in these kinds of jobs.




About the Author:



Posted at 1:33 AM |  by taoufiq
By Patricia E. Beeson


We all want to become more confident and feel good about ourselves so we can live our very best life. Here are some ways to gain confidence and raise self-esteem:Do something that requires a decision and a follow-through.Have you been putting off writing that letter to aunt Martha? Is there a friend you've been meaning to call? Wash the car, tidy the garden or clean the house. You'll gain confidence by setting goals (even small ones) and following through on them.Enjoy something you do well.

This ignores two important facts. One is that we are not simply victims of our external situations. We can choose our response to any given situation. When we look at one person caught in a traffic jam having a tantrum and another relaxing in their car like they are on a beach, we can see that the same situation has brought out two different responses. The traffic jam does not have an automatic response it brings out in people. It is a neutral event and we choose to shed a positive or negative light on it based on our own beliefs and thoughts.

Allow being judged. This is something that can be really hard, but guess what. In order to boost self confidence to great heights, you must be able to do things your way and be OK with other people disliking what you do. Again, almost everybody in the world judges people, I judge people for sure. If somebody tells me that I am something negative that I know I am. Let's say ugly, or fat... I can simply laugh it off and say, "So what, I can't change my genes and this is the way I am, do you have something else you want to judge me by, please get it off your chest?". See there is nothing a person can say to you that you can't counter in one way or another. Have really strong beliefs. The two tips above come down to one thing and that is having a strong self belief and solid ground in your confidence. There are many exercises you can take in order to really learn how to gain self confidence. You must get your beliefs in order first, otherwise you will always have a doubt in your mind somewhere. People are experts at destroying their own beliefs by having negative thoughts. STOP negative thoughts now.

At the end of the day, you've interacted with others and will notice that you feel much lighter.Learning to become more relaxed is a great life enhancer. People who are more relaxed have fewer problems with their memories and are more likely to take the bumps in the road of life in stride.

You weren't born a shy person. You aren't a shy person because it has something to do with your genes. Shyness isn't a life sentence. Most people tend to think of themselves as shy people because at times they feel insecure. If you feel insecure from time to time, it doesn't mean that you are shy!Here's a simple exercise for you. Think of situations when you felt truly confident, relaxed and extroverted. Done? Now think about it. If there were so many situations when you felt you were a confident person, you can't be shy by nature. And that means that you can change yourself and become 100% confident person. Read some articles on how to gain confidence, take action and you'll get rid of your shyness!

Patience. Learning how to gain self confidence is like fishing with a fishing rod, in a way. Let me explain. have you ever tried to fish with a fishing rod and you see something happen. You reel in to see if something happened. You find the fish has broke lose. You get pissed and throw it back in the water. This happens 5-10 times before you catch anything. In the mean time your friend is pulling up the fish every single time and he is laughing of joy. He is patient... he knows that when the fish bites, it takes a little bit of time before the hook is 100% attached. The point here is that, if something doesn't work for you, throw the rod back in and try again. When you want to give up the most, you know you are the closest!

Dating is simply defined as the act of meeting a person and taking time to know him/her better. This is usually a very exciting process, especially for first timers in dating. The first date is crucial in forming the foundation for a potential relationship. As they say, first impression lasts, and I agree. When your first date doesn't go as well as planned, your date may choose not to see you again. This can feel disappointing since most of us long to meet and connect with someone who can actually complement our personality. Losing the opportunity to build a lasting relationship with someone can feel frustrating, but I've found out that confidence is the key to a successful first date. Here are 4 important tips on gaining self-confidence while dating.First, look good. The number one thing that your date will see during your first date is your outward appearance. Good personal hygiene and dressing appropriately is a plus point for a successful first date.

How to gain confidence to speak a foreign language? If you are asking yourself this question, you are in the right place! I'm going to show you three tips on how to work on your confidence, stop being shy and become a fluent speaker. Here they are!This is the most important thing that you need to understand. There are no mistakes - there is only feedback. You can't learn anything without making mistakes. Making mistakes is an inherent part of learning new languages. Treat mistakes as your friends, because they are your friends - they will help you learn a new language!

If you get out of bed in the morning and you immediately moan to yourself about the weather, the prospect of work, your looks, etc., then guess what? You will be destined to have a bad day. You are priming your subconscious to create a bad day for you.Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." And he was right. If you think positive thoughts when you get up in the morning, then you will enjoy a much better day, regardless of what actually happens.Accomplishments are necessary when you are learning how to gain confidence. They give you a sense of value and self worth. It's important that you set yourself new goals on a regular basis, making sure that they are set small to begin with. As your self confidence grows, you should set yourself increasingly more challenging goals.

Fourth, be yourself. There is no better way to impress your date than by just being yourself! Show him/her the real you; don't pretend to be someone else you are not. By being who you are, you become more comfortable with the way you present yourself as well as the way you engage in conversations. This increases your self-confidence because you don't have to pretend, you just simply show your date the real you.First dates are very exciting, yet it can cause most people feel anxious. It is important to gain confidence especially with first dates to increase the chances of forming lasting relationships with someone new. Through gaining self-confidence, you increase your chances of being successful with your first date and many more.




About the Author:



Tips on How to Gain Self Confidence

By Patricia E. Beeson


We all want to become more confident and feel good about ourselves so we can live our very best life. Here are some ways to gain confidence and raise self-esteem:Do something that requires a decision and a follow-through.Have you been putting off writing that letter to aunt Martha? Is there a friend you've been meaning to call? Wash the car, tidy the garden or clean the house. You'll gain confidence by setting goals (even small ones) and following through on them.Enjoy something you do well.

This ignores two important facts. One is that we are not simply victims of our external situations. We can choose our response to any given situation. When we look at one person caught in a traffic jam having a tantrum and another relaxing in their car like they are on a beach, we can see that the same situation has brought out two different responses. The traffic jam does not have an automatic response it brings out in people. It is a neutral event and we choose to shed a positive or negative light on it based on our own beliefs and thoughts.

Allow being judged. This is something that can be really hard, but guess what. In order to boost self confidence to great heights, you must be able to do things your way and be OK with other people disliking what you do. Again, almost everybody in the world judges people, I judge people for sure. If somebody tells me that I am something negative that I know I am. Let's say ugly, or fat... I can simply laugh it off and say, "So what, I can't change my genes and this is the way I am, do you have something else you want to judge me by, please get it off your chest?". See there is nothing a person can say to you that you can't counter in one way or another. Have really strong beliefs. The two tips above come down to one thing and that is having a strong self belief and solid ground in your confidence. There are many exercises you can take in order to really learn how to gain self confidence. You must get your beliefs in order first, otherwise you will always have a doubt in your mind somewhere. People are experts at destroying their own beliefs by having negative thoughts. STOP negative thoughts now.

