I know most of you will not heed this advice, but KEYBOARDS CAN MAKE YOU SICK (how's that for tactfulness?). Germs live on your hands and fingers. When you type, many of them jump on to the keyboard. When someone else types on your keyboard, those germs transfer to their fingers. Or when you later type on the same keyboard, those germs reconquer your fingers. Regularly disinfecting the keyboard can prevent this.
To disinfect the keyboard, turn off the computer. Then spray disinfectant on a cloth. Be sure to use disinfectant and not just any type of cleaner because not all cleaners disinfect. Also do not spray the disinfectent directly on the keys. Spray it on the cloth. Wipe down the top and sides of the keys. Give the keys a few minutes to dry off before turning the computer back on.
Now that you know how to do it, you should make it a regular practice to disinfect the keyboard. It's one step towards a healthier you.
So you have your keyboard disinfected and life is great. Then your child spills koolaide all over it. What do you do? There are certain steps that you should take when something, like pop, beer, wine, coffee, milk, or kool-aide, is spilled on the keyboard.
The first thing to do is immediately unplug the keyboard from the back of the computer and turn the keyboard over so that its keys are down. This will allow the liquid to drain out. You will probably want to put a cloth under the keyboard or at least make sure that the surface you have put it on is washable.
Then use the mouse to shut down Windows and turn off the computer (this is important because later you will have to plug the keyboard back into the computer and you should never plug any device into a computer while it is on).
While the keyboard is upside down use a cloth to dry as much of the liquid off as you can. If you have a can of compressed air or a vacuum, while the keyboard is upside down blow or vacuum it out. Then let the keyboard set upside down for at least a night so that it can adequately dry out.
If the liquid that spilled on it was sticky, you may want to follow the extensive cleaning procedure explained in the next article, How to Clean your Keyboard - Part 2.
Liquid spilled on a laptop keyboard can easily reach the hard drive, so turn it over immediately and leave it in that position until it dries.
Keyboards are quite resilient and so it should work when you turn it on again. But if not, another attribute of keyboards is that they are cheap and so it won't cost too much to buy another one.
With these pointers in mind and a quick reaction, you just may save your keyboard from total destruction the next time it gets coated with coffee.
How to Clean your Keyboard- Part 1
Web 2.0 And Why You Shouldn't Fake Reviews
The latest offering from Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares aired on Channel 4 last night, followed the somewhat disastrous adventures of ex-boxer Mike and his wife Caron Ciminera as they struggled to run the Fish & Anchor, a restaurant in Lampeter, West Wales. Whilst the couple's arguing appeared to better the food they were originally sending out (a mix of jarred sauces and home cook book trophy dishes) they did let slip on a fantastically poor bit of black hat optimisation, which I hope made all white hat SEOs laugh out loud.
If there was one lesson to take away from the show, it would be - Don't fake reviews!
In order to gauged the feeling of the local community for the failing restaurant come sports bar, Ramsay conducted a search on Google for the Fish & Anchor, to which he was presented with a range of reviews, two of which were rather suspiciously from a character calling himself Michael or Mike Burns.
On the Wales portal of the BBC website Burns had posted "Well i don't get excited about food too often, and having dined in Rick Stein's, and Gordon Ramsay's,I think i have found a better restaurant in West Wales". On the SugarVine website he also posted "what a fantastic restaurant for couples, and families. it seems to have everything, the food has to be the best i have eaten (home or abroad) this place will go far". Other online reviews echoed what has already been said, but with the dire state of the restaurant, its food, its reputation and its perception from both the local community and Ramsay itself, would it not be right to question who was telling the truth?
The restaurateur confessed to posting the reviews, his rational pointing to stimulating custom, however with any reactive strategy it requires a degree of foresight - and I am not sure he really thought through the wider ramification of posting these "inaccurate" reviews.
Firstly, a warning must be expressed. For example, if someone finds your restaurant or hotel via a positive (fake) review and they have a bad experience, there is a chance that they will post a true review to assist fellow users and generally have a rant. The initial seeding of this true review has the potential to lead to an onslaught of further reviews from other visitors who might not have otherwise posted. Don't forget the saying "people don't lead... they follow".
But how can you manage your reviews and ultimately what your customers are saying about you? Well first and foremost, address the problem(s)!
You wouldn't put a sticking plaster on a gun shot wound, so why think that a positive review about the quality of your food or the softest of your sheets is going to counteract the adversities of your customer service?
The customer is king, a point stressed by Ramsay, and one that should ring true for any business, after all, without them, where would we be?
By rectifying or at least making plans to manage any failings within your business, regardless of its size, will be the first step in managing your online reputation, but this is an area I will not going into comprehensive detail for this post. Instead, I will offer some simply pointers as to how to harness online reviews for good.
Sites like Trip Advisor, which boasts over 10,000,000 user generated reviews of various hotels, holidays and restaurants is gaining increasing weighting as an resource for honest and unbiased review and via its system of community recommendation it really has the power to drive custom, and in many instances, divert customer - the key factor being positive, and consistent reviews.
But if you do run a successful hotel or restaurant and wish to harness these social spaces, but wish to do so in a more ethical way than that demonstrated in Kitchen Nightmares than why not encourage your diners of hotel guests to post a review after their stay.
When the customer is paying their bill or even booking their hotel room why not take their email address, or even ask them to submit their business card in return for entry into a monthly prize draw for a free meal in the restaurant?
In addition to building up a client database by collecting this data - for use in promotional mailings including notifying customers of events, promotional and the launch of a new menu - you can also harness it to stimulate online reviews by dropping your customers a short email after their stay / meal, which might look something like the following example...
"Good afternoon Simon, and thank you very much for your booking at the Leapfrogg Restaurant, we hope you had an enjoyable meal.
We pride ourselves on the quality of our food and our attentive staff however we're always striving to enhance and improve what we do, and as such we would appreciate you taking two minutes of your time to write a review for us at Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com), a free travel guide and research website that allows users to post review and ratings.
Your comments are important to us, and will be used to improve the Leapfrogg restaurant.
Thank you very much for your time and we look forward to welcoming you again to the Leapfrogg restaurant in the near future.
Sincerely,
A Restaurateur
Leapfrogg restaurant
Brighton
Tel: 01273 669 450"
Of course, many of your requests will be ignored, but providing you are personal in your emails (a point we at Leapfrogg have mentioned previously in this blog) then you are more likely to get a response, and even if you only have a 5% success rate, this is still 5% of valuable customer feedback.
A point to which I will conclude this article is one which has stuck with me from London's SMX, and one that I will most certainly be repeating from here on out is that "Yesterday's news no longer wraps today's fish and chips". Online news and online content, including user generated reviews do not simply get binned like a newspaper at the end of the day, but they remain live, and can even appear within the search results for a brand keyword search... so isn't it worth paying attention to what your customers are saying?
Delete index.dat Files
What are Index.dat files?
Index.dat files are used by Internet Explorer and Windows to store history, Internet cache, cookies, UserData records and other information about what you have done in Internet or in your PC. Although some of their functions are useful, they are dangerous privacy threat - any person with even little knowledge about index.dat files locations and structure can see history of almost all of your computer activities. Index.dat files are not the only privacy threat but they are the most obscure and dangerous one because they are hard to find and even harder to delete. In fact, in most cases it is impossible to delete Index.dat files manually because Internet Explorer and Windows use them all the time.
Where are located Index.dat files?
Location of index.dat files depends on the version of Windows and whether or not you are using user profiles. Regardless of Windows version in many cases you can't see or find index.dat file using Windows Explorer. There is a little file called desktop.ini in each directory where index.dat file is located. This desktop.ini file forces Windows Explorer to hide index.dat files and to show the contents of Internet cache or history instead. However you can use some other file utility and binary (hex) editor to find the files and read their content. If you have Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows NT or Windows 95 then index.dat files are in these locations:
C:\Windows\Cookies\index.dat
C:\Windows\History\index.dat
C:\Windows\History\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat (XXXX are some digits)
C:\Windows\History\History.IE5\index.dat
What is in Index.dat files?
As already mentioned, index.dat files are binary files. Their content can be seen only with binary (hex) editor. We will examine an index.dat file from the Internet cache(Temporary Internet Files).
Actually the index.dat header is much larger but this is the most important part of it. The first thing is the version of the index.dat file (Client UrlCache MMF Ver 4.7) - this particular file is from Internet Explorer version 4 but the index.dat file format is very similar in Internet Explorer 5.x and 6.
