It is the duty of technology not only to improve itself, but to become more and more user friendly. We can see this happen within the ever evolving sphere of Wireless LAN connections. Here the only constant is the easy to install, plug and play hardware which is well complimented by simple user friendly software. One only has to plug in the device to explore the network or even the Internet, however, Wireless LAN connections are often vulnerable to hackers or even virus threats. These malicious entities try to infiltrate the network and destroy important data. Then again, there is good news for all those people who wish to secure their Wireless LAN connections. Now you can enjoy the benefits of a protected Wireless LAN experience for less than a hundred dollars.
The first step after installing the hardware is to work out the configuration best suited for your network. Pay close attention to the security settings in particular and do not enable the Wireless LAN before you have everything in place and configured. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry. There are a few safety precautions one can adopt after setting up the Wireless LAN network.
Let us begin with the router and the access points. We recommend that you deploy an administrator password to reinforce and bolster access routes. In this way, the intruder will not be able to log into your Wireless LAN system without entering the correct password. Then again, certain systems or devices are preconfigured with default passwords.
Unfortunately, these passwords are often the manufacturer’s own name, because it is easy to remember although it lacks originality. We know that leaving a network unguarded with default passwords is the fool hardy option. This is why we must customize all the access points and the wireless router with our own unique passwords. Often we forget these passwords since we do not need to use them on a regular basis. At this point there is no option but to revert back to the default settings to reenter your network. The only problem is that all your time spent on customization will go to waste as those change are erased when default settings are applied.
Remember that the access points and the routers are specifically configured to retain and protect vital information like the SSID (Service Identifier) and even the name of the Wireless LAN network. This system makes it difficult to identify our own network, but thankfully, it doesn’t compromise the security. Without this elaborate masking system, you could be leaking away important details or clues that prove handy to outsiders with ill-intentions.
Now we study the two types of encryption employed to secure a Wireless LAN system. They are WEP or Wired Equivalency Privacy and the WPA or WiFi Protected Access. We know that the WEP system is widely used but it also has a sequence of easy to exploit weaknesses because of its poorly designed encryption software. On the other hand, there is the highly recommended WPA option which reinforces your network while proving surprisingly easier to install and configure. One should note that unlike WEP, WPA is not inhibited by a limited number of password combinations as it explores the keyboard beyond the alphabets and number keys. There is a preloaded WPA support system within the Windows XP software package. WPA2 is the next generation WPA, which provides greater security but relies on specially downloaded updates.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
VoIP Phone System - 5 Advantages For Your Business
New technologies such as IP Telephony don't just replace previous ones but allow much greater functionality, increased productivity, enhanced customer service and lower costs than prior technologies. Here are just a few ideas for you to ponder.
Your IP Telephone System provides the following advantages:
* Seamless extension dialing between all your locations on your private network, or even over the public Internet, is relatively easy and much less costly than traditional means. All your offices can be "tied together" to act as one large office no matter where in the world they are located. This also provides the advantage of eliminating long distance charges between your locations.
* IP Telephony creates lower cost and greater functionality advantages from carrier services. With IP Telephony you can connect all your offices together on your own private network. Or you can use the "quasi-private" network of a carrier.
This means you use one service provider to provide the voice trunks at each office. Your voice traffic between offices stays on the private network of the carrier. Your voice traffic never has to travel through the public internet.
If done correctly you have the advantage of carrying your voice traffic over the same network that carries your data traffic between offices but through the service provider you have Quality of Service to give voice priority over data. This will also give you a lower cost than the traditional means of a totally private network connecting your offices.
* Easily and economically connecting home based workers. Your home based worker can be easily connected to your office phone system with a high speed connection such as DSL or cable Internet. Your worker takes a phone from your office and connects it to that Internet connection. Or your worker uses a "soft phone" which is software on their computer at home that functions like a telephone.
That physical phone or soft phone, located anywhere in the world, is now a phone on your office phone system with all the individual settings that worker has on their phone at the office. Someone calls your office and the call automatically rings the phone at your worker's home. The caller doesn't know where the person they're calling is located. This arrangement can even work for a small one, two, or three person branch office.
* Easily and economically connecting traveling workers. Imagine you're traveling and staying at a hotel with a high speed Internet connection. You have a "soft phone" on your laptop computer. You can use a headset on your laptop or a handset that plugs into a USB port on your computer. The handset acts just like the handset on your phone at the office. You can now receive and make calls through your soft phone just like you're at your office. Callers will ring through to your soft phone.
You can be located anywhere in the world and the person you call or calls you won't know where you are. If you're going to be away for an extended period of time, you may even want to take a regular office phone and set it up on your Internet connection. This arrangement makes use of IP Telephony for your office combined with VOIP using the Internet. IP Telephony makes all this easily possible at a lower cost than traditional systems.
Home based and traveling workers can also go into your office, in fact any of your office locations, and simply "log in" to your phone system just like they log in to your computer system. Once logged in all their phone settings are automatically provided to the phone in which they log in. This just wasn't easy or feasible to do economically prior to IP Telephony.
* Software upgrades are much easier and can be performed by you instead of paying the telephone equipment vendor to do them.
There are many more benefits to IP Telephony. This brief overview should be enough to peak your interest to continue your investigation. You don't need to make a total swap out of your current phone system. It is possible to gradually introduce an IP Telephone System into your organization and interface it to legacy systems.
Don't just improve the way you currently do business! Explore the strategic business applications and implications of IP Telephony. New technologies such as IP Telephony don't just replace previous ones but allow much greater functionality, increased productivity, enhanced customer service and lower costs than prior technologies.
Expand the possibilities of conducting your business in ways you never thought possible. All major phone system manufacturers are investing their research and development dollars into development of their IP Phone Systems. Thousands of companies have already converted to it. There must be a reason or two or twenty.
Your IP Telephone System provides the following advantages:
* Seamless extension dialing between all your locations on your private network, or even over the public Internet, is relatively easy and much less costly than traditional means. All your offices can be "tied together" to act as one large office no matter where in the world they are located. This also provides the advantage of eliminating long distance charges between your locations.
* IP Telephony creates lower cost and greater functionality advantages from carrier services. With IP Telephony you can connect all your offices together on your own private network. Or you can use the "quasi-private" network of a carrier.
This means you use one service provider to provide the voice trunks at each office. Your voice traffic between offices stays on the private network of the carrier. Your voice traffic never has to travel through the public internet.
If done correctly you have the advantage of carrying your voice traffic over the same network that carries your data traffic between offices but through the service provider you have Quality of Service to give voice priority over data. This will also give you a lower cost than the traditional means of a totally private network connecting your offices.
* Easily and economically connecting home based workers. Your home based worker can be easily connected to your office phone system with a high speed connection such as DSL or cable Internet. Your worker takes a phone from your office and connects it to that Internet connection. Or your worker uses a "soft phone" which is software on their computer at home that functions like a telephone.
That physical phone or soft phone, located anywhere in the world, is now a phone on your office phone system with all the individual settings that worker has on their phone at the office. Someone calls your office and the call automatically rings the phone at your worker's home. The caller doesn't know where the person they're calling is located. This arrangement can even work for a small one, two, or three person branch office.
* Easily and economically connecting traveling workers. Imagine you're traveling and staying at a hotel with a high speed Internet connection. You have a "soft phone" on your laptop computer. You can use a headset on your laptop or a handset that plugs into a USB port on your computer. The handset acts just like the handset on your phone at the office. You can now receive and make calls through your soft phone just like you're at your office. Callers will ring through to your soft phone.
You can be located anywhere in the world and the person you call or calls you won't know where you are. If you're going to be away for an extended period of time, you may even want to take a regular office phone and set it up on your Internet connection. This arrangement makes use of IP Telephony for your office combined with VOIP using the Internet. IP Telephony makes all this easily possible at a lower cost than traditional systems.
Home based and traveling workers can also go into your office, in fact any of your office locations, and simply "log in" to your phone system just like they log in to your computer system. Once logged in all their phone settings are automatically provided to the phone in which they log in. This just wasn't easy or feasible to do economically prior to IP Telephony.
* Software upgrades are much easier and can be performed by you instead of paying the telephone equipment vendor to do them.
There are many more benefits to IP Telephony. This brief overview should be enough to peak your interest to continue your investigation. You don't need to make a total swap out of your current phone system. It is possible to gradually introduce an IP Telephone System into your organization and interface it to legacy systems.
Don't just improve the way you currently do business! Explore the strategic business applications and implications of IP Telephony. New technologies such as IP Telephony don't just replace previous ones but allow much greater functionality, increased productivity, enhanced customer service and lower costs than prior technologies.
Expand the possibilities of conducting your business in ways you never thought possible. All major phone system manufacturers are investing their research and development dollars into development of their IP Phone Systems. Thousands of companies have already converted to it. There must be a reason or two or twenty.
Website Basics-Dot ORG, NET,BIZ, etc....
There is a school of thought that the dot com domain name is the Gold Standard, the only type of domain name extension (or TLD) worth owning. Indeed there is some merit to this. As the original type of domain name since the internet’s inception, far more dot coms have been bought up versus all other extensions (as of August 2006, over 50 million dot coms were registered versus 6 million dot nets and 4 million dot orgs, for example). Be that as it may, there is still good reason to consider other domain name extensions besides, or possibly in addition to, the dot com extension.
First, consider the fact that with so many dot coms already spoken for, it is far more likely that you will be able to find the name you want as a dot net, org, biz, or info. And although it is arguable that in the minds of most net surfers dot com is king, the walls are coming down in that respect also. In fact, when was the last time you searched for something through Google or Yahoo, and upon finding the results and clicking to go to a website, did you really pay attention to the extension of the domain name? Most people don’t surf the web by typing in memorized domain names.
Dot net is generally the second choice after dot com for most buyers of domain names. But that is changing as well. Dot org, originally the extension for non-profit and government websites, is now available for all, even commercial sites. And it gives off a more social, more community oriented connotation. Dot biz, while open to all, actually gives a professional sound to a domain name, leaving little doubt that commercial interests are involved. Dot info, again open to all comers, gives the impression that the user will find waiting for them a site rich with content and pertinent information.
Many savvy web builders these days will lock down not only a dot com domain name, but every other available extension along with it as well. When you purchase mygreatgizmo.com, and then also buy the same domain name with the dot net, info, biz, org, etc., you are performing a preemptive strike against the competition, a hedge against someone capitalizing on your good domain name in the future. And you are able to point as many domain names to a single website as you wish.
The bottom line here is that there is good reason to consider other extensions in addition to dot com. With the vast majority of web surfers using search engines to find websites, coupled with the fact that dot net dot org dot info dot biz extensions are more and more recognized and accepted, going forward there is no reason to limit yourself to only dot com domain names.
A couple of final thoughts: consider country specific domain names if doing business only in your home country. Dot US for the United States, dot EU for Europe, dot CA for Canada, dot UK for United Kingdom (dot co uk is most popular) as well as the New Zealand nz domain name. And coming on strong in the last year is dot MOBI domain names, the only domain name for mobile devices. The land rush is on for this extension, and dot MOBI domain names will be discussed in a future article.
