It’s 5:01pm EST time, the google gmail is down right now. According to bloomberg news, google and 30 other silicon valley IT companies are attacked by highly sophisticated hackers during the last months. This gmail server down could possibly caused by a hacker attack.

I’m using the Internet explorer. The error message is:

Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage

This problem can be caused by a variety of issues, including:

• Internet connectivity has been lost.
• The website is temporarily unavailable.
• The Domain Name Server (DNS) is not reachable.
• The Domain Name Server (DNS) does not have a listing for the website’s domain.
• There might be a typing error in the address.
• If this is an HTTPS (secure) address, click Tools, click Internet Options, click Advanced, and check to be sure the SSL and TLS protocols are enabled under the security section.

I tried to ping gmail.google.com under command line, the ping works.

I tried to nslookup gmail.google.com, the DNS request timed out, therefore, I guess this is a DNS related hacker attack to the google mail server.

Received an email from:

pena.a78@hotmail.com

After reviewing your resume, we would like to present to you our current opening. GTS, European leader in online auction sales, partners with many of the top brands and dealers to provide authentic products at best prices. GTS provides excess inventory solutions to businesses, and promotes a user friendly marketplace for buyers and sellers. GTS is currently seeking an administrative assistant to work from home. Part time and full time positions are available. Base salary is guaranteed. The successful candidate must be detail oriented, have strong desire to succeed, be able to meet deadlines and have effective communication skills. If you are interested in receiving additional information please respond to job-dept@gts-careers.com and we will forward you the detailed job description and work agreement. No telemarketing, no cold calling, no direct sales involved, no fees required at any time of employment.
Regards,
GTS Team

Smell like a spam, any idea?

IT Practice Exam site-build stage 4 is finished. Now the CCENT practice exam has more question types — besides the existing single selection, multiple selection style questions, I added drag and drop, fill-in-blank, and testlet style questions. Try it out now!

The Exam interface are more user-friendly, I added legends and changed the layout of exam result display. It’s now a closer simulation for the real cisco CCENT certification exam.

In stage 5, simulet and router simulation style questions will be developed and integrated into the existing Exam system, more questions will be added to the question pool, so stay tuned.

I just get the Fill-in-blank type questions implemented. Here is the demo of Fill-in-blank style questions. My next goal is to implement testlet style questions and integrate the Fill-in-blank and drag and drop demos into the pratice test.

After a lot of tests on windows, Mac and Linux for the major browsers, I finally get the drag and drop style question implemented. Here is the demo of drag and drop style questions. My next goal is to implement fill-in-blank style questions.

The question link.

IT Practice Exam stage 3 is finished. Now you will see pictures and question related tutorial and Explains link. Try it out!

In Stage 4, I will implement other types of questions such as drag and drop, testlet, simulet and router simulation. Keep tuned!

I find that Java Web Start could run on IT Practice Exam site, it could work here. Even though javascript tag is forbidden on wordpress.com, I can use the a tag to launch the Java Web Start Program. This discovery opens numerous exiting possibility for this site!

Launch HelloWorld from Java Web Start

The database management module for IT Practice Exam website have been finished. I tested the records insertion, update and delete functions on the major browsers, it works well. Now I can insert many questions/answers to the database by just copying/pasting them into a text area. The database module then generates the corresponding mysql insert queries and adds records into the database. So far, I have inputed about 140 questions, more will be added in the future.

In my next update, I will attach pictures and question explanations to the questions. Keep yourself tuned.