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Virus

2010-01-20T06:22:00.000-08:00

Introduction

There are so many vulnerability scanners and penetration testing services or utilities available that many organizations use at least one of them gauge their security posture. Each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses and generally does a fair job at assessing an organization's network defense.
Viruses, including network worms, Trojans, and more can provide equally good, and often times better, views of the network in a true production environment -- and there is quite a bit an administrator can learn from a security compromise. This article does not intend for security administrators to intentionally infect machines; instead it is a guide to what an unintended infection can uncover about a network. With security companies such as Symantec reporting that 40% of Fortune 100 companies have been infected with viruses over a period of six months, it is well worth the exercise to see what can be learned from these infections. Specifically, after an infection is a time to evaluate the technical pieces of the defense perimeter (including firewalls, ACLs, etc.) and the non-technical pieces (continuity plans, emergency response, etc.).

Many "lessons learned" documents discussing worm outbreaks focus on a single issue: computers that need to be patched. Over the last few years, the focus has expanded to: computers that need to be patched very quickly. Certainly this is an extremely important part of network defense, but it doesn't address other important information that can be gleaned from an infection.

Many of the vulnerabilities a worm finds are, in fact, not things that can be patched (such as bad file share protections, poor user policies, and so on). This leads many administrators to repeatedly take only a single lesson away from infections, and often it is the conclusion that their users are entirely to blame. While everyone has a few stories about odd user behavior, they are not always at fault. Dismissing virus infections as a side effect of simply having network users also prevents many people from making the most of an outbreak.

Internet worms are not the only things that can be addressed with information taken from a virus infection. Malicious attackers will often exploit these same vulnerabilities used by the worms on a manual basis, and these people specifically target an organization in the hopes of stealing critical data or causing a lot of havoc. Moreover, Internet worms that were once simply an irritant are now more likely to carry a backdoor, a Trojan, or open a session to the author's IRC server. Worm infections are clearly not desirable, even if one thinks there is a great deal to learn from the outbreak, but they are an unfortunate reality in large network environments. The ideas below will help bolster your defenses for the next round.

1. Viruses Push the Limits

Even the most exuberant vulnerability auditor or penetration tester will use safe, reserved methods when testing production network hosts for holes. This makes sense; dropping a room full of servers just to prove a DoS attack is possible may not make the best impression on one's manager (ie., what's the security ROI in that?). Even penetration testing that intends to simulate a full-scale attack may not be launched because of concerns over the impact to production and its associated costs.
An unwanted virus infection can provide real insight to the security of a network in ways that human-driven tests cannot. It will attempt things that a careful penetration tester would not. It is free from worrying about such things as whether all of your fileservers drop offline, whether you really needed those documents on your hard disk, or if the traffic it generates makes everyone's web surfing slow. Second, a network worm is coded for one thing: exploiting as many hosts as it can reach -- a worm's life depends on propagating quickly. It will test for vulnerabilities in your network like no tool can.

Unlike a vulnerability-testing package, however, a worm will have a very specific focus and normally a set of vulnerabilities that it exploits, giving you a narrow (but deep) look at only one or two facets of your network. Once the response effort is complete and the clean up is under control, it is time to take a hard look at what that infection has uncovered.

2. Lesson Plan

Each type of threat, as listed below, provides a unique look at what was (and still is) vulnerable on a network.
2.1 Internet Worms

Worms like Sasser are designed to exploit a single hole. If a vulnerability scanner showed that 98% of the machines on the LAN were patched with hotfix 835732 (MS04-011), for example, yet 15% of the machines were infected with Sasser, something is clearly wrong. Either the scanner has reported a lot of false negatives (perhaps it had checked for another one of the 14 patches included in this fix, or else it just made a mistake), or someone in your organization has redeployed a number of unpatched machines since the scan. It deserves to be noted, as obvious as it may seem, that network worms use real exploits to test for holes, not "safe" scans -- and they don't provide too many false positives.
Worms also give a quick look at how well the segments of your LAN are guarded against various types of traffic. Using Sasser in a second example, there would be no question that internal hosts can be reached on TCP 445 if they are compromised by this worm. If that is a shock to a security administrator, then an examination of the firewall, ACL, or host filtering rules is in order. The open port may be the result of a specific application that has been deemed necessary, but was never evaluated by a security engineer.

Furthermore, worms often provide a network stress test as a secondary function of their attempts to propagate. Sasser's launching of 128 to 1024 threads in its attempts to spread are more than capable of providing this test, as you may have seen.

2.2 Mass Mailers

A mass mailer infection will give an administrator a good deal of information about the email infrastructure. First, the infection likely indicates a path for executable files that have made their way into the network. This may be the impetus needed to adjust corporate policy and block EXE, VBS, ZIP, or any other file extension at the external mail relay. Possibly, the mail came in via webmail clients, providing a justification for blocking popular public domains such as Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail at the firewalls.
Second, user training is an issue that should be examined after a mass mailer infection. The health of the user base and their virus knowledge is always important when dealing with these and other socially engineered types of attacks.

The extent of the infection that resulted is also a good indicator as to how well users are shielded from one another. Most modern mass mailers utilize their own SMTP engines, meaning that if mail is not accepted at the mail servers from internal network hosts (but rather must come from a trusted mail relay) there is little chance that the worm will leave the network it started in.

2.3 Parasitic Viruses

A virus in the traditional sense infects files by adding its own code to that of trusted executables at run time. The existence of such a compromise would indicate poor software download/sharing practices on the part of users. Whether it came in via floppy disk, web download, USB device, or any other means, the infection points to the fact that host protection is not sufficient to block these kinds of attacks. For critical systems, a host based IDS (something akin to Tripwire) may be required. Again, it may be discovered that user education is unacceptably low. Finally, client antivirus software should be evaluated.
2.4 File Share Worms

Worms that spread via network file shares point to weak internal security. Whether it is a worm such as Lovgate that (in addition to its mass mailing attributes) spreads to every visible network share, or it something like Nebiwo (Deborm) that spreads via administrative shares, an infection of this type indicates there is at least one unprotected share/host on the LAN. Almost always this means there are some shares without passwords on the network, or at best they are easily guessed passwords that need to be addressed. If there are any boxes that don't have local administrator passwords, these worms will surely find them for you.
2.5 Trojans

Much like viruses that infect legitimate executables, Trojan infections indicate a breakdown in client security. There is often a problem either with a user's browsing habits, the types of code users are allowed to download (maybe ActiveX controls should be blocked at the gateway), or the media an end user is bringing into the network.
Unique to backdoors is a means to communicate with an external controller. When Agobot infects a network asset and is then used to scan/infect other hosts, there is an indication that there is a path out of the LAN allowing for commands to be passed back and forth. At that point, port and packet filtering at each level should be analyzed. There are free firewalls/filtering tools with many versions of Windows/Linux, there should be tight controls over what ports are open to external addresses on the organization's firewall, and even the most modest of IDS products should detect external connections passing commands to client machines.

3. The Lessons Learned

In each case mentioned above, there is at least one technical and one non-technical problem that needs to be examined. Each type of problem requires a corresponding solution. Trying to address non-technical issues with technical tools is often a frustrating game of the proverbial "square peg in a round hole" for administrators of all kinds. Security professionals know all too well that there are few technical protections that a determined user can't undo if he hasn't been educated. Similarly, a determined user or attacker will have little problem evading poorly configured or under engineered solutions.
Revisiting our first example, a Sasser outbreak, shows how an infection can point to non-technical problems. In this case, if administrators are rebuilding clients and are not aware of required patches, the results of a vulnerability scan can be invalidated quickly. This is a problem of information flow and configuration management -- and in larger organizations, can often be resolved with policy changes.

The lessons from such infections often do a lot to organize the organization's tactics for layered defense as well. Whenever a virus causes a disruption of service, the likely reaction by management is to ask what happened, and why. An engineer can summarize the vulnerabilities, point to each location, and make recommendations as to which part of the network should be changed. In most cases, the engineer presenting such recommendations will look at the costs involved in each change, the effectiveness of each change, and the future administration necessary to make the adjustments successful over the long term. This is surprisingly close to the process of providing ROI data to managers.