First, consider the fact that with so many dot coms already spoken for, it is far more likely that you will be able to find the name you want as a dot net, org, biz, or info. And although it is arguable that in the minds of most net surfers dot com is king, the walls are coming down in that respect also. In fact, when was the last time you searched for something through Google or Yahoo, and upon finding the results and clicking to go to a website, did you really pay attention to the extension of the domain name? Most people don’t surf the web by typing in memorized domain names.
Dot net is generally the second choice after dot com for most buyers of domain names. But that is changing as well. Dot org, originally the extension for non-profit and government websites, is now available for all, even commercial sites. And it gives off a more social, more community oriented connotation. Dot biz, while open to all, actually gives a professional sound to a domain name, leaving little doubt that commercial interests are involved. Dot info, again open to all comers, gives the impression that the user will find waiting for them a site rich with content and pertinent information.
Many savvy web builders these days will lock down not only a dot com domain name, but every other available extension along with it as well. When you purchase mygreatgizmo.com, and then also buy the same domain name with the dot net, info, biz, org, etc., you are performing a preemptive strike against the competition, a hedge against someone capitalizing on your good domain name in the future. And you are able to point as many domain names to a single website as you wish.
The bottom line here is that there is good reason to consider other extensions in addition to dot com. With the vast majority of web surfers using search engines to find websites, coupled with the fact that dot net dot org dot info dot biz extensions are more and more recognized and accepted, going forward there is no reason to limit yourself to only dot com domain names.
A couple of final thoughts: consider country specific domain names if doing business only in your home country. Dot US for the United States, dot EU for Europe, dot CA for Canada, dot UK for United Kingdom (dot co uk is most popular) as well as the New Zealand nz domain name. And coming on strong in the last year is dot MOBI domain names, the only domain name for mobile devices. The land rush is on for this extension, and dot MOBI domain names will be discussed in a future article.
Cisco PIX/ASA Security Appliance: How to Configure Banners
Banners can be configured to display when a user first connects (MOTD), when a user logs in (login), or when a user accesses privileged mode (exec). Banners are used for legal warnings such as when a user is cautioned not to access a restricted system or that their access of a system is subject to monitoring and logging. Banners are also used on locked systems placed at customer locations by service providers to provide contact information for device access or technical support. The Cisco security appliance supports the use of login banners in console sessions and Telnet sessions, but not in SSH sessions. Exec and MOTD banners are supported in console, Telnet, and SSH sessions. Banners can be up to 510 characters in length. You can create multiple line banners either by creating multiple banner statements or by using the keystroke sequence of "\n" which inserts a carriage return.
Here's how banners are displayed:
MOTD Banners--When usernames are not configured, MOTD displays at login in a serial console session and before login in Telnet sessions. When usernames are configured, MOTD displays before login in a Telnet session and after login in a serial console session.
Login Banners--The login banner displays before login in Telnet and serial console sessions.
Exec Banners--The exec banner displays upon login in all sessions.
How to Configure a Banner
Note: The following procedures were tested on an ASA 5505 Security Appliance running software version 7.22. Other hardware or software platforms may require modification of these procedures in order to function properly.
To configure a banner, use the following configuration mode commands:
asa(config)#banner motd This is a restricted system.
asa(config)#banner motd Do not attempt unauthorized access.
Notice the use of two banner motd statements to create a multi-line banner. As mentioned previously, you can also use the "\n" key sequence to insert a carriage return.
You can view the banners you created with the following privileged mode command:
asa#show running-config banner
Hands-On Exercise: Creating Banners on the Security Appliance
The following procedures are for training purposes only and should only be performed on devices in a laboratory environment. Under no circumstances should these procedures be performed on equipment in a live, production environment without first verifying their suitability in a laboratory environment.
In the following hands-on exercise, you will create MOTD, login, and EXEC banners.
Step 1: In configuration mode, enter the following commands:
asa(config)#banner motd This is the MOTD banner
asa(config)#banner login This is the login banner
asa(config)#banner exec This is the EXEC banner
Step 2: Display the banners you just created with the following command:
asa(config)#show running-config banner
Step 3: Type exit repeatedly until you are logged out of your laboratory security appliance.
Notice which banners are displayed.
Step 4: Enter privileged mode with the command "enable" and notice which banners are displayed.
Step 5: From your laboratory computer, start a Telnet session and again observe which banners are displayed. When you are finished, exit the Telnet session.
Step 6: Also from your laboratory computer, start an SSH session and again observe which banners are displayed. When you are finished, exit the SSH session.
Note: The above procedures are similar to the procedures used to configure banners on other Cisco devices including routers.
Here's how banners are displayed:
MOTD Banners--When usernames are not configured, MOTD displays at login in a serial console session and before login in Telnet sessions. When usernames are configured, MOTD displays before login in a Telnet session and after login in a serial console session.
Login Banners--The login banner displays before login in Telnet and serial console sessions.
Exec Banners--The exec banner displays upon login in all sessions.
How to Configure a Banner
Note: The following procedures were tested on an ASA 5505 Security Appliance running software version 7.22. Other hardware or software platforms may require modification of these procedures in order to function properly.
To configure a banner, use the following configuration mode commands:
asa(config)#banner motd This is a restricted system.
asa(config)#banner motd Do not attempt unauthorized access.
Notice the use of two banner motd statements to create a multi-line banner. As mentioned previously, you can also use the "\n" key sequence to insert a carriage return.
You can view the banners you created with the following privileged mode command:
asa#show running-config banner
Hands-On Exercise: Creating Banners on the Security Appliance
The following procedures are for training purposes only and should only be performed on devices in a laboratory environment. Under no circumstances should these procedures be performed on equipment in a live, production environment without first verifying their suitability in a laboratory environment.
In the following hands-on exercise, you will create MOTD, login, and EXEC banners.
Step 1: In configuration mode, enter the following commands:
asa(config)#banner motd This is the MOTD banner
asa(config)#banner login This is the login banner
asa(config)#banner exec This is the EXEC banner
Step 2: Display the banners you just created with the following command:
asa(config)#show running-config banner
Step 3: Type exit repeatedly until you are logged out of your laboratory security appliance.
Notice which banners are displayed.
Step 4: Enter privileged mode with the command "enable" and notice which banners are displayed.
Step 5: From your laboratory computer, start a Telnet session and again observe which banners are displayed. When you are finished, exit the Telnet session.
Step 6: Also from your laboratory computer, start an SSH session and again observe which banners are displayed. When you are finished, exit the SSH session.
Note: The above procedures are similar to the procedures used to configure banners on other Cisco devices including routers.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Advantages of Open Source Software
PHP-Nuke, PHP PostNuke, TikiWiki, Xoops, b2evo---you can find them everywhere in the web. These are all the open source software solution used in various areas of web applications. These are most of the time free applications released under special licensing terms. This allows the coding to be shared by all and edited to suit the unique needs of the user.
What is the secret behind this immense popularity of all these software? The use of open source software has some practical benefits. Let us discuss about them in details.
You get the core framework for free
For a start up company, budget is a major factor. You can save on your initial investment cost by adopting open source software which comes free of cost.
Modification benefits
With Open Source software, the code is openly available and that enables the users to fine tune the codes to suit their needs. It also contributes to the improvement of a software product by making it adaptable to changing conditions, fixing of bugs, security problems and so on.
Excellent support base free of cost
With open source software you are not tied to a single company or do not need to fall back upon it for fixing all your application related problems. This dependence proves to be very expensive. But with open source software, you get the support of the entire support community on which these applications grow and thrive.
Forking leading to a new product
The open source software keep open the possibility of forking when the existing code base does not work thus leading to the creation of a new software altogether.
The entire online community is indebted to the various open source software for what they have contributed to transform internet into a vast collaborative community that it is today. With an array of open source software, you may conclude that the days of commercial software are numbered. But it requires time for their installation, implementation and trouble shooting. If you lack the time then you have two options---go for the expensive commercial software or hire an efficient and renowned web host who will tackle these problems for you. The second option is definitely better.
What is the secret behind this immense popularity of all these software? The use of open source software has some practical benefits. Let us discuss about them in details.
You get the core framework for free
For a start up company, budget is a major factor. You can save on your initial investment cost by adopting open source software which comes free of cost.
Modification benefits
With Open Source software, the code is openly available and that enables the users to fine tune the codes to suit their needs. It also contributes to the improvement of a software product by making it adaptable to changing conditions, fixing of bugs, security problems and so on.
Excellent support base free of cost
With open source software you are not tied to a single company or do not need to fall back upon it for fixing all your application related problems. This dependence proves to be very expensive. But with open source software, you get the support of the entire support community on which these applications grow and thrive.
Forking leading to a new product
The open source software keep open the possibility of forking when the existing code base does not work thus leading to the creation of a new software altogether.
The entire online community is indebted to the various open source software for what they have contributed to transform internet into a vast collaborative community that it is today. With an array of open source software, you may conclude that the days of commercial software are numbered. But it requires time for their installation, implementation and trouble shooting. If you lack the time then you have two options---go for the expensive commercial software or hire an efficient and renowned web host who will tackle these problems for you. The second option is definitely better.
How To Correct A Continually Rebooting Computer?
When you sit down at your computer desk and press the power switch on your desktop, the last thing you want to experience is a continually rebooting computer.
There are a variety of causes that contribute to this problem, from something as simple as a stuck power button to a much more serious problem as your power supply slowly failing. Other causes for this problem may be overheating PC components, or viruses affecting your system.
Now, if you’re like the rest of us, having a computer that reboots constantly is not our idea of a productive day. So how do you diagnose this problem and where do you start to to make corrections. Here are some common but often overlooked causes and solutions that will get your system running again.
First take a look at the power button and see if its stuck in the socket. If so, you may be able to simple tap the front of the case to release the button. In some cases, you may have to remove the system unit cover to get the button to return to the out position.
If you cannot stop the computer from rebooting by pressing the power button and releasing it, turn off the power switch in the back of the computer next to the power supply. If your power supply do not have a power switch, you will have to unplug the system from the wall outlet.
This must be done as soon as possible so that the constant rebooting will not damage components such as the hard drive. Constant rebooting also have the danger of power surges that can further damage larger components such as the motherboard.
Second you check your computer’s software by checking to be sure no virus or malware have not effected your hard drive. Virus and malware are small software that is downloaded along with other files that is designed to cause mischief.
To remove any viruses and malware, use a anti-virus program that will search your hard drive and remove these file quickly. These files can cause such damage as wiping your hard drive of all data or hijacking your web browser so you have no control over your online surfing.
If you find no malware on your computer, take a look at your BIOS to see if it has become unstable or has been changed. BIOS stands for Basic Input Output System and is a small program designed to check all components for proper operation when the computer is turned on.
If your BIOS has been changed or if you’re not sure if its been changed, try to reset the BIOS settings to the default settings after you access the BIOS as the computer reboots.Once inside the BIOS, you should have the option to load your default settings, save the change, and reboot the computer.
However, there are times when a continually rebooting computer will not allow you to access the BIOS. You can then reset the BIOS by removing the system unit cover and locating the jumper on a three pin header.