How to erase or clean Index.dat files?
Erasing or cleaning of the index.dat files is not an easy task because they are opened by Internet Explorer and Windows all the time. If you are using Windows Me, Windows 98 or Windows 95 you can restart in DOS mode and then you can delete index.dat files one by one (look in the folders that are mentioned above). However if you are using Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows NT this won't work.
Mil Shield is a powerful privacy protection program that was designed specifically to clean and shred the index.dat files content. Unlike the other methods of dealing with index.dat file content, shredding is the best because it doesn't destroy the entire structure of the index.dat file which can cause Internet Explorer or Windows to crash but instead cleans and shreds only the privacy threatening URL, LEAK and REDR records.
Ecommerce: Have Cart - Will Shop
In order for you to sell products or services online you will need a shopping cart application to facilitate ecommerce. While your customers simply want a way to make a purchase if they are interested in your product you will have already considered tough choices.
For Instance...
If you want a full solution for invoicing, statements, receipts and company financial history there are solutions that cover all of this with an application for a shopping cart that is tied to company financial data. One such company is COREsense based in New York. This service requires less redundant work because data entry on sales to a separate accounting software application is not required due to the full integration of financial data. For most companies this solution will fall outside normal budget constraints.
If you have no budget for a shopping cart, you have a couple of solutions that might work depending on your technical expertise. OSCommerce is available at no cost. This product is a fully customizable solution for a shopping cart, but it does require personal programming. In many cases netrepreneurs will hire a programmer to set this shopping cart up for them.
If you have no up front budget for a shopping cart PayPal makes one available at no cost, but they do retain a fee as well as a small commission on each sale. The power of PayPal may make this a trusted source for online transactions for your customers.
Yahoo and eBay provide shopping cart services at $30-40 per month and offers a few features unavailable with the low cost or no-cost checkout solutions.
There are other online solutions for cyber transactions with the tipping point based entirely on the size and needs of your online business. If you are a large company with thousands of online transactions, it may ultimately be less expensive to purchase a shopping cart system that requires a monthly fee. In the end, the fees and commissions associated with no cost carts could outpace a standard monthly fee from other ecommerce transaction solutions.
Your customers have a choice in where they shop online and you have a choice in how you manage online transactions. Spend some time checking out the services offered and how the fees will affect your bottom line both now and as your company grows.
As with all ecommerce sites, your business will not do well if it is difficult to checkout. Make sure the transaction solution you choose allow your clients to make a purchase easily. If the process if too difficult the prospect may bow out before the sale is complete.
Digital Signature
A digital signature is a data item, which accompanies a digitally encoded message, and which can be used to ascertain both the originator of the message and the fact that the message has not been modified since it left the originator. It is a form of authentication method which is used to authenticate the identity of the sender by convincing the recipient of a document that the person to whom the signature belongs actually signed it. An electronic document in other words can be described as any instrument that is created or stored on a computer. These include electronic mail (e-mail), letters, memos, contracts and images.
Digital signatures are mathematically tied to the document they are intended to authenticate. The most widely used type of digital signature relies on public/private key encryption. A public / private key encryption system involves two mathematically related keys that are like large passwords for each user. The private key, known only by the �signer�, can encrypt a message that only their public key can decrypt. Once the private/public keys are generated using a valid certificate authority, they remain associated with the person who generates the two keys.
The certificate authority is a trusted entity that issues certificates to end entities and other Certificate Authorities. Another important thing that Certificate Authority does is to issue Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) periodically and post certificates and CRLs to a database or repository.
The overall process is illustrated in the figure below:
Note: The text editor refused to accept the diagram. To view the diagram, click the website link in the resource box of the author and click on the recent articles.
System A performs a sign operation that uses A�s private key to generate the signature. System B performs a verify operation that uses system A�s public key and that allows system B to be sure that a received message originated from system A and that the contents were not modified since it left system A.
In some respects, a digital signature is similar to an integrity check value (check digit). However, there is one major difference. A digital signature must be able to support non-repudiation, that is, a recipient of a message must be able to use the digital signature to convince a third party as to the identity of the originator. A digital signature may need to be used as the basis for resolving a dispute between the originator and recipient of a message, such as a check (cheque), or business document.
RSA Digital Signature
This is a simplistic digital signature technique (named after its creators � Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir and Len Adleman). It is one of the most popular public � key algorithms. It can be used for both encryption and digital signature. The originator of a message generates an encrypted version of the message, using RSA in authentication mode (that is, the encryption key is the private key of the originator). This encrypted version of the message is sent attached to a copy of the plaintext message. The recipient�s system, (which needs to know the corresponding decryption key - the public key of the originator), decrypts the encrypted version of the message content and compares it with the plaintext version. If the two are the same, the recipient can be assured that the originating system possessed the encryption key, and that the message contents were not changed en route.
The above scheme has some problems in terms of processing and communications overhead costs. Encryption and decryption have to be applied to the entire message contents and the volume of data sent is at least double the original message size. To overcome this problem, a hash function, which is a one-way function that maps values from a large domain into a comparatively small range, is used to generate from the content of the message to be signed, a fixed � length data item known as a message digest. The digest has the property that, in general, any change to the message will result in a different digest.
With this scheme, the originating system applies the hash function to obtain the digest, then RSA encrypts the digest to give the signature which is transmitted with the message, upon receiving the message, the recipient�s system re-computes the digest, and also RSA decrypts the signature. It then compares these two values. If they match, the recipient is assured that the originator knew the encryption key and that the message contents were not changed en route. There are several other techniques for providing digital signature
Operating Systems: File Systems
File systems are an integral part of any operating systems with the capacity for long term storage. There are two distinct parts of a file system, the mechanism for storing files and the directory structure into which they are organised. In mordern operating systems where it is possibe for several user to access the same files simultaneously it has also become necessary for such features as access control and different forms of file protection to be implemented.
A file is a collection of binary data. A file could represent a program, a document or in some cases part of the file system itself. In modern computing it is quite common for their to be several different storage devices attached to the same computer. A common data structure such as a file system allows the computer to access many different storage devices in the same way, for example, when you look at the contents of a hard drive or a cd you view it through the same interface even though they are completely different mediums with data mapped on them in completely different ways. Files can have very different data structures within them but can all be accessed by the same methods built into the file system. The arrangment of data within the file is then decided by the program creating it. The file systems also stores a number of attributes for the files within it.
All files have a name by which they can be accessed by the user. In most modern file systems the name consists of of three parts, its unique name, a period and an extension. For example the file 'bob.jpg' is uniquely identified by the first word 'bob', the extension jpg indicates that it is a jpeg image file. The file extension allows the operating system to decide what to do with the file if someone tries to open it. The operating system maintains a list of file extension associations. Should a user try to access 'bob.jpg' then it would most likely be opened in whatever the systems default image viewer is.
The system also stores the location of a file. In some file systems files can only be stored as one contigious block. This has simplifies storage and access to the file as the system then only needs to know where the file begins on the disk and how large it is. It does however lead to complications if the file is to be extended or removed as there may not be enough space available to fit the larger version of the file. Most modern file systems overcome this problem by using linked file allocation. This allows the file to be stored in any number of segments. The file system then has to store where every block of the file is and how large they are. This greatly simplifies file space allocation but is slower than contigious allocation as it is possible for the file to be spread out all over the disk. Modern oparating systems overome this flaw by providing a disk defragmenter. This is a utility that rearranges all the files on the disk so that thay are all in contigious blocks.
Information about the files protection is also integrated into the file system. Protection can range from the simple systems implemented in the FAT system of early windows where files could be marked as read-only or hidden to the more secure systems implemented in NTFS where the file system administrator can set up separate read and write access rights for different users or user groups. Although file protection adds a great deal of complexity and potential difficulties it is essential in an enviroment where many different computers or user can have access to the same drives via a network or time shared system such as raptor.
Some file systems also store data about which user created a file and at what time they created it. Although this is not essential to the running of the file system it is useful to the users of the system.
In order for a file system to function properly they need a number of defined operations for creating, opening and editing a file. Almost all file systems provide the same basic set of methods for manipulating files.
A file system must be able to create a file. To do this there must be enough space left on the drive to fit the file. There must also be no other file in the directory it is to be placed with the same name. Once the file is created the system will make a record of all the attributes noted above.
Once a file has been created we may need to edit it. This may be simply appending some data to the end of it or removing or replacing data already stored within it. When doing this the system keeps a write pointer marking where the next write oparation to the file should take place.