In more cases than not, traditional thinking dictates that changes to a central choke point are often more effective and cheaper than touching every workstation, recalling mobile devices, and so on. In other words, making a change to the firewall rules is a better choice than installing a new filter on every single desktop, provided each solution has comparable levels of success. The actual step here is not important, it's more the fact that a virus infection may challenge the notions that engineers and managers alike had about where the network was strongest and weakest. For instance, a Lovgate outbreak within the protected LAN may expose the user/laptop policy as being weak, as the firewall and mail relays would have properly prevented infection via email or network shares. Depending on the costs involved in cleaning up the infection(s), the compromises required may serve as the needed catalyst to spend the money on education and better client-side security tools.

If MyDoom had spread across your network, it is likely that the mail relays were not dropping attachments of EXE, COM, BAT, CMD, PIF, SCR, or ZIP files. If there is a business case for distributing these files, then another layer of the defenses will need to be reinforced, such as user training. If there is no training possible (because of money concerns, time constraints, or the size of the organization comes into play), then the gateway/client side AV software will need to be tight -- as it is all that's left to combat this threat.

4. Detection and Alert Mechanisms

If network worms completely blindside the network several times a year, there is likely a need for better detection tools. In very large organizations with thousands of clients it may be difficult to keep all client AV software updated and running properly, particularly with a large mobile workforce that have personal firewalls on each machine. It is always wise to have another line of viral defense in front of the clients, and larger organizations tend to employ a second AV vendor's tool at the gateway and/or an IDS with worm recognition features.
Many security professionals have debated the use of an IDS to detect viral activity. One's personal beliefs in this matter notwithstanding, an existing (or inexpensively built) IDS can always improve worm detection and mitigation efforts. Although it is not the core competency of such a device, many IDS platforms allow for quick and customizable virus signature additions. Furthermore, by its very nature, the IDS is in a good position to identify worms as it needs to inspect every packet traversing the network. Also, an IDS can see a worm propagating from clients that don't have their AV client running properly (or running at all), something that even the best AV management console can't provide.

Virus signatures are written and published constantly on sites like Bleeding Snort, and although they are presented with a number of warnings about false positives, they should be more than enough of a foundation to build a generic worm detection machine. One thing that multiple worm infections have likely taught every administrator is that a worm has to do a lot of reconnaissance to spread quickly. Blaster and Sasser were certainly not trying to emphasize stealth with routines that open up to 1024 threads to scan for new hosts (example: Sasser.C). Basic anomaly detection would have triggered alerts for such activity. Mass mailers, of course, have to send a lot of messages out to compromise additional hosts. That means detecting TCP 25 activity for non-SMTP servers/relays can tip an administrator off to an attack before it gets too far out of hand. File share worms (such as the vector included with the Lovgate variants) are likely to require more specialized signatures, something that actually uses a content field composed of the actual worm binary. However, IDS detection is certainly capable of pointing out a lot of failed logins to SMB resources, which is an anomaly that often indicates a worm is trying a weak set of logins/passwords against a host in an effort to access the machine and propagate.

Alerting users and administrators to brand new viruses and infection mechanisms is a different story. Fortunate security officers may work in organizations that provide a few hours of safe computer training every year, however gathering everyone for a conference each week to talk about viruses is not realistic. After an infection, take a look at how users have learned about the mitigation and cleanup activities. Before an infection, evaluate how they receive updates to their security training, whether it's via email, a lunchroom poster, a personal visit, or some other method.

5. Establishing a Defense Plan

Regardless of the technical course of action, a virus event can help open lines of communication with company officials regarding their security policy and budgets. Like no other event, virus outbreaks, and the subsequent virus hysteria within an organization are capable of granting the security administrator an immediate audience with upper management. This is likely the most important part of learning from an outbreak: presenting your findings to the executive staff, gauging their reaction, and making a case for additional security funds. Share with them what has been learned. If the organization's management is generally unreceptive to hearing about requests for additional money and information assurance, take advantage of this heightened opportunity before the window closes. The discussion does not need to be a technical one; many business continuity officers and risk managers will be exceptionally receptive to prevention measures. Again, the direction of this meeting is dictated by what was found in the discovery. A social or technical problem often needs the same type of financial solution.
If the latest worm has ravaged the organization it is certainly time to take a hard look at correcting the deficiencies in the security plan, whether they are social or technical. It should not be hard to estimate some costs of the infection, particularly downtime; that data will help a lot when it's time to talk about funding. Furthermore, one can diagram vital systems and point out where the additional defenses are needed. This not only helps demystify the role of firewalls, IDS devices, virus scanners, and more, but also will help the security team present a clear technical request to the management team.

If the network defenses are already in good shape (or the organization has perhaps just been lucky), it is still a good opportunity to map out what went well. This is not just a time to boast how great a job the security department is doing, but also to mention what company initiatives and funding have allowed the network to remain safe from the latest threats. Recommend that these programs be extended to cover more of the enterprise and further reduce risks. Take some of the more reasonable "infection/cleanup cost" numbers to help provide some idea of what is being saved by avoiding virus infections.

6. Conclusion

As should be evident from the examples in this article, a virus outbreak will produce a few unique opportunities to examine the health of the network defense. It can also be a great opportunity to justify to senior management what additional financial resources may be needed to contain future outbreaks. Your daily, non-emergency auditing and mitigation efforts can be greatly improved by taking a few additional moments after an infection to detail exactly how the emergency plan really did work, and not just how well it should work.

God Fact

2009-08-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

Student and Professor Discussion about the GOD

Professor: You're a Muslim, is not it son?

Student: Yes, sir

Professor: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely

Professor: Is God good? (Goodness is the opposite of evil)

Student: Absolutely! God is better

Professor: Is God all-powerful? Do you mean God can
Do anything?

Student: Yes

Professor: Are you good or evil?

Student: the Koran says I'm evil

Professor smile smile meaningful

Professor: Uh!! Quran

Professor thinks for a moment

Professor: This is a question for you, let's say that there is a sick person
Here and you can cure and you can do it, you help them? Did you try it?

Student: Yes sir, I would

Professor: If you are the best!!

Student: I can not say that

Professor: Why do not you say that? You would help a sick and maimed person if you can (in fact most of us would do so only if it can), but God does not

Student: No answer

Professor: How can this God be good? Hmmm ..? Can you answer that?

Student: No answer is also

The old man began to sympathize with the Muslim student

Professor: can not, is not it?

He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give
The student time to relax, in philosophy, you should go easy with the new ones

Professor: Let's start again, young man

Professor: Is God good?

Student: Yes Mtemtema

Professor: Is Satan good?

Student: No

Professor: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From ... God .. Faltering

Professor: That's right, God created the devil, is not it?

The elderly man runs his bony fingers through his thinning hair
And turns to the smirking, student audience

Professor: I think we will get a lot of fun this semester, ladies and gentlemen,

He turns back to the Muslim

Professor: Tell me, son, is there evil in this
The world?

Student: Yes, Sir

Professor: "Evil's everywhere, is not it? Did God create
Everything?

Student: Yes

Professor: "Who created evil?

Student: No answer

Professor: Is there sickness in this world? Immorality?
Hatred? Ugliness? All the terrible things, do they exist in this world?

Student: Yes, writhing on his feet

Professor: "Who created them?

Student: No answer

The professor suddenly shouts at the Muslim student

Professor: Who created it? Tell me

Began to change the face of Muslim student

Professor in a low voice: "God created all evil, is not it
Son?

Student: No answer

The student tries to hold the steady and experienced, but
Fails in that

Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom Kfahad
Elderly, and the entire chapter dazzled

Professor: Tell me, how can this be God
Is good if He created all evil throughout all time?

The professor swishes arms around to indicate the comprehensiveness of the evils
World

Professor: "All the hatred, the brutality, pain, torture,
Death, ugliness, suffering created by this God is all over the world, is not it, young man?

Student: No answer

Professor: Do not you see everywhere? Huh?

Professor stops for a moment

Professor: Do you see?

The professor leans in the direction of the student's face again and whispers,

Professor: Is God good?

Student: No answer

Professor: Do you believe in God, son?

The student's voice betrays him and cracks in the throat

Student: Yes, professor, I believe

The old man shakes his head sadly

Professor: Science says you have five senses you use
To identify and observe the world around you, is not it?

Professor: Have you seen God

Student: No, sir, have never seen him

Professor: If you tell us if you have heard your God?

Student: No, sir, did not happen

Professor: Have you ever felt Bilahec? Tasted your God? Or smelt your God, really? Do you have any sensory perception of your God of any kind?

Student: No answer

Professor: "Answer me, please

Student: No, sir, I regret that I do not have

Professor: Iwsvk that you do not have?

Student: No, sir

Professor: I still believe in him?

