Dari iPad VC UiTM - Dato' Prof Ir Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar

Khamis 21 Jun 2012

Assalamualaikum, Salam Sejahtera, UiTM Sentiasa di Hatiku…

Semoga anda sihat dalam perlindungan Allah S.W.T. selalu. Sempena sambutan Isra' Mikraj Ahad lepas, saya berdoa agar kita semua menjadi bertambah tebal iman dan sentiasa juga akan memberi keutamaan kepada solat kita. Juga, sempena sambutan Hari Bapa pada hari Ahad yang lepas, saya percaya ramai di kalangan kita kaum bapa menerima ucapan dan hadiah istimewa daripada isteri dan anak-anak.

Kelmarin, saya ke UiTM Kedah menghadiri Program Himpunan Usahawan Mikro, Kecil dan Sederhana Negeri Kedah yang dirasmikan oleh YAB Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Saya berbangga apabila UiTM dipilih menjadi tempat untuk menggerakkan sesuatu yang berguna kepada rakyat. Inilah salah satu peranan kita kepada masyarakat.

Semalam pula, pada sebelah paginya, bagi pihak UiTM, saya telah menandatangani MoU dengan Malaysia Institute of Supply Chain Innovation (MISI) yang juga dengan kerjasama Massachucettes Institute of Technology (MIT). Kemudian diadakan pula Sidang Akhbar sempena Konferensi Antarabangsa yang akan dianjurkan Julai nanti oleh Fakulti Komunikasi dan Pengajian Media bersama dengan Asian Media Information and Communication Center (AMIC).

Hari ini, akan bermula Festival Filem dan Video Pelajar IPTA di DATC. Insya-Allah, festival ini pastinya meriah dengan penglibatan universiti-universiti dari seluruh Malaysia termasuk juga artis-artis serta selebriti-selebriti tempatan.  Tetamu kehormat semasa malam kemuncak pada 23 Jun 2012 adalah YABhg. Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor yang akan hadir menyampaikan hadiah kepada para pemenang.

Kepada semua Profesor dan Profesor Madya UiTM, saya berharap ramai yang akan dapat menyertai sesi "Sembang Bersama YAB Perdana Menteri dengan Profesor & Profesor Madya di Lembah Kelang" pada Khamis ini, 28 Jun 2012 di Seri Perdana, Putrajaya. 

Bas disediakan mulai jam 2 petang di tempat letak kereta Bangunan Inovasi berdekatan Pintu Kedua. Saya difahamkan UiTM akan menjadi universiti yang paling ramai wakil kehadiran pada hari berkenaan.  Jika ingin mengetahui dengan lebih mendalam, sila hubungi Prof. Dr. Haji Mohamad Awang di 019-397-5359 atau Prof. Madya Mat @ Muhammad Yusoff di talian 019-229-9149. Semoga dengan kehadiran ramai kakitangan akademik UiTM akan menjadikan universiti kita lebih dekat di hati YAB Perdana Menteri.

Sekian. Bersamalah kita jaga UiTM ini agar ianya terus cemerlang dan gemilang.

Wassalam dan terima kasih.

Ikhlas daripada;

Dato’ Prof. Ir. Dr. Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar
Naib Canselor

Perjalanan insan, proses ketahuan

CIKGU SIDEK BABA
21 Jun 2012

Kelahiran Nabi Adam dalam keadaan tidak tahu. ALLAH memberinya nama untuk menjadikan Nabi Adam tahu. Ketahuan itu memudahkan Nabi Adam memiliki pengetahuan. Insan biasa juga bermula dalam keadaan tidak tahu.

Insan belajar mengetahui sesuatu daripada ibu bapa, persekitaran dan pendidikan menyebabkan proses ketahuan bermula.

Tahu di sini dalam bentuk zahiri dan batini. Tahu atau tidak, dirujuk kepada akal, pengalaman dan faktor ghaibiyyat.

Faktor zahiri membimbing insan mengenal hal yang nampak, boleh dibilang dan dipegang. Faktor batini memberi pedoman tahu dalam maksud yang lebih luas iaitu hubungan insan dengan Penciptanya.

Proses ketahuan ini menuntut proses pembelajaran terjadi. Al- Quran dalam Surah Al Alaq memberikan asas iqra' iaitu 'baca'.

Baca bukan sekadar membaca teks atau kitab tetapi juga membaca konteks atau realiti supaya faktor ghaibiyyah terhubung dengan faktor realiti.

Memahami faktor realiti menuntut adanya daya fikir dan daya zikir yang membimbing insan ke arah pemahaman yang lebih jitu terhadap sesuatu.