In order for a file to be useful it must of course be readable. To do this all you need to know the name and path of the file. From this the file system can ascertain where on the drive the file is stored. While reading a file the system keeps a read pointer. This stores which part of the drive is to be read next.
In some cases it is not possible to simply read all of the file into memory. File systems also allow you to reposition the read pointer within a file. To perform this operation the system needs to know how far into the file you want the read pointer to jump. An example of where this would be useful is a database system. When a query is made on the database it is obviously ineficient to read the whole file up to the point where the reuired data is, instead the application managing the database would determine where in the file the required bit of data is and jump to it. This operation is often known as a file seek.
File systems also allow you to delete files. To do this it needs to know the name and path of the file. To delete a file the systems simply removes its entry from the directory structure and adds all the space it previously occupied to the free space list (or whatever other free space management system it uses).
These are the most basic operations required by a file system to function properly. They are present in all modern computer file systems but the way they function may vary. For example, to perform the delete file operation in a modern file system like NTFS that has file protection built into it would be more complicated than the same operation in an older file system like FAT. Both systems would first check to see whether the file was in use before continuing, NTFS would then have to check whether the user currently deleting the file has permission to do so. Some file systems also allow multiple people to open the same file simultaneously and have to decide whether users have permission to write a file back to the disk if other users currently have it open. If two users have read and write permission to file should one be allowed to overwrite it while the other still has it open? Or if one user has read-write permission and another only has read permission on a file should the user with write permission be allowed to overwrite it if theres no chance of the other user also trying to do so?
Different file systems also support different access methods. The simplest method of accessing information in a file is sequential access. This is where the information in a file is accessed from the beginning one record at a time. To change the position in a file it can be rewound or forwarded a number of records or reset to the beginning of the file. This access method is based on file storage systems for tape drive but works as well on sequential access devices (like mordern DAT tape drives) as it does on random-access ones (like hard drives). Although this method is very simple in its operation and ideally suited for certain tasks such as playing media it is very inneficient for more complex tasks such as database management. A more modern approach that better facilitates reading tasks that arent likely to be sequential is direct access. direct access allows records to be read or written over in any order the application requires. This method of allowing any part of the file to be read in any order is better suited to modern hard drives as they too allow any part of the drive to be read in any order with little reduction in transfer rate. Direct access is better suited to to most applications than sequential access as it is designed around the most common storage medium in use today as opposed to one that isnt used very much anymore except for large offline back-ups. Given the way direct access works it is also possible to build other access methods on top of direct access such as sequential access or creating an index of all the records of the file speeding to speed up finding data in a file.
On top of storing and managing files on a drive the file system also maintains a system of directories in which the files are referenced. Modern hard drives store hundreds of gigabytes. The file system helps organise this data by dividing it up into directories. A directory can contain files or more directories. Like files there are several basic operation that a file system needs to a be able to perform on its directory structure to function properly.
It needs to be able to create a file. This is also covered by the overview of peration on a file but as well as creating the file it needs to be added to the directory structure.
When a file is deleted the space taken up by the file needs to be marked as free space. The file itself also needs to be removed from the directory structure.
Files may need to be renamed. This requires an alteration to the directory structure but the file itself remains un-changed.
List a directory. In order to use the disk properly the user will require to know whats in all the diretories stored on it. On top of this the user needs to be able to browse through the directories on the hard drive.
Since the first directory structures were designed they have gone through several large evolutions. Before directory structures were applied to file systems all files were stored on the same level. This is basically a system with one directory in which all the files are kept. The next advancement on this which would be considered the first directory structure is the two level directory. In this There is a singe list of directories which are all on the same level. The files are then stored in these directories. This allows different users and applications to store there files separately. After this came the first directory structures as we know them today, directory trees. Tree structure directories improves on two level directories by allowing directories as well as files to be stored in directories. All modern file systems use tree structore directories, but many have additional features such as security built on top of them.
Protection can be implemented in many ways. Some file systems allow you to have password protected directories. In this system. The file system wont allow you to access a directory before it is given a username and password for it. Others extend this system by given different users or groups access permissions. The operating system requires the user to log in before using the computer and then restrict their access to areas they dont have permission for. The system used by the computer science department for storage space and coursework submission on raptor is a good example of this. In a file system like NTFS all type of storage space, network access and use of device such as printers can be controlled in this way. Other types of access control can also be implemented outside of the file system. For example applications such as win zip allow you to password protect files.
There are many different file systems currently available to us on many different platforms and depending on the type of application and size of drive different situations suit different file system. If you were to design a file system for a tape backup system then a sequential access method would be better suited than a direct access method given the constraints of the hardware. Also if you had a small hard drive on a home computer then there would be no real advantage of using a more complex file system with features such as protection as it isn't likely to be needed. If i were to design a file system for a 10 gigabyte drive i would use linked allocation over contigious to make the most efficient use the drive space and limit the time needed to maintain the drive. I would also design a direct access method over a sequential access one to make the most use of the strengths of the hardware. The directory structure would be tree based to allow better organisation of information on the drive and would allow for acyclic directories to make it easier for several users to work on the same project. It would also have a file protection system that allowed for different access rights for different groups of users and password protection on directories and individual files.Several file systems that already implement the features ive decribed above as ideal for a 10gig hard drive are currently available, these include NTFS for the Windows NT and XP operating systems and ext2 which is used in linux.
Creating A Software Library
Every business uses computer software. But not every business realises the importance of having a user friendly software library for cataloging all their software.
While sharing software and using it on more than one computer is against the law, making a copy to keep in your software library in case it is ever needed is not only allowed, it is strongly advised.
In this sense a company�s software library is the computer equivalent of the box that says �break glass in emergency�; it grants you access to the vital software your company uses to run its day to day business. If anything goes wrong or the original software is corrupted in any way, you have the back up you need to get you out of trouble.
It�s obvious then that the library needs to be properly catalogued and kept fully up to date, to ensure that everything is where it should be in the event that it�s ever needed. Consider it as a fire extinguisher to help put out the flames caused by malfunctioning computer equipment. If you don�t know where that extinguisher is � or even worse, you haven�t got one at all � the flames could spread out and affect your whole business. Use the fire extinguisher however and everything is back to normal in no time.
The process of creating a software library can ironically be made much easier by purchasing software that is designed to make the task easy to perform and control. The companies that specialise in this kind of software also offer support services to help you get your own library up and running.
The most important aspect is to consider your needs and the best way of organising your own business software library. It needs to be easy to access and update, while remaining secure at all times.
For this reason it�s advisable to make sure that only a few key members of staff can access the software library. It�s not necessary for everyone to have access to it, and the more people are able to do so, the more likely it is that it will be compromised.
Once the library has been created it will be necessary to update it every time a new piece of software is integrated into the current computer system. Making a particular person responsible for seeing that this is done will ensure the integrity of the software library remains secure.
A History Into Microsoft Products
Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of software operating systems by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). The most recent client version of Windows is Windows Vista. The current server version of Windows is Windows Server 2008.
Windows 1.0 (1985)
The first version of Windows provided a new software environment for developing and running applications that use bitmap displays and mouse pointing devices. Before Windows, PC users relied on the MS-DOS� method of typing commands at the C prompt (C:\). With Windows, users moved a mouse to point and click their way through tasks, such as starting applications.
In addition, Windows users could switch among several concurrently running applications. The product included a set of desktop applications, including the MS-DOS file management program, a calendar, card file, notepad, calculator, clock, and telecommunications programs, which helped users, manage day-to-day activities.
Windows 2.0 (1987)
Windows 2.0 took advantage of the improved processing speed of the Intel 286 processor, expanded memory, and inter-application communication capabilities made possible through Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). With improved graphics support, users could now overlap windows, control screen layout, and use keyboard combinations to move rapidly through Windows operations. Many developers wrote their first Windows�based applications for this release.
Windows 3.0 (1990)
The third major release of the Windows platform from Microsoft offered improved performance, advanced graphics with 16 colors, and full support of the more powerful Intel 386 processor. A new wave of 386 PCs helped drive the popularity of Windows 3.0, which offered a wide range of useful features and capabilities, including:
Program Manager, File Manager, and Print Manager.
A completely rewritten application development environment.
An improved set of Windows icons.
Windows NT 3.1 (1993)
When Microsoft Windows NT� was released to manufacturing on July 27, 1993, Microsoft met an important milestone: the completion of a project begun in the late 1980s to build an advanced new operating system from scratch.