Student: Yes

Professor: "That takes FAITH!

The professor smiles sagely to the Muslim

Professor: According to the law of experimentation and testing and protocol
Aware of what can be proven that we can say that God does not exist, what do you say to that, son?

Professor: Where is your God now?

Student: No answer

Professor: "Sit down, please

Muslim student sitting subdued

Another Muslim raises his hand: Professor, may I address the class?

The professor turns and smiles

Professor: Ah, another Christian in the vanguard! Come, come, young man, Speak some proper wisdom in this meeting

The Muslim looks around the room

Student: I have raised some interesting points, Sir,
And now I have a question for you

Student: Is there such thing as heat?

Professor: There's heat

Student: Is there such thing as cold?

Professor: Yes, son, there's cold too

Student: No, sir, there is no

Professor frozen smile, and suddenly the room became very cold

Muslim student: You can get a lot of heat,
Great heat, heat a large, heat to the degree of melting metal, a little heat or no heat at all,

But do not have anything called cold it can get up to 458 degrees below zero, which is not heated, but we can not overcome, there is no such thing as cold, otherwise we were able to get to colder than 458 below zero,

Sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat, we can not measure cold, Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy,

Cold is the opposite of heat, sir, cold is only the absence of heat

Scott's chapter, pin drops somewhere in the

Student: Is there such thing as darkness, professor?

Professor: Yes

Student: You're wrong again, sir, darkness is not something, it is the absence of something, you can get low light, normal light, the light flashing light,

But if you have no light constantly you do not have anything, and it's called darkness, is not it? This is the meaning we use to define the word, in fact, darkness is not, and if it were able to make darkness darker and give me a jar of it, can you give me a jar of darker darkness, professor?

The professor smiles at the young effrontery before him

Professor: This will indeed be a good semester

Professor: Do you mind telling us what your point is, young man?

Student: Yes, professor, my point is, your philosophical premise is corrupt
Start with and so your conclusion must be wrong

Prof. fastens

Professor: corrupt? How dare you?!

Student: Sir, may I explain what I mean?

The class is all ears

Professor: explain ... Uh, explain

The professor makes a huge effort to continue to be governed by and waving his hand to silence the class, the student to continue

Student: You are working on the premise of duality

Muslim student: for example, that there is life and then there's death, the god of good and a bad God,

You can see that the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure,

Sir, that science itself can not even explain the idea that uses electricity and magnetism is not never seen, though, they understand completely,

The vision of death as the opposite of life is ignorance of the fact that death can not exist as a substantive thing, death is not the opposite of life, but is absent only

Muslim student holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a neighbor
Who has been reading

Student: This is one of the most pornographic tabloids this country hosts, professor Is there such thing as immorality and debauchery?

Professor: Of course there is, see

Boycotted by the Muslim student

Student: "Wrong again, sir, immorality and debauchery is the absence of morality, is there such thing as injustice? No, injustice is the absence of justice, is there such thing as evil?

Muslim student stops for a moment

Student: Is not evil the absence of good?

Eis professor's face red, a very angry and non -
Unable to speak

Student: If there is evil in the world, professor, and we all agree that there is evil, then God, if it exists it is accomplishing a work through the agency of evil,

What is the work done by God? Quran
Tells us that to see if each one of us and the whole of his personal liberty will choose good over evil

Scientist

Professor: a philosophical scientist, I can not imagine this issue has entered into an optional, as a realist I certainly do not recognize the concept of God or any other theological factor as being part of the world equation because God is not observable

Student: I would have thought that the absence of the moral law of God in this world is probably one of the most observable phenomena

Student: Newspapers make billions of dollars released each week
Tell me, Professor Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do

Student: Have you ever seen this evolution with your own eyes, sir?

Professor works sound sip teeth and staring Btelmivh Thdiqa
Silent, petrified

Muslim student: professor, since it has never been one that the process of evolution of these
Effectively and can not even prove that this process is an ongoing, it is not
Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? If you are not a scientist, but a priest?

Student: If you do not accept God's moral code to do what is right and
In his shop?

Professor: I believe in what, this is science!

Student: Uh, science!

The student's face splits into a grin

Student: Sir, you rightly state that science is the study of observed phenomena, and science is also bad assumptions

Professor: Science corrupt? !!

Professor Mtdjra

Chapter began noisy, stop Muslim student to calm the noise

Student: To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, may I
To give an example of what I mean?

Professor wisely keeps silent, a Muslim looks around the room

Student: Is there anyone in the class has ever seen the professor's brain?

Broke out in laughter chapter

Muslim student referred to his teacher, the old dilapidated

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, touching the professor's brain, taste or smell, or the professor's brain?

It appears that no one had done so, well, according to the law of experimentation, and testing
The protocol, science can prove, I declare that the professor has no brain

Chapter chaotic

Muslim student sitting, Professor did not utter a word.

Here is the Story in Video MODE :- check it out , this video posted in metacafe in my channel , take a look of my other video in METACAFE Channel by clicking here :-

http://www.metacafe.com/channels/JackSmadi/

Discussion About GOD - Amazing videos are here

Do You Know

2009-07-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

The Vedio will Explain it for you

Internet

2008-12-09T12:55:00.000-08:00

mmm , i dunno how to start it , but recently we have something called INTERNET , its as the ghost , it comes FAST and it become wide used FAST , it dominates our mind FAST

ohh , can i send you a Messege and u can read it immediately , w0w , no need to use the POST , and wait some weeks , whats the HELL that you are talkin about , awesome , i can see you while u r in the other continent , ohh we can talk togother and see each other second by second , oh come on i can't believe it

ops , i can be in the library while i am in my bed !!!!! , is that serious , i can read that book ?? and get it in my computer in that fast , w0w

hahaha you are kiddin me , can i BUY a TV from a website and bring it to my house using that mouse and keyboard , hahah unbelivable , come on man , i can't accept that

whats the hell ? i can see you house now :P i can visit any country i want using the INETRENT ,
i can walk in wall-street or be in Nevada - Las Vegas from my computer , heh and sure you can play rollet their :P i can be in the know each address i can be in india in middle east in africa , and the awesome part that you can be in the MOON , its GOOGLE EARTH , come on , eerything is accessible , can be reached , i dunno whats coming next

u can find your old friend in facebook myspace hi5 etc , u can chatt him using MSN YAHOO AIM , you can make new relations saves thier address's in your address book in your MSN or yahoo , you can see their pictures in facebook , u know all of the imformation related to them

come on its the inetrenet , BUT did you ever think about ONE thing , you spent 3 years in facebook , collecting friends , uploading photos , making relation , saving email address's , having alot of staff their leaning on the idea that you have everything their , then in 1 second facebook or myspace disabled your account for 1 reason , or closes the company , or whatever , you WILL lose everything , address's , contacts , information , alot of thing you did

or what if you you making business over internet , your dealers and partners address's and information saved somewhere , your criedt card information saved in that site , and you are buying X thing from that site , etc , ALL will be lost in 1 second

or what if you like a girl , feel in her ideas , like her picture , talk to her for years , she affect in your personality , she changes you , she promised you , maybe you will LOVE HER , she loves you , you helped her , she told ya a WORD you need to change your life , affect on you , lablablba , finaly HE IS someone his name is JOHN , dammit

or or or , many examples here , so we should take INTERNET seriously , and in the same TIME we must NOT lean in it , its INTERNET

you can ACCESS everythig and everywhere in 1 second and 1 click , but also you can LOSE everything in 1 second or 1 click

privacy , fake , trust , benefits , time , relation , future , lies , truth , mind , way of think , personlity , study , information , and more

all of these and more can be changed or 1 second . heh we should take INETNET serioulsy and in the same time take care and being carefull

AIM , MSN , YAHOO , Myspace , IRC , Facebook , Yahoo answer , Yahoo , Blogs , hi5 , Wiki , and the MOST famous of it GOOGLE , GOOGLE EARTH , YOUTUBE , SITES , many of that is INTERNET .

finally its the INTERNET .

The God

2008-11-24T11:41:00.000-08:00

1. Where did God come from? Who created Him?

On the sixth day God created man and on the seventh day man returned the favor. A more likely answer is that God does not exist. In order for a God to be created there has to be something to do the creating and a thought process has to follow. The idea that God "always" existed is a copout as is the argument for God based on "order" in the universe. The definition of "order" is mans definition. Has anyone ever seen a disorganzid universe and how would we tell?