ALLAH menyebutkan dalam al-Quran, "Aku jadikan sesuatu dalam kadarnya". Katakan kita berada di pantai melihat ombak yang sedang beralun. Setinggi mana ombak yang berlaku ia akan berakhir di gigi pantai.

Secara zikirnya kita juga memahami bahawa perjalanan ombak ditentukan atas jalur sunnatullah iaitu ketentuan ALLAH.

Dengan campur tangan ALLAH mentadbir urus alam ini segalanya berjalan secara fitrah sebagai sumber rahmat terhadap insan.

Proses ketahuan yang dipatuhi secara fitrah ini akan membangunkan potensi insani.

Keupayaan meneroka dan memiliki ilmu dengan bimbingan murabbi dan muallim yang baik menjadi prasyarat untuk menjadi insan Muslim dan Mukmin yang baik.

Al-Quran menyebutkan dalam Surah Az Zumar, 'tidak sama orang yang berilmu dengan orang yang tidak memiliki ilmu'.

Asas al Quran sebagai sumber hikmah yang merujuk kepada sumber ilmu ALLAH dan menjadikan insan, seterusnya membawa ketelusan dan keadilan.

Ilmu dalam tradisi Islam dianggap sebagai suluh yang menerangi jalur kegelapan yang dilalui insan.

Tetapi ilmu yang terbangun dengan kekuatan akliah dan naqliah iaitu wahyu menjadikan proses zikir terjadi.

Integrasi fikir dan zikir dalam memandu ketahuan insan menyebabkan insan menjadi lebih berilmu dan bijaksana.

Melahirkan insan bijaksana amat dituntut Islam. Bijaksana dikaitkan dengan sifat Rasulullah SAW iaitu fatanah. Bijaksana menjadikan insan memiliki pertimbangan yang lebih seimbang dan adil, iaitu sesuatu neraca penting di sisi ALLAH dan manusia.

Insan bermula dalam watak jahil. Ilmu dan pengalaman menyebabkan pencerahan terjadi. Ilmu yang baik dan bermanfaat menjadikan faktor akliah lebih teguh dan pedoman nakliah menjadikan lebih jelas memandu jalur hidup.

Orang berilmu dan bijaksana memiliki sifat tawaduk dan tunduk terhadap rahmat ALLAH. Sesetengah ilmuwan yang tidak memiliki jiwa kehambaan yang tinggi, suka karyanya dipuji dan amalnya disanjung.

ALLAH tidak memberi kepada seseorang insan segalagalanya. Tidak ada maksud monopoli dalam berilmu.

Ilmuwan adalah mata rantai yang menyumbang secara terbaik dan kebaikan sesuatu daripada ALLAH memberi hikmah kepada manusia.

Proses ketahuan ini menjadi saranan utama al-Quran iaitu afala ta’qilun - tidakkah kamu menggunakan akal; afala tatafaqqaruun – tidakkah kamu berfikir; afala yatadabbaruun – tidak kamu melakukan renungan, kajian dan telitian.

Sebagai insan yang berpengetahuan, faktor akal harus digunakan sebaik-baiknya dengan pedoman al Quran. Faktor fikir harus digunakan bersama-sama dengan faktor zikir.

Dan apabila faktor renungan, kajian dan ketelitian menghubungkan insan dengan sumber kebesaran ALLAH, lalu terhubung kehebatan Pencipta dengan hasil ciptaan-Nya maka pencerahan terjadi.

Jalur ketahuan manusia mengenai sesuatu perkara tidak harus berjalan secara mekanistik atau teknologikal semata. Ia perlukan isi atau substance yang memberi roh kepada ilmu, ketahuan dan keterampilan.

Nilai guna yang baik dan bermanfaat amat dituntut Islam. Ini penting untuk sejahterakan diri dari segi zahiri dan batini sebagai insan lebih berupaya dan berjaya

(Sumver - http://www.sinarharian.com.my)

Steve Jobs' Advertising Secret: The Chief Executive As Creative Director

Madison Avenue is heading to the French Riviera this week for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Advertising’s version of Oscars night.

Marching on the red carpet will be an armada of 10,000 or so creative-types. In addition to art directors and copywriters, the crowd will include management types, account executives, media buyers, a few CMOs, and a potpourri of hangers-on.

And yet, some very important people will be missing from Cannes: Marketer-sideCEOs.

CEOs used to be very involved in the advertising and historically had close relationships with their agencies. Unfortunately, there are fewer companies today in which the CEO takes a real hands-on approach to the agency. Some of this distance reflects the changing nature of the CEO position. In the 1950’s and 1960’s the mantle had passed from the founder class, people like Charles Revson at Revlon who were intimately involved in the advertising, to professional CEOs who delegated the advertising functions to the new class of skilled CMOs.