You must consult your computer or motherboard manual to properly perform this procedure and it should be done as a last resort. Before making any changes to your BIOS, you should backup your BIOS if your computer reboots at long intervals.
After checking your computer’s software for its rebooting problem, you must check to be sure hardware is not at fault. This problem may exist because one of your memory modules are unseated from its socket . Memory modules are long, narrow sticks that attach to the motherboard.
Remove any static electricity from yourself, remove the system unit cover and check these memory modules to be sure they are secure. Check the connections to the hard drive and the connections leading from the power supply.
Power supply connectors should be checked if you’ve done work inside your computer recently. Power Supplies are known to slowly fail and lead to rebooting problems. There is no way to check an ailing power supply and this should be considered the problem as a last resort.
Following these steps will help you correct any computer that continually reboots itself. If no virus or malware is found, carefully and thoroughly check all connections. And if the problem still exist, the most likely cause would be the Power Supply.
There are a variety of causes that contribute to this problem, from something as simple as a stuck power button to a much more serious problem as your power supply slowly failing. Other causes for this problem may be overheating PC components, or viruses affecting your system.
Now, if you’re like the rest of us, having a computer that reboots constantly is not our idea of a productive day. So how do you diagnose this problem and where do you start to to make corrections. Here are some common but often overlooked causes and solutions that will get your system running again.
First take a look at the power button and see if its stuck in the socket. If so, you may be able to simple tap the front of the case to release the button. In some cases, you may have to remove the system unit cover to get the button to return to the out position.
If you cannot stop the computer from rebooting by pressing the power button and releasing it, turn off the power switch in the back of the computer next to the power supply. If your power supply do not have a power switch, you will have to unplug the system from the wall outlet.
This must be done as soon as possible so that the constant rebooting will not damage components such as the hard drive. Constant rebooting also have the danger of power surges that can further damage larger components such as the motherboard.
Second you check your computer’s software by checking to be sure no virus or malware have not effected your hard drive. Virus and malware are small software that is downloaded along with other files that is designed to cause mischief.
To remove any viruses and malware, use a anti-virus program that will search your hard drive and remove these file quickly. These files can cause such damage as wiping your hard drive of all data or hijacking your web browser so you have no control over your online surfing.
If you find no malware on your computer, take a look at your BIOS to see if it has become unstable or has been changed. BIOS stands for Basic Input Output System and is a small program designed to check all components for proper operation when the computer is turned on.
If your BIOS has been changed or if you’re not sure if its been changed, try to reset the BIOS settings to the default settings after you access the BIOS as the computer reboots.Once inside the BIOS, you should have the option to load your default settings, save the change, and reboot the computer.
However, there are times when a continually rebooting computer will not allow you to access the BIOS. You can then reset the BIOS by removing the system unit cover and locating the jumper on a three pin header.
You must consult your computer or motherboard manual to properly perform this procedure and it should be done as a last resort. Before making any changes to your BIOS, you should backup your BIOS if your computer reboots at long intervals.
After checking your computer’s software for its rebooting problem, you must check to be sure hardware is not at fault. This problem may exist because one of your memory modules are unseated from its socket . Memory modules are long, narrow sticks that attach to the motherboard.
Remove any static electricity from yourself, remove the system unit cover and check these memory modules to be sure they are secure. Check the connections to the hard drive and the connections leading from the power supply.
Power supply connectors should be checked if you’ve done work inside your computer recently. Power Supplies are known to slowly fail and lead to rebooting problems. There is no way to check an ailing power supply and this should be considered the problem as a last resort.
Following these steps will help you correct any computer that continually reboots itself. If no virus or malware is found, carefully and thoroughly check all connections. And if the problem still exist, the most likely cause would be the Power Supply.
Which Tool to Use for Listening to Your Audio Books?
The beauty with audio books is that you have more than one option for listening to them.
For those of us who like to be given lots of options for doing certain things instead of being forced to adapt to just one choice, you definitely have lots of options for listening to your audio book.
If you are someone who likes listening while seated on your favorite couch or seated on your desk, listening to your audio book on your cassette tape player (if the audio book is in audiocassette format, of course) is the option for you.
But if you have a desktop or laptop computer, you might prefer listening to your audio book from here.
Most PCs have Digital Audio Players for playing audio books. If your PC doesn't have any (very unlikely), you can still download them completely free on the Internet. The 2 best digital audio players that you can download free from the Internet include:
RealOne Player: It can be downloaded from their website:-
http://www.Real.com
Windows Media Player: It can also be downloaded from their website:-
http://www.Microsoft.com
But if you would rather listen to your audio book while doing your household chores, dancing, exercising, jogging, commuting to and from work, etc, then you would need portable audio playback devices that you can carry around and listen to, preferably with earphones.
With the ever expanding market of portable audio playback devices, it goes to show that more and more people are now using them, because of the wonderful benefits they provide.
The most common form of these portable audio playback devices are the normal audio CD players or CD-ROM devices. You can carry these around with you while you do your household chores, exercise, jog or commute to and from work.
The more advanced form of these portable audio playback devices for playing audio books, especially those for listening to downloadable audio books, include:
-- Audio-ready PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). Some of these PDAs include Casio CASSIOPEIA and Compaq iPAQ. Both can be pretty expensive, costing as much as about $500 for the Compaq iPAQ and about $400 for the Casio CASSIOPEIA.
-- Compatible Portable Audio Players. Some of these include the Creative's NOMAD Jukebox 3 and the SONICblue's Rio 900. These are cheaper than PDAs. For example, you can get the SONICblue's Rio 900 for about $250 from sites such as Sonicblue.com
Finally, like I said at the start of this article, whatever tool you decide to use in listening to your audio books will depend largely on "how" you prefer listening to your audio books.
For example, for the "young and restless" teenagers they can't do without the PDAs. I bet you wouldn't too if you were their age, right? But for the "aged and rusty" who just prefer the ease of being seated on their favorite couch, nothing can be better than listening to their favorite audio books from their "good old" cassette tape player!
For those of us who like to be given lots of options for doing certain things instead of being forced to adapt to just one choice, you definitely have lots of options for listening to your audio book.
If you are someone who likes listening while seated on your favorite couch or seated on your desk, listening to your audio book on your cassette tape player (if the audio book is in audiocassette format, of course) is the option for you.
But if you have a desktop or laptop computer, you might prefer listening to your audio book from here.
Most PCs have Digital Audio Players for playing audio books. If your PC doesn't have any (very unlikely), you can still download them completely free on the Internet. The 2 best digital audio players that you can download free from the Internet include:
RealOne Player: It can be downloaded from their website:-
http://www.Real.com
Windows Media Player: It can also be downloaded from their website:-
http://www.Microsoft.com
But if you would rather listen to your audio book while doing your household chores, dancing, exercising, jogging, commuting to and from work, etc, then you would need portable audio playback devices that you can carry around and listen to, preferably with earphones.
With the ever expanding market of portable audio playback devices, it goes to show that more and more people are now using them, because of the wonderful benefits they provide.
The most common form of these portable audio playback devices are the normal audio CD players or CD-ROM devices. You can carry these around with you while you do your household chores, exercise, jog or commute to and from work.
The more advanced form of these portable audio playback devices for playing audio books, especially those for listening to downloadable audio books, include:
-- Audio-ready PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). Some of these PDAs include Casio CASSIOPEIA and Compaq iPAQ. Both can be pretty expensive, costing as much as about $500 for the Compaq iPAQ and about $400 for the Casio CASSIOPEIA.
-- Compatible Portable Audio Players. Some of these include the Creative's NOMAD Jukebox 3 and the SONICblue's Rio 900. These are cheaper than PDAs. For example, you can get the SONICblue's Rio 900 for about $250 from sites such as Sonicblue.com
Finally, like I said at the start of this article, whatever tool you decide to use in listening to your audio books will depend largely on "how" you prefer listening to your audio books.
For example, for the "young and restless" teenagers they can't do without the PDAs. I bet you wouldn't too if you were their age, right? But for the "aged and rusty" who just prefer the ease of being seated on their favorite couch, nothing can be better than listening to their favorite audio books from their "good old" cassette tape player!
What is the Best Method to Back up Data?
This being the age of internet, chat rooms, blogging and innovative hackers, their expectation never gets fulfilled. The news always leaks out or is methodically publicised by a rival or a gleeful hacker. Thereafter, insult is added to their injury as irate customers and the eager press demand explanations about every unsavoury detail of the incident. But data loss is not a problem affecting only the big players only any more. All of us deal with some amount of data and almost all of it is important to us. Albums have been replaced by .jpeg files, our music is inside the hard drive of our pc or laptop, and our emails are stored in offline folders or software like Microsoft Outlook. Students keep their study material in their machines, and a doctoral thesis is usually a file on the hard disk instead of being a thick volume bound in leather covers. It is, therefore, strange that we keep losing data because we have not taken the precaution of backing it up elsewhere. Several start-up home businesses have not seen the light of the day anymore after an initial incident of data loss. All of this underlines the importance of backup, which really cannot be overstressed.
Some Methods of Obtaining Backups
The method, or rather, the medium chosen for backing up data will depend on the volume of data to be stored, as well as the nature of the data. Some common methods are being enlisted below:
CD and Floppy: The floppy has largely gone out of use by now, due to its many limitations, small capacity and security problems. The CD is a good choice for obtaining backups, and is one of the favourite choices in both domestic and corporate spheres. It is cheap, readily available, portable and compatible with several file formats. Storing a CD and sharing information from it are also quite simple.
DVD: The DVD is a good choice for storing audio visual information. It may not be as cheap as the CD, but offers better quality, often lasts longer, and has way more space. DVD RWs can be used in such a way that literally every bit is used to store information. A DVD also has the same facilities when it comes to sharing and easy transporting. However, the DVD RW, many market observers feel, may turn out to be an intermediate technology and be replaced by something superior but very similar in function, or may evolve in such a way that the problems would get solved. It must be noted here that the constant research in this regard, and inventions like the Blue Ray disk etc. point out that we can hope for a better technology soon.
USB Devices: These are the new favourites all over the world. The greatest proof of the popularity of this technology lies in two facts. Firstly, the storage space of pen drives / flash drives/ memory sticks is constantly increasing. Secondly, their prices are plummeting downwards rapidly. Almost all kinds of files can be stored on these; they are very easy to carry, do not require a separate software or booting up of the machine to start functioning, and it is very convenient to share the data stored on them. For storing smaller music libraries, an iPod may be an option too.
External Hard Drives: For larger data storage requirements, external hard drives are excellent solutions. Arrays or stacks of hard drives are available for corporate purposes and are provided by all good hard drive manufacturers. Seagate, Maxtor, ASB, LaCie all make external hard drives of varying capacities and prices.
Online and Offline Storage Spaces: These are ‘spaces’ provided by professional firms, and are extremely secure for sensitive data storage.
Tapes and Printouts: Traditional storage should not be left out of the list. There is some information that one simply needs to see on the good old piece of paper. Tape has been in use for a long time now, and will probably continue for some time.