2. Are there others like Him?

According to the bible one can say yes as it says "let us make man.." Again the bible is about three thousand years old and we don`t know who wrote it. There is not any other independent evidence so how much credence do you want to place in this book? There is no other evidence that their is a real God. It is often the practice that is something is not understood the causes are usually defaulted to a God.

3. Why not just destroy the devil?

That has been an argument from me for some time. If God truly made man to be happy this is surly a possible solution. The idea of a devil having been created inspite of an all powerful God in existance is an argument in contradictions. If God is perfect then why the need to create man for his pleasure. A perfect God does not need companionship and who told him that he did.

4. Why does God allow evil people to exist?

Another good question that should make you want to continue to investigate the claims of theists and Christianity in particular and satisfy yourself with incontrovertable evidence for its validity. You see Christians believe not because of the evidence but in spite of it.

5. Why not make a showing on earth to let the un-believers know He exists?

Again their is no good reason for a God who claims to want to have a relationship with us in incapable of trusting us with contact.

6. Where does God`s power come from?

I have not seen any evidence of his power. The bible speaks of it but there is little evidence of any reliablity.

2012

2008-11-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

2012 Mayan Calendar

The Long Count Calendar of the Ancient Mayans ends on Dec 21 2012. There isn't much information regarding what the Mayans thought would occur in 2012, but the consensus of opinion is that there will be great change. To some people this means a positive, spiritual change. Other, like myself, consider that a catastrophic event may have been predicted. Read more about the Mayan Calendar.

so what is the Mayan Calendar ??

The life of the Maya revolved around the concept of time. Priests were consulted on civil, agricultural and religious matters, and their advice would be derived from readings of the sacred calendars. Time was of such importance that children were even named after the date on which they were born.

Maya math uses only three symbols - a shell-shaped glyph for zero, a dot for one and a bar for five to represent units from zero to 19. For instance, the number 13 was represented as three dots and two bars.

Zero was an advanced concept in those days, something that the Romans were not aware of. Yet the Maya were comfortable enough with it to use a shell as its symbol, a tangible object representing an abstract concept. The Maya also used metrical calculation and place numeration, which were very clever for a culture that didn't use the wheel!

Although they had many calendars, they marked the passage of time with three cycles that ran in parallel.

The first is the scared calendar known as the Tzolkin. It combines the numbers from 1 through 13 with a sequence of 20 day-names. It works in a similar manner to our named days of the week, and their date within each month. So you might have 5-Chikchan (like our Sunday the 5th) followed by 6-Kimi (as we would have Monday the 6th). After 260 days the same number/name combination will re-occur, and the calendar starts anew. Their use of the vigesimal (base 20) numbering system probably relates to fingers and toes, whereas the 13 nicely fits the growth phase of the moon which isn't visible when new and appears full for two days on end, thus appearing to have a 13 day growth cycle. Alternatively, the length of the Tzolkin may be related to the human gestation period of nine months (273 days). It has been suggested that 260 days is the time between a woman suspecting her pregnancy (she doesn't menstruate) and when she gives birth.

The second is the agricultural calendar known as the Haab, or vague year. It consists of 18 months, each of 20 days. An addition of a five-day month (a period of apprehension and bad luck named Uayeb) gives us 365 days, an approximation of a year. This calendar's primary purpose was to keep track of the seasons, for seasonal and solar events would occur on roughly the same day of each year. The Maya were aware of the annual quarter day discrepancy, but it is not known if they ever did anything about it.

These two independently running calendars each begin again every 260 and 360+5 days. However, every 52 years they coincide:

"The Tzolkin and the Haab ran concurrently, like intermeshed cog-wheels, and to return to any given date, 52 years, or 18,980 days, would have to elapse (because both 365 x 52 and 260 x 73 = 18,980). In other words, the Tzolkin would make 73 revolutions and the Haab 52, so that every 52 calendar years of 365 days one would return to the same date. A complete date in this 52-year cycle might be, for example, 2 1k 0 Pop (2 1k being the position of the day in the Tzolkin, 0 Pop the position in the Haab). Fifty-two years would pass before another 2 1k 0 Pop date returned.

It was expected that the world would end at the completion of a 52-year cycle. At this time, among the Mexica in the Valley of Mexico, all fires were extinguished, pregnant women were locked up lest they be turned into wild animals, children were pinched to keep them awake so that they would not turn into mice, and all pottery was broken in preparation for the end of the world. In the event the gods decided to grant man another 52 years of life on earth, however, a night time ceremony was held in which the populace followed the priests through the darkness over a causeway to the top of an old extinct volcano that rises abruptly from the floor of the basin of Mexico, known today as the Hill of the Star, the hill above Ixtapalapa. There, with all eyes on the stars, they awaited the passage of the Pleiades across the center of the heavens, which would announce the continuation of the world for another 52 years. When the precise moment came, a victim was quickly sacrificed by making a single gash in his chest and extracting the still palpitating heart. In the gory cavity the priests, with a fire drill, kindled a new flame that was quickly carried by torches across the lake to the temple in Tenochititlan, and from there to all temples and villages around the lake. This was known as the New Fire Ceremony among the Mexica, and in some way this same completion and renewal of each 52-year cycle was recognized by all Mesoamericans."[i]

This is not unlike how the end of the last millennium may have felt for many Christians or doomsday cult followers.

Our modern Western calendar was first introduced in Europe in 1582. It was based upon the Gregorian calendar, which calculated the Earth's orbit to take 365.25 days. This was 0.0003 of a day per year too much, but still exceptionally accurate for scientists living over 400 years ago.

The Mayan calendars were derived from those of their predecessors, the Olmec, whose culture dates back at least 3,000 years. Without the instruments of 16th century Europe, these Central American locals managed to calculate a solar year of 365.2420 days, just 0.0002 of a day short. More accurate than the Europeans, and much earlier.

So what will happend in 2012 , let me show you all the possibilities :-

Human

* Flu Pandemic
* Nuclear War / WW3 / Biological War
* Large Hadron Collider
* Nanotechnology
* Religious Apocalypse
* Nuclear Accident
* Rise of the Machines
* Genetic Modification
* Time Travel Error
Space

* Nearby Supernova
* Explosion from the black hole at the center of our galaxy - read about how something similar could have caused the recent tsunami
* Gamma Ray Burst (GRB)
* Asteroid/Meteor/Comet
* Coronal Mass Ejection (CRE) from our Sun
* Cosmic Rays
* Solar System Falls Apart (butterfly effect)
* Alien Invasion

Earth

* Magnetic Pole Shift
* Crustal Pole Shift
* Supervolcano - ie Yellowstone
* Ice Age
* Global Warming

is that correct ???

Who know ......

Major religions

2008-11-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

Major Religions of the World

Judaism

Judaism is the oldest of the monotheistic faiths. It affirms the existence of one God, Yahweh, who entered into covenant with the descendants of Abraham, God's chosen people. Judaism's holy writings reveal how God has been present with them throughout their history. These writings are known as the Torah, specifically the five books of Moses, but most broadly conceived as the Hebrew Scriptures (traditionally called the Old Testament by Christians) and the compilation of oral tradition known as the Talmud (which includes the Mishnah, the oral law).

According to Scripture, the Hebrew patriarch Abraham (20th century? B.C.) founded the faith that would become known as Judaism. He obeyed the call of God to depart northern Mesopotamia and travel to Canaan. God promised to bless his descendants if they remained faithful in worship. Abraham's line descended through Isaac, then Jacob (also called Israel; his descendants came to be called Israelites). According to Scripture, 12 families that descended from Jacob migrated to Egypt, where they were enslaved. They were led out of bondage (13th century? B.C.) by Moses, who united them in the worship of Yahweh. The Hebrews returned to Canaan after a 40-year sojourn in the desert, conquering from the local peoples the “promised land” that God had provided for them.

The 12 tribes of Israel lived in a covenant association during the period of the judges (1200?–1000? B.C.), leaders known for wisdom and heroism. Saul first established a monarchy (r. 1025?–1005? B.C.); his successor, David (r. 1005?–965? B.C.), unified the land of Israel and made Jerusalem its religious and political center. Under his son, Solomon (r. 968?–928? B.C.), a golden era culminated in the building of a temple, replacing the portable sanctuary in use until that time. Following Solomon's death, the kingdom was split into Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Political conflicts resulted in the conquest of Israel by Assyria (721 B.C.) and the defeat of Judah by Babylon (586 B.C.). Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed, and many Judeans were exiled to Babylon.