At the end of the day, you've interacted with others and will notice that you feel much lighter.Learning to become more relaxed is a great life enhancer. People who are more relaxed have fewer problems with their memories and are more likely to take the bumps in the road of life in stride.

You weren't born a shy person. You aren't a shy person because it has something to do with your genes. Shyness isn't a life sentence. Most people tend to think of themselves as shy people because at times they feel insecure. If you feel insecure from time to time, it doesn't mean that you are shy!Here's a simple exercise for you. Think of situations when you felt truly confident, relaxed and extroverted. Done? Now think about it. If there were so many situations when you felt you were a confident person, you can't be shy by nature. And that means that you can change yourself and become 100% confident person. Read some articles on how to gain confidence, take action and you'll get rid of your shyness!

Patience. Learning how to gain self confidence is like fishing with a fishing rod, in a way. Let me explain. have you ever tried to fish with a fishing rod and you see something happen. You reel in to see if something happened. You find the fish has broke lose. You get pissed and throw it back in the water. This happens 5-10 times before you catch anything. In the mean time your friend is pulling up the fish every single time and he is laughing of joy. He is patient... he knows that when the fish bites, it takes a little bit of time before the hook is 100% attached. The point here is that, if something doesn't work for you, throw the rod back in and try again. When you want to give up the most, you know you are the closest!

Dating is simply defined as the act of meeting a person and taking time to know him/her better. This is usually a very exciting process, especially for first timers in dating. The first date is crucial in forming the foundation for a potential relationship. As they say, first impression lasts, and I agree. When your first date doesn't go as well as planned, your date may choose not to see you again. This can feel disappointing since most of us long to meet and connect with someone who can actually complement our personality. Losing the opportunity to build a lasting relationship with someone can feel frustrating, but I've found out that confidence is the key to a successful first date. Here are 4 important tips on gaining self-confidence while dating.First, look good. The number one thing that your date will see during your first date is your outward appearance. Good personal hygiene and dressing appropriately is a plus point for a successful first date.

How to gain confidence to speak a foreign language? If you are asking yourself this question, you are in the right place! I'm going to show you three tips on how to work on your confidence, stop being shy and become a fluent speaker. Here they are!This is the most important thing that you need to understand. There are no mistakes - there is only feedback. You can't learn anything without making mistakes. Making mistakes is an inherent part of learning new languages. Treat mistakes as your friends, because they are your friends - they will help you learn a new language!

If you get out of bed in the morning and you immediately moan to yourself about the weather, the prospect of work, your looks, etc., then guess what? You will be destined to have a bad day. You are priming your subconscious to create a bad day for you.Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." And he was right. If you think positive thoughts when you get up in the morning, then you will enjoy a much better day, regardless of what actually happens.Accomplishments are necessary when you are learning how to gain confidence. They give you a sense of value and self worth. It's important that you set yourself new goals on a regular basis, making sure that they are set small to begin with. As your self confidence grows, you should set yourself increasingly more challenging goals.

Fourth, be yourself. There is no better way to impress your date than by just being yourself! Show him/her the real you; don't pretend to be someone else you are not. By being who you are, you become more comfortable with the way you present yourself as well as the way you engage in conversations. This increases your self-confidence because you don't have to pretend, you just simply show your date the real you.First dates are very exciting, yet it can cause most people feel anxious. It is important to gain confidence especially with first dates to increase the chances of forming lasting relationships with someone new. Through gaining self-confidence, you increase your chances of being successful with your first date and many more.




About the Author:



Posted at 1:10 AM |  by taoufiq
By Tera Marsh


Some people like riding horses across grassy fields. Others like to sail their boats in treacherous waters. You like to do both, except you prefer to do so in the safety of your own home. Battling vicious Nazi armies or flying through space, video games let you live out your fantasies and more, and this article has all the tips you require.

Set a timer when you are playing video games. It can be easy to get caught up in playing games and lose track of time. If you want to only play for one hour, set an alarm and quit when it goes off. This way you don't let games consume your life.

Monitor your child's video game playing time. Video games are extremely fun and very addictive. A child can get sucked into a game for hours on end if there is no parental supervision. Pay attention to the child's time and force breaks and maximum playing times to make sure your youngster still enjoys the world around him.

If you are interested in the world of gaming, but don't really have time to play games yourself, you should know there is a whole subset of gamers who make videos for others to watch. These come in two forms, competitive and "lets play." Let's play videos often include entertaining commentary.

After setting up a system regarding how long and how often your children can play games, put that in writing. Post the rules in a visible location and make sure you review them often. If a situation arises where your child disagrees with you, simply refer back to the rules that have been previously set up.

When you're playing a new game, always take the time to fully explore your surroundings. Being inattentive can cause you to miss important cues and clues, including time-saving shortcuts and valuable hidden items. Don't feel rushed just because the game tells you that you need to hurry; you will usually have enough time to look around.

If you are thinking about selling some of your used video games online, only accept cash or cash at time of pickup. There are so many scams that can happen online. Either use a reputable company like Paypal that will pay you in cash or only accept cash when the buyer picks up the game.

Don't play continuously for too many hours. Get up, stretch, walk around, get your blood flowing and your lungs full of air. It's important to get at least 5 minutes of movement in every half hour to keep your brain fully oxygenated and your body in healthy condition at all times.

You can develop problems with your wrist and fingers with excessive game play. A good way to minimize the fatigue and problems associated with this, try exercising your hands and wrists with stress balls or other devices. This will allow you to play for longer periods of time and might actually improve your gaming skills.

To save some money on your video games, think about subscribing to a service that you can rent games from. The cost of these rental agreements for a year is usually less than the price of two games. You can keep the games until you beat them and just send them back and order another one.

To improve your performance, turn down the music. When you need to concentrate on a particularly difficult game or level, check the options for a way to turn off the in game music. Even if you are not actively paying attention to it, a small part of your brain is. Turning it off allows you to devote your full brain power to the game.

Play against your friends, family and even strangers. Games play in the same way over and over again, no matter how "random" they claim to be. Truly playing against the best means beating other human beings, as if you can beat others like yourself, you'll be the best in the game.