Windows NT was the first Windows operating system to combine support for high-end, client/server business applications with the industry's leading personal productivity applications.
Windows for Workgroups 3.11 (1993)
A superset of Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 added peer-to-peer workgroup and domain networking support. For the first time, Windows�based PCs were network-aware and became an integral part of the emerging client/server computing evolution.
Windows for Workgroups was used in local area networks (LANs) and on standalone PCs and laptop computers. It added features of special interest to corporate users, such as centralized configuration and security, significantly improved support for Novell NetWare networks, and remote access service (RAS)
Windows NT Workstation 3.5 (1994)
The Windows NT Workstation 3.5 release provided the highest degree of protection yet for critical business applications and data. With support for the OpenGL graphics standard, this operating system helped power high-end applications for software development, engineering, financial analysis, scientific, and business-critical tasks.
Windows 95 (1995)
Windows 95 was the successor to the three existing general-purpose desktop operating systems from Microsoft�Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, and MS-DOS. Windows 95 integrated a 32-bit TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) stack for built-in Internet support, dial-up networking, and new Plug and Play capabilities that made it easy for users to install hardware and software.
The 32-bit operating system also offered enhanced multimedia capabilities, more powerful features for mobile computing, and integrated networking.
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (1996)
This upgrade to the Microsoft business desktop operating system brought increased ease of use and simplified management, higher network throughput, and tools for developing and managing intranets. Windows NT Workstation 4.0 included the popular Windows 95 user interface yet provided improved networking support for easier and more secure access to the Internet and corporate intranets.
Windows 98 (1998)
Windows 98 was the upgrade from Windows 95. Described as an operating system that "Works Better, Plays Better," Windows 98 was the first version of Windows designed specifically for consumers.
With Windows 98, users could find information more easily on their PCs as well as the Internet. Other ease-of-use improvements included the ability to open and close applications more quickly, support for reading DVD discs, and support for universal serial bus (USB) devices
Windows 98 Second Edition (1999)
Windows 98 SE, as it was often abbreviated, was an incremental update to Windows 98. It offered consumers a variety of new and enhanced hardware compatibility and Internet-related features.
Windows 98 SE helped improve users' online experience with the Internet Explorer 5.0 browser technology and Microsoft Windows NetMeeting� 3.0 conferencing software. It also included Microsoft DirectX� API 6.1, which provided improved support for Windows multimedia, and offered home networking capabilities through Internet connection sharing (ICS)
Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) (2000)
Designed for home computer users, Windows Me offered consumers numerous music, video, and home networking enhancements and reliability improvements.
Windows Me was the last Microsoft operating system to be based on the Windows 95 code base. Microsoft announced that all future operating system products would be based on the Windows NT and Windows 2000 kernel.
Windows 2000 Professional (2000)
Windows 2000 added major improvements in reliability, ease of use, Internet compatibility, and support for mobile computing.
Among other improvements, Windows 2000 Professional simplified hardware installation by adding support for a wide variety of new Plug and Play hardware, including advanced networking and wireless products, USB devices, IEEE 1394 devices, and infrared devices.
Windows XP (2001)
With the release of Windows XP in October 2001, Microsoft merged its two Windows operating system lines for consumers and businesses, uniting them around the Windows 2000 code base.
With Windows XP, home users can work with and enjoy music, movies, messaging, and photos with their computer, while business users can work smarter and faster, thanks to new technical-support technology, a fresh user interface, and many other improvements that make it easier to use for a wide range of tasks
Windows VISTA
Windows Vista is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, Tablet PCs, and media centers.
Windows Vista contains many changes and new features, including an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Windows Aero, improved searching features, new multimedia creation tools such as Windows DVD Maker, and redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems
Online Security Begins At Home
It is important to make sure the computer you use to access your online ecommerce site is secure. Too often a site owner takes great care to ensure the security of the site itself and may fail to take precautions to protect his or her own computer.
If your website is not secure you may have difficulty accessing information, processing orders and securely accessing your own website.
Most netrepreneurs will place password protections on their ecommerce site to deter hackers, but interestingly a hacker might gain access to your information by another means altogether.
Personal Computer Security
Anti-virus software � There are thousands of viruses and mutations throughout the web. Some are implemented by visiting a website while others are downloaded through email. The use of anti-virus software is a good first step to securing your own personal computer. Make sure you set options that will allow you to gain updates at least once a day and be sure to scan your computer daily. In most cases this can be done automatically. Millions of files are corrupted and destroyed each year because of unprotected computers.
Automatic Updates � Your web browser will likely have a site for updates and security fixes applicable for your computer. Automatic notices can be requested when new updates are available. DO NOT ignore notices that inform you of needed downloads. Most of these updates address discovered weaknesses in a portion of the software. By maintaining the security of your website you improve the chances that your computer is free of present and future predators.
Spyware � This security risk is more personal than damaging. Spyware sets data miners in place that extract information about the locations you visit. They often access your email address information and can send emails to you based on the sites you have visited. Because the Spyware can uncover some personal data it should be eradicated regularly. Some anti-virus software includes spyware eliminators, but there are also several free versions of spyware eliminating software online. You should know that many freeware or shareware programs include spyware in the free-to use program (there�s always a catch). It is mentioned in some of the fine print of the site, but most users do not take the time to read all of the legalese.
By protecting your own computer you can also make it possible to protect the data of your customers by doing everything you can to ensure backdoor admission to the data is prohibited.
The Different Between One Registry Cleaner Software And Another
Here�s a fact: 92% of computers run on Windows, and every 32-bit edition of Windows has a storage sector where options and settings are saved. This sector is called the registry, and it is one of the busiest databases in a computer. As such, it is one of the databases that are most susceptible to corruption and breakage. This is why the demand for an efficient registry fix is consistently high.
But there are many options on the internet when it comes to a quick registry fix.
Which is the best one? Which registry fix is worth the download? Which registry fix will provide the best results?
In this article, we will review five of the most popular registry cleaners available on the World Wide Web today. It is hoped that you, the reader, will be guided properly on how to choose the best registry fix for your needs.
Registry Fix No. 1: Stompsoft Registry Repair
Stomp is known as the most thorough and most aggressive registry fix in the market today. Where other registry fixers can only diagnose 50 to 70 registry-related errors, Stomp can pinpoint more than 700.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Some say that Stomp merely counts errors in the registry that Windows will auto-correct eventually. Some say that Stomp merely looks for errors in places where files don�t really have a bearing on the processes conducted by the system.
Regardless, Stomp�s aggressiveness wouldn�t hurt, and at the end of the day, it�s still about how well the registry is fixed, and on this, Stomp has a pretty good record.
Registry Fix No. 2: CCleaner
Being a free registry cleaner, CCleaner has built a huge and solid following, with most of its patrons claiming that they have been using this registry fix as soon as it was released almost 5 years ago, and they have never looked for any other reg cleaner since then.
For a free registry fix, CCleaner�s features are simply amazing. CCleaner does things right. It erases the useless and redundant files in the registry, and it never meddles with files that may affect the performance of Windows.
And it is constantly updated! This is something that free registry fixes can seldom afford.
Registry Fix No. 3: Registry Mechanic
Registry Mechanic is likewise a stable registry fix. With the newest update, Version 6.0, Registry Mechanic is now capable of recognizing previously unrecognizable errors, and correcting the same, resulting in a cleaner, better performance for your Windows-based PC.
Many online authorities attest to the integrity of Registry Mechanic, mainly because of the aforementioned stability and consistency of this registry fix. This has created a wave of acclaim for the program, which has been translated to many downloads for the same.
Registry Fix No. 4: Registry First Aid
Speaking of acclaims, if the number of awards is to be used as gauge, then Registry First Aid should top this list.
Registry First Aid is a registry fix that boasts of a seamless cleaning process for your Windows operating system. It promises a stable program that will provide the registry fix you need fast and easy.
Registry Fix No. 5: Registry Medic
Registry Medic�s claim to fame, on the other hand, lies in three things: its amazing user-friendly interface, its powerful scan engine, and its ability to remove and immunize your system from spyware and malware infestation.
Registry medic is indeed more than just a mere registry fix. It aims to be a spyware cure and prevention solution as well, making it one of the top downloads of people who wish to speed up and protect the integrity of their PCs.
How to Clean Disc Drives
When your CD or DVD (disc) drive starts giving you problems, your first thought may be to replace it or take it to the repair shop, but a good cleaning may be all it needs.