Companies have changed in other ways: in the last quarter century, Finance and Operations emerged as the smoother path to the corner office. Today there are more CEOs with backgrounds in Finance, Sales or Operations on the Fortune-500 than with a background in Marketing, in contrast to previous trends.

But whether the CEO has a Marketing or a Finance background, I witnessed a pretty consistent phenomenon during my 30-years career with some of Madison Avenue’s leading agencies: When the CEO is involved in the advertising process and lends direct input, the ads tend to be better.

Steve Jobs was intimately involved in the advertising process and relentlessly pushed his agency, Chiat/Day. He even went so far as to write as writing the tag line “Think Different” himself.  Jobs certainly crossed the line between traditional client and agency relationship when he was willing to risk his own personal money to run the “1984” commercial in that year’s Super Bowl, considered by some the greatest ad ever, when the Apple board hesitated.

Of course, that kind of micro involvement can be counterproductive, especially if you don’t have the marketing and design sensibilities of Jobs. But when the CEO gets involved it sends a clear message to the organization – that advertising matters to the success of our company. It creates a culture of innovation and sets the creative standards higher.

(Sources - http://www.forbes.com)

Linus Torvalds F-bombs Nvidia over lack of Linux support

Linus Torvalds, the software engineer who became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, has hit out against graphics giant Nvidia for its lack of support for the Linux platform. During a Q&A session at the Aalto University in Finland, Torvalds identifies Nvidia as “the single worst company we’ve ever dealt with” before unexpectedly turning to the camera and delivering an F-bomb complete with the middle finger gesture.

Torvalds identifies Nvidia as “the single worst company we’ve ever dealt with”.

Torvalds’ frustration is worsened by the fact that Nvidia is unwilling to support Linux despite being a big player in the Android market with its Tegra line of ARM chips, especially given that Android is based on the Linux kernel.

While I agree — and in many ways sympathize — with Torvalds’ point about Nvidia with regards to Linux support, I don’t agree with the suggestion that any community is entitled to anything beyond what a company advertises as offering. We do have to bear in mind that Nvidia is under no obligation to do anything to help the Linux community, and any suggestion that Nvidia — or any other company – should play nicely with open source is based on nothing more than a feeling of entitlement.

Considering the overall size of the Linux desktop and notebook market share, it’s a tiny drop in the ocean compared to Nvidia’s other markets. It makes sense for Nvidia to embrace the Android market because it has found a way to make money from it, but it makes little sense for the company to sink R&D money into Linux on the desktop, no matter how many F-bombs Torvalds drops or how many times he flips the bird.

(Sources -  http://www.zdnet.com)

Perjumpaan Santai YB Khairy Jamaluddin Ahli Parlimen Rembau Bersama Mahasiswa

Pada 18 Jun 2012 ( Isnin) , sekitar jam 8.30 malam bertempat di Khulafa Bistro, Seksyen 7, Shah Alam, Ketua Pemuda UMNO Sdr. YB Khairy Jamaluddin merangkap Ahli Parlimen Rembau akan bertemu dengan mahasiswa UiTM dan Unisel untuk membincangkan segala isu yang berkaitan dengan mahasiswa. Pertemuan ini lebih berkonsepkan soal dan tanya dalam keadaan tidak formal dan santai. Semua mahasiswa samada IPTA dan IPTS sekitar Shah Alam yang layak menngundi dijemput hadir dalam siri Jelajah Santai Orang Muda Bersama Khairy Jamaluddin.

Rakyat Malaysia dan Rukun Negara - Suatu Persoalan?

Rukun Negara adalah ideologi kebangsaan Malaysia. Ia telah dibentuk pada 31 Ogos 1970 oleh Majlis Gerakan Negara iaitu setahun selepas berlakunya tragedi 13 Mei 1969.Ia adalah satu pengisytiharan bahawa negara kita Malaysia mempunyai visi mahu:-

• Mencapai perpaduan yang lebih erat dalam kalangan seluruh masyarakatnya
• Memelihara cara hidup demokratik
• Mencipta satu masyarakat yang adil di mana kemakmuran negara akan dapat dinikmati secara adil dan saksama
• Menjamin satu cara liberal terhadap tradisi-tradisi kebudayaannya yang kaya dan berbagai corak
• Membina satu masyarakat progresif yang akan menggunakan sains dan teknologi moden:

Untuk memenuhi visi tersebut, maka rakyat Malaysia wajib berikrar untuk menumpukan seluruh tenaga dan usaha kita untuk mencapai visi tersebut dengan misi  berdasarkan atas prinsip-prinsip yang berikut:

• Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan
• Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara
• Keluhuran Perlembagaan
• Kedaulatan Undang-undang
• Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan

Persoalannya sekarang, dalam era 2010an ini, berapa ramai rakyat Malaysia yang benar-benar menghayati, memahami dan pengamalkan prinsip rukun negara dalam kehidupan seharian?. Hakikatnya ialah corak budaya yang diamalkan di Malaysia kini masih dibauri fahaman perkauman.

