How to: Find out domain expiration date

My friend recently lost her domain name as she forgot to renew it. Now there is no way she can get back the domain name. So how do you find out domain expiration date?

There are 3 simple ways:

By checking the public WHOIS database

Visit whois service here and enter your domain name. You can also use your domain registrar whois service to find out information.

By logging into your domain service providers account

Login to your domain registrar account and list expiring domain. Make sure you set all domains to auto renewal. Finally, make sure your credit card / payment information is upto date to avoid delays.

By using automated shell scripts for Linux /UNIX / Mac OS X

You can grab modified shell script that run as a cron job from your own Mac OS X / Unix computer. This script checks to see if a domain has expired. It can be run in interactive and batch mode, and provides facilities to alarm (email) if a domain is about to expire in advance.

Free Windows Software

If anyone has any information about free domain remainder utility for Windows XP / Vista, please add them in the comments.

Most domain register provides a series of reminder emails to you as the domain name approaches its expiry date. Make sure you whitelist those email address. If domain names are quite important register them for 5-10 years and lock all domain names.

Howto speed up my Mac OS X computer

A nice list that will help you to clean up and speed up MAC OS X :)

From the article:

After Apple recently announced a delay to OS X 10.5 Leopard I had to delay my iMac upgrade until the Autumn. This led me to thinking about how to speed up Tiger to get the most out of my ageing G5.

This is what I came up with:
1. Repair Disk Permissions
Navigate to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select your Macintosh HD and select Verify Disk Permissions. If needed you can then Repair Disk Permissions.

2. Clear out login items
Its good to check that unwanted programs are not starting up when you login to your Mac. This can be done from System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items.

HowTo: Crack a Windows 7 / XP or Vista Password With Ophcrack Live CD

Ophcrack is a Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. It is a very efficient implementation of rainbow tables done by the inventors of the method. It comes with a GTK+ Graphical User Interface and runs on Windows, Mac OS X (Intel CPU) as well as on Linux.

There is also article and more screen shots at Lifehacker:
Extremely impressed at the ease and speed with which the Ophcrack Live CD cracked my Windows admin password when I tested it out last a few weeks ago, I thought it might be useful to throw together a quick guide detailing how to use this powerful little utility.

Crack a MS- Windows 7 / XP / Vista password with Ophcrack Live CD
Crack a MS- Windows 7 / XP / Vista password with Ophcrack Live CD

Whether you need to recover the lost password to a Windows account, you’re looking to ensure that your passwords are secure, or you’re a super l33t h4x0r, the Ophcrack Live CD is a pretty useful tool.