Some Methods of Obtaining Backups
The method, or rather, the medium chosen for backing up data will depend on the volume of data to be stored, as well as the nature of the data. Some common methods are being enlisted below:
CD and Floppy: The floppy has largely gone out of use by now, due to its many limitations, small capacity and security problems. The CD is a good choice for obtaining backups, and is one of the favourite choices in both domestic and corporate spheres. It is cheap, readily available, portable and compatible with several file formats. Storing a CD and sharing information from it are also quite simple.
DVD: The DVD is a good choice for storing audio visual information. It may not be as cheap as the CD, but offers better quality, often lasts longer, and has way more space. DVD RWs can be used in such a way that literally every bit is used to store information. A DVD also has the same facilities when it comes to sharing and easy transporting. However, the DVD RW, many market observers feel, may turn out to be an intermediate technology and be replaced by something superior but very similar in function, or may evolve in such a way that the problems would get solved. It must be noted here that the constant research in this regard, and inventions like the Blue Ray disk etc. point out that we can hope for a better technology soon.
USB Devices: These are the new favourites all over the world. The greatest proof of the popularity of this technology lies in two facts. Firstly, the storage space of pen drives / flash drives/ memory sticks is constantly increasing. Secondly, their prices are plummeting downwards rapidly. Almost all kinds of files can be stored on these; they are very easy to carry, do not require a separate software or booting up of the machine to start functioning, and it is very convenient to share the data stored on them. For storing smaller music libraries, an iPod may be an option too.
External Hard Drives: For larger data storage requirements, external hard drives are excellent solutions. Arrays or stacks of hard drives are available for corporate purposes and are provided by all good hard drive manufacturers. Seagate, Maxtor, ASB, LaCie all make external hard drives of varying capacities and prices.
Online and Offline Storage Spaces: These are ‘spaces’ provided by professional firms, and are extremely secure for sensitive data storage.
Tapes and Printouts: Traditional storage should not be left out of the list. There is some information that one simply needs to see on the good old piece of paper. Tape has been in use for a long time now, and will probably continue for some time.
Top 5 Ways To Make A Computer Run Faster
Today I am going to be talking about different ways you can make a computer run faster. There is actually a lot you can do yourself that will boost your PC's performance. So lets take a look at different ways we can remedy that slow computer of yours!
1. Free Up Disk Space
A great way to make a computer run faster is to free up some disk space. Windows comes with a disk cleanup tool that helps you free up space on your hard disk. The utility identifies files that you can safely delete without messing anything up, and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.
How to use disk cleanup tool.
* Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.
* In the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list. (If you have multiple hard drives you will have to select which one to scan.)
* Clear the check boxes for files that you don't want to delete, and then click OK.
* When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click OK.
2. Use Defrag Tool
When you add a file or a new program to a new computer, the hard drive is relatively empty so new data is saved to the hard drive in one whole block. When you need to use that information, the computer can quickly access it because it is all in one place. Defragging your system is definitely a way to make a computer run faster.
How to use defrag tool.
* From the start menu point to "all programs"
* Point to "Accessories"
* Point to "System Tools"
* Click on "Disk Defragmenter"
* The disk defragmenter will display the hard drives on your computer. Just select and click Defragment.
3. Get rid of spyware
Definition
Spyware is software with malicious intent - by design; it does something bad to your computer. Usually, it gets installed without your knowledge. It sometimes takes advantage of the fact that most people click "I Agree" to software licenses without reading them.
The only way to get rid of spyware is to have some kind of scanner, sort of like an anti-virus. In order to make a computer run faster and keep it safer your going to need an anti-spyware program. This is tricky, a lot of the spyware programs out there are malicious and will actually add viruses and spyware to your computer by using the "spyware scanner and blocker". So please remember to be very careful when choosing your anti-spyware program.
4. Find and repair disk errors
Detect and Repair Disk Errors
In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.
How to run the error checking utility.
* Click Start, and then click My Computer.
* In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
* In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.
* Click the Check Now button.
* In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.
* If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.
Tip: Only select the Automatically fix file system errors check box if you think that your disk contains bad sectors.
5. Get an external hard drive
Adding an External Hard Drive to your computer will allow you to clear out a lot of the things you don't need to be storing on your normal hard drive.
A great example would be your music or pictures. All those songs and pictures are sitting on your computer making it go slower. You will see a decline in your computers performance as soon as you use over half of your hard drive space.
Moving all your songs or pictures to your external hard drive will free up a lot of space on your main hard drive. You can even move applications such as photoshop or games.
An external hard drive is also handy because it is portable. You can unplug it from your computer and take it to a friends house and plug it in there, sharing photos and pictures very easily.
This is truly a great way to make a computer run faster.
1. Free Up Disk Space
A great way to make a computer run faster is to free up some disk space. Windows comes with a disk cleanup tool that helps you free up space on your hard disk. The utility identifies files that you can safely delete without messing anything up, and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.
How to use disk cleanup tool.
* Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.
* In the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list. (If you have multiple hard drives you will have to select which one to scan.)
* Clear the check boxes for files that you don't want to delete, and then click OK.
* When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click OK.
2. Use Defrag Tool
When you add a file or a new program to a new computer, the hard drive is relatively empty so new data is saved to the hard drive in one whole block. When you need to use that information, the computer can quickly access it because it is all in one place. Defragging your system is definitely a way to make a computer run faster.
How to use defrag tool.
* From the start menu point to "all programs"
* Point to "Accessories"
* Point to "System Tools"
* Click on "Disk Defragmenter"
* The disk defragmenter will display the hard drives on your computer. Just select and click Defragment.
3. Get rid of spyware
Definition
Spyware is software with malicious intent - by design; it does something bad to your computer. Usually, it gets installed without your knowledge. It sometimes takes advantage of the fact that most people click "I Agree" to software licenses without reading them.
The only way to get rid of spyware is to have some kind of scanner, sort of like an anti-virus. In order to make a computer run faster and keep it safer your going to need an anti-spyware program. This is tricky, a lot of the spyware programs out there are malicious and will actually add viruses and spyware to your computer by using the "spyware scanner and blocker". So please remember to be very careful when choosing your anti-spyware program.
4. Find and repair disk errors
Detect and Repair Disk Errors
In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.
How to run the error checking utility.
* Click Start, and then click My Computer.
* In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
* In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.
* Click the Check Now button.
* In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.
* If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.
Tip: Only select the Automatically fix file system errors check box if you think that your disk contains bad sectors.
5. Get an external hard drive
Adding an External Hard Drive to your computer will allow you to clear out a lot of the things you don't need to be storing on your normal hard drive.
A great example would be your music or pictures. All those songs and pictures are sitting on your computer making it go slower. You will see a decline in your computers performance as soon as you use over half of your hard drive space.
Moving all your songs or pictures to your external hard drive will free up a lot of space on your main hard drive. You can even move applications such as photoshop or games.
An external hard drive is also handy because it is portable. You can unplug it from your computer and take it to a friends house and plug it in there, sharing photos and pictures very easily.
This is truly a great way to make a computer run faster.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Factors To Think About When Choosing A Broadband Internet Service
Undoubtedly, broadband is the future of internet, but there are other ways of getting onto the internet. If speed isn't something that you need to have, you may want to look for a company that offers dial up service. It is much slower than the broadband but it can be much cheaper. It isn't good enough if you need to download large files or watch videos, but if you just need to write email or get information from the internet, it can work just fine. Broadband internet providers, especially some of the smaller ones will more often than not offer dial up as well. The idea is that you don't have to pay for a service that you don't need. As a person deciding on a service provider, consider what the service will be used for and then make a decision to use broadband or dial up services.
However, if you decide to change from dial-up to broadband internet either because of business needs or for faster surfing speed at home. By and large, broadband internet refers to permanent connection at 256 Kbps or any transmission that is higher than that.
There are two significant benefits that a broadband internet can offer you. You are automatically connected to the internet by once you turn on your computer. Broadband providers usually offer unlimited surfing package, which means you can surf as long as you want for one flat price.
Hundreds of service providers offer broadband internet promising clients of "super fast" access to the internet. This can be misleading because some service providers do not meet these promises. That's why it is imperative to consider a few things before getting a package for your broadband connection.
How Broadband Speed Affects Your Internet Experience
When you acquire a broadband service, one of the things you often need to think about is the speed of broadband service being offered to you. Although your broadband provider may attempt to make it appear as if it's vital to have the fastest speed, you need to think about your needs for what you want to do with your Internet connection. Understanding your personal needs in broadband speeds will prevent you from buying too much or too little. Certainly, what most savings-minded people are interested in knowing is when broadband speed enters the realm of being too much. Generally speaking, if you're simply browsing the Internet, then you will enjoy the speed of broadband, but don't need to purchase the fastest connection possible. Most text-based documents such as e-mail, news sites, and similar sites, simply don't need connections that are superbly fast.
If you begin doing other activities, such as downloading music and watching online videos, then you might want to get something slightly faster than the basic broadband speed. Remember, a little goes a long way. But generally speaking, the amount of data any single web page will transfer information to you at will be at a slower speed than your broadband connection, so there's potential for wasted bandwidth.
In some situations, you may realize that you don't have enough broadband speed to support your activity. However, these are the extreme cases. If you have many Internet users who like to use the Internet at the same time, such as having high school students who regularly enjoy playing video games over the Internet, you will absolutely desire a faster connection. If you make many peer-to-peer downloads, download a lot of videos and music, or browse numerous pages at one time, you also may need a faster connection.
Last but not least, another thing to think about when deciding on what bandwidth speed is your upload speed. This will have an effect on any data you send out to the Internet, including sending e-mail, transferring files to remote servers, and hosting web pages. Generally speaking, if you plan to run your own website, get broadband with fast speeds for uploads. Or, better yet, have a remote hosting company host your website at fast speeds without increasing the price for your home connection. On the whole, for both uploads and downloads, you should cautiously assess how heavily you intend to use the Internet and purchase accordingly, and you'll end up getting what's just right for you.
However, if you decide to change from dial-up to broadband internet either because of business needs or for faster surfing speed at home. By and large, broadband internet refers to permanent connection at 256 Kbps or any transmission that is higher than that.
There are two significant benefits that a broadband internet can offer you. You are automatically connected to the internet by once you turn on your computer. Broadband providers usually offer unlimited surfing package, which means you can surf as long as you want for one flat price.
Hundreds of service providers offer broadband internet promising clients of "super fast" access to the internet. This can be misleading because some service providers do not meet these promises. That's why it is imperative to consider a few things before getting a package for your broadband connection.
How Broadband Speed Affects Your Internet Experience
When you acquire a broadband service, one of the things you often need to think about is the speed of broadband service being offered to you. Although your broadband provider may attempt to make it appear as if it's vital to have the fastest speed, you need to think about your needs for what you want to do with your Internet connection. Understanding your personal needs in broadband speeds will prevent you from buying too much or too little. Certainly, what most savings-minded people are interested in knowing is when broadband speed enters the realm of being too much. Generally speaking, if you're simply browsing the Internet, then you will enjoy the speed of broadband, but don't need to purchase the fastest connection possible. Most text-based documents such as e-mail, news sites, and similar sites, simply don't need connections that are superbly fast.