Below are three methods to clean the disc drive. The easiest method is the least effective. The hardest method is the most effective. Since the hardest method takes some time to do, I recommend that you start with the easiest method. If it solves your problems, congratulations. If not, try the next method.
The Cleaner Disc method - this, the easiest method, uses a special cleaner disc which can be purchased in computer stores. The disc usually comes with a little bottle of cleaner solution. Apply a few drops of the solution to the disc and insert it in the disc drawer (be sure to read and follow the instructions that come with the cleaner disc). The drive will turn the disc and clean the lens. Unfortunately, this only works adequately about half the time.
The Cleaning Stick method - this is what I do in desperation when the cleaner disc does not work and I don't want to disassemble the drive. Since all that is needed (at least in my mind this is true) is a little more pressure applied to the lens, I start out in search of a thin, flexible stick of some type which is at least six inches long. It should not have sharp or rough edges that would scratch the lens. Next, get a soft, thin cloth and put water or rubbing alcohol in the middle of it. Place one end of the stick under the wet part of the cloth and slide it into the opened disc drawer. The goal is to rub the wet cloth on the lens to clean it. Do not apply so much pressure that you will scratch and ruin the lens. Also try blowing into the disc drive to remove any dirt that may have accommulated in it. If you do not succeed at this, proceed to the next method.
The Disassembly method - this method should work but it requires you to disassemble the drive. So if you are not comfortable with taking the drive apart, please take it to a computer repair shop and let them do it.
Take the cover off your computer, unplug the cords from the back of the disc drive, remove any screws holding it in, and slide it out (you may need to remove the face plate on the end of the drawer to get the drive out). Remove the screws in the drive housing and take the cover off. The bottom side of the drive is a circuit board, so if that is what you see when you take the cover off, figure out how to access the other side. On the correct side, you should see a lens that runs on a track (there is no harm in moving the lens along the track but do not touch the lens itself). Use a wet, soft cloth to clean the lens.
Sometimes a disc drive malfunctions because there is too much dust or debris in it, so be sure to clean out the inside with either compressed air, a soft cloth, or a cotton swab. Reassemble the disc drive, put it back in the computer case, and cross your fingers. Hopefully, it will work when you turn on the computer.
If these methods work, you just saved yourself some money. If not, you needed a better disc drive anyway.
Viewing an IP Network Camera over the Internet
IP Network Cameras are designed to work in a Local Area Network (LAN) and over the Internet. Within a LAN, IP Network Cameras allow for motoring local to the computer network to which the cameras are attached to. With additional configuration of your computer network you have the ability to allow for your IP Network Camera to be monitored not only locally but remotely as well using the Internet.
For advice on how to configure your network to allow for your camera to work over the Internet please follow this guide. Additional information can be found on www.networkcamerareviews.com.
Configuration - Local Access Before you are able to configure your camera to work over the Internet we suggest configuring the camera for local access first. Please refer to the technical documentation that came with your camera for proper instructions on initial configuration of your camera. Once the camera has been configured for local access you are then ready to start configuration for remote access to the camera over the Internet.
Configuration - Remote Access Before you proceed to configure your local network to allow your camera to be monitored from a remote location, we suggest that you contact your network administrator to ensure you have the proper authority to configure remote access to the camera. Once you have consulted with your network administrator you may proceed to configure remote access to the camera.
In order to configure your camera to work over the Internet you will need to configure what is called Port Forwarding. Port Forwarding allows for you to access the camera from a remote location by forwarding the network ports used by the camera onto the Internet. These ports are usually forwarded by accessing your network's router and configuring the router to forward the ports used by the camera.
For details as to what ports will be required for forwarding for your IP Network Camera, please consult the manufacturer of your camera. For additional information beyond this guide regarding Port Forwarding, please visit www.portforward.com where you will be able to find step by step guides on Port Forwarding specific to different models of routers.
Step 1 - Obtain IP Address Information In order to access your network's router for configuration of port forwarding you will require the IP Address of the router to which the camera is connected to. You can obtain this IP Address information by consulting with the network administrator of your network or by opening up a Command Prompt within Windows and entering in the "ipconfig /all" command. To open a command prompt window you will need to click on the Window's Start button and then proceed to click on Run. Now you will enter in "cmd" and click on "Ok" to proceed.
Once you have displayed the IP Configuration for your computer using the "ipconfig /all" command, you will then be able to record the IP Address for your router. You will need this IP Address in order to access your router for configuring Port Forwarding. Your network router's IP Address will be displayed as the Default Gateway.
Step 2 - Accessing your Network's Router Now that you have obtained the IP Address for your network's router you will then need to proceed to access your router by typing in the router's IP Address in a web browser.
Step 3 - Configuring Port Forwarding on your Router Now that you have access to the network router you will then need to proceed to browse to the configuration section on the router where port forwarding is to take place. Please consult with the manufacturer of your router for details as to where this section is. You may also review the website NetworkCameraReviews.com where you will find detailed forum posts on port forwarding with various routers.
The Private IP Address for the camera (local IP Address of camera) has been entered in as well as a unique name that will be associated with this particular port that is to be forwarded. In this example port 80 will be forwarded for the camera. Please consult with the manufacturer of your camera for details on what port(s) will be forwarded. Some IP Network Cameras require more then one port to be forwarded in order for you to obtain all the features the camera has to offer. You will also be presented with an option to select a Protocol to be to be used. Common options found are UDP, TCP or Both. Your router may have additional options. In most cases you will need to select the protocol option "Both". This will associate both UDP and TCP protocols to the port(s) being forwarded. In this example we with click on the Apply button once all required information has been entered.
After the settings have been saved within the router's configuration you should be able to see this information displayed in a list. There may be other entries in this list already by default.
Step 4 - Accessing your IP Network Camera over the Internet Now that you have configured port forwarding on your network's router to allow the camera to be accessed over the Internet, you are now ready to attempt to access the camera. We suggest attempting to access the camera from a remote location and not within the local network for confirmation that port forwarding was configured properly. At a remote location you will need to type in the Public IP Address that is provided by you Internet Service Provider (ISP) in order for you to be able to access your camera.
Please contact your ISP if you are not sure what your Public IP Address is. You will not be able to access the camera by it's Private IP Address (Example: 192.168.0.100) because the camera's Private IP Address cannot be seen on the Internet and can only be seen within the local network to which the camera is attached to.
In most applications port 80 will be forwarded and because of this no port information will be required in the Address Bar when attempting to access the camera. However, there are cases where an IP Network Camera will not use port 80. These cases are usually related to security concerns with using port 80.
We suggest contacting your network administrator or the manufacturer of you router to inquire upon the possible security concerns with forwarding port 80. If port 80 is not the port being used you will be required to enter in the full IP Address followed by a colon and the port number used.
You should now be able to fully access your IP Network Camera from a remote location using the Internet. If you require any additional support for configuring your camera for remote access, we strongly suggest that you contact the manufacturer of your camera, the manufacturer of your network's router or review the detailed guides found on NetworkCameraReviews.com.
Blogging For Internet Newbies
Blogs means different things to different people: to journalists they are unofficial sources of information, to the ordinary Joe they are an Online diary or forum, to repressive governments they are subversive and a threat and to the Internet marketer they are a marketing tool!
Starting as humble �Web Logs� kept by Internet Geeks, blogs have moved fast to occupy center ground. A good example of what a professional quality blog can look like is Jim Edward�s blog http://www.igottatellyou.com/blog/
This is not a diary entry this is entertainment!
Jim Edwards is an experienced journalist and user of multi media. But Newbies can learn some great lessons from this site. The obvious thing is that Jim Edwards character jumps off the page! You can do this. You have a character too! You have interests, passions, obsessions even!
And why would Jim Edwards provide first class information and entertainment at no cost? Because you will keep going to his blog and you will learn about the books Jim has written. Maybe you would even buy one! Very nice �un-pushy� advertising.
The importance of Blogs to the Newbie will take a while to become clear. For now I just want to say that a blog is a website. You can enter whatever text you desire, pictures too! You can allow other people to contribute if you want (I�d recommend against that unless you review and moderate the content!)
For anyone who is nervous about building a website or about getting content for a Newsletter or eZine, having a blog is a perfect practise tool to build up confidence and material
How to get started
Internet Newbies who wish to start Blogging must first find Blogging software.