Whether you want to own a virtual pet or beat back alien forces on the Earth, a video game is out there which lets you do just that and more. Having some hints to make you a better gamer won't hurt! Read as much as you can do gain the knowledge you need to be victorious!




About the Author:



Best Ways To Improve Your Video Gaming Fun

By Tera Marsh


Some people like riding horses across grassy fields. Others like to sail their boats in treacherous waters. You like to do both, except you prefer to do so in the safety of your own home. Battling vicious Nazi armies or flying through space, video games let you live out your fantasies and more, and this article has all the tips you require.

Set a timer when you are playing video games. It can be easy to get caught up in playing games and lose track of time. If you want to only play for one hour, set an alarm and quit when it goes off. This way you don't let games consume your life.

Monitor your child's video game playing time. Video games are extremely fun and very addictive. A child can get sucked into a game for hours on end if there is no parental supervision. Pay attention to the child's time and force breaks and maximum playing times to make sure your youngster still enjoys the world around him.

If you are interested in the world of gaming, but don't really have time to play games yourself, you should know there is a whole subset of gamers who make videos for others to watch. These come in two forms, competitive and "lets play." Let's play videos often include entertaining commentary.

After setting up a system regarding how long and how often your children can play games, put that in writing. Post the rules in a visible location and make sure you review them often. If a situation arises where your child disagrees with you, simply refer back to the rules that have been previously set up.

When you're playing a new game, always take the time to fully explore your surroundings. Being inattentive can cause you to miss important cues and clues, including time-saving shortcuts and valuable hidden items. Don't feel rushed just because the game tells you that you need to hurry; you will usually have enough time to look around.

If you are thinking about selling some of your used video games online, only accept cash or cash at time of pickup. There are so many scams that can happen online. Either use a reputable company like Paypal that will pay you in cash or only accept cash when the buyer picks up the game.

Don't play continuously for too many hours. Get up, stretch, walk around, get your blood flowing and your lungs full of air. It's important to get at least 5 minutes of movement in every half hour to keep your brain fully oxygenated and your body in healthy condition at all times.

You can develop problems with your wrist and fingers with excessive game play. A good way to minimize the fatigue and problems associated with this, try exercising your hands and wrists with stress balls or other devices. This will allow you to play for longer periods of time and might actually improve your gaming skills.

To save some money on your video games, think about subscribing to a service that you can rent games from. The cost of these rental agreements for a year is usually less than the price of two games. You can keep the games until you beat them and just send them back and order another one.

To improve your performance, turn down the music. When you need to concentrate on a particularly difficult game or level, check the options for a way to turn off the in game music. Even if you are not actively paying attention to it, a small part of your brain is. Turning it off allows you to devote your full brain power to the game.

Play against your friends, family and even strangers. Games play in the same way over and over again, no matter how "random" they claim to be. Truly playing against the best means beating other human beings, as if you can beat others like yourself, you'll be the best in the game.

Whether you want to own a virtual pet or beat back alien forces on the Earth, a video game is out there which lets you do just that and more. Having some hints to make you a better gamer won't hurt! Read as much as you can do gain the knowledge you need to be victorious!




About the Author:



Posted at 1:02 AM |  by taoufiq
For those of us following or taking part in the various hacktivist activities happening around the globe on a regular basis, doxing is a regular feature. We wake up in the morning to find the personal lives of businessmen, hackers who have made target of themselves for one reason or another, government employees, and a host of others spilled out onto the Internet for the entire world to see. Doxing can be a tool for use in security testing, investigation, or research on the positive side. But it can also be a tool for humiliation, harassment, and worse on the negative side.
In the Part I of this article, we will discuss what exactly doxing is and the tools and techniques we might use to carry out such an attack. In the Part II of this article we will talk about the steps we can take to at least lessen its impact, should we find ourselves on the receiving end of such efforts.

What is Doxing?
The word doxing is a simple word involving a bit of mangling of the English language in order to communicate a somewhat more complex concept. We arrive at doxing by starting with documents, shortening it to docs, applying a bit of leetness to make it dox, then transforming it into a verb: documents -> docs -> dox -> doxing. But what is it?  Doxing is the process of locating, to the greatest extent possible, all of the information available on an individual, this being generally followed by the exposure of the information discovered to a group or the general public. Those following along might also realize that doxing, information reconnaissance, OSINT, and a number of other similar concepts are all very closely related, so much so that we might successfully argue that they are slight variations on describing the exact same concept.