Timbalan Ketua Polis Kuala Krai antara 3 maut kemalangan

oleh ZUMURNI HAMZAH

15 Jun 2012

MACHANG -  Timbalan Ketua Polis Kuala Krai, DSP Ab Wahab Yaacob dan seorang anggotanya berpangkat sarjan meninggal dunia dalam satu kemalangan dekat sini awal pagi tadi.

Kemalangan kira-kira jam 1 pagi  itu, yang berlaku di Kampung Labok, turut mengorbankan seorang wanita.

Sarjan Kadir Kumin bertugas di Cawangan Siasatan Jenayah, Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Kuala Krai.

AKAN MENYUSUL

(Sumber - http://www.sinarharian.com.my)

Choosing a next-generation firewall: Vendor comparison

Many firewall vendors offer next-generation firewalls, but they argue over whose technique is best. A next-generation firewall is application-aware. Unlike traditional stateful firewalls, which deal in ports and protocols, next-generation firewalls drill into traffic to identify the applications traversing the network. With current trends pushing applications into the public cloud or to be outsourced to Software as a Service (SaaS) providers, a higher level of granularity is needed to ensure that the proper data is coming into the enterprise network.

Each vendor has its own approach to building application awareness into a firewall. SearchNetworking.com asked each of the leading firewall vendors to explain how their next-generation firewalls differ from the competition. Here is what we learned. 

•  Astaro uses an application signature database from its partner Vineyard Networks to deliver application awareness to its Astaro Security Gateway. Through this partnership, Astaro's firewall can distinguish different applications running from the same website and apply Quality of Service options to prioritize and allocate bandwidth to these applications.  The latest version of Astaro Security Gateway enhances the presentation of this information to the firewall administrator. It offers a network-wide view that allows administrators to quickly define  security polices based on the real-time situations. The key, according to Astaro, is to enable IT to react to new threats by seeing what is happening and fine tuning the firewall quickly and easily.

Astaro is also focused on identifying new, unknown application types as soon as new applications start hitting customer networks. Planned for an upcoming release, the system would allow administrators to opt-in and anonymously submit unknown packet types for review by Astaro engineers. The company will use the compiled data to identify these applications and add them to the signature database.

•  Check Point Software has developed the AppWiki application library, which the company claims can identify over 5,000 applications and 100,000 social networking widgets. These application signatures are pulled into the company’s Check Point Application Control and Identity Awareness Software Blades. The software also integrates with Active Directory to identity the user and endpoint, allowing administrators to customize granular security policies. Check Point also offers the ability to educate users in real time. Agent software on the user's PC, UserCheck, will pop up a window when the user violates security policy. The window explains the violation and guides users through remediation. This software also lets users provide feedback to administrators, streamlining the process of customizing security policies in response to user needs.  

•  Cisco Systems has announced plans to add new levels of application visibility into its Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA), as part of its new SecureX security architecture. Cisco claims that this new architecture will not only address application awareness, but also user and device identification, as it rolls out features throughout 2011. Details on how Cisco acquires that application visibility remain sketchy for now.

•  The application control functions of Fortinet’s FortiGate devices use protocol decoders and decryption of network traffic to identify applications. The company’s FortiGuard Labs team maintains an application signature database, adding signatures for new applications as well as updating signatures for new versions of existing applications. The application database enables Fortinet’s products to separate disparate applications from a single site, such as Facebook or Google, and allows separate policies for each. Fortinet claims that its products have a performance and integration advantage over its competitors because all of its technologies are developed in-house.

•  Juniper Networks uses a suite of software products, known as AppSecure, to deliver next-generation firewall capabilities to its SRX Services Gateway. The application-aware component, known as AppTrack, provides visibility into the network based on Juniper’s signature database as well as custom application signatures created by enterprise administrators. With AppTrack providing visibility, the AppFirewall and AppQoS components of the suite provide the policy enforcement and traffic control of the applications. Juniper also claims a high level of scalability in its platform, with the ability to deliver application protection at up to 100 Gbps speeds.