During the era of the kings, the prophets were active in Israel and Judah. Their writings emphasize faith in Yahweh as God of Israel and of the entire universe, and they warn of the dangers of worshiping other gods. They also cry out for social justice.

The Judeans were permitted to return in 539 B.C. to Judea, where they were ruled as a Persian province. Though temple and cult were restored in Jerusalem, during the exile a new class of religious leaders had emerged—the scribes. They became rivals to the temple hierarchy and would eventually evolve into the party known as the Pharisees.

Persian rule ended when Alexander the Great conquered Palestine in 332 B.C. After his death, rule of Judea alternated between Egypt and Syria. When the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes tried to prevent the practice of Judaism, a revolt was led by the Maccabees (a Jewish family), winning Jewish independence in 128 B.C. The Romans conquered Jerusalem in 63 B.C.

During this period the Sadducees (temple priests) and the Pharisees (teachers of the law in the synagogues) offered different interpretations of Judaism. Smaller groups that emerged were the Essenes, a religious order; the Apocalyptists, who expected divine deliverance led by the Messiah; and the Zealots, who were prepared to fight for national independence. Hellenism also influenced Judaism at this time.

When the Zealots revolted, the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and its temple (A.D. 70). The Jews were scattered in the Diaspora (dispersion) and experienced much persecution. Rabbinic Judaism, developed according to Pharisaic practice and centered on Torah and synagogue, became the primary expression of faith. The Scriptures became codified, and the Talmud took shape. In the 12th century Maimonides formulated the influential 13 Articles of Faith, including belief in God, God's oneness and lack of physical or other form, the changelessness of Torah, restoration of the monarchy under the Messiah, and resurrection of the dead.

Two branches of European Judaism developed during the Middle Ages: the Sephardic, based in Spain and with an affinity to Babylonian Jews; and the Ashkenazic, based in Franco-German lands and affiliated with Rome and Palestine. Two forms of Jewish mysticism also arose at this time: medieval Hasidism and attention to the Kabbalah (a mystical interpretation of Scripture).

After a respite during the 18th-century Enlightenment, anti-Semitism again plagued European Jews in the 19th century, sparking the Zionist movement that culminated in the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. The Holocaust of World War II took the lives of more than 6 million Jews.

Jews today continue synagogue worship, which includes readings from the Law and the Prophets and prayers, such as the Shema (Hear, O Israel) and the Amidah (the 18 Benedictions). Religious life is guided by the commandments of the Torah, which include the practice of circumcision and Sabbath observance.

Present-day Judaism has three main expressions: Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. Reform movements, resulting from the Haskala (Jewish Enlightenment) of the 18th century, began in western Europe but took root in North America. Reform Jews do not hold the oral law (Talmud) to be a divine revelation, and they emphasize ethical and moral teachings. Orthodox Jews follow the traditional faith and practice with great seriousness. They follow a strict kosher diet and keep the Sabbath with care. Conservative Judaism, which developed in the mid-18th century, holds the Talmud to be authoritative and follows most traditional practices, yet tries to make Judaism relevant for each generation, believing that change and tradition can complement each other. Because the Torah assumes belief in God but does not require it, a strong secular movement also exists within Judaism, including atheist and agnostic elements.

In general, Jews do not proselytize, but they do welcome newcomers to their faith.

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion founded by the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, a Jew, was born in about 7 B.C. and assumed his public life, probably after his 30th year, in Galilee. The New Testament Gospels describe Jesus as a teacher and miracle worker. He proclaimed the kingdom of God, a future reality that is at the same time already present. Jesus set the requirements for participation in the kingdom of God as a change of heart and repentance for sins, love of God and neighbor, and concern for justice. Circa A.D. 30 he was executed on a cross in Jerusalem, a brutal form of punishment for those considered a political threat to the Roman Empire.

After his death his followers came to believe in him as the Christ, the Messiah. The Gospels report his resurrection and how the risen Jesus was witnessed by many of his followers. The apostle Paul helped spread the new faith in his missionary travels. Historically, Christianity arose out of Judaism and claims that Jesus fulfilled many of the promises of the Hebrew Scripture (often referred to as the Old Testament).

The new religion spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire. In its first two centuries, Christianity began to take shape as an organization, developing distinctive doctrine, liturgy, and ministry. By the fourth century the Christian church had taken root in countries stretching from Spain in the West to Persia and India in the East. Christians had been subject to persecution by the Roman state, but gained tolerance under Constantine the Great (A.D. 313). The church became favored under his successors, and in 380 the emperor Theodosius proclaimed Christianity the state religion. Other religions were suppressed.

Because differences in doctrine threatened to divide the church, a standard Christian creed was formulated by bishops at successive ecumenical councils, the first of which was held in A.D. 325 (Nicaea). Important doctrines were defined concerning the Trinity—in other words, that there is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Constantinople, A.D. 381), and the nature of Christ as both divine and human (Chalcedon, A.D. 541). Christians came to accept both Hebrew Scripture and the New Testament as authoritative. The New Testament comprises four Gospels (narratives of Jesus' life), 21 Epistles, The Acts of the Apostles, and Revelation.

Because of differences between Christians of the East and West, the unity of the church was broken in 1054. The religious center for the Eastern Orthodox Church was Constantinople, and the Roman Catholic Church defined doctrine and practice for Christians in the West. In 1517 the Reformation began, which ultimately caused a schism in the Western church. Reformers wished to correct certain practices within the Roman church, but they also came to view the Christian faith in a distinctly new way. The major Protestant denominations (Lutheran, Presbyterian, Reformed, and Anglican [Episcopalian]) thus came into being. Over the centuries, numerous denominations have broken with these major traditions, resulting in a spectrum of Christian expression.

In the 21st century, many Christians hope to regain a sense of unity through dialogue and cooperation among different traditions. The ecumenical movement led to the formation of the World Council of Churches in 1948 (Amsterdam), which has since been joined by many denominations.

Through its missionary activity Christianity has spread to most parts of the globe.

Islam

Islam, one of the three major monotheistic faiths, was founded in Arabia by Muhammad between 610 and 632. There are an estimated 5.5 million Muslims in North America and 1 billion Muslims worldwide.

Muhammad was born in A.D. 570 at Mecca and belonged to the Quraysh tribe, which was active in the caravan trade. At the age of 25 he joined the trade from Mecca to Syria in the employment of a rich widow, Khadija, whom he later married. Critical of the lax moral standards and polytheistic practices of the inhabitants of Mecca, he began to lead a contemplative life in the desert. In a dramatic religious vision, the angel Gabriel announced to Muhammad that he was to be a prophet. Encouraged by Khadija, he devoted himself to the reform of religion and society. Polytheism was to be abandoned. But leaders of the Quraysh generally rejected his teaching, and Muhammad gained only a small following and suffered persecution. He eventually fled Mecca.

The Hegira (Hijra, meaning “emigration”) of Muhammad from Mecca, where he was not honored, to Medina, where he was well received, occurred in 622 and marks the beginning of the Muslim era. After a number of military conflicts with Mecca, in 630 he marched on Mecca and conquered it. Muhammad died at Medina in 632. His grave there has since been a place of pilgrimage.

Muhammad's followers, called Muslims, revered him as the prophet of Allah (God), the only God. Muslims consider Muhammad to be the last in the line of prophets that included Abraham and Jesus. Islam spread quickly, stretching from Spain in the west to India in the east within a century after the prophet's death. Sources of the Islamic faith are the Qur'an (Koran), regarded as the uncreated, eternal Word of God, and tradition (hadith) regarding sayings and deeds of the prophet.

Islam means “surrender to the will of Allah,” the all-powerful, who determines humanity's fate. Good deeds will be rewarded at the Last Judgment in paradise, and evil deeds will be punished in hell.

The Five Pillars, or primary duties, of Islam are profession of faith; prayer, to be performed five times a day; almsgiving to the poor and the mosque (house of worship); fasting during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan; and pilgrimage to Mecca (the hajj) at least once in a Muslim's lifetime, if it is physically and financially possible. The pilgrimage includes homage to the ancient shrine of the Ka'aba, the most sacred site in Islam.

Muslims gather for corporate worship on Fridays. Prayers and a sermon take place at the mosque, which is also a center for teaching of the Qur'an. The community leader, the imam, is considered a teacher and prayer leader.