If you begin doing other activities, such as downloading music and watching online videos, then you might want to get something slightly faster than the basic broadband speed. Remember, a little goes a long way. But generally speaking, the amount of data any single web page will transfer information to you at will be at a slower speed than your broadband connection, so there's potential for wasted bandwidth.
In some situations, you may realize that you don't have enough broadband speed to support your activity. However, these are the extreme cases. If you have many Internet users who like to use the Internet at the same time, such as having high school students who regularly enjoy playing video games over the Internet, you will absolutely desire a faster connection. If you make many peer-to-peer downloads, download a lot of videos and music, or browse numerous pages at one time, you also may need a faster connection.
Last but not least, another thing to think about when deciding on what bandwidth speed is your upload speed. This will have an effect on any data you send out to the Internet, including sending e-mail, transferring files to remote servers, and hosting web pages. Generally speaking, if you plan to run your own website, get broadband with fast speeds for uploads. Or, better yet, have a remote hosting company host your website at fast speeds without increasing the price for your home connection. On the whole, for both uploads and downloads, you should cautiously assess how heavily you intend to use the Internet and purchase accordingly, and you'll end up getting what's just right for you.
Forget Emailing Pictures - Use Free Online Photo Hosting Websites
There is a very good alternative to emailing photos; they are called free online photo hosting websites. People love to share photos. However, photos take up a tremendous amount of space and can really slow down your email, not to mention take up a tremendous amount of space in someone's inbox.
On a free online photo hosting website you open an account and load your photos directly to that site. You can then invite family and friends to visit your site, check out your photos and even comment on them!
The following photo hosting websites are some of the more popular sites on the net.
FaceBook
FaceBook is a social network of people who have photo pages. You can find new friends through the search or you can link to your own friends and family while uploading an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos.
Anyone with a valid email address can join FaceBook. If you register with your school or work email, you can connect to co workers or classmates. When you have registered you can find a regional network to join and then you can connect to people in your area.
WebShots
One of the largest photo and video sharing sites, WebShots has more than 400 million photos to check out and is a great hosting site for your own photos.
They have free and premium memberships that offer lots of storage, ensuring that you will never fun out of space. You can share videos, photos and slideshow on both WebShots and on your personal website. You can even order prints of your photos and create custom photo gifts.
PhotoBucket
The self proclaimed most popular creative hub on the web, PhotoBucket links billions of personal photos, graphics, slideshows and videos to many of the most popular websites and social networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Craigslist and Blogger.
However, the free online photo hosting website is not the only method that members can share their photos. They can also share their digital media via email, IM and even mobile devices.
Membership is free and it is a great place to share you latest shots of your new purple Mohawk or your adorable new baby.
Flickr
Flickr is a fun site where members can keep a blog of memories that they have captured on their cell phone camera, or maybe they just want to post their best photos so that they can show off their talents and perhaps earn the title web celebrity.
Of course, they can post their photos to share with family and friends. Flickr is a free online photo hosting website, but it also helps members get photos to the people who matter to them. Members can organize their photos, share and keep in touch with others.
The free membership on this site offers you a lot of options, particularly if you have a lot of photos to store and share.
Yahoo! Or AOL Photo Album
Yahoo! And AOL photo albums are free online photo hosting websites and are very effective for sharing your photos.
You can save, send and share your photos through these sites. There is no fee attached, the services are both free.
You can set your albums to private or you can make them public. Additionally, you can designate certain albums as private and others as public. If you want some simple photo sharing, storing and organizing, these are two great sites to use.
On a free online photo hosting website you open an account and load your photos directly to that site. You can then invite family and friends to visit your site, check out your photos and even comment on them!
The following photo hosting websites are some of the more popular sites on the net.
FaceBook is a social network of people who have photo pages. You can find new friends through the search or you can link to your own friends and family while uploading an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos.
Anyone with a valid email address can join FaceBook. If you register with your school or work email, you can connect to co workers or classmates. When you have registered you can find a regional network to join and then you can connect to people in your area.
WebShots
One of the largest photo and video sharing sites, WebShots has more than 400 million photos to check out and is a great hosting site for your own photos.
They have free and premium memberships that offer lots of storage, ensuring that you will never fun out of space. You can share videos, photos and slideshow on both WebShots and on your personal website. You can even order prints of your photos and create custom photo gifts.
PhotoBucket
The self proclaimed most popular creative hub on the web, PhotoBucket links billions of personal photos, graphics, slideshows and videos to many of the most popular websites and social networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Craigslist and Blogger.
However, the free online photo hosting website is not the only method that members can share their photos. They can also share their digital media via email, IM and even mobile devices.
Membership is free and it is a great place to share you latest shots of your new purple Mohawk or your adorable new baby.
Flickr
Flickr is a fun site where members can keep a blog of memories that they have captured on their cell phone camera, or maybe they just want to post their best photos so that they can show off their talents and perhaps earn the title web celebrity.
Of course, they can post their photos to share with family and friends. Flickr is a free online photo hosting website, but it also helps members get photos to the people who matter to them. Members can organize their photos, share and keep in touch with others.
The free membership on this site offers you a lot of options, particularly if you have a lot of photos to store and share.
Yahoo! Or AOL Photo Album
Yahoo! And AOL photo albums are free online photo hosting websites and are very effective for sharing your photos.
You can save, send and share your photos through these sites. There is no fee attached, the services are both free.
You can set your albums to private or you can make them public. Additionally, you can designate certain albums as private and others as public. If you want some simple photo sharing, storing and organizing, these are two great sites to use.
The Effects Of Fax Transmission On Bar Code Decoding
When documents containing bar code symbols are faxed, the quality of the bar code symbol will degrade. Documents scanned by fax machines in Standard Resolution are sampled with 204 horizontal dots per inch and 98 vertical dots per inch. Each sample point is then converted to either a white or black value (a process known as binarization). The binarization process converts straight lines of the bar code symbols into ragged lines changing the width of the bars and spaces. If a faxed document is itself resent out as a fax, further deterioration occurs. Each additional fax cycle continues to degrade the bar code. At some point, the symbol may no longer be able to be decoded by bar code decoding software.
The remainder of this article will discuss the issues that should be considered when selecting bar code symbologies and sizes to increase the likelihood of successful decodes after multiple fax cycles.
Linear (1D) Symbologies
Two popular 1D symbologies were examined: Code 128 and Code 39. Code 128 uses four bar and space widths to encode information, while Code 39 only uses two. Thirteen module sizes (smallest element) ranging from 12.5 mil to 32.5 mil of each symbol type, encoding ten numeric digits, were printed on a sheet. The sheet was sent through a fax at Standard Resolution for a total of ten cycles. This corresponds to a horizontal sample per module ranging from 2.6 to 6.6. The resulting 11 pages were then scanned on a flatbed scanner at 300 samples per inch and were presented to a bar code decode software toolkit. At 2.6 samples per module both bar code symbologies were only able to be successfully decoded for 3 faxes while the same codes with 6.6 samples per module were still readable after 10 faxes.
The larger samples per module (6 samples and greater) were able to successfully decode after 10 fax cycles. At 5.6 samples per module, the decode performance was no better than 4.6 pixels per module. This demonstrates that each fax cycle alters the bar code in a subtle way. Every fax cycle produces a unique version of the original bar code, and each alteration can make a symbol that did not read after a certain number of fax cycles read on the next one. However, if high read rates are desired after many fax cycles, then printing the bar code symbols at a minimum of 6 samples per module is recommended.
>From the testing conducted, Code 128 slightly outperformed Code 39 after multiple faxes. Given the higher data density of Code 128 and the built in checksum, Code 128 appears to be a better choice between the two symbologies. The images below show the size advantage of Code 128 over Code 39, with both symbols encoding 10 numeric digits with the same module size. If the data to be encoded is purely numeric, the numeric compaction mode of Code 128 can be used to further increase data density.
There is a trade off to consider: the larger the module size of a linear code, the more horizontal room will be required to encode the same amount of information, but the larger modules sizes can improve read rate. One additional factor to consider is the bar code height. For this test, all the codes were ½ inch in height. Given that all vertical information in 1D bar codes is by definition redundant, if space allows, increasing the height of a bar code will typically provide better read rates after multiple fax cycles.
Matrix (2D) Symbologies
Matrix symbologies provide dramatically better information density because information is encoded in both horizontal and vertical directions. Given their size advantage over their linear counterparts, 2D symbols can be printed with much larger module sizes and still be comparable to linear symbols encoding the same information. For the 2D test, we printed various sizes of Data Matrix and Micro QR Codes. The Data Matrix was a 12 x 12 module square symbol. The Micro QR is a more space efficient version of a QR code that employs only one finder pattern and is limited to a number of smaller sizes. The symbols were encoded at a comparable level of error correction. The module sizes varied from 39 mil to 79 mil. Like the 1D test, we subjected the image to 10 fax cycles and then scanned the images. The images were scanned at 150 samples per inch given the large feature sizes of the test bar codes. The scanned images were then processed by the same bar code decoding toolkit.
At 8.7 samples per module the 2D bar codes were able to be read after 5 fax cycles and once 15 samples per module were reached the codes were readable up to 10 cylces.
The results were not as consistent as the 1D symbols. This is due to the fact that the distortion of the symbol during the increasing number of fax cycles affects data in both the data dimensions. However, we can draw the conclusion that symbols with larger size modules will decode more reliably after multiple fax cycles.
Summary
If documents containing bar code symbols are to be faxed multiple times, the bar code symbols must be printed with larger module sizes to be successfully decoded.
For linear symbologies, if a large number of fax cycles (greater than 5) is required, the number of samples per module should be at least 6. Code 128 performed well in our tests and has a higher data density than Code 39. Linears are a good choice for encoding small amounts of data.
For larger data requirements, 2D symbologies such as Data Matrix, provide good decode performance after faxing if larger module sizes are used. They provide the added benefit of reducing the amount of real estate required in the application document due to their superior data density.
The remainder of this article will discuss the issues that should be considered when selecting bar code symbologies and sizes to increase the likelihood of successful decodes after multiple fax cycles.
Linear (1D) Symbologies
Two popular 1D symbologies were examined: Code 128 and Code 39. Code 128 uses four bar and space widths to encode information, while Code 39 only uses two. Thirteen module sizes (smallest element) ranging from 12.5 mil to 32.5 mil of each symbol type, encoding ten numeric digits, were printed on a sheet. The sheet was sent through a fax at Standard Resolution for a total of ten cycles. This corresponds to a horizontal sample per module ranging from 2.6 to 6.6. The resulting 11 pages were then scanned on a flatbed scanner at 300 samples per inch and were presented to a bar code decode software toolkit. At 2.6 samples per module both bar code symbologies were only able to be successfully decoded for 3 faxes while the same codes with 6.6 samples per module were still readable after 10 faxes.
The larger samples per module (6 samples and greater) were able to successfully decode after 10 fax cycles. At 5.6 samples per module, the decode performance was no better than 4.6 pixels per module. This demonstrates that each fax cycle alters the bar code in a subtle way. Every fax cycle produces a unique version of the original bar code, and each alteration can make a symbol that did not read after a certain number of fax cycles read on the next one. However, if high read rates are desired after many fax cycles, then printing the bar code symbols at a minimum of 6 samples per module is recommended.