The three main varieties of blog software are
1. Blogger, free and very easy technically
2. Wordpress, free ( and priceless as Wordpress fans remark ! )
3. Typepad, monthly charge
4. Squarespace, monthly charge
We will use the free one � Blogger. which is very �Newbie friendly�
First visit Blogger http://www.blogger.com/home
You find yourself at what I call the front page of Blogger and what Blogger calls �The Dashboard�.
Now use the �Create a Blog� button. You are then asked for a Title or name for the blog and then a web name. The name should reflect the desired subject matter of your blog and the web name is probably going to be shorter and conform to the usual rules � no spaces etc.
Mostly people Blog either by going to http://www.blogger.com/home and entering their password and username clicking on New Post and just typing straight in or by downloading the Google Tool Bar with the little orange Blogger button. To get this, go to Google.com and click on the �more� link on the right. You will find the little orange Blogger button and can download it and install it.
You may have the Google Toolbar already. In Internet Explorer, click on View and then on Toolbars, if you see Google there tick it and use it, otherwise you need to download it. The exact details may depend on the version of Windows you have etc.
After opening an account at Blogger jot down a few notes, Remember this is a website, the whole world will be able to read it so don�t put anything in it that you might regret!
Happy Blogging!
If you want to build a business on the Web Blogging is a good place to start. You get used to writing and when you click the little orange �Blogger� button your words will be �live on the internet�.
Before we end this �Newbie Guide To Blogging� lets just comment on Adsense.
When you sign up for a Blogger blog you will be able to add �Adsense� to the blog. This is a clever form of advertising and in principle can earn you money when a reader clicks on one of the Ads�. If you have a high traffic blog with thousand of visitors per month it is true that income from such advertising can be substantial � earning hundreds or even thousands of dollars. For the Newbie Adsense is just a distraction in my view and is not likely to earn a substantial income.
If you can use a blog and add to it regularly and build an archive of content you may soon be ready to think of putting a website together and that for most people is much more lucrative.
Computer Security Against Data Loss And Identity Theft
This week I was going to write about upgrading system RAM but while watching the news I saw the story about Hotels.com and their data theft. Last weeks big story was the data lose at the Veterans Administration. NOW .. to be clear, these were not computer security breeches but people actually carrying the data out on disk. But the point is data is valuable and this leads to computer security
This past week alone we had 5 machines that were so loaded with spyware the machines literally stalled and were unusable. Now, knowing how low the response is when we run spyware ads I know many of you are not listening. Then, when you head to the repair shop it is already too late. Add to this the cost of the repair /clean out which usually costs many times is more then the actual machine is worth.
If ever there was a case for the fabled "ounce of prevention" this is it. Anyway identity theft is the fastest growing, most damaging and expensive crime we have today. It can take up to a year to detect and by then the damage can be extensive, but with a few simple steps you can avoid it. The problem is getting you to take those steps so I'll go over them again.
Before you go near the Internet your computer needs three types of software, first, a good anti-virus program. We recommend products like Norton Anti-virus, Trend Micro and if you are looking for a good freebie, get AVG. Now if one is good two should be better right ... wrong. This not true with virus software. Very often they will conflict and cause system performance issues.
Next you need a firewall, if nothing else use the built in Windows firewall that comes with XP Sp2, if you have an earlier version then you seriously need to run Windows updates. This is not just for the firewall but you are missing a large collection of security updates. Finally, you need a spyware scanner and you need two of these, one pro-active (scanning threats as they come in) and one that is reactive (scans for threats that are let in by hiding in something else). This is especially true if you use Yahoo, MSN, or Google search bars.
Also AOL is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to collecting and selling info on their subscribers. But they hide it well by keeping you focused on the competitors spyware they are removing. You also need two spyware scanners because neither will get all the threats and one will get what the other missed. We recommend Pest Patrol and Ad Aware. Avoid Spybot at all costs. This is just a spyware suite disguised as a scanner. Well there you have it, again. The Internet is a safe place if you take the proper precautions.
Cost Of Spam And Why Use Anti-Spam Filter
E-mail is now being abused. The flow of spam on the Internet is the proof. It is annoying to download hundreds of disgusting spam emails into the inbox looking for some legitimate messages. Not only you waste your valuable time to delete junk emails by hand, you also waste your money as each spam message in your inbox takes precious kilobytes of bandwidth you paid for. In addition, spam messages can contain viruses, which can infect your computer system, and hidden tracking codes, which work as soon as you click on the message and let the spammer know that your email address is valid. With all that said, it would be great to delete the messages that you don�t want to receive beforehand and launch your email client to pull down only good emails. Anti-spam software can do this for you. It helps you fight against annoying spam.
There is a wide choice of anti-spam filters available on the Internet. The common services or features they offer are:
� Whitelist and Blacklist. The decision whether an email message is spam or good is taken based on the sender�s email address. The whitelist contains �friendly� email addresses, and the blacklist contains potential spammers, or simply people you don�t want to communicate with.
� Filtering based on the message subject or content. Some words or phrases are met in spam emails more often than others. These are usually vulgar or adult words (sometimes too offending). Thus, filtering based on a keyword is rather helpful.
� Virus scanning. There is possibility that spam email contains a virus in the attachment. Certain anti-spam programs allow you block emails with various suspicious attachments.
� Automatic spam detection. Some anti-spam filters can check inbound email and delete the emails they consider as spam automatically at a regular basis.
� Email recovering. Some spam blockers provide you with the ability to move spam emails to a quarantine folder and keep them for a fixed number of days. In addition, there is the possibility to recover an email from the trash if you need it.
So, with the great features and benefits that antispam software offers, you can now easily block the majority of spam emails.
Boost Up Internet Speed Without Software
Choosing DVD Burning Media
There are many reasons why it's particularly important that we get to choose the most ideal type and, most of all, best DVD there is, especially if you're considering DVD burning. Low quality media can freeze or skip and may even not be recognized at all. Cyclic redundancy errors or �I/O� errors are also prevalent with these types of DVD media. These errors may mean that you are dealing with a dirty disco or that your DVD burner is not accepting the low quality media.
Another error that you can face is a "power calibration error." This type of error can also often be due to low quality media. What you could try to help is shut down the DVD software, eject the disc, and restart the program while re-inserting freshly cleaned media.
If you are trying to save up, cheap media can be fine for text or data sheets, even .jpg or .gif pictures but it�s not recommended for your DVD backups.
What you can do is download an identifier for your DVD in order to figure out what quality it is.
What you want and what you are after here is prime quality media for your DVD backups. Any type of media which may make use of superior dye and dye application paired with a quality composite disc are perfect for DVD backups. Gambling your DVD backups on lower quality media can very well waste your time and effort in DVD burning. Starting with good quality media will ensure you of quality results.
Remember, low quality media refers to the composite the manufacturer uses. This includes the dye method application and quality control of manufacturing. This does not necessarily refer directly to the price!
Aiming for the best burn!
When you are trying to get the best DVD burn, you may opt to decrease burn speed to 4x. Using a new 16x DL burner you could try burning at 6x. But 8x or over may result in coasters even while utilizing good quality media.
Backup life of a cheap disc
You may believe that data on a DVD backup may very well last forever, but make sure that you do not throw your originals down the drain. Frankly, you may end up needing them sooner than you think. Low quality discs can break down, some even within a year from burning. This is why quality is a key component in any type of DVD burning. Keep in mind that quality is an important factor in choosing all elements involved in DVD burning.
Wi-fi Wireless Internet Made Simple
Just what is all this Wi-Fi wireless internet stuff they are trying to confuse and torment me with?
It is actually quite simple, useful and most of all convenient.
All you probably want to do is to share your internet connection throughout your home whether it be to other computers or so that you can sit in your bedroom and wirelessly surf the internet or send email. Perhaps as well you wish to share files such as songs throughout the computers in your house, apartment or condo.
Don�t let them confuse with all this alphabet soup - b , g , a , 11 megabytes , 54 , 108.
To begin with most any of the systems are beyond overkill. All will go faster than the even high speed broadband internet. Most use the same frequency as the standard cordless phones (2.4 GHz). . Be reassured the phones and the wireless internet in most cases will co- exist and work well with each other.