We commonly see doxing used by hacking groups such as Anonymous, LulzSec, AntiSec, and so on. An excellent example is the large scale doxing of law enforcement-related personnel by Anonymous in December of 2011, an act which was reportedly carried out in revenge for the close attention being given to hacktivist groups by various law enforcement agencies. In this particular attack the information on over 7000 people was exposed, including names, addresses, social security numbers, email contents, passwords to sensitive systems, and a great deal of other information.
On the white hat side of the fence, a somewhat more restrained form of doxing is also used, although generally much more limited in the set of techniques available, and generally lacking the public exposure of information. Doxing techniques may be used by penetration testers, security researchers, incident responders, and investigators to collect information on potential targets, track down information regarding the origins of tools used in attacks or malware, or to locate the originator of an attack. In March of 2012, the FBI is said to have used information gained from doxing and turned over by another hacking group to arrest Hector Monsegur, a.k.a Sabu, who is widely supposed to have been the founder and/or leader of LulzSec.
Ultimately, doxing is searching for information on an individual, although usually taken to a much greater length than the typical light cyberstalking or ego surfing many of us engage in on a daily basis.
Why Would Anyone Want To Do This?
The motivations behind doxing, whether originated by the good guys or the bad guys, are generally not positive for the person who is the target of such activity. As we mentioned, doxing is used by those who are considered to be on the dark side, hackers (in the bad sense) and hacktivist groups, and also by others such as stalkers, identity thieves, internet trolls, and so on. Usually people in this group seek out said information to attack or harass their targets in some fashion. The specific motivations here may vary somewhat, but we can quickly come up with specific cases in which the entirety of the available data on an individual might be used including name, address and social security number (the identity theft trifecta), account credentials, telephone numbers, and so on.
Even on the light side, where we might find an investigator, incident responder, law enforcement, or other similar personnel using such techniques, the consequences for the target will likely be at least unpleasant, if not targeted at the same ultimate goals. In actuality, much of the set of techniques we would call doxing is simply referred to as investigation in such communities.
What are the Consequences of Being Doxed?
The consequences of doxed information being exposed can range from slight irritation to serious threat to health, livelihood, or potentially life. We can very quickly see where exposing information on a person’s social activities, sexual preference, medical history, and other such interesting bits of information may be seriously damaging. This type of exposure could easily result in public embarrassment, severe reputational damage, loss of employment, identity theft, and worse.
A fairly serious example of doxing and subsequent attacks can be seen in the actions taken by Anonymous against Aaron Barr, then the CEO of HBGary Federal, a defense contracting company. In February of 2011, Barr announced his infiltration of Anonymous and said he would expose the information he had found in a talk at a security conference that year. As with most cases of poking a wasp nest with a stick, this ended badly. Anonymous doxed Barr and attacked the HBGary Federal servers, later posting tens of thousands of emails from the HBGary Federal systems on the Internet, as well as the body of personal information on Barr himself. They subsequently took over social networking accounts, compromising servers, and generally causing quite a bit of havoc. Ultimately, this series of attacks resulted in Barr resigning, reputation damage to Barr and HBGary Federal, some level of investigation by the US House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, and the US Congress.
Doxing Techniques
A number of different sources can provide information for doxing efforts. We can, for instance, collect from social networking sites and tools, people-oriented search tools, pay search sites, public records, and any of a number of other places. Some such sources or tools are generic and will show data on nearly any name we care to enter, and others are very specific and pertain to a particular company, city, or the like.
Typically when we start to dox someone, we will have some small amount of information to start with. A name, depending on how common the name is, is a good starting point; a name and an email address are better. If we have an email address on which to search, we may immediately turn up other sources of information, particularly if the target in question uses the email address as a common account name, posts online frequently, etc. Given a name, email address, and a city, we may be able to turn up a home address, employer, professional organizations, local sports teams or hobby groups, and so on. Each additional piece of information we turn up adds to the body of information we have and makes validating the next piece of information along the path much easier. The more information we have to begin with, the easier our job is.
If we are starting with a weak set of information, or the target has a very common name (James Smith would be a problem), we may have to do a bit of inference at the beginning. One of the most likely starting points would be to pin down a physical location to a smaller area. If we know James Smith had a particular IP address at some point, we look this IP up to find which ISP or company this IP belongs to. Based on this, we might narrow down our search parameters to the areas this ISP serves or this company operates in. Of course the danger exists that our inference is entirely wrong, and we have just gone down the wrong path entirely. But we do have to start somewhere.

Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites can provide a virtual gold mine of information for doxing purposes. A typical person who is at all active online will typically have accounts on at least two or three social networking sites. Depending on the site in question, we may find all manner of personal information (some not fit for public consumption) including current and past employers, education, physical location data, and a plethora of other items.

Of benefit to those using such sites to collect information is the myriad of privacy and sharing settings, each being entirely unique to a particular site. Those of us who are security professionals may have a good grip on handling such settings and may be aware of the need to restrict our personal information, putting us in a better position than the common user to properly safeguard our information. In some cases, this may not be good enough to completely protect us. The companies who run these social networking tools regularly update their privacy settings, and many of them allow “friends” to take actions like tagging pictures with names and re-sharing information, thus circumventing our security efforts.
Additionally, friends, family, co-workers, et al may provide another avenue for gathering information, even if the target has a properly secured account and is extremely careful. Given a particularly chatty friend on a social networking site, we may not even need information directly from the target. This is one of the main reasons that doxing efforts often extend outside of the target in question.

We may also be able to bypass the security measures on a social networking account by simply asking for access to the information through whatever friending mechanism available for the service in question. Such an approach will often enjoy success if we create an account impersonating someone who the target already knows or has some history with, such as a friend, co-worker, classmate etc. We can see an excellent example of this in the Robin Sage incident in which a security researcher impersonating a woman managed to friend over 300 people and gain access to all manner of sensitive information, including classified military information on troop movements.
General Online Content
Although social networking sites provide us with one of the richest sources we may find, they are by no means the only sources available. We can find all types of information by looking for online resumes, blog postings, postings to newsgroups, archives of local newspapers, newsletters from professional organizations, records of births, deaths, and marriages, any of a number of public records and other data. The problem we encounter when digging for such data is finding what we actually want in the massive volume we might need to sift through.
People-oriented Search Tools
Given this enormous body of information available to search, it is helpful to filter some of this through sets of tools that will do some of the work for us. Fortunately, there are a number of services that will conduct searches oriented around individuals and will often give us at least some portion of the information we seek for free. Some of the more common tools include:
• Pipl.com
• Spokeo.com
• Zabasearch.com
• Mylife.com
• Peekyou.com
 and many, many, others. These sites will commonly turn up names, addresses, birth dates, family members, pictures, documents, employers, and quite a bit of other information. Such sites do not exist out of pure altruism, so they will often display a certain amount of information as a hook and then ask for a payment to access the remainder. We can usually get enough free information from such search engines on which to base further searches or general digging, making these sites worth a visit.
In addition there are a number of pay sites that exist for the purpose of performing “background checks,” allowing us direct access to databases of information collected on individuals. These sites will likely include the same set of information as the people-oriented search engines (in fact they may be the same company), but the better sites will also have access to more difficult to reach records such as criminal proceedings, court documents, mortgage documents, and other similar items that are public or semi-public records. Most of this data is available to the individual in general, should we choose to look for it, but it often requires considerably more legwork and expense to obtain. A few background check sites include:
• Intelius.com
• Ussearch.com
• Peoplefinders.com


Information about Domains and Networks
Considering the connectedness of the average computer-savvy person these days, chances are we will be able to turn up an IP address or domain name connected to them in some fashion. Given a small amount of such information, unless the person has been particularly careful, we will often be able to quickly find a good deal more with a few simple searches.
Whois searches and searches of DNS records can often give us contacts for the domain or IP in question, sometimes even being directly connected to the individual who is our target. While this seems unlikely and entirely too easy, such information is often present. Aggregation tool sites such as Netcraft.com, IPinfoDB.com, and yougetsignal.com can also provide us with additional information such as where the system on the other end of the domain name or IP might be physically located, what software it is running, and any of a number of other useful bits.
Lastly, we would be remiss to not mention the Wayback Machine at web.archive.org. The Wayback Machine archives the content of a huge number of web servers on a regular basis, and looking at changes to a website over time can be extremely instructive.  It may be that the system on the other end of a domain name contains no interesting information now, but it might have a month ago, or a year ago, or five years ago. The Wayback Machine can be en extremely helpful tool for many research efforts.
Our Friend Google
 Google can be the doxers best friend. We all know what Google is and how easy it is to type "firstname lastname" into the search field and get a few hits. There are, however, considerably more advanced ways of searching Google that will get us better results.