>From the testing conducted, Code 128 slightly outperformed Code 39 after multiple faxes. Given the higher data density of Code 128 and the built in checksum, Code 128 appears to be a better choice between the two symbologies. The images below show the size advantage of Code 128 over Code 39, with both symbols encoding 10 numeric digits with the same module size. If the data to be encoded is purely numeric, the numeric compaction mode of Code 128 can be used to further increase data density.
There is a trade off to consider: the larger the module size of a linear code, the more horizontal room will be required to encode the same amount of information, but the larger modules sizes can improve read rate. One additional factor to consider is the bar code height. For this test, all the codes were ½ inch in height. Given that all vertical information in 1D bar codes is by definition redundant, if space allows, increasing the height of a bar code will typically provide better read rates after multiple fax cycles.
Matrix (2D) Symbologies
Matrix symbologies provide dramatically better information density because information is encoded in both horizontal and vertical directions. Given their size advantage over their linear counterparts, 2D symbols can be printed with much larger module sizes and still be comparable to linear symbols encoding the same information. For the 2D test, we printed various sizes of Data Matrix and Micro QR Codes. The Data Matrix was a 12 x 12 module square symbol. The Micro QR is a more space efficient version of a QR code that employs only one finder pattern and is limited to a number of smaller sizes. The symbols were encoded at a comparable level of error correction. The module sizes varied from 39 mil to 79 mil. Like the 1D test, we subjected the image to 10 fax cycles and then scanned the images. The images were scanned at 150 samples per inch given the large feature sizes of the test bar codes. The scanned images were then processed by the same bar code decoding toolkit.
At 8.7 samples per module the 2D bar codes were able to be read after 5 fax cycles and once 15 samples per module were reached the codes were readable up to 10 cylces.
The results were not as consistent as the 1D symbols. This is due to the fact that the distortion of the symbol during the increasing number of fax cycles affects data in both the data dimensions. However, we can draw the conclusion that symbols with larger size modules will decode more reliably after multiple fax cycles.
Summary
If documents containing bar code symbols are to be faxed multiple times, the bar code symbols must be printed with larger module sizes to be successfully decoded.
For linear symbologies, if a large number of fax cycles (greater than 5) is required, the number of samples per module should be at least 6. Code 128 performed well in our tests and has a higher data density than Code 39. Linears are a good choice for encoding small amounts of data.
For larger data requirements, 2D symbologies such as Data Matrix, provide good decode performance after faxing if larger module sizes are used. They provide the added benefit of reducing the amount of real estate required in the application document due to their superior data density.
Microsoft Dynamics GP Customization Design
Microsoft Great Plains customization specking out might be challenging enough, especially if you try to think about GP modification from the perspective of .Net “surface” mods, not getting to the Dexterity depth – its tables structure, records workflow (how transactions are distributed in SQL Dex tables clusters: master, work, open, historical). As GP consultant you naturally understand that if you spec out customization, you need to decide on programming tools, and this in turn determines the customization architecture. Currently GP modification, reporting and integration tools are .Net, Dexterity, SQL scripting, eConnect, Integration Manager, Modifier with VBA, Extender, ReportWriter, SRS, Crystal Reports; in the case of Business Portal customization is more challenging, it is in .Net and UML and you do not have the option of direct modification access to SQL server. Let’s come through the techniques and options:
1. Business Logic mapping. This part is the most important. You need to decide how your customization extension will integrate with existing business logic. It might be independent custom logic with following integration to GP tables – in this case you should be familiar with GP master and transactions records distribution in GP. The easiest and most reliable approach is to imitate intended integration records via Great Plains user workstation data entry
2. .Net. Consider web ecommerce data publishing from Great Plains SQL tables. However, make your homework and research GP tables structure. Open GP workstation and go to tools->resource description->tables. We only intend here to orient you for the next step, not really give you complete solution, so you is the one to explore the further options
3. eConnect. In addition to above option, eConnect will give you some comfort level manipulating master and work transaction records in GP. In eConnect you can not post Great Plains transactions, due to Microsoft Great Plains Dexterity architecture – posting is left to GP users
4. Modifier/VBA. This tandem was very popular in 1990th and earlier 2000th, however now it is legacy as it is not .Net compliant. VBA is also Integration Manager modification tool. VBA scripting is very powerful – you can include Dexterity sanscript scriplets into Modified forms logic, which is very cool, but unfortunately not easily upgradeable to new GP version. VBA usesOLE Server functionality
5. Microsoft Dexterity. Former name is Great Plains Dexterity. This tool requires professional Dex developer, otherwise you will get into years long learning curve with all the known development errors and traps. The beginning of Dex learning are Dynamics.dic, Dex.ini, Dynamics.set, DEX_ROW_ID
6. Integration Manager. Besides obvious and intuitive integration you can extend it with VBA scripting and data translation. At this time IM is in process of being redesigned in eConnect (on the business objects level – SQL stored procedures), this should resolve known IM performance issue. Consider direct eConnect programming if you plan to integrate over ten thousand records per day
7. Reporting Tools. You should be aware that both SRS (SQL Server Reporting Services) and Crystal Reports will more likely require SQL Stored Procedures or SQL Views to be based on. If you decide to follow the “wizard” approach – the chances are high that you will end up with long term debugging and then move back to SQL stored procedure or view
8. ReportWriter. is Dexterity module with all the pluses and minuses of this legacy technology. Report Writer reports version update is known as challenging, especially if you are not happy to redesign several reports from scratch. Known trick is as this – open new (non modified) and old (modified) version of your report and compare calculated fields.
1. Business Logic mapping. This part is the most important. You need to decide how your customization extension will integrate with existing business logic. It might be independent custom logic with following integration to GP tables – in this case you should be familiar with GP master and transactions records distribution in GP. The easiest and most reliable approach is to imitate intended integration records via Great Plains user workstation data entry
2. .Net. Consider web ecommerce data publishing from Great Plains SQL tables. However, make your homework and research GP tables structure. Open GP workstation and go to tools->resource description->tables. We only intend here to orient you for the next step, not really give you complete solution, so you is the one to explore the further options
3. eConnect. In addition to above option, eConnect will give you some comfort level manipulating master and work transaction records in GP. In eConnect you can not post Great Plains transactions, due to Microsoft Great Plains Dexterity architecture – posting is left to GP users
4. Modifier/VBA. This tandem was very popular in 1990th and earlier 2000th, however now it is legacy as it is not .Net compliant. VBA is also Integration Manager modification tool. VBA scripting is very powerful – you can include Dexterity sanscript scriplets into Modified forms logic, which is very cool, but unfortunately not easily upgradeable to new GP version. VBA usesOLE Server functionality
5. Microsoft Dexterity. Former name is Great Plains Dexterity. This tool requires professional Dex developer, otherwise you will get into years long learning curve with all the known development errors and traps. The beginning of Dex learning are Dynamics.dic, Dex.ini, Dynamics.set, DEX_ROW_ID
6. Integration Manager. Besides obvious and intuitive integration you can extend it with VBA scripting and data translation. At this time IM is in process of being redesigned in eConnect (on the business objects level – SQL stored procedures), this should resolve known IM performance issue. Consider direct eConnect programming if you plan to integrate over ten thousand records per day
7. Reporting Tools. You should be aware that both SRS (SQL Server Reporting Services) and Crystal Reports will more likely require SQL Stored Procedures or SQL Views to be based on. If you decide to follow the “wizard” approach – the chances are high that you will end up with long term debugging and then move back to SQL stored procedure or view
8. ReportWriter. is Dexterity module with all the pluses and minuses of this legacy technology. Report Writer reports version update is known as challenging, especially if you are not happy to redesign several reports from scratch. Known trick is as this – open new (non modified) and old (modified) version of your report and compare calculated fields.
Monday, July 9, 2007
What Is COM And How It's Related To Registry Cleaner
What exactly does COM mean? What does it stand for and what does it do? COM in this article means Component Object Model and it is a Microsoft software architecture that can be called up to perform certain functions during the course of running a program or application as it is called in the Windows environment.
COM is an acronym for Component Object Model. This is a software architecture developed by Microsoft Corporation and is used to define a certain structure used to build program routines, known as 'objects' that can be called up for execution in a windows based environment. COM was first built into Windows 95 and Windows NT.4.0. many parts of Windows operating system and some applications developed by Microsoft's developers have built in COM objects. Com Objects are stored in the registry of a system and are one of the things that need to be cleaned with registry cleaner.
So What Exactly Does COM Do?
Com is that part of a program that provides an interface between objects. A counterpart DCOM or Distributed COM allows the objects to run remotely. COM is implemented in different ways. Objects can be large small or medium and are written in different programming languages to perform any kind of processing of a file or code. Programs call on objects whenever the program needs the services of the object and the Common Object Model acts as the interface between the program and the object. COM will link common objects to different programs that need them. That is why even though the program may be uninstalled the common object will not be removed. This fills up the registry and slows down a PC. A computer registry cleaner will remove all unwanted entries from a registry and speed up the system.
COM and ActiveX
ActiveX controls can call up COM objects called 'controls'. These 'controls' just blend into the program and become part of the program when called up by COM. OLE also uses COM services in the windows environment. Standard applications, such as word processors and spreadsheets, can be written to expose their internal functions as COM objects, allowing them to be "automated" instead of manually selected from a menu. Microsoft's OLE compound documents are based on COM, which lets one document be embedded within or linked to another (see OLE). ActiveX Documents are extensions to OLE that allow a Web browser, for example, to view not only Web pages, but any kind of document.
Microsoft Corporation is increasingly making its standard programming interfaces conform to the COM object model so that there is continuity between all interfaces in the Windows working environment. In the beginning Microsoft Corporation decided to use the term ‘OLE’ to refer to its COM-based architecture, then later decided to drop that designation in favor of ActiveX. Now since both OLE and ActiveX are based on COM, the term COM is also used. As a result, any combination of the words COM, OLE and ActiveX followed by the words control, object and component may mean the same thing, or they may not, depending on the context they are referred to.
So in the end we are given to understand that Common Object Model is ActiveX and vice versa in relation to the environment they are working in. All this automatic activity only feeds the registry with information it may not have to retain. But there is no way to rid the registry of this data except with the help of a windows registry cleaner. A PC registry cleaner will remover from the registry all unwanted information thus making the system more efficient.
COM is an acronym for Component Object Model. This is a software architecture developed by Microsoft Corporation and is used to define a certain structure used to build program routines, known as 'objects' that can be called up for execution in a windows based environment. COM was first built into Windows 95 and Windows NT.4.0. many parts of Windows operating system and some applications developed by Microsoft's developers have built in COM objects. Com Objects are stored in the registry of a system and are one of the things that need to be cleaned with registry cleaner.
So What Exactly Does COM Do?