•  McAfee, recently acquired by Intel,  uses its McAfee AppPrism technology for application discovery and awareness in McAfee Firewall Enterprise. AppPrism identifies thousands of applications, regardless of port or protocol, backed by application signatures developed in-house by McAfee’s own Global Threat Intelligence team, the company claims. AppPrism also provides a high level of application control, allowing administrators to disable just the riskier portions of an application. For example, administrators can use the technology to block the file sharing capabilities of an instant messaging application without blocking a user's ability to chat. McAfee claims its next-generation firewall has an edge because its application-awareness technology is a core part of its firewall architecture and all components, including application signatures, all of which are internally developed.

•  Palo Alto Networks says it was the first vendor to deliver next-generation firewalls and the first to replace port-based traffic classification with application awareness. The company’s products are based on a classification engine known as App-ID. App-ID identifies applications using several techniques, including decryption, detection, decoding, signatures and heuristics. Individual App-IDs for a given application can rely on any combination of these techniques in a single bundle, allowing the engine to identify all versions of an application, as well as all of the platforms the application runs on. App-ID, as the core of Palo Alto’s firewalls, is always running, so it can identify when an application performs a function, such as a file transfer, and it can apply policy to that specific function. The company also notes that App-ID is extensible, so that as new techniques become available, they can be incorporated into the classification engine.

• For SonicWALL, the formula for application awareness in its Next-Generation Firewall is a combination of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) and an ever-expanding signature database that can currently identify and control upward of 3,500 applications and application functions. SonicWALL's Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection (RFDPI) scans every packet across every protocol and interface. On the signature side, the the SonicWALL Research Team continually generates new signatures, which are automatically delivered and implemented without requiring extra work from the network administrator. In addition, IT shops can create their own signatures as needed.

SonicWALL's firewall solution also includes a Visualization Dashboard and Real-Time Monitor, which enables administrators to see specific applications on the network, including information on who is using them and to what extent they're being used. The idea is to use this information for policy setting and troubleshooting.

(Sources - http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com)

Africa Takes Off - Sub-Saharan Africa is starting to shed its reputation as an economic laggard. The West should pay attention

Pity sub-Saharan Africa -- but maybe for not much longer. In the first decade of the new millennium, six of the world's ten fastest-growing economies (Angola, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique, and Rwanda) were from this region. And in eight of the past ten years, it has grown faster than Asia.

To be sure, some of the region's growth stars owe their success in part to the global boom in commodity prices, most notably in oil. But Ethiopia managed to grow by 7.5 percent last year without producing a drop of petroleum. (Ethiopia's brightest newest export: cut flowers.)

Note, too, that average incomes in sub-Saharan Africa are still very low; for example, the per capita income in Chad is below $1,800 measured in terms of purchasing power, less than a tenth that of Poland or the Czech Republic. It will thus take decades of years of growth to bring living standards to acceptable levels.

But according to the IMF, the region is on track to grow by six percent this year, about the same as Asia. And there are convincing reasons to believe that a healthy pace can be maintained for the foreseeable future. Indeed, in the World Bank's view, Africa "could be on the brink of an economic take-off, much like China was 30 years ago, and India 20 years ago." That should be raising doubts about the appropriateness of international assistance policies based on the presumption that Africa still lacks the capacity to break out of its dispiriting cycle of poverty, dysfunctional governance and tribal violence. More on that later.

Ready to be surprised? Trade between Africa and the rest of the world tripled in the last decade. And by no coincidence, Africa has attracted more private foreign investment than official aid since 2005. Consider, too, that Africa's share of global foreign direct investment -- the most prized sort, since it brings along technology and management skills -- rose from less than one percent in 2000 to 4.5 percent in 2010.

But perhaps the most visible evidence of widening prosperity is the incredibly rapid penetration of mobile communications. Take Ghana, which, by the World Bank's reckoning, graduated to middle-income status last year. In the late 1990s, the country has a mere 50,000 working phone lines in a country of nearly 20 million. Now, three-quarters of the population has access to cell phones with both voice and instant-message capability.

In fact, the amount of money directed towards phone use has forced government bean counters to reconsider their (sometimes very rough) estimates of the region's income. In Ghana's case, the government recently revised upwards its estimate of private GDP by an astonishing two-thirds.

(Read more - http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles)

Debat Sinar II temukan Saifuddin dan Salahuddin

Salahuddin (kiri) dan Saifuddin (kanan)

SHAH ALAM - Untuk kali kedua, Debat Sinar Harian akan dianjurkan antara dua tokoh berlainan ideologi politik bagi memberi peluang kepada rakyat mendengar idea mereka berhubung isu yang menjadi buah mulut masyarakat hari ini.

Penasihat Eksekutif Editorial Sinar Harian, Datuk Abd Jalil Ali berkata, tajuknya masih lagi dibincangkan peringkat akhir sebelum diumumkan penganjur dalam masa terdekat.