Google hacking is the use of advanced operators in search engine queries (not necessarily just Google), in order to enable more targeted searches. As we mentioned, this is not specific to Google and similar search parameters can be used with most any search engine. Lists of advances operators can generally be found on the page for the search engine in question. For Google, the advanced operators can be found here http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=136861 and for Bing here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff795620.aspx. For most any search engine, we can find the advanced operator listing by searching for the engine name and “advanced operators”. While we will find some variation in query construction between different engines, the construction is usually fairly similar.

A large body of work exists for using advance operators to perform very specific searches, alongowith a few books. The book Google Hacking for Penetration Testers by Johnny Long (available from Syngress) is an entire volume dedicated to this specific subject. Although it is a bit long in the tooth at this point, it is still a good resource.  We can also look to the Google Hacking Database (GHDB) at http://www.hackersforcharity.org/ghdb/ or http://www.exploit-db.com/google-dorks/ for a database of specific searches. These databases contain a wide variety of security specific searches and are available to the public through a few simple clicks.
Metadata
Metadata is data about data, and we can find such data associated with almost any file with the exceptions to this being vanishingly small. We can see a common example of metadata in the creation and modification timestamps associated with almost all files. Metadata can provide us with another excellent source for our doxing efforts. We can find this data in word processing documents, presentations, image files, videos, and any of a number of similar artifacts. In this metatdata, we can often locate various interesting items such as usernames, hostnames, network paths, various dates, hardware information, and a variety of other interesting bits. For files created on hardware containing GPS capabilities, we may also find embedded GPS coordinates for the location where the file was created, databases or temporary files containing a history of physical locations, and the like. Overall, metadata is definitely worth taking a look at if we find files in the course of our search.
There are number of tools that can provide us with the capability to sift through metadata. For general usage, we can use Metagoofil (although this is now a bit aged and requires some effort to get working properly), FOCA which is in the same general vein as Metagoofil, ExifTool which ostensibly handles image formats but actually does a great number of other formats as well, and several others. Becoming familiar with metadata tools can lead to all sorts of interesting information.
Maltego
Any of a variety of other tools might assist us in our reconnaissance efforts whilst doxing. While it would be nearly impossible to develop an exhaustive list, there is at least one that deserves a special mention, namely Maltego. Maltego is “an open source intelligence and forensics application”. Maltego enables us to conduct, in many cases, a certain portion of our doxing in an automated fashion. Maltego, given a starting place, such as an IP address, hostname, name, etc… will attempt to ferret out other related items of information.

Results from Maltego can be hit or miss, depending on the information available to find. It is absolutely fantastic at tasks like combing through data for an organization. We may also discover a larger set of information from Maltego than we can comfortably cope with, is we are not careful to limit its scope.
Keeping Track
Last, but certainly not least, we will want some method for keeping track of the information we find. We could absolutely use a simple text editing tool like Notepad, Gedit, or the like. Such tools are very useful for taking notes as we go along, but ultimately not a good tool in the long run. In the case where our research has been thorough enough to include multiple individuals, a plain text document will quickly become a difficult task to keep up with and will not lend itself well to searching or correlating information.
As with many larger sets of data, or data we might need to manipulate in various ways, spreadsheets and/or databases are a very handy tool. We will typically want to develop a common template for our doxing efforts, so we do not miss particular items by oversight, i.e.:

• Maiden name
• Facebook account
• Twitter account
• IP addresses
• System names
• Domain names
• Blog URL
• Name
• Address
• DoB
• SSN
• Email addresses
• Phone numbers
• Employer
this, of course, is a very small sample and our template would need to cover considerably more. In an exhaustive doxing effort, we would likely end up with a stack of such collections of data.
There are also a few commercial tools are purpose-built for just such a use. CaseFile is one such tool, and was created by the makers of Maltego. This provides us with a much more tailored solution, but may be overkill for some smaller efforts.

Part II
In the next part of this article, we will be discussing the opposite side of the doxing equation, namely anti-doxing. Now that we have covered what doxing is and how it is performed, we will talk about how we can protect ourselves and help to mitigate such an attack when we are on the receiving end.

Doxing and Anti-Doxing – Part I

For those of us following or taking part in the various hacktivist activities happening around the globe on a regular basis, doxing is a regular feature. We wake up in the morning to find the personal lives of businessmen, hackers who have made target of themselves for one reason or another, government employees, and a host of others spilled out onto the Internet for the entire world to see. Doxing can be a tool for use in security testing, investigation, or research on the positive side. But it can also be a tool for humiliation, harassment, and worse on the negative side.
In the Part I of this article, we will discuss what exactly doxing is and the tools and techniques we might use to carry out such an attack. In the Part II of this article we will talk about the steps we can take to at least lessen its impact, should we find ourselves on the receiving end of such efforts.

What is Doxing?
The word doxing is a simple word involving a bit of mangling of the English language in order to communicate a somewhat more complex concept. We arrive at doxing by starting with documents, shortening it to docs, applying a bit of leetness to make it dox, then transforming it into a verb: documents -> docs -> dox -> doxing. But what is it?  Doxing is the process of locating, to the greatest extent possible, all of the information available on an individual, this being generally followed by the exposure of the information discovered to a group or the general public. Those following along might also realize that doxing, information reconnaissance, OSINT, and a number of other similar concepts are all very closely related, so much so that we might successfully argue that they are slight variations on describing the exact same concept.