Com is that part of a program that provides an interface between objects. A counterpart DCOM or Distributed COM allows the objects to run remotely. COM is implemented in different ways. Objects can be large small or medium and are written in different programming languages to perform any kind of processing of a file or code. Programs call on objects whenever the program needs the services of the object and the Common Object Model acts as the interface between the program and the object. COM will link common objects to different programs that need them. That is why even though the program may be uninstalled the common object will not be removed. This fills up the registry and slows down a PC. A computer registry cleaner will remove all unwanted entries from a registry and speed up the system.
COM and ActiveX
ActiveX controls can call up COM objects called 'controls'. These 'controls' just blend into the program and become part of the program when called up by COM. OLE also uses COM services in the windows environment. Standard applications, such as word processors and spreadsheets, can be written to expose their internal functions as COM objects, allowing them to be "automated" instead of manually selected from a menu. Microsoft's OLE compound documents are based on COM, which lets one document be embedded within or linked to another (see OLE). ActiveX Documents are extensions to OLE that allow a Web browser, for example, to view not only Web pages, but any kind of document.
Microsoft Corporation is increasingly making its standard programming interfaces conform to the COM object model so that there is continuity between all interfaces in the Windows working environment. In the beginning Microsoft Corporation decided to use the term ‘OLE’ to refer to its COM-based architecture, then later decided to drop that designation in favor of ActiveX. Now since both OLE and ActiveX are based on COM, the term COM is also used. As a result, any combination of the words COM, OLE and ActiveX followed by the words control, object and component may mean the same thing, or they may not, depending on the context they are referred to.
So in the end we are given to understand that Common Object Model is ActiveX and vice versa in relation to the environment they are working in. All this automatic activity only feeds the registry with information it may not have to retain. But there is no way to rid the registry of this data except with the help of a windows registry cleaner. A PC registry cleaner will remover from the registry all unwanted information thus making the system more efficient.
What Is CLASS ID?
ActiveX controls are reusable software components that are used to add special functions to web sites or desktop applications. Browsers use the 'CLASSID' of the ActiveX Control on a web page to determine if the control already exists on the system. If they do not they are automatically downloaded from the website.
Before you go ahead and download a registry cleaner understand why it is necessary. As a web page loads on your system, you may be prompted to install several ActiveX components before the page can be fully downloaded. This is so that the browser can interpret the ActiveX components and display them properly on the system. This only would only occur if the controls used in the web page were not already on the system. If you decline permission for the installation, the page will not function properly. However, once these ActiveX controls are on your system, you won't have to download them again, even when you come across them on other web sites. These download clutter up the registry over time and need to be removed with the help of some registry shareware cleaner.
Other ID Tags
So how can the web page determine that the required ActiveX controls are not installed on the system or not? The browser does this by referring to the 'CLASSID' in the 'OBJECT' tag of the web page. To cut a long explanation short, an ActiveX control is added to a web page using the and container tags. The 'CLASSID' is unique to each ActiveX component
Before you go ahead and download a registry cleaner understand why it is necessary. As a web page loads on your system, you may be prompted to install several ActiveX components before the page can be fully downloaded. This is so that the browser can interpret the ActiveX components and display them properly on the system. This only would only occur if the controls used in the web page were not already on the system. If you decline permission for the installation, the page will not function properly. However, once these ActiveX controls are on your system, you won't have to download them again, even when you come across them on other web sites. These download clutter up the registry over time and need to be removed with the help of some registry shareware cleaner.
Other ID Tags
So how can the web page determine that the required ActiveX controls are not installed on the system or not? The browser does this by referring to the 'CLASSID' in the 'OBJECT' tag of the web page. To cut a long explanation short, an ActiveX control is added to a web page using the and container tags. The 'CLASSID' is unique to each ActiveX component
Spyware Can Cause You And Your System Irreparable Damage
Spyware is dangerous to your system and your personal identity. There is always the fear of identity theft as well as financial loss if your system is vulnerable to Spyware. Removing it is imperative.
Spyware can be described in simple terms as software that performs certain functions covertly on your computer such as collecting personal information, changing the configuration of the computer, and advertising. Spyware is often associated with advertising software or software that generates pop-up ads on the screen when the computer is connected to the Internet. Now this does not mean that all Spyware is malicious and causes damage to you by collecting personal information from your system. However, all Spyware do make changes to the system and cause the registry to grow substantially and ultimately cause the system to slow down to a crawl. The Spyware must be removed with the best Spyware removal utilities such as free Microsoft Spyware Removal Tool.
Is Cleaning The Registry Really Important?
Yes. Anti-Spyware searches and detects any Spyware operating in the background of the system. It is designed to detect any program that is operating and yet is not associated with the running programs on the system. Anti-Spyware can then remove such Spyware and secure the computer. Many free Adware Spyware removal tools also clean the registry to some extent. However, Spyware can create entries in the registry in hundreds or even thousands of places. These entries will stay hidden until the Spyware discovers that the exe file is missing. Then the registry entries start to operate and download the necessary files, secretly, from the Internet and the Spyware begins to operate again. Some free Spyware and Adware removal programs can go into the registry and pull out all the entries associated with programs that have been removed from the system.
Are These Spyware and Adware Removal Software Easy And Inexpensive?
Spyware virus removal software is very easy to operate. In fact, they just take a few seconds to download with a fast Internet connection. Installation takes just a few seconds and you are ready to go. Spyware virus removal software such as free Spyware and Adware removal is very effective and has all the safety features of a good Spyware removal utility. Along with this a good PC spyware cleaner can create a back up of the existing registry, which can be restored in case something goes wrong with the cleaning process.
Use Spyware Removal Tools Often
Spyware removal software should be run of the system at intervals of two to three weeks manually to clean and maintain the system. Many free Spyware programs do a great job and keep the system running perfectly. When you discover that the system has slowed down to an unusual pace run the anti-Spyware and you will be sure to come up with a few hundred if not thousands of infected files that need to be healed by the software.
Spyware can be described in simple terms as software that performs certain functions covertly on your computer such as collecting personal information, changing the configuration of the computer, and advertising. Spyware is often associated with advertising software or software that generates pop-up ads on the screen when the computer is connected to the Internet. Now this does not mean that all Spyware is malicious and causes damage to you by collecting personal information from your system. However, all Spyware do make changes to the system and cause the registry to grow substantially and ultimately cause the system to slow down to a crawl. The Spyware must be removed with the best Spyware removal utilities such as free Microsoft Spyware Removal Tool.
Is Cleaning The Registry Really Important?
Yes. Anti-Spyware searches and detects any Spyware operating in the background of the system. It is designed to detect any program that is operating and yet is not associated with the running programs on the system. Anti-Spyware can then remove such Spyware and secure the computer. Many free Adware Spyware removal tools also clean the registry to some extent. However, Spyware can create entries in the registry in hundreds or even thousands of places. These entries will stay hidden until the Spyware discovers that the exe file is missing. Then the registry entries start to operate and download the necessary files, secretly, from the Internet and the Spyware begins to operate again. Some free Spyware and Adware removal programs can go into the registry and pull out all the entries associated with programs that have been removed from the system.
Are These Spyware and Adware Removal Software Easy And Inexpensive?
Spyware virus removal software is very easy to operate. In fact, they just take a few seconds to download with a fast Internet connection. Installation takes just a few seconds and you are ready to go. Spyware virus removal software such as free Spyware and Adware removal is very effective and has all the safety features of a good Spyware removal utility. Along with this a good PC spyware cleaner can create a back up of the existing registry, which can be restored in case something goes wrong with the cleaning process.
Use Spyware Removal Tools Often
Spyware removal software should be run of the system at intervals of two to three weeks manually to clean and maintain the system. Many free Spyware programs do a great job and keep the system running perfectly. When you discover that the system has slowed down to an unusual pace run the anti-Spyware and you will be sure to come up with a few hundred if not thousands of infected files that need to be healed by the software.
What Is an ActiveX Control And How Is It Related With The Registry?
ActiveX is a technology that was developed by Microsoft to enhance the display of images, video and animation in their browsers. ActiveX components are a set of rules that guide the browser to display hi-resolution images and streaming video properly.
It should suffice to say that ActiveX is a technology that was developed to bring the power of Object Linking and Embedding or OLE as it is popularly known, to empower web browsers and particularly Internet Explorer, to display such objects. When web pages with embedded ActiveX components are downloaded, the corresponding controls are also downloaded and automatically launched by the operating system of the computer. This can, over some time, clutter up the registry with unwanted data and controls, thus slowing down the system drastically. This will mean having to clean up the registry with a registry cleaner periodically. ActiveX controls are actually used by windows to display very rich interfacing activity such as animation, video images, virtual reality that used 3D technology, high resolution images and the like.
ActiveX Prompts For Registry Cleaners
When downloaded into your computer, an ActiveX control is actually packaged as an .OCX file. There are cases when more .OCX files are downloaded and needed for a web page. The .OCX files like ActiveX controls need to be registered on your system before they can be used. Registering means that a program capable of doing this, queries the ActiveX control and saves specific information about it into Windows Registry, so that the operating system can find it and therefore be able to use the ActiveX control. However, one must keep in mind the importance or cleaning up the registry periodically. The Internet has the best registry cleaners available free. So, make use of them to keep your system running smoothly.
Pro's and Con's Of ActiveX Controls
It is important to understand that with all the 'pros' of ActiveX technology also come a few 'cons' as well. ActiveX is a very powerful tool and is sometimes used by individuals, with a flair for the technology, to create ActiveX controls with malicious intentions. These 'corrupt' ActiveX controls can wreck havoc on your system and leave you helpless for no fault of yours. After all, you know that ActiveX is supposed to help your system run some programs, right. So why not download an ActiveX control when you are prompted to do so? It is for this reason that Microsoft has developed the ActiveX security system.
In Windows XP operating system, this security system is embedded in the Internet Explorer. The registry of the system automatically blocks the download and installation of any ActiveX component in the Registry of the computer. Apart from this is an ActiveX component has to be installed the computer will prompt the user to check for the signature of the component. If the ActiveX component is registered with Microsoft the ActiveX is verified as authorized and is allowed to be installed in the registry of the computer. If the ActiveX component is not verified the systems offers the user a choice of not installing the ActiveX control.
Some Advise For Internet Explorer Users
If you are using Internet Explorer you should ensure that you are using a security level set to Medium or above in Internet Explorer. You can do this by going to tools in IE and select 'internet options' then click on 'security' and slide the level to medium or higher. Now, after reading about the entire automatic downloads of controls and stuff, it makes sense to download a free window registry cleaner and use it periodically to clean the registry of your system. There are enhanced registry XP cleaners to clean the complex registry of Windows XP as well.
It should suffice to say that ActiveX is a technology that was developed to bring the power of Object Linking and Embedding or OLE as it is popularly known, to empower web browsers and particularly Internet Explorer, to display such objects. When web pages with embedded ActiveX components are downloaded, the corresponding controls are also downloaded and automatically launched by the operating system of the computer. This can, over some time, clutter up the registry with unwanted data and controls, thus slowing down the system drastically. This will mean having to clean up the registry with a registry cleaner periodically. ActiveX controls are actually used by windows to display very rich interfacing activity such as animation, video images, virtual reality that used 3D technology, high resolution images and the like.