Islam succeeded in uniting an Arab world of separate tribes and castes, but disagreements concerning the succession of the prophet caused a division in Islam between two groups, Sunnis and Shi'ites. The Shi'ites rejected the first three successors to Muhammad as usurpers, claiming the fourth, Muhammad's son-in-law Ali, as the rightful leader.

The Sunnis (from the word tradition), the largest division of Islam (today more than 80%), believe in the legitimacy of the first three successors. Among these, other sects arose (such as the conservative Wahhabi of Saudi Arabia), as well as different schools of theology. Another development within Islam, beginning in the eighth and ninth centuries, was Sufism, a form of mysticism. This movement was influential for many centuries and was instrumental in the spread of Islam in Asia and Africa.

Islam has expanded greatly under Muhammad's successors. It is the principal religion of the Middle East, Asia, and the northern half of Africa.

Countries with the Largest Muslim Populations

1. Indonesia
2. Pakistan
3. India
4. Bangladesh
5. Turkey
6. Iran
7. Egypt
8. Nigeria
9. Algeria
10. Morocco

Hinduism

Hinduism is the major religion of India, practiced by more than 80% of the population. In contrast to other religions, it has no founder. Considered the oldest religion in the world, it dates back, perhaps, to prehistoric times.

No single creed or doctrine binds Hindus together. Intellectually there is complete freedom of belief, and one can be monotheist, polytheist, or atheist. Hinduism is a syncretic religion, welcoming and incorporating a variety of outside influences.

The most ancient sacred texts of the Hindu religion are written in Sanskrit and called the Vedas (vedah means “knowledge”). There are four Vedic books, of which the Rig-Veda is the oldest. It discusses multiple gods, the universe, and creation. The dates of these works are unknown (1000 B.C.?). Present-day Hindus rarely refer to these texts but do venerate them.

The Upanishads (dated 1000–300 B.C.), commentaries on the Vedic texts, speculate on the origin of the universe and the nature of deity, and atman (the individual soul) and its relationship to Brahman (the universal soul). They introduce the doctrine of karma and recommend meditation and the practice of yoga.

Further important sacred writings include the Epics, which contain legendary stories about gods and humans. They are the Mahabharata (composed between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200) and the Ramayana. The former includes the Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), an influential text that describes the three paths to salvation. The Puranas (stories in verse, probably written between the 6th and 13th centuries) detail myths of Hindu gods and heroes and also comment on religious practice and cosmology.

According to Hindu beliefs, Brahman is the principle and source of the universe. This divine intelligence pervades all beings, including the individual soul. Thus the many Hindu deities are manifestations of the one Brahman. Hinduism is based on the concept of reincarnation, in which all living beings, from plants on earth to gods above, are caught in a cosmic cycle of becoming and perishing.

Life is determined by the law of karma—one is reborn to a higher level of existence based on moral behavior in a previous phase of existence. Life on earth is regarded as transient and a burden. The goal of existence is liberation from the cycle of rebirth and death and entrance into the indescribable state of moksha (liberation).

The practice of Hinduism consists of rites and ceremonies centering on birth, marriage, and death. There are many Hindu temples, which are considered to be dwelling places of the deities and to which people bring offerings. Places of pilgrimage include Benares on the Ganges, the most sacred river in India. Of the many Hindu deities, the most popular are the cults of Vishnu, Shiva, and Shakti, and their various incarnations. Also important is Brahma, the creator god. Hindus also venerate human saints.

Orthodox Hindu society in India was divided into four major hereditary classes: (1) the Brahmin (priestly and learned class); (2) the Kshatriya (military, professional, ruling, and governing occupations); (3) the Vaishya (landowners, merchants, and business occupations); and (4) the Sudra (artisans, laborers, and peasants). Below the Sudra was a fifth group, the Untouchables (lowest menial occupations and no social standing). The Indian government banned discrimination against the Untouchables in the constitution of India in 1950. Observance of class and caste distinctions varies throughout India.

In modern times work has been done to reform and revive Hinduism. One of the outstanding reformers was Ramakrishna (1836–1886), who inspired many followers, one of whom founded the Ramakrishna mission. The mission is active both in India and in other countries and is known for its scholarly and humanitarian works.

Buddhism

Buddhism was founded in the fourth or fifth century B.C. in northern India by a man known traditionally as Siddhartha (meaning “he who has reached the goal”) Gautama, the son of a warrior prince. Some scholars believe that he lived from 563 to 483 B.C., though his exact life span is uncertain. Troubled by the inevitability of suffering in human life, he left home and a pampered life at the age of 29 to wander as an ascetic, seeking religious insight and a solution to the struggles of human existence. He passed through many trials and practiced extreme self-denial. Finally, while meditating under the bodhi tree (“tree of perfect knowledge”), he reached enlightenment and taught his followers about his new spiritual understanding.

Gautama's teachings differed from the Hindu faith prevalent in India at the time. Whereas in Hinduism the Brahmin caste alone performed religious functions and attained the highest spiritual understanding, Gautama's beliefs were more egalitarian, accessible to all who wished to be enlightened. At the core of his understanding were the Four Noble Truths: (1) all living beings suffer; (2) the origin of this suffering is desire—for material possessions, power, and so on; (3) desire can be overcome; and (4) there is a path that leads to release from desire. This way is called the Noble Eightfold Path: right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right concentration, and right ecstasy.

Gautama promoted the concept of anatman (that a person has no actual self) and the idea that existence is characterized by impermanence. This realization helps one let go of desire for transient things. Still, Gautama did not recommend extreme self-denial but rather a disciplined life called the Middle Way. Like the Hindus, he believed that existence consisted of reincarnation, a cycle of birth and death. He held that it could be broken only by reaching complete detachment from worldly cares. Then the soul could be released into nirvana (literally “blowing out”)—an indescribable state of total transcendence. Gautama traveled to preach the dharma (sacred truth) and was recognized as the Buddha (enlightened one). After his death his followers continued to develop doctrine and practice, which came to center on the Three Jewels: the dharma (the sacred teachings of Buddhism), the sangha (the community of followers, which now includes nuns, monks, and laity), and the Buddha. Under the patronage of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (third century B.C.), Buddhism spread throughout India and to other parts of Asia. Monasteries were established, as well as temples dedicated to Buddha; at shrines his relics were venerated. Though by the fourth century A.D. Buddhist presence in India had dwindled, it flourished in other parts of Asia.

Numerous Buddhist sects have emerged. The oldest, called the Theravada (Way of the Elders) tradition, interprets Buddha as a great sage but not a deity. It emphasizes meditation and ritual practices that help the individual become an arhat, an enlightened being. Its followers emphasize the authority of the earliest Buddhist scriptures, the Tripitaka (Three Baskets), a compilation of sermons, rules for celibates, and doctrine. This sect is prevalent in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. It is sometimes called the Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) tradition (once considered a pejorative term).

Between the second century B.C. and the second century A.D., the Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) tradition refocused Buddhism to concentrate less on individual attainment of enlightenment and more on concern for humanity. It promotes the ideal of the bodhisattva (enlightened being), who shuns entering nirvana until all sentient beings can do so as well, willingly remaining in the painful cycle of birth and death to perform works of compassion. Members of this tradition conceive of Buddha as an eternal being to whom prayers can be made; other Buddhas are revered as well, adding a polytheistic dimension to the religion. Numerous sects have developed from the Mahayana tradition, which has been influential in China, Korea, and Japan.

A third broad tradition, variously called Vajrayana (Diamond Vehicle), Mantrayana (Vehicle of the Mantra), or Tantric Buddhism, offers a quicker, more demanding way to achieve nirvana. Because of its level of challenge—enabling one to reach enlightenment in one lifetime—it requires the guidance of a spiritual leader. It is most prominent in Tibet and Mongolia.

Zen Buddhism encourages individuals to seek the Buddha nature within themselves and to practice a disciplined form of sitting meditation in order to reach satori—spiritual enlightenment.

Sikhism

A major religion of India and the fifth-largest faith in the world, Sikhism emerged in the Punjab under the guidance of the guru Nanak (1469–1539?). This region had been influenced by the Hindu bhakti movement, which promoted both the idea that God comprises one reality alone as well as the practice of devotional singing and prayer. The Muslim mystical tradition of Sufism, with its emphasis on meditation, also had some prominence there. Drawing on these resources, Nanak forged a new spiritual path.