We commonly see doxing used by hacking groups such as Anonymous, LulzSec, AntiSec, and so on. An excellent example is the large scale doxing of law enforcement-related personnel by Anonymous in December of 2011, an act which was reportedly carried out in revenge for the close attention being given to hacktivist groups by various law enforcement agencies. In this particular attack the information on over 7000 people was exposed, including names, addresses, social security numbers, email contents, passwords to sensitive systems, and a great deal of other information.
On the white hat side of the fence, a somewhat more restrained form of doxing is also used, although generally much more limited in the set of techniques available, and generally lacking the public exposure of information. Doxing techniques may be used by penetration testers, security researchers, incident responders, and investigators to collect information on potential targets, track down information regarding the origins of tools used in attacks or malware, or to locate the originator of an attack. In March of 2012, the FBI is said to have used information gained from doxing and turned over by another hacking group to arrest Hector Monsegur, a.k.a Sabu, who is widely supposed to have been the founder and/or leader of LulzSec.
Ultimately, doxing is searching for information on an individual, although usually taken to a much greater length than the typical light cyberstalking or ego surfing many of us engage in on a daily basis.
Why Would Anyone Want To Do This?
The motivations behind doxing, whether originated by the good guys or the bad guys, are generally not positive for the person who is the target of such activity. As we mentioned, doxing is used by those who are considered to be on the dark side, hackers (in the bad sense) and hacktivist groups, and also by others such as stalkers, identity thieves, internet trolls, and so on. Usually people in this group seek out said information to attack or harass their targets in some fashion. The specific motivations here may vary somewhat, but we can quickly come up with specific cases in which the entirety of the available data on an individual might be used including name, address and social security number (the identity theft trifecta), account credentials, telephone numbers, and so on.
Even on the light side, where we might find an investigator, incident responder, law enforcement, or other similar personnel using such techniques, the consequences for the target will likely be at least unpleasant, if not targeted at the same ultimate goals. In actuality, much of the set of techniques we would call doxing is simply referred to as investigation in such communities.
What are the Consequences of Being Doxed?
The consequences of doxed information being exposed can range from slight irritation to serious threat to health, livelihood, or potentially life. We can very quickly see where exposing information on a person’s social activities, sexual preference, medical history, and other such interesting bits of information may be seriously damaging. This type of exposure could easily result in public embarrassment, severe reputational damage, loss of employment, identity theft, and worse.
A fairly serious example of doxing and subsequent attacks can be seen in the actions taken by Anonymous against Aaron Barr, then the CEO of HBGary Federal, a defense contracting company. In February of 2011, Barr announced his infiltration of Anonymous and said he would expose the information he had found in a talk at a security conference that year. As with most cases of poking a wasp nest with a stick, this ended badly. Anonymous doxed Barr and attacked the HBGary Federal servers, later posting tens of thousands of emails from the HBGary Federal systems on the Internet, as well as the body of personal information on Barr himself. They subsequently took over social networking accounts, compromising servers, and generally causing quite a bit of havoc. Ultimately, this series of attacks resulted in Barr resigning, reputation damage to Barr and HBGary Federal, some level of investigation by the US House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, and the US Congress.
Doxing Techniques
A number of different sources can provide information for doxing efforts. We can, for instance, collect from social networking sites and tools, people-oriented search tools, pay search sites, public records, and any of a number of other places. Some such sources or tools are generic and will show data on nearly any name we care to enter, and others are very specific and pertain to a particular company, city, or the like.
Typically when we start to dox someone, we will have some small amount of information to start with. A name, depending on how common the name is, is a good starting point; a name and an email address are better. If we have an email address on which to search, we may immediately turn up other sources of information, particularly if the target in question uses the email address as a common account name, posts online frequently, etc. Given a name, email address, and a city, we may be able to turn up a home address, employer, professional organizations, local sports teams or hobby groups, and so on. Each additional piece of information we turn up adds to the body of information we have and makes validating the next piece of information along the path much easier. The more information we have to begin with, the easier our job is.
If we are starting with a weak set of information, or the target has a very common name (James Smith would be a problem), we may have to do a bit of inference at the beginning. One of the most likely starting points would be to pin down a physical location to a smaller area. If we know James Smith had a particular IP address at some point, we look this IP up to find which ISP or company this IP belongs to. Based on this, we might narrow down our search parameters to the areas this ISP serves or this company operates in. Of course the danger exists that our inference is entirely wrong, and we have just gone down the wrong path entirely. But we do have to start somewhere.

Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites can provide a virtual gold mine of information for doxing purposes. A typical person who is at all active online will typically have accounts on at least two or three social networking sites. Depending on the site in question, we may find all manner of personal information (some not fit for public consumption) including current and past employers, education, physical location data, and a plethora of other items.

Of benefit to those using such sites to collect information is the myriad of privacy and sharing settings, each being entirely unique to a particular site. Those of us who are security professionals may have a good grip on handling such settings and may be aware of the need to restrict our personal information, putting us in a better position than the common user to properly safeguard our information. In some cases, this may not be good enough to completely protect us. The companies who run these social networking tools regularly update their privacy settings, and many of them allow “friends” to take actions like tagging pictures with names and re-sharing information, thus circumventing our security efforts.
Additionally, friends, family, co-workers, et al may provide another avenue for gathering information, even if the target has a properly secured account and is extremely careful. Given a particularly chatty friend on a social networking site, we may not even need information directly from the target. This is one of the main reasons that doxing efforts often extend outside of the target in question.

We may also be able to bypass the security measures on a social networking account by simply asking for access to the information through whatever friending mechanism available for the service in question. Such an approach will often enjoy success if we create an account impersonating someone who the target already knows or has some history with, such as a friend, co-worker, classmate etc. We can see an excellent example of this in the Robin Sage incident in which a security researcher impersonating a woman managed to friend over 300 people and gain access to all manner of sensitive information, including classified military information on troop movements.
General Online Content
Although social networking sites provide us with one of the richest sources we may find, they are by no means the only sources available. We can find all types of information by looking for online resumes, blog postings, postings to newsgroups, archives of local newspapers, newsletters from professional organizations, records of births, deaths, and marriages, any of a number of public records and other data. The problem we encounter when digging for such data is finding what we actually want in the massive volume we might need to sift through.
People-oriented Search Tools
Given this enormous body of information available to search, it is helpful to filter some of this through sets of tools that will do some of the work for us. Fortunately, there are a number of services that will conduct searches oriented around individuals and will often give us at least some portion of the information we seek for free. Some of the more common tools include:
• Pipl.com
• Spokeo.com
• Zabasearch.com
• Mylife.com
• Peekyou.com
 and many, many, others. These sites will commonly turn up names, addresses, birth dates, family members, pictures, documents, employers, and quite a bit of other information. Such sites do not exist out of pure altruism, so they will often display a certain amount of information as a hook and then ask for a payment to access the remainder. We can usually get enough free information from such search engines on which to base further searches or general digging, making these sites worth a visit.
In addition there are a number of pay sites that exist for the purpose of performing “background checks,” allowing us direct access to databases of information collected on individuals. These sites will likely include the same set of information as the people-oriented search engines (in fact they may be the same company), but the better sites will also have access to more difficult to reach records such as criminal proceedings, court documents, mortgage documents, and other similar items that are public or semi-public records. Most of this data is available to the individual in general, should we choose to look for it, but it often requires considerably more legwork and expense to obtain. A few background check sites include:
• Intelius.com
• Ussearch.com
• Peoplefinders.com