“Debat antara Ahli Majlis Tertinggi Umno, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah dan Naib Presiden Pas, Salahuddin Ayub itu akan diadakan di Auditorium Kumpulan Media Karangkraf pada 19 Jun depan.

“Penyertaannya adalah terhad, jadi kami akan membuat jemputan khas untuk 350 kerusi yang disediakan pada malam berkenaan,” katanya kepada Sinar Harian semalam.

Debat berkenaan akan dikendalikan oleh Pensyarah Jabatan Pengajian Strategik dan Antarabangsa, Fakulti Sastera dan Sains Sosial, Universiti Malaya, Prof Datuk Mohamad Abu Bakar.

Abd Jalil berkata, Sinar Harian sebagai akhbar rasmi, juga akan siarkan laporan penuh debat ini keesokan harinya.

“Sinar Harian telah mengadakan beberapa perbincangan dengan kedua-dua pendebat ini, masing-masing menunjukkan kesungguhan dan sedia berdepan dengan hujah masing-masing,” katanya lagi.

Sebelum ini, Sinar Harian pernah menganjurkan 13 siri wacana setiap bulan dengan pelbagai tajuk menarik untuk disajikan kepada pembaca setia.


(Sumber - http://www.sinarharian.com.my)

Khalid Ismath mahu cabar hukuman UiTM

Khalid Ismath

SHAH ALAM - Penuntut jurusan undang-undang Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Khalid Mohd Ismath, yang kelmarin digantung tiga semester, mahu mencabar keputusan pusat pengajian tinggi itu di mahkamah.

Khalid berkata, beliau mahu mencabar penggunaan peruntukan Akta Institusi-Institusi Pelajaran (Tatatertib) 1976 oleh UiTM dalam mengenakan tuduhan ke atasnya.

Khalid, 22, dibicarakan Jumaat lalu oleh Lembaga Tatatertib UiTM dan dijatuhkan hukuman digantung pengajian selama tiga semester bermula sesi akademik September ini.

Sebahagian tuduhan ke atas itu berkait dengan tindakannya ketika demonstrasi menuntut pemansuhan pinjaman Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN).

“Saya akan teruskan perjuangan saya di mahkamah agar Akta 174 ini (Akta Institusi-Institusi Pelajaran (Tatatertib) 1976) dimansuhkan. Sama seperti perjuangan mahasiswa untuk hapuskan Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti (Auku) satu ketika dulu,” kata beliau kepada Sinar Harian Online.

Dua tahun lalu, empat penuntut Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) telah membawa kes mereka ke mahkamah dengan mencabar Seksyen 15 Auku.

Keputusan mahkamah memihak kepada keempat-empat penuntut itu dan kerajaan sedang membuat rayuan.

Malah keputusan itu juga telah menjadi titik tolak kepada pindaan Auku baru-baru ini, sekali gus membolehkan pelajar-pelajar aktif berpolitik.

Pindaan itu dituntut oleh kedua-dua parti kerajaan dan pembangkang.

Sehubungan itu Khalid berkata, beliau akan mengadakan perbincangan dengan kepimpinan Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) pada Selasa ini.

“Saya mempunyai rancangan saya sendiri. Bagaimanapun segala keputusan akan dibuat sebulat suara bersama SMM terlebih dahulu. Saya perlu bincang dan keputusan akan dibuat bersama ahli SMM,” katanya.

Beliau juga merasakan keputusan Jumaat lalu berat sebelah kerana percaya masih ramai lagi mahasiswa UiTM lain yang aktif berpolitik tetapi tidak dikenakan sebarang tindakan.

Khalid, mengikut tuduhan pertama, didakwa tidak hadir kelas selama dua minggu berturut-turut dan dikenakan hukuman tidak dibenarkan mengambil peperiksaan dalaman semester ini manakala di bawah tuduhan kedua pula, Khalid didakwa menerbitkan unsur-unsur ugutan menerusi Facebook. Selain itu, Khalid juga dituduh menghina isteri Perdana Menteri.

Di bawah tuduhan kedua dan ketiga, Khalid dikenakan hukuman masing-masing membawa hubung digantung pengajian satu dan tiga semester. Hukuman itu berjalan serentak.

(Sumber - http://www.sinarharian.com.my)

Dealing with the classic Catalyst 6500 end-of-life

Network managers who have relied on the classic Cisco Catalyst 6500 platform in their data center and campus networks are approaching a crossroads: the Catalyst 6503, 6506 and 6509 platforms will reach end-of-life in November, which means Cisco will cease offering hardware support. Cisco will also stop selling the classic Catalyst 6513 in November, ending hardware support in August 2017.