In his youth, Nanak began to compose hymns. At the age of 29, he had a mystical experience that led him to proclaim “There is no Hindu; there is no Muslim.” A strict monotheist, he rejected Hindu polytheism but accepted the Hindu concept of life as a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth; moksha, release from this cycle into unity with God, could be achieved only with the help of a guru, or spiritual teacher. Nanak believed that communion with God could be gained through devotional repetition of the divine name, singing of hymns and praises, and adherence to a demanding ethical code. He rejected idols and the Hindu caste system; it became a custom for Sikhs of all social ranks to take meals together. These beliefs are still central to modern Sikhism.

Nanak was first in a line of ten gurus who shaped and inspired Sikhism. The fifth, Arjun (1563–1606), compiled hymns and other writings by earlier Sikh gurus, as well as medieval Hindu and Muslim saints, in the Adi Granth (First Book), or Guru Granth Sahib (the Granth Personified). This book became the sacred scripture of Sikhism. In addition to his spiritual leadership, Arjun wielded considerable secular power as he grappled with leaders of the Mughal Empire.

The tenth guru, Gobind Singh (1666–1708), was both a scholar and a military hero. He established the Khalsa (community of pure ones), an order that combined spiritual devotion, personal discipline, and ideals of military valor. Baptism initiates new members into the Khalsa. The Adi Granth took its final form under the supervision of Gobind Singh, as did the Dasam Granth (Tenth Book), a collection of prayers, poetry, and narrative. After the deaths of his four sons, Gobind Singh declared the line of gurus at an end. The Adi Granth would instead be reverenced in houses of worship, taking the place of a living guru.

Today, Sikhs worship at gurdwaras (temples), where the Adi Granth is the object of devotion. This book is consulted regarding questions of faith and practice. On certain occasions, it is recited in its entirety (requiring more than a day) or carried in procession; offerings may be placed before it. Worshipful singing, meditation, and focus on the divine name remain essential to spiritual life. Some Sikhs undertake pilgrimages to historical gurdwaras, such as the Golden Temple of Amritsar, that are associated with the gurus. Some become disciples of living saints. There is no established Sikh priesthood.

Confucianism

Confucius (K'ung Fu-tzu), born in the state of Lu (northern China), lived from 551 to 479 B.C. He was a brilliant teacher, viewing education not merely as the accumulation of knowledge but as a means of self-transformation. His legacy was a system of thought emphasizing education, proper behavior, and loyalty. His effect on Chinese culture was immense.

The teachings of Confucius are contained in the Analects, a collection of his sayings as remembered by his students. They were further developed by philosophers such as Mencius (Meng Tse, fl. 400 B.C.). Confucianism is little concerned with metaphysical discussion of religion or with spiritual attainments. It instead emphasizes moral conduct and right relationships in the human sphere.

Cultivation of virtue is a central tenet of Confucianism. Two important virtues are jen, a benevolent and humanitarian attitude, and li, maintaining proper relationships and rituals that enhance the life of the individual, the family, and the state. The “five relations,” between king and subject, father and son, man and wife, older and younger brother, and friend and friend, are of utmost importance. These relationships are reinforced by participation in rituals, including the formal procedures of court life and religious rituals such as ancestor worship.

Confucius revolutionized educational thought in China. He believed that learning was not to be focused only on attaining the skills for a particular profession, but for growth in moral judgment and self-realization. Confucius's standards for the proper conduct of government shaped the statecraft of China for centuries. Hundreds of temples in honor of Confucius testify to his stature as sage and teacher.

Confucianism was far less dominant in 20th-century China, at least on an official level. The state cult of Confucius was ended in 1911. Still, Confucian traditions and moral standards are part of the cultural essence of China and other East Asian countries.

Shinto

Shinto comprises the religious ideas and practices indigenous to Japan. Ancient Shinto focused on the worship of the kami, a host of supernatural beings that could be known through forms (objects of nature, remarkable people, abstract concepts such as justice) but were ultimately mysterious. Shinto has no formal dogma and no holy writ, though early collections of Japanese religious thought and practice (Kojiki, “Records of Ancient Matters,” A.D. 712, and Nihon shoki, “Chronicles of Japan,” A.D. 720) are highly regarded.

Shinto has been influenced by Confucianism and by Buddhism, which was introduced in Japan in the 6th century. Syncretic schools (such as Ryobu Shinto) emerged, as did other sects that rejected Buddhism (such as Ise Shinto).

Under the reign of the emperor Meiji (1868–1912), Shinto became the official state religion. State Shinto, the national cult, emphasized the divinity of the emperor, whose succession was traced back to the first emperor, Jimmu (660 B.C.), and beyond him to the sun goddess Amaterasu-o-mi-kami. State Shinto was disestablished after World War II.

Sect Shinto, deriving from sects that developed during the 19th and 20th centuries, continues to thrive in Japan. Shrines dedicated to particular kami are visited by parishioners for prayer and traditional ceremonies, such as presenting a newborn child to the kami. Traditional festivals celebrated at the shrines include purification rites, presentation of food offerings, prayer, sacred music and dance, and a feast.

No particular day of the week is set aside for prayer. A person may visit a shrine at will, entering through the torii (gateway). It is believed that the kami can respond to prayer and can offer protection and guidance.

A variety of Shinto sects and practices exist today. Ten-rikyo emphasizes faith healing. Folk Shinto is characterized by veneration of roadside shrines and rites related to agriculture. Buddhist priests serve at many Shinto shrines, and many families keep a small shrine, or god-shelf, at home. Veneration of ancestors and pilgrimage are also common practices.

Taoism

Taoism, one of the major religions of China, is based on ancient philosophical works, primarily the Tao Te Ching, “Classic of Tao and Its Virtue.” Traditionally, this book was thought to be the work of Lao-tzu, a quasi-historical philosopher of the 6th century B.C.; scholars now believe that the book dates from about the 3rd century B.C. The philosopher Chuang Tzu (4th–3rd centuries B.C.) also contributed to the seminal ideas of Taoism.

Tao, “the Way,” is the ultimate reality of the universe, according to Taoism. It is a creative process, and humans can live in harmony with it by clearing the self of obstacles. By cultivating wu-wei, a type of inaction characterized by humility and prudence, a person can participate in the simplicity and spontaneity of Tao. Striving to attain virtue or achievement is counterproductive and unnecessary. Taoism values mystical contemplation and balance. The human being is viewed as a microcosm of the universe, and the Chinese principle of yin-yang, complementary duality, is a model of harmony.

The religious practices of Taoism emerged from these ancient philosophies and from Chinese shamanistic tradition; by the 2nd century A.D., it constituted an organized religion. Longevity and immortality were sought through regulating the energies of the body through breathing exercises, meditation, and use of medicinal plants, talismans, and magical formulas. A cult of immortals, including the divinized Lao-tzu, also developed. Influenced by Buddhism, Taoists organized monastic orders. Temple worship and forms of divination, including the I ching, were practiced.

Since its beginnings, many sects have arisen within Taoism. All subscribe to the philosophical origins of the religion; some have emphasized faith healing, exorcism, the worship of the immortals, meditation, or alchemy. Buddhism and Confucianism influenced some sects; some operated as secret societies.

Though the present Chinese government has tried to suppress it, Taoism is still practiced in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. It profoundly influenced Chinese art and literature, and Taoist ideas have become popular in the West.

Deja Vu

2008-11-23T08:50:00.000-08:00

In recent years, déjà vu has been subject to serious psychological and neurophysiological research. Scientifically speaking, the most likely explanation of déjà vu is not that it is an act of "precognition" or "prophecy," but rather that it is an anomaly of memory; it is the impression that an experience is "being recalled."

This explanation is substantiated by the fact that the sense of "recollection" at the time is strong in most cases, but that the circumstances of the "previous" experience (when, where, and how the earlier experience occurred) are quite uncertain. Likewise, as time passes, subjects can exhibit a strong recollection of having the "unsettling" experience of déjà vu itself, but little or no recollection of the specifics of the event(s) or circumstance(s) they were "remembering" when they had the déjà vu experience. In particular, this may result from an overlap between the neurological systems responsible for short -term memory (events which are perceived as being in the present) and those responsible for long -term memory (events which are perceived as being in the past). In other words, the events would be stored into memory before the conscious part of the brain even receives the information and processes it. This would explain why one is, if it ever comes to mind, powerless trying to twist the outcome of the event in order to create a paradox. The delay is only of a few milliseconds, and besides, already happened at the time the consciousness of the individual is experiencing it.