Information about Domains and Networks
Considering the connectedness of the average computer-savvy person these days, chances are we will be able to turn up an IP address or domain name connected to them in some fashion. Given a small amount of such information, unless the person has been particularly careful, we will often be able to quickly find a good deal more with a few simple searches.
Whois searches and searches of DNS records can often give us contacts for the domain or IP in question, sometimes even being directly connected to the individual who is our target. While this seems unlikely and entirely too easy, such information is often present. Aggregation tool sites such as Netcraft.com, IPinfoDB.com, and yougetsignal.com can also provide us with additional information such as where the system on the other end of the domain name or IP might be physically located, what software it is running, and any of a number of other useful bits.
Lastly, we would be remiss to not mention the Wayback Machine at web.archive.org. The Wayback Machine archives the content of a huge number of web servers on a regular basis, and looking at changes to a website over time can be extremely instructive.  It may be that the system on the other end of a domain name contains no interesting information now, but it might have a month ago, or a year ago, or five years ago. The Wayback Machine can be en extremely helpful tool for many research efforts.
Our Friend Google
 Google can be the doxers best friend. We all know what Google is and how easy it is to type "firstname lastname" into the search field and get a few hits. There are, however, considerably more advanced ways of searching Google that will get us better results.

Google hacking is the use of advanced operators in search engine queries (not necessarily just Google), in order to enable more targeted searches. As we mentioned, this is not specific to Google and similar search parameters can be used with most any search engine. Lists of advances operators can generally be found on the page for the search engine in question. For Google, the advanced operators can be found here http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=136861 and for Bing here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff795620.aspx. For most any search engine, we can find the advanced operator listing by searching for the engine name and “advanced operators”. While we will find some variation in query construction between different engines, the construction is usually fairly similar.

A large body of work exists for using advance operators to perform very specific searches, alongowith a few books. The book Google Hacking for Penetration Testers by Johnny Long (available from Syngress) is an entire volume dedicated to this specific subject. Although it is a bit long in the tooth at this point, it is still a good resource.  We can also look to the Google Hacking Database (GHDB) at http://www.hackersforcharity.org/ghdb/ or http://www.exploit-db.com/google-dorks/ for a database of specific searches. These databases contain a wide variety of security specific searches and are available to the public through a few simple clicks.
Metadata
Metadata is data about data, and we can find such data associated with almost any file with the exceptions to this being vanishingly small. We can see a common example of metadata in the creation and modification timestamps associated with almost all files. Metadata can provide us with another excellent source for our doxing efforts. We can find this data in word processing documents, presentations, image files, videos, and any of a number of similar artifacts. In this metatdata, we can often locate various interesting items such as usernames, hostnames, network paths, various dates, hardware information, and a variety of other interesting bits. For files created on hardware containing GPS capabilities, we may also find embedded GPS coordinates for the location where the file was created, databases or temporary files containing a history of physical locations, and the like. Overall, metadata is definitely worth taking a look at if we find files in the course of our search.
There are number of tools that can provide us with the capability to sift through metadata. For general usage, we can use Metagoofil (although this is now a bit aged and requires some effort to get working properly), FOCA which is in the same general vein as Metagoofil, ExifTool which ostensibly handles image formats but actually does a great number of other formats as well, and several others. Becoming familiar with metadata tools can lead to all sorts of interesting information.
Maltego
Any of a variety of other tools might assist us in our reconnaissance efforts whilst doxing. While it would be nearly impossible to develop an exhaustive list, there is at least one that deserves a special mention, namely Maltego. Maltego is “an open source intelligence and forensics application”. Maltego enables us to conduct, in many cases, a certain portion of our doxing in an automated fashion. Maltego, given a starting place, such as an IP address, hostname, name, etc… will attempt to ferret out other related items of information.

Results from Maltego can be hit or miss, depending on the information available to find. It is absolutely fantastic at tasks like combing through data for an organization. We may also discover a larger set of information from Maltego than we can comfortably cope with, is we are not careful to limit its scope.
Keeping Track
Last, but certainly not least, we will want some method for keeping track of the information we find. We could absolutely use a simple text editing tool like Notepad, Gedit, or the like. Such tools are very useful for taking notes as we go along, but ultimately not a good tool in the long run. In the case where our research has been thorough enough to include multiple individuals, a plain text document will quickly become a difficult task to keep up with and will not lend itself well to searching or correlating information.
As with many larger sets of data, or data we might need to manipulate in various ways, spreadsheets and/or databases are a very handy tool. We will typically want to develop a common template for our doxing efforts, so we do not miss particular items by oversight, i.e.:

• Maiden name
• Facebook account
• Twitter account
• IP addresses
• System names
• Domain names
• Blog URL
• Name
• Address
• DoB
• SSN
• Email addresses
• Phone numbers
• Employer
this, of course, is a very small sample and our template would need to cover considerably more. In an exhaustive doxing effort, we would likely end up with a stack of such collections of data.
There are also a few commercial tools are purpose-built for just such a use. CaseFile is one such tool, and was created by the makers of Maltego. This provides us with a much more tailored solution, but may be overkill for some smaller efforts.

Part II
In the next part of this article, we will be discussing the opposite side of the doxing equation, namely anti-doxing. Now that we have covered what doxing is and how it is performed, we will talk about how we can protect ourselves and help to mitigate such an attack when we are on the receiving end.

Posted at 2:23 PM |  by Narut0
By Maxnus Exodus


Introduction

The walking dead is a role wagering game set as a point as well as clicks adventure based upon the comics collection of Robert Kirkman. It was launched for Microsoft windows, PS3, Xbox360, iOS and Mac OS X. It was developed by Telltale Games and was planned to be released at the last months of 2011. It was kept back until the early 2012 because of delays in development problems.

The whole game constituted of 5 subsequent episodes that were released during April to November 2012. The retail versions of the first season were also released soon after the game releases. The game is set in Georgia and the events take place after the zombie catastrophe influencing the state.

Gameplay

All of the video game is a pure point and click adventure that is bet from the point of view of a 3rd person with a huge range of camera angles. The gamer takes the role of the hero person Lee Everett who aims to make it through as well as find help with his group of rag tag survivors. The gamer is enabled to connect with the people all over him as well as use the objects in his surroundings.