Cisco offers a couple of migration options for customers facing classic Catalyst 6500 end-of-life. In the campus LAN, users can invest in the newer Catalyst 6500-E platform, which got a new lease on life with the release of the Supervisor Engine 2T. Meanwhile Cisco recommends that customers with the classic chassis in their data centers migrate to the Nexus line.

Catalyst 6500 end-of-life: Core migration is a headache

Catalyst customers are more concerned with a rip-and-replace at the core than in the wiring closet. Migration is somewhat simple in the wiring closet, while at the core it's much more radical.

“Replacing a core is not a trivial event. The hardware is cheap, but swapping out that hardware is an expensive proposition from an outage perspective, from a time perspective, and [in terms of] configuration validation,” said Forrest Schroth, network manager with staffing firm Randstad. “I would rather an upgrade at the core layer be a [result] of me needing functions that [the classic Catalyst 6500] doesn’t support rather than a vendor trying to push me new products.”

For many customers, the classic Catalyst is still sufficiently meeting their needs in the core.

“If you still have Catalyst 6500s around, they’ve been running in a fairly stable state for a while and most folks out there are going to continue running them as they stand. They understand that [the Catalyst 6500s] have limited functionality, but they are put in places in the network where [users] are not worried about a lot of forward evolution in terms of functionality,” said Eric Hanselman, research director with the 451 Group.

Even those that want to make change in the data center don't love the fact that Cisco is pushing them toward the Nexus line. In a newer data center, Schroth installed Catalyst 6500-Es in his core rather than migrating to the Nexus line.

“We were going back and forth because there are features we don’t need [in Nexus] and features we would lose going to Nexus,” Schroth said.

Can you avoid a Catalyst 6500 end-of-life?

As Cisco winds down the classic Catalyst 6500, network engineers can turn to after-market equipment specialists like Network Hardware Resale (NHR) that offer third-party support for the equipment. In fact, these companies see the Catalyst end-of-life as an opportunity.

Mike Lodato, senior vice president of sales and marketing at NHR, gives the example of one   healthcare organization with 385 classic Catalyst 6500s that was facing a $65 million migration bid from Cisco to the Catalyst 6500-E. The upgrade was driven by an upcoming rollout of voice over IP (VoIP) that would need the more robust Power-over-Ethernet capabilities of the Catalyst 6500-E. However, the VoIP rollout was a phased project with 85 sites in the first year, 120 in the second year and 92 in the third year. Rather than upgrade them all at once, the healthcare provider wanted a phased installation of the new switches, saving money by staggering the purchase, installation and support costs in time with the VoIP rollout. NHR was able to support that slow transition

“We came in and said, 'instead of converting them all before you need them, how much does it save you to put those on third-party support?'” Lodato said. “'How much can you save in capital and depreciation expense by deploying them at the time of business need rather than the time of vendor mandate?'”

NHR is also working with Matrix Telecom Inc. to maintain 18 classic Catalyst 6500s in its service provider network, according to the company’s manager of IP network services, who asked not to be identified. He  plans to keep the switches for as long as NHR can keep getting him replacement parts.

“As technology grows and evolves, we will need to upgrade them. Right now, my network is really stable. We’re not looking to do any major upgrades,” he said.

Other companies have been reluctant to use third-party support for network infrastructure because it is difficult to change course and get back on a Cisco support contract, Hanselman said. But with the classic Catalyst 6500, this worry is irrelevant. “Something bordering on antique becomes less of a concern,” he added.

Will Cisco stick to the Catalyst 6500 end-of-life dates?

Cisco has tried to retire elements of the Catalyst 6500 line in the past but has encountered pushback from customers. Some wonder if customer protest will stop this upcoming end-of-life.

“There are so many backbone nodes out there,” Schroth said. “[Customers] did not allow them to outdate CatOS, and they have not allowed them to remove the 6500 series. I believe this is more of a threat than an end-of-life. There is going to be a customer revolt and that date is going to slide.”

(Sources - http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com)

What Stuxnet's Exposure As An American Weapon Means For Cyberwar

Two years of theories and speculation in the cybersecurity research community were confirmed Friday morning: Stuxnet was indeed the first known digital attack launched by a government to destroy another country’s physical infrastructure. And the government that launched it was ours.

As revealed in an extensive report from an upcoming book by New York Times‘ Washington correspondent David Sanger, the Stuxnet malware that has fascinated cybersecurity researchers since in was discovered in the fall of 2010 was in fact built by U.S. and Israel government agencies and deployed to disrupt Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities. It seems to have worked: One thousand of Iran’s 5,000 enrichment centrifuges were temporarily put out of commission by the malware, and some sources within the Obama administration told the Times that Iran’s nuclear ambitions may have been set back by as much as 18 months to two years.

