4th UPLB CAS Student-Faculty Research Conference

As per my adviser's suggestion, I listened to some of the oral presentations of researches this Monday.
I was only able to attend the CAS(?) afternoon session.

4 researches were presented.. but I was not able to digest the first and last ones very well, so I won't be able to give much.

The second research was all about detecting water stress in a mungbean plant using machine vision. Instead of using lots of machinery, it only involved image processing and getting the angle of the stem to the leaf.
Thinking about it now, it seemed like a very simple way of detecting water stress, and that in itself is great. Achieving the same thing through simple means than complicated processes. Hopefully this research would extend itself not only to mungbean plants but other plants as well.

The third research was about using combinatorics to pair up DNA strands.. or something like that. I cannot think of any possible applications for this research yet, but it seems to have a lot of potential.

Research conferences look tough. You go on stage and present your research, plus you have to be ready for off-the-bat questions. One must really know their research in order for these conferences to be a fulfilling experience. Of course, the audience should do their part as well (though I didn't contribute anything last time).

Back from the Grave

A month since I last updated here.
I got too relaxed when I was able to succeed in my proposal defense..
But now, it's time to get back. The real deal starts now.

Agenda:
 - consult with ITC once again about the previous recommendations, set-up, etc
 - coding

My co-advisee has become a student assistant in ITC for her SP (using squid log parser as well)..
I don't know if I should do so as well.

Stepping Stone Achieved!

A bit late, once again~

But yes.. I finally did it. I managed to pass quite nicely in my proposal defense~
Sure, there were comments, but I'm glad I don't have to re-present.

I can breathe for now.. not. :<
Now I have projects and finals to take care of.
Ah well, at least, that's one huge obstacle down~

I feel like I can do this! BRING IT ON REAL LIFE!

...
-back to procrastinating-

Doubt

Stuck between two roads again. I hate this indecisiveness of mine. x_x

Formal presentation of my proposal is a week from now. I hope everything goes well.
I'll aim for the best case scenario.

.. I say that, yet I still do not have any working prototype. x_x

Hello, endless nights of coffee and tea.

Objectives

Late post is late.

Anyway, I need to set some objectives for this week.
 - Complete the Introduction part
 - Read one article a day
 - Consult with Sir Ludwig
 - Revise proposal
 - Install Squid Server

Bibliography

Creation of this post has been long overdue.

Anyways, this is a post to dump list all of my references I have read or used, or those that I have found helpful.
Also those stuff that I may find useful.
Only references found at the Internet are listed here.

Squid log parser references:

Security considerations with Squid proxy server
   - http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/policyissues/security-considerations-squid-proxy-server_1048

Overview of proxy server caching
   - http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v7r0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.websphere.edge.doc/cp/admingd24.htm

SUSE LINUX - Administration Guide
   - http://www.novell.com/documentation/suse91/suselinux-adminguide/html/ch18s03.html

How to Use Squid Proxy Cache Server to Control Internet Access
   - http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/squid-control-internet-access/

Webpage classifier references:

Web page classification - Features and algorithms
   - http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1459352.1459357 OR http://www.cse.lehigh.edu/~brian/pubs/2007/classification-survey/

System and Method for Targeted Ad Delivery
   - http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=t4KhAAAAEBAJ

Dividing the Haystack: Web Page Classification
   - http://janulrich.org/web/

HTML Parser - A Java Library
   - http://htmlparser.sourceforge.net/

Confirmation

With confirmation from Sir Jach, Sir Ludwig and my inner gut, I have finally decided on that extension that Sir Jach approved of last week: a webpage classifier.

So right now, my (tentative) title for my SP is:
Squidler - A Squid Log Parser with Webpage Classifier

.. Okay, Squidler may be kind of lame. It's subject to further scrutinization.
It's from the words "Squid" and "crawler" (web crawler).
As for the implementation, I am leaning more on a web-based one.

What I visualize for this SP is that it shows the different IP addresses connected at the proxy server, and it shows the different information about their connections (the websites they have visited and when they accessed them, how long they have accessed the internet, bandwidth consumed, etc) .

Afterwards, it classifies the webpages they have visited, and stores that information for later arrangement.
I have found a lot of papers that deals with webpage classification, and Sir Jach advised me to find something "unique" for my implementation.

Well, here goes nothing. I will pursue this one problem.

Simple Progress

Or perhaps, time-pressured progress?

Anyhows, my adviser has now accepted two of my proposed extensions.
One is an IP Spoofing Detection and DoS Prevention System.
The other is a Webpage Identifier (or Web Crawler, as Sir Ludwig had said).

Looking back at it now, that first proposal of mine was a bit abrupt.
Hopefully I won't choke on my own words.

Now it's time to make a decision. And make some introductions.
The clock is ticking.

Progress Report

Not much progress.
I still plan on pursuing that spoofing detection as my extension.
I have read some literature works about the different kinds of spoofing attacks, and for this week, I will research on spoofing attacks that could attack proxy servers, as well as how proxy servers work in general.

If such an extension is impossible in the context of proxy servers, though..
It seems I need to research on this matter as well.

Goals this week:
 - Research on different kinds of spoofing attacks
 - Research if a spoofing attack is possible on proxy servers, and if a similar SP exists
 - Create a working title

Possible Contender

I have found an extension that might be possible, thanks to someone. =w=
Squid Log Parser with Spoofing Detection.

One thing to note, though. I'm not really sure how will the spoofer detection will fit in with a log parser..
So yeah, this is not yet set on stone.

What I envision is that this SP will make a squid log parser that checks all of the clients connected and the information of their connection (bandwidth, time, etc). It will use Squint, an open-source squid log parser, or if possible, something from scratch.
The spoofer detector traces IPs that are masking themselves as others to illegally access other resources. It won't do anything about the culprit, it will just trace it's true IP.

So yeah, that's basically it. Further research is needed, because most likely this feature has already been implemented on squid proxy servers.. or much worse, this detector is impossible to implement in this set-up.
I plan on talking to my adviser later about this matter.

Until then.

Expectations

Before I forget, our adviser also told us to post our expectations here. Expectations for the SP and the like.

I expect myself to take this seriously, especially at this stage where a concrete proposal is still lacking. :/
Oh, and more lightbulbs for my head please. If only I can increase this attention span of mine.
Oh, and to finish this SP of mine, of course.

For our SP adviser, I'd expect him to guide us in any way possible. Although I have to admit these weekly meetings can get a bit tiring, I believe it's for the best.

With these, my expectations are now set.

Decision

Decided to go forth with taking one of the topics given by the ITC: squid log parsing.

Now I only need to extend that idea some more. A co-advisee of mine is also taking this up as well.
I'm quite conscious that some of our ideas may be the same.

I seriously need that lightbulb right now.

Obligatory First Post

Obligatory first post!

This blog has been created as per our SP adviser's request, Sir Joseph Hermocilla.
In here I will post my status updates as well as some random musings about my Special Problem..

.. which is so far, is non-existent. =w=
Have to get serious on thinking.