Another theory being explored is that of vision. As the theory suggests, one eye may record what is seen fractionally faster than the other, creating that "strong recollection" sensation upon the "same" scene being viewed milliseconds later by the opposite eye. However, this one fails to explain the phenomenon when other sensory inputs are involved, such as the auditive part, and especially the digital part. If one, for instance, experiences déjà vu of someone slapping the fingers on his/her left hand, then the déjà vu feeling is certainly not due to his/her right hand to be late on the left one. Also, persons with only one eye still report experiencing déjà vu or déjà vécu. The global phenomenon must therefore be narrowed down to the brain itself (say, one hemisphere would be late compared to the other one).

Billgates and GOD

2008-11-22T16:23:00.000-08:00

If Bill Gates were killed in a car accident. He might
find himself being sized up by God.

"...Well, Bill, I'm really confused on this call. I'm
not sure whether to send you to Heaven or Hell. After
all, you enormously helped society by putting a
computer in almost every home in the world, and yet
you created that ghastly Windows 95. I'm going to do
something I've never done before. In your case, I'm
going to let you decide where you want to go!"

Bill replied, "Well, thanks, God. What's the difference
between the two?"

God said, "I'm willing to let you visit both places
briefly if it will help you make a decision."

"Fine, but where should I go first?"

God said, "I'm going to leave that up to you."

Bill said, "OK, then, let's try Hell first."

So Bill went to Hell. It was a beautiful, clean, sandy
beach with clear waters.

There were thousands of beautiful women running around,
playing in the water, laughing and frolicking about.

The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect.

Bill was very pleased. "This is great!" he told God.
"If this is Hell, I REALLY want to see Heaven!"

"Fine," said God, and off they went.

Heaven was a high place in the clouds, with angels
drifting about playing harps and singing.

It was nice, but not as enticing as Hell.

Bill thought for a quick minute and rendered his
decision. "Hmm, I think prefer Hell," he told God.

"Fine," retorted God, "as you desire."

So Bill Gates went to Hell.

Two weeks later, God decided to check up on the late
billionaire to see how he was doing in Hell.

When God arrived in Hell, he found Bill shackled to a
wall, screaming amongst the hot flames in a dark cave.

He was being burned and tortured by demons.

"How's everything going, Bill?" God asked.

Bill responded, his voice full of anguish and
disappointment, "This is awful; this is NOT what I
expected. I can't believe this happened. What happened
to that other place with the beaches and the beautiful
women playing in the water?"

God says, "That was the screen saver."

System Admin

2008-11-22T14:47:00.000-08:00

101 Things you do NOT want your System Administrator to say

-------------------------------

Uh-oh.....

Shit!!

What the hell!?

Go get your backup tape. (You do have a backup tape?)

That's SOOOOO bizarre.

Wow!! Look at this.....

Hey!! The suns don't do this.

Terminated??!

What software license?

Well, it's doing something.....

Wow....that seemed fast.....

I got a better job at Lockheed...

Management says...

Sorry, the new equipment didn't get budgetted.

What do you mean that wasn't a copy?

It didn't do that a minute ago...

Where's the GUI on this thing?

Damn, and I just bought that pop...

Where's the DIR command?

The drive ate the tape but that's OK, I brought my screwdriver.

I cleaned up the root partition and now there's lots of free space.

What's this "any" key I'm supposed to press?

Do you smell something?

What's that grinding sound?

I have never seen it do *that* before...

I think it should not be doing that...

I remember the last time I saw it do that...

You might as well all go home early today ...

My leave starts tomorrow.

Ooops.

Hmm, maybe if I do this...

"Why is my "rm *.o" taking so long?"

Hmmm, curious...

Well, my files were backed up.

What do you mean you needed that directory?

What do you mean /home was on that disk? I umounted it!

Do you really need your home directory to do any work?

Oracle will be down until 8pm, but you can come back in and finish your work when it comes up tonight.

I didn't think anybody would be doing any work at 2am, so I killed your job.

Yes, I chowned all the files to belong to pvcs. Is that a problem to you?

We're standardizing on AIX.

Wonder what this command does?

What did you say your (l)user name was...? ;-)

You did what to the floppy???

Sorry, we deleted that package last week...

NO! Not that button!

Uh huh......"nu -k $USER".. no problem....sure thing...

Sorry, we deleted that package last week...

[looks at workstation] "Say, what version of DOS is this running?"

Oops! (said in a quiet, almost surprised voice)

YEEEHA!!! What a CRASH!!!

What do you mean that could take down the whole network?

What's this switch for anyways...?

Tell me again what that '-r' option to rm does

Say, What does "Superblock Error" mean, anyhow?

If I knew it wasn't going to work, I would have tested it sooner.

Was that your directory?

System coming down in 0 min....

The backup procedure works fine, but the restore is tricky!

Hey Fred, did you save that posting about restoring filesystems with vi and a toothpick? More importantly, did you print it out?

OH, SH*T! (as they scrabble at the keyboard for ^c).

The sprinkler system isn't supposed to leak is it?

It is only a minor upgrade, the system should be back up in a few hours. (This is said on a monday afternoon.)

I think we can plug just one more thing in to this outlet strip with out triping the breaker.

What is all this I here about static charges destroying computers?

I found this rabbit program that is supposed to test system performance and I have it running now.

Ummm... Didn't you say you turned it off?

The network's down, but we're working on it. Come back after diner. (Usually said at 2200 the night before thesis deadline...)

Ooops. Save your work, everyone. FAST!

Boy, it's a lot easier when you know what you're doing.

I hate it when that happens.

And what does it mean 'rm: .o: No such file or directory'?

Why did it say '/bin/rm: not found'?

Nobody was using that file /vmunix, were they?

You can do this patch with the system up...

What happens to a Hard Disk when you drop it?

The only copy of Norton Utilities was on THAT disk???

Well, I've got a backup, but the only copy of the restore program was on THAT disk....

What do mean by "fired"?

hey, what does mkfs do?

where did you say those backup tapes were kept?

...and if we just swap these two disc controllers like this...
don't do that, it'll crash the sys........ SHIT

what's this hash prompt on my terminal mean?

dd if=/dev/null of=/vmunix

find /usr2 -name nethack -exec rm -f {};

now it's funny you should ask that, because I don't know either

Any more trouble from you and your account gets moved to the 750

Ooohh, lovely, it runs SVR4

SMIT makes it all so much easier......

Can you get VMS for this Sparc thingy?

I don't care what he says, I'm not having it on my network

We don't support that. We won't support that.
...and after I patched the microcode...

You've got TECO. What more do you want?

We prefer not to change the root password, it's an nice easy one
Just add yourself to the password file and make a directory...

quotes

2008-11-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

some of my favorite quotes , i collect them in years

1. My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher.

2. Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.

3. I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.

4. Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.

5. Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.

6. If debugging is the process of removing bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.

7. Chaos and Order are not enemies, only opposites.

8. The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.

9. The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.

10 . Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds.

11. better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

12. It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and say the opposite.

13. Most couples have not had hundreds of arguments; they've had the same argument hundreds of times.

14. Love: a temporary insanity, curable by marriage.

15. To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.

16. Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart.

17. It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.

18. I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

19. I am sorry to say that there is too much point to the wisecrack that life is extinct on other planets because their scientists were more advanced than ours.

20. It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.

21. Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience.

22. The more you know, the less you need.

23. If you can find something everyone agrees on, it's wrong.

24. Never fight an inanimate object.

25. I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty... But I am too busy thinking about myself.

26. Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

27. God can heal a broken heart, but He has to have all the pieces.

28. Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead

29. Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning

30. Sometimes you have to look reality in the eye and deny it.

31. Man, you go through life, you try to be nice to people, you struggle
to resist the urge to punch 'em in the face, and for what?

32. In a world without fences and walls, who needs Gates and Windows?

33. Imagination is more important than knowledge

34. Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love

35. The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources

36. The Real enemy in the war , is the war itself .

37. remember to always think twice

38. Protecting Democracy needs Dectatory .

39. if you obey all the rules , you will miss the fun .

40. everybody Wants the heaven , but nobody wants to die

41. there is always a gurl :)

42. you can't cheat death twice .

43. The hit which doesn't kill me , makes me more powerfull .

44. Care what you wish , it may become TRUE

45. Its Not important How much you live , but How you live

46. The best way to change my attitude is to change your first .

47. We Will Die someday

48. in a mad world , only the mad are sane

49. Life is a bitch , be its pimp .

50 .i was born intelligent , but education runed me .

51. virginity is not dignity , its just lack of opportunity .

52. My glory is not by NOT falling , but in rising in each time i fall