The most common wireless setups wireless b and g use the frequency most cordless phone use. G wireless internet is sort of a faster b standard. What is important to know is that it is all standardized. B will work with G and G products will work with B. G is said to up to 5 times faster than B that is assuming that you are relatively close. G wireless is very useful primarily if you are sharing large files between computers. For ordinary browsing b wireless is still overkill speed, faster as said than most broadband internet connections. The usual stated range of these wireless products is 300 feet indoors range and 1000 feet outside. The range is basically line of sight. Heavy dense objects � primarily metal, metal doors, metal foil insulation, heavy bricks and pipes and objects such as furnaces, metal filing cabinets will block reception to some degree. As well if the manufacturer makes some ultra high speed claims remember that both the router and wireless network adapters will have to be that brand and that special computer networking hardware feature to work at those high speeds and transmission rates. Remember to that wireless internet transmission speeds fall rapidly with distance.
Wireless internet is basically a radio setup with a transmitter and receivers. The transmitter is a box that plugs into the internet to share your internet connection. This is called a �Router �. . Wireless routers are made by a number of manufactures and the most widely known are the Linksys and D-Link brands. All routers are fairly good now. Tech support may be something to consider for setup ease. Routers are often sold on sale at big box stores as a means of drawing customers who already have at least one computer into their stores. It is reasoned that if a customer wants to buy a router the odds are good that he or she has more than one computer and once in the store will make additional purchases .Perhaps they will be even so fed up with the older computer as the kids have taken use of the newer faster model that the customer will even buy a additional new computer from the store.. The routers that you will find on sale will most likely be the newer g standard routers which will work with your B or G wireless network adapters in your computers.
Secondly you will need a receiver to receive the wireless internet signal at the computer end. You will have several options depending on your setup. If your laptop is a newer model then you may have a wireless �network adapter:� already built into your laptop. If you have an older laptop you can install a PCMCIA wireless network adapter into the credit card sized slot on your laptop. If you have a desktop computer you will have several options. If you have the abilities and are allowed by your warranty to open your computer case then you can install a standard PCI wireless card. The advantage of the PCI cards is that they almost always work, are screwed in so that they cannot be dislodged to stop working. The disadvantage is that the antenna of the card is hidden behind the metal of the computer case limiting reception. Another option is USB wireless adapters. Not only can the USB wireless adapter be installed without opening the case but as well with a USB extension cord the YSB network adapter can be lifted away from the computer to a higher more open place.
Several points on setup to make your life easier. After all networking is often called �Voodoo Science �. First if you are buying both the wireless adapters as well as the router try to buy the same brand, There will be easier setup , perhaps faster speed and tech support will not be able to blame the other vendor�s product for setup issues. You can tell tech support even after the return period of the store: �I guess the products are defective and have to be replaced �. There will be no issue of blaming the other vendor�s product. Case closed. Secondly most of the routers are setup by a �web based interface �. Some will come with an install disc as wizard. With others you will enter a web address usually 192.168.x.x and a password. To enter this setup interface. The instructions and passwords should be in either your instructional manual or disc that came in the box with your router. If you have a standard cable broadband account then just follow instructions if you have a DSL type of broadband internet connection then you will need the paper the phone company gave you with your internet account name and setup password. The type of connection that you set up in the router for DSL connections is called �POPE� The connection internet connection password is most likely different than your email password. This internet connection password is of very little value to anyone else. If you do not have this information phone your DSL provider tech support.
Next install the wireless adapters. Windows XP has its own wireless utility program installed. With previous versions of windows (Windows 98, 2000 and ME) you will have to install the utility program that the manufacturer provided on the install disk.
Most of his install manuals have 2 different sets of instructions � one for Windows XP, the other for the remaining operating systems.
When you setup the router you will be given a choice of whether to turn on the security features so that other people can drive up in front of your house and freeload your internet signals. It is anyone�s choice whether they wish to use this feature or not.
Believe me there will be no shortage of wireless internet connections for those freeloaders � estimate is 60 %. You can say to yourself if someone wants to waste gas to sit in front of my home to download songs or whatever good for them . If you wish to turn on the scrambling to sign onto your internet it will be in the advanced wireless or wireless security section of your router control panel. There are a number of choices. Most common is a setup called �WEP� (Web Enabled Protection)... This is available in a standard 64 bit or more secure 128 bit WEP settings. 64 bit setup is easier. 128 bit has you enter a long string of characters twice. Lots of fun with mistakes on entering those digits correctly. The easier to use security setup routines will allow an easy to use phrase code generator. For example in the phrase code generator you enter the word
Badgerlinux. The number / character code will then be generated that you must enter both the router and wireless adapter ends of your system. WEP is considered by purists not as secure as a newer system called WPA. Not all of the older hardware supports WPA. You may look at it as � if someone in my area can break into my WEP protected wireless system then that is the least of my troubles.
Lastly the biggest problem with wireless internet networks in neighbors. That is right neighbors. It is estimated that 40 % of wireless products are returned to big box stores. There are 12 available channels available in the wireless router settings. For convenience and to aid setup most brands of routers place the default channel of their routers as channel 6 right in the middle of the 12 channels available. It does not take much a signal at all to confuse your wireless adapter. You will see signal strength of your wireless route signal but you will unable to get a solid internet connection.
Worse yet this phenomenon of no internet connection may be sporadic. In many cases you will not be able to even spot the culprit in your wireless configuration software.
Remarkably wireless internet signals can travel a fair distance and may even appear to come out of nowhere. Worse yet the interference may be on sporadic. And as said it does not take much of a signal at all to leave you with no internet connection.
The answer is simplicity itself. �Change the Channel �. There are 12 available channels in your router setup control panel. The next 2 choices for wireless channel selection are at the 2 ends of the spectrum � channels 1 and 11. However it may simply be a matter of trial and error.
Wireless internet is rather amazing, you can surf the world, download songs, send email and transfer files conveniently at high speed and at some distance away from your internet connection. In addition you do not have to call or pay electrician to string the internet network wiring in your home. And if you wish to move the computers or even move just pickup and make the move.
If in the end you are having troubles on setup do not feel afraid to call tech support. Someone in India or the Philippines will be more than happy to assist you. Remember in the end you have the ultimate threat of all , that is to take your new Wi-Fi wireless products back to your store of purchase.
Printer Buying Guide
Printers are essential peripherals, performing a critical role as they render electronic information 
into tangible records or material output. You're simply not using your computer to its fullest potential if you are unable to print reports, presentations, letters, photos, or whatever it is you need to output. Choosing a printer can be confusing, however, in today's competitive, ever-changing landscape. This buying guide rounds out some of the more important criteria to consider before you make that all-important purchase decision.
Printing Technologies
This is the biggest decision to make before anything else. Your choice should be based on how you work and the kind of output you will be expecting from the printer.
�Inkjet: Inkjet printers can deliver stunning color, so this is the way to go if you are mostly concerned with printing photos. Inkjets can be used for printing text, but the print speed is too slow if the primary purpose of the printer is document printing. To obtain more photo-realism, choose inkjets with an expanded range of colors that includes light cyan and light magenta in addition to the standard four-color CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). The extra colors deliver more subtle color gradations in blue skies and skin tones. And if you print a great deal of black-and-white photos, consider photo printers with more than one variation of black ink or with gray inks. Many photo printers use color inks to produce a composite black, resulting in a muddy tint. A second black-ink cartridge and different shades of gray help maintain a neutral tone, with the gray ink allowing for subtle shading and thus improving the quality of black-and-white photos.
�Dye-sublimation: Dye-sub printers can print continuous tones and a superior range of colors that laser printers are unable to, making them ideal for more demanding graphic applications or color printing. Dye-sub prints are also less prone to fading and distortion over time than dye-based ink prints. In addition, many consumer-based dye-sublimation printers can print directly from digital cameras and also accept memory cards. They are, however, more limited in the range and size of printing media that can be used - usually letter-size paper or smaller.
�Laser: Laser printers are the perfect choice if you need to print large amounts of text documents. They print faster than inkjets and have a lower cost of operation over the long-term - even though they may cost more to buy initially. There are trade-offs, however. Monochrome laser printers produce crisp black-and-white text but cannot be used for color printing. Color lasers deliver excellent text and graphics but are much more expensive and can be costly to maintain.
Printer Usage
Some printers are good for general printing, while others are better at specialized tasks or combine several functions into one machine.
�Photo: If you take lots of pictures, consider getting a photo printer. Photo printers can be in the form of photo inkjets - which can print both photos and text; snapshot photo printers - for outputting small 4x6-inch prints; or professional photo printers - for large, tabloid-size photos and often including network connections to enable printer sharing. Most consumer and professional photo printers use inkjet technology, while most snapshot photo printers that print 4x6-inch prints rely on dye-sublimation technology. Regardless of the type or technology that is used, the most important thing to look for in a photo printer is photorealistic quality. Everything else is secondary.