But even in 2010, the Obama administration knew that the potential exposure of the program, which it codenamed “Olympic Games,” would spell trouble.

“Mr. Obama, according to participants in the many Situation Room meetings on Olympic Games, was acutely aware that with every attack he was pushing the United States into new territory, much as his predecessors had with the first use of atomic weapons in the 1940s, of intercontinental missiles in the 1950s and of drones in the past decade,” Sanger writes. “He repeatedly expressed concerns that any American acknowledgment that it was using cyberweapons — even under the most careful and limited circumstances — could enable other countries, terrorists or hackers to justify their own attacks.”

That acknowledgement has now arrived, thanks in part to a bug in Stuxnet that caused it to spread far beyond its intended targets and to catch the eye of antivirus researchers, and in part due to Sanger’s own excellent reporting that ties the malware directly to Washington. So will the public confirmation of America’s role as a cyberwarfare aggressor lead to the escalation of the digital arms race that Obama feared?

Jeffrey Carr, author of Inside Cyberwarfare and chief executive of cybersecurity consultancy Taia Global, believes it will. ”This is a gift to Iran,” says Carr of the Times‘ revelations. “I think it will give a reason–an excuse–for other countries to ramp up their offensive cyber capabilities. Certainly it gives Iran an excuse to take steps to retaliate in exchange for what’s occurred. It’s a really unfortunate disclosure.”

After all, the original advantage of using a digital attack to sabotage Iran’s nuclear facilities instead of a physical one, Carr says, was to keep the operation secret and allow deniability if it were discovered. “The whole point of a secret operation is that it stays secret and doesn’t blow back on the country that launched it,” says Carr. “Now there’s really no doubt left. It’s really damning.”

According to the Times‘ story, in fact, much of Stuxnet’s effectiveness came from the mystery it created for the Iranians. The malware generated malfunctions in the centrifuges of the Natanz enrichment plant at random intervals over months, using different errors every time, and rendering them undetectable to the diagnostic systems in the control room. The Iranians became so paranoid about their own hardware, according to Sanger, that they assigned staff to physically watch the centrifuges. ““The intent was that the failures should make them feel they were stupid, which is what happened,” one source said.In the Iranians’ confusion, the plant workers closed down entire sections of the facility and fired workers. With so many details of Stuxnet’s workings–and its origins–now revealed, it’s unlikely the next digital weapon will have the same effect.

But the exposure of American involvement in Stuxnet shouldn’t be blamed on the Times, says Mikko Hypponen, a malware analyst who closely analyzed Stuxnet since its discovery in 2010. American fingerprints were all over Stuxnet since antivirus researchers first saw the malware disseminating out of the Middle East and infecting their clients’ machines. “All the other governments must have already assumed it was the United States or the Israelis,” says Hypponen. “We’re already in this arms race, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it now.”

As early as the fall of 2010, researchers like Ralph Langner and a team at antivirus firm Symantec had already reverse engineered Stuxnet to show that it specifically targeted centrifuges at enrichment facilities like Bushehr and Natanz, leaving little doubt of who created it. And if independent researchers like Langner were able to come to that conclusion, it’s likely foreign intelligence services and others had already confirmed U.S. and Israeli involvement.

The real importance of confirming Stuxnet’s American origin may be more introspective, says Bruce Schneier, a well-known cybersecurity guru and author: Now we know beyond a doubt that the potential for a physical cyberattack, so often portrayed as a foreign (and specifically Chinese) threat, actually starts at home. “Every country is engaging in the cyber war arms race,” says Schneier,  ”This isn’t one of our finer moments. But it’s the truth. It’s icky. But it’s good to get the truth out.”

As Richard Clarke outlined in his 2010 book, Cyberwar, the U.S. military is likely the most powerful offensive force in cyberspace, ahead of both Russia and China. Defense against foreign attacks rather than offense is where the U.S. lags–Clarke argued that even North Korea is less vulnerable than the U.S. to cyberattack, given its lack of automation and Internet connectivity. And as a story inTechnology Review points out, Stuxnet’s traits have already shown up several other malware samples that have hit American targets, implying that the Obama administration has been more focused on using its new weapons than in considering the consequences once that destructive code proliferated in the wild.

With U.S. critical infrastructure still vulnerable to the same sort of attacks that Stuxnet used, the confirmation of the first military malware may be a valuable one: that America shouldn’t be driving forward a cyberwar where every digitized nation suffers, and the U.S. has perhaps the most to lose. “These guys are playing war in cyberspace, and they’re doing stuff that affects our networks,” says Schneier. “When countires attack each other in cyberspace, we’re all in the blast radius.”

Read David Sanger’s full New York Times‘ story on Stuxnet here.

(Sources - http://www.forbes.com)