The personalities can also transfer objects as well as food items. The game is mostly based upon character development and tale as opposed to just zombie action like other games of this genre. Some sections of the game require player feedbacks as well as judgments that alter the gameplay as well as chronicle. The judgments have to be made in a timespan else the character remains quite and it impacts all of the gameplay. During action based settings the player is guided with onscreen prompts without which other people would die thus hiving all of the game to be rebooted from a point.

The telltale server determines the whole track of the choices made by unique players and contrasts them with the other gamers. The entire video game can easily be finished regardless of the selections made by gamers but the options identify the saga of the video game overall. The best attributes of the video game is that it permits multiple saves and you can also rewind the game to alter the decisions made and compare the impact of each choice made on the video game epic.

Setting

The complete walking dead collection is made in synchronization with the cartoons collection. The story is based with the start of the zombie catastrophe in the whole state of Georgia when most the society is stunned by it.




About the Author:



Genuine synopsis of the video game, The Walking Dead

By Maxnus Exodus


Introduction

The walking dead is a role wagering game set as a point as well as clicks adventure based upon the comics collection of Robert Kirkman. It was launched for Microsoft windows, PS3, Xbox360, iOS and Mac OS X. It was developed by Telltale Games and was planned to be released at the last months of 2011. It was kept back until the early 2012 because of delays in development problems.

The whole game constituted of 5 subsequent episodes that were released during April to November 2012. The retail versions of the first season were also released soon after the game releases. The game is set in Georgia and the events take place after the zombie catastrophe influencing the state.

Gameplay

All of the video game is a pure point and click adventure that is bet from the point of view of a 3rd person with a huge range of camera angles. The gamer takes the role of the hero person Lee Everett who aims to make it through as well as find help with his group of rag tag survivors. The gamer is enabled to connect with the people all over him as well as use the objects in his surroundings.

The personalities can also transfer objects as well as food items. The game is mostly based upon character development and tale as opposed to just zombie action like other games of this genre. Some sections of the game require player feedbacks as well as judgments that alter the gameplay as well as chronicle. The judgments have to be made in a timespan else the character remains quite and it impacts all of the gameplay. During action based settings the player is guided with onscreen prompts without which other people would die thus hiving all of the game to be rebooted from a point.

The telltale server determines the whole track of the choices made by unique players and contrasts them with the other gamers. The entire video game can easily be finished regardless of the selections made by gamers but the options identify the saga of the video game overall. The best attributes of the video game is that it permits multiple saves and you can also rewind the game to alter the decisions made and compare the impact of each choice made on the video game epic.

Setting

The complete walking dead collection is made in synchronization with the cartoons collection. The story is based with the start of the zombie catastrophe in the whole state of Georgia when most the society is stunned by it.




About the Author:



Posted at 2:12 AM |  by taoufiq
By Parker Mark


If you liked the Hunger Games trilogy, you will be happily surprised to discover that the major lead character in Assassin' Creed III: Liberation video game is a girl. Named Aveline de Grandpr, the game presents her as an Afro-French origin.

Set in the latter half of the 18th century in the scenery of the end of the French again the Indian Wars, and the onset of the American Revolution, the game pits Aveline and the player against the Spanish army in Louisiana.

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is the latest release for PlayStation Vita. The game is for the 18 + matured gamer' community. Ubisoft has created the game solely for the PS Vita and its touch and movement capabilities. The game has a terrific appearance and experience on PS Vita.

It is quickly one of the very best games readily available on portable in terms of the aesthetic encounter. The total use of Vita system with the front contact screens, the rear touch pad, cameras and the gyroscope makes it a well integrated established.

It is when while playing that you start to obtain a few dissatisfactions. The scenario accumulation is uneven, and you are primarily started into the video game with no sufficient background on Aveline and how she came to be the assassin. There is no effort in the game to progress the tale or the character.

The plot is set in an interesting era of American history - and many of you would wish to obtain more out of the storyline. A few of the side-missions help the situation by dwelling on her close-ones. These side objectives also provide a few extra benefits, but you'll dislike them after a while because of their dull nature.

If you are attempting to follow the story, you may be left doubting times. It will be like reading a mystery, with pages missing. Best is to get on with the mission and enjoy the action. In a novelty, the video game lets you change Aveline's garbs, and with each new dress she manages the situations in a different way.

She can move quickly undiscovered with some period outfits, but can't do, say, the tree climbing. Her main warrior dress makes her a complete killer with all readily available moves. The video game wades through numerous settings of crowded streets, of swamps and of ancient ruins.




About the Author:



One of the awesome game of PS Vita: Assassin's Creed liberation

By Parker Mark


If you liked the Hunger Games trilogy, you will be happily surprised to discover that the major lead character in Assassin' Creed III: Liberation video game is a girl. Named Aveline de Grandpr, the game presents her as an Afro-French origin.

Set in the latter half of the 18th century in the scenery of the end of the French again the Indian Wars, and the onset of the American Revolution, the game pits Aveline and the player against the Spanish army in Louisiana.

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is the latest release for PlayStation Vita. The game is for the 18 + matured gamer' community. Ubisoft has created the game solely for the PS Vita and its touch and movement capabilities. The game has a terrific appearance and experience on PS Vita.

It is quickly one of the very best games readily available on portable in terms of the aesthetic encounter. The total use of Vita system with the front contact screens, the rear touch pad, cameras and the gyroscope makes it a well integrated established.

It is when while playing that you start to obtain a few dissatisfactions. The scenario accumulation is uneven, and you are primarily started into the video game with no sufficient background on Aveline and how she came to be the assassin. There is no effort in the game to progress the tale or the character.

The plot is set in an interesting era of American history - and many of you would wish to obtain more out of the storyline. A few of the side-missions help the situation by dwelling on her close-ones. These side objectives also provide a few extra benefits, but you'll dislike them after a while because of their dull nature.

If you are attempting to follow the story, you may be left doubting times. It will be like reading a mystery, with pages missing. Best is to get on with the mission and enjoy the action. In a novelty, the video game lets you change Aveline's garbs, and with each new dress she manages the situations in a different way.

She can move quickly undiscovered with some period outfits, but can't do, say, the tree climbing. Her main warrior dress makes her a complete killer with all readily available moves. The video game wades through numerous settings of crowded streets, of swamps and of ancient ruins.




About the Author:



Posted at 2:08 AM |  by taoufiq
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