�General Purpose: As the name implies, general purpose printers can be used for printing almost anything, including text and photos. Choose a general printer with a laser format if you print more text than photos; and choose an inkjet format if you print more photos than text. �Multifunction: Multifunction printers (MFPs) combine in one device several functions such as printing, scanning, faxing, and copying. MFPs cost less than buying separate stand-alone devices and cut down on the hassle of setting up individual machines. If you are strapped for budget or space, consider these all-in-one devices. Take note, however, that a malfunction with one component takes down the whole device, and individual components may not be upgradeable. MFPs are available with either laser printers to emphasize speedy text printing and the occasional graphics output; or they are available with inkjet printers for vibrant photo printing.
Printer Specs and Key Features
Printers feature various specifications, so navigating the spec sheet intelligently requires familiarity with what each specification entails according to the printing technology involved or for the type of usage planned for the printer.
�Resolution: For laser printers, 300 dpi is adequate if all you need is to print black-and-white text, but choose at least 1200 dpi for photorealistic grayscale or color printing. For inkjets, choose one featuring 1200-dpi or higher resolution with a droplet size of 4 picoliters or smaller for sharp, clean output. With photo printers, resolution varies according to technology: Output at 300 dpi by photo printers using dye-sublimation technology is comparable to photo printers using inkjet technology outputting at 1200 dpi or higher.
�Speed: Speed ratings vary greatly, and the print speeds cited by manufacturers usually refer to printing in draft mode or at the lowest resolution. For laser printers, a more accurate way of measuring actual print speed is to time just how long it takes from the minute you hit "Print" - to the time that it takes the printer to warm up, spool the job into the print queue, and for the printed output to finally come out. For inkjets, print speed is not one of its stronger suits; so don't be overly concerned with this spec.
�Memory: Extra memory will come in handy for laser printers to enable them to handle large graphics and documents more easily. Check the maximum upgradeable memory allowed for your printer, if it features a hard drive with similarly upgradeable memory, and if the printer can use generic memory or needs the manufacturer's brand. In the case of inkjets, memory is built-in and not upgradeable, but this is not an issue inasmuch as processing occurs on the side of the computer - so there's no need for large amounts of installed RAM to begin with on inkjets.
�Connectivity: Most printers today no longer support the older parallel connection but feature instead USB 1.1 or Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) - either of which should work fine with USB computers. For printers to be used on a network, it will need to have an Ethernet port to enable printer sharing. For more flexible printing options, you may want to look for printers with infrared input/output ports that allow wireless printing from notebooks or other devices with infrared ports. And if high-speed or long-distance printing is what you need, consider printers with a FireWire port.
Consumables and cost per page
The purchase price of the printer is just the beginning of its overall cost because over time, the hidden cost of ink or toner, paper, and parts will add up. These "hidden costs" are the consumables; dividing the total cost of consumables by the number of pages that can be produced from the consumables gives you the cost per page. Laser printers offer the lowest cost per page, using relatively inexpensive toner and normal-weight, uncoated paper. On the other hand, cost per page for inkjets can be four or five times as much, depending on how much ink you use and the cost of the paper - normally more expensive, coated, glossy paper for higher-quality color output. The tank configuration for inkjets should also be taken into consideration. Inkjets with a single cartridge for the colored inks will incur higher replacement costs because the cartridge must be replaced as soon as one color runs out - even if the cartridge still contains plenty of ink for the other colors. To save costs, get an inkjet with separate cartridges for black and each individual color.
How Spammers Obtain Your Email Address And Why They Send Spam
You probably know that Spam is unsolicited and undesired e-mail message. Spammers are the people who send Spam. Spam is a serious problem. It is important today as never before because almost every other email message we receive is Spam. So, the question arises how spammers get your email address and why they send you Spam. Spammers can obtain your email address in three ways.
One way is to guess a mailbox name for a publicly listed domain name. Many organizations have the email addresses where the first part of the email address is a general word such as �info�, �sales�, �accounts�, �support�, etc. People often use the email addresses beginning with their first name, for example, John, Sandra, Julia. Spammers simply put the first names before the @ symbol followed by a domain name, and get possible email addresses.
Secondly, spammers can gather email addresses from the Internet. They use programs that search web pages looking for email addresses. If there is your contact email address in your web site, or if the email address is embedded into your profile, your email address will be obtained by spammers.
The third way to get your email address is to buy email lists. Some dishonest companies can make money by selling the customer�s information to spammers. Spammers can also bribe unscrupulous employees of companies to get a copy of the email list.
Once spammers got a list of the victims� email addresses, they start spamming. They do it to make money. In general, there are two kinds of spam messages:
1.Offering trashy and fraudulent goods or services (e.g. Viagra, Cialis, medications, fake Rolexes, software programs, etc.)
2.Stock scams working on �Pump and dump� schemes. Spammers encourage you to invest in a particular company's stock, in order to quickly inflate its value and enable the spammers to make a fast profit.
By sending their undesired messages spammers have for an object to contact thousands or even millions people in the hope to hit one or a few dolts who actually will buy their crappy products. No dolts, no spam. But out of a million people, you will always find one or two.
Most of the Internet protocols that computers use to talk to each other are anonymous. Your email server thinks that any email server connecting to it over the Internet is giving its name properly and that the email it sends is legitimate. Spammers abuse this trust relationship to send you their garbage. The Internet protocols cannot be changed in a moment so we need another solution to the problem of spam.
Legislative attempts produced no effect. It�s not easy to track a spammer located in USA sending spam using a mail server from Russia to mailboxes in Australia. Spammers are also known to use Trojans to hijack one�s computer and make that person send spam on behalf of the spammer. The �victim� doesn�t even guess about it. These people would be caught up in any comprehensive Spam legislation.
However that may be you can take some measures to protect your inbox against spam flow by yourself. There is a wide choice of anti-spam products available on the Internet. You only have to choose the right one to block Spam before it reaches your inbox. There is no guarantee that you will get absolutely no Spam but at least you will reduce its amount.
How Search Engines Work
To make easy money online you have to get high targeted traffic to your website. This is acheived by your knowledge of how to be ranking high in the search engines. The basic step is to know how search engines work.
Most searh engines have three parts: a crawler, an index, and a search interface.Let's look at each part individually to get a better understanding of them. Each part has its own role to play in the process, with all parts working together to make searches possiple.
1. The Crawler:
Also known as a "spider" or "bot", this part of the search engine wanders the web, following links and picking up information for its database. Crawlers do most of their work at times of the day when searh engines are less busy, but they typically visit frequently updated pages more often. This is something to keep in mind when you are working on your pages.
Your site's title and text(your content) are the most important thing to a crawler. The fastest way to raise your site's search engine ranking for specific key words is to implementthem into your title and your content.
2. The index.
Once the crawler has collected all that text, it is then stored and indexed. This allows people searching for key words and phrases to get results relating to what they were searching for - their search results. Most sites will incorporate rating systems such as Google Page Rank or Alexa Rankings in positioning your site. These ratings are used attempt to ensure that sites that are important receive more traffic than unimportant sites.
To see this in action, go to a search engine and type in a word. You'll see some text on the page saying something like "results 1-10 of 1,234,000". This means that the search engine's index contains 1,234,000 pages it believes are related to the word you typed. If you wanted to, you could look through all these pages to find the information you're looking for.
In order to understand rating systems more thoroughly consider your own site. When you place links on your site you generally do so to increase your users understanding of the content of your site.
If every site in a particular field links to a particular site, this site is probably very important to that field and should, therefore, be listed highly in the lists of search engine results. This is the basic ideology of Google Page Ranks.
Consider again , a site that receives a great deal of traffic, it probably has some information or service that is very important to its users. Alexa ratings attempt to estimate the amount of traffic that a particular site gets and compare it to the amount of traffic that other sites get. The closer that a site is to the most trafficed site on the internet, the more likely it is to have important content if it is relevant to search query.
3. The Interface.
Search engines provide a public intrface for users who want to find information on the web. They can type the word or phrase they're searching for, and the interface will run an algorithm to find the pages relevant to their search and display them.
These algorithms are an important part of the SEO(Search Engine Optimization) business. You'll notice when the algorithms change, the rankings of your website will change with them. No two search engines have the same algorithms. They all work differently, with their unique features, and they will all respond to your website in their own way.