ActiveX Prompts For Registry Cleaners
When downloaded into your computer, an ActiveX control is actually packaged as an .OCX file. There are cases when more .OCX files are downloaded and needed for a web page. The .OCX files like ActiveX controls need to be registered on your system before they can be used. Registering means that a program capable of doing this, queries the ActiveX control and saves specific information about it into Windows Registry, so that the operating system can find it and therefore be able to use the ActiveX control. However, one must keep in mind the importance or cleaning up the registry periodically. The Internet has the best registry cleaners available free. So, make use of them to keep your system running smoothly.
Pro's and Con's Of ActiveX Controls
It is important to understand that with all the 'pros' of ActiveX technology also come a few 'cons' as well. ActiveX is a very powerful tool and is sometimes used by individuals, with a flair for the technology, to create ActiveX controls with malicious intentions. These 'corrupt' ActiveX controls can wreck havoc on your system and leave you helpless for no fault of yours. After all, you know that ActiveX is supposed to help your system run some programs, right. So why not download an ActiveX control when you are prompted to do so? It is for this reason that Microsoft has developed the ActiveX security system.
In Windows XP operating system, this security system is embedded in the Internet Explorer. The registry of the system automatically blocks the download and installation of any ActiveX component in the Registry of the computer. Apart from this is an ActiveX component has to be installed the computer will prompt the user to check for the signature of the component. If the ActiveX component is registered with Microsoft the ActiveX is verified as authorized and is allowed to be installed in the registry of the computer. If the ActiveX component is not verified the systems offers the user a choice of not installing the ActiveX control.
Some Advise For Internet Explorer Users
If you are using Internet Explorer you should ensure that you are using a security level set to Medium or above in Internet Explorer. You can do this by going to tools in IE and select 'internet options' then click on 'security' and slide the level to medium or higher. Now, after reading about the entire automatic downloads of controls and stuff, it makes sense to download a free window registry cleaner and use it periodically to clean the registry of your system. There are enhanced registry XP cleaners to clean the complex registry of Windows XP as well.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
How To Copyright And Patent Your Software?
If you're wondering how to copyright software, the good news is you've probably already done it. At least you have if you have ever written software. Most people get confused over exactly what having a copyright for their software means. Only those things that can be seen (when it comes to software) can be copyrighted. If you want to protect the abstract, look into patents. Otherwise if it is original, fixed, and tangible you can copyright it. Essentially you already know how to copyright software if you've put it into a finished form. Once you've written the source code, the copyright belongs to you.
Copyrighting software doesn't offer the protection that many people hope it will. The idea of software and anything about the finished product that wasn't available in a tangible (visible) form isn't protected by copyright. In fact, the only thing undeniably protected by software copyright is the source code. The question you should ask yourself is not how to copyright software, but how to patent your software.
What Is A Software Patent?
A “software patent” has no universal understanding. In general, owning a patent allows a company certain rights (or exclusivity) for a prescribed amount of time. Individuals or corporations seeking a patent must apply for a patent in each country in which they wish to have one. Unlike copyrights, patents are not automatically granted to applicants and can take a while to be approved.
The growth of Internet business and e-commerce has led to many patent applications for software, particularly software designed for specific business applications. While the cases are granted and successfully tried and defended in some countries, other countries offer no enforcement or legal recourse for those who do not honor the software patent, even if the patents were granted in those countries. The fine line between nations about what is and isn't patentable is another challenge to establish and honor patents.
Patents differ greatly from copyrights, which are issued automatically and recognized and enforced internationally. Copyrights protect the source code of software from being copied and registration is generally not required to protect your work.
Lately there is a new term, “Copyleft,” which is an obvious play on words and represents the rights to not only redistribute the copyrighted works, but also to modify and freely distribute those modifications. This term is very much in the spirit of many open source types of software and music. The catch for copyleft protection is that the newly created work be distributed in the same manner and spirit in which it was received. In other words if you were freely given the software, then you must freely provide the improvements and modifications you made to that software.
One unfortunate circumstance surrounding patents is the unequal and obvious disparity between the haves and the have not's. Patent enforcement for software, unlike literature and music, is largely subjective. In literature and music, it is obvious that the copyright has been abused or that the work has been copied; this isn't as simple with software.
How to Obtain a Patent
To obtain a patent for your software, you must apply for a patent in each country that offers patents for software and in which you wish to have the protection a patent can offer. There is no universal legal definition of what a software patent is. Each country that offers patents also has a different definition for what is protected by that patent, as well as for why a patent will be granted. Also consider the fact your software may be given a patent in one country where you applied and none of the others.
Of course, if this is not enough fun for you, you can try to deal with the red tape involved in dealing with multiple governments to resolve any issues or disputes that may have arisen from your software patents.
If you are applying for international patents (which can secure a profitable future for you and your business), you need to find a good patent lawyer and have him walk you through the entire process. Patents are complicated. When you're not exactly sure of what you're doing, whom you need to talk to, and what the next step is, you stand to waste a lot of time while taking a bigger risk. It is much easier to deal with how to copyright software on your own than it is to work out the complicated world of software patents.
If this is your first time designing your own software, you have every right to be nervous. Remember: lawyers went to school much longer than you to know what to do in this situation, so you should not be expected to know how to copyright or patent software when you've never done it before.
Copyrighting software doesn't offer the protection that many people hope it will. The idea of software and anything about the finished product that wasn't available in a tangible (visible) form isn't protected by copyright. In fact, the only thing undeniably protected by software copyright is the source code. The question you should ask yourself is not how to copyright software, but how to patent your software.
What Is A Software Patent?
A “software patent” has no universal understanding. In general, owning a patent allows a company certain rights (or exclusivity) for a prescribed amount of time. Individuals or corporations seeking a patent must apply for a patent in each country in which they wish to have one. Unlike copyrights, patents are not automatically granted to applicants and can take a while to be approved.
The growth of Internet business and e-commerce has led to many patent applications for software, particularly software designed for specific business applications. While the cases are granted and successfully tried and defended in some countries, other countries offer no enforcement or legal recourse for those who do not honor the software patent, even if the patents were granted in those countries. The fine line between nations about what is and isn't patentable is another challenge to establish and honor patents.
Patents differ greatly from copyrights, which are issued automatically and recognized and enforced internationally. Copyrights protect the source code of software from being copied and registration is generally not required to protect your work.
Lately there is a new term, “Copyleft,” which is an obvious play on words and represents the rights to not only redistribute the copyrighted works, but also to modify and freely distribute those modifications. This term is very much in the spirit of many open source types of software and music. The catch for copyleft protection is that the newly created work be distributed in the same manner and spirit in which it was received. In other words if you were freely given the software, then you must freely provide the improvements and modifications you made to that software.
One unfortunate circumstance surrounding patents is the unequal and obvious disparity between the haves and the have not's. Patent enforcement for software, unlike literature and music, is largely subjective. In literature and music, it is obvious that the copyright has been abused or that the work has been copied; this isn't as simple with software.
How to Obtain a Patent
To obtain a patent for your software, you must apply for a patent in each country that offers patents for software and in which you wish to have the protection a patent can offer. There is no universal legal definition of what a software patent is. Each country that offers patents also has a different definition for what is protected by that patent, as well as for why a patent will be granted. Also consider the fact your software may be given a patent in one country where you applied and none of the others.
Of course, if this is not enough fun for you, you can try to deal with the red tape involved in dealing with multiple governments to resolve any issues or disputes that may have arisen from your software patents.
If you are applying for international patents (which can secure a profitable future for you and your business), you need to find a good patent lawyer and have him walk you through the entire process. Patents are complicated. When you're not exactly sure of what you're doing, whom you need to talk to, and what the next step is, you stand to waste a lot of time while taking a bigger risk. It is much easier to deal with how to copyright software on your own than it is to work out the complicated world of software patents.
If this is your first time designing your own software, you have every right to be nervous. Remember: lawyers went to school much longer than you to know what to do in this situation, so you should not be expected to know how to copyright or patent software when you've never done it before.
Using Hard Disk cleanup Wizard
The Disk Cleanup tool searches your entire hard disk for files that are safe and possible to delete and helps free up needed space. You can choose to delete some or all of the files.
* Remove temporary Internet files.
* Remove downloaded program files.
* Empty the Recycle Bin.
* Remove Windows temporary files.
* Remove optional Windows components that you are not using.
* Remove installed programs that you no longer use.
You can start Disk Cleanup, by doing any of the following:
* Click Start, My Computer
* Right-click appropriate hard disk drive, then click Properties
* Select the General tab,
* Click the Disk Cleanup button
(Disk Cleanup will take a few minutes to examine your disk )
* When the Disk Cleanup dialog box appears, select the Files from the list that correspond to what you want to delete.
* Click OK
* Click Yes to "Are you sure you want to perform theses actions?" box
* Click OK
To Remove Files Stored on Your Hard Disk
To remove files stored on your hard disk that you no longer use, follow these steps:
* Click Start, and then click My Computer.
* Right-click the disk in which you want to free up space, and then click Properties.
* Click the General tab, and then click Disk Cleanup.
* Click the Disk Cleanup tab (if it is not already selected), click to select the check boxes next to the files that you want to remove, and then click OK.
* Click Yes to the proceed with this action, and then click OK.
To Remove Windows Components
* Click Start, My Computer
* Right-click Local Disk, then click Properties
* On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button
* Select the More Options tab
* Under Windows components, click Clean up
(the Windows Components Wizard starts)
* In the Components list, click to clear the check box next to the component(s) that you want to remove.
(A shaded check box next to a component indicates that only some of its subcomponents are installed )
* If you want to remove a subcomponent, click Details
* Click the check box next to the subcomponent(s) that you want to remove
* Click OK.
* Click Next.
* Click Finish
* Click Yes
* Click Yes to "You must restart your before the new settings will take effect" message
* Click OK
To Remove Installed Programs
* Click Start, then click My Computer.
* Right-click Local Disk, then click Properties.
* On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button.
* Select the More Options tab
* Under Installed Programs, click Clean up
(the Add or Remove Programs dialog box is displayed)
* In the Currently installed programs list, click the program that you want to remove, and then click Remove (or Change/Remove)
* Follow specific steps issued for each program if they appear
* Repeat above steps for each program you want to remove
To Remove Restore Points
* Click Start, My Computer
* Right-click Local Disk, then click Properties
* On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button
* Select the More Options tab
* Under System Restore, click Clean up
* Click Yes to "Are you sure you want to delete all but the most recent restore point?" message
* Click OK
If you are using Netscape Navigator, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera, this program does not clean temporary Internet files for those applications.
Disk Cleanup does not clear your browsing history. It certainly isn't necessary to clear these, but if you share your computer, there is a privacy issue when others can see where you go on the Internet
* Remove temporary Internet files.
* Remove downloaded program files.
* Empty the Recycle Bin.
* Remove Windows temporary files.
* Remove optional Windows components that you are not using.
* Remove installed programs that you no longer use.
You can start Disk Cleanup, by doing any of the following:
* Click Start, My Computer
* Right-click appropriate hard disk drive, then click Properties
* Select the General tab,
* Click the Disk Cleanup button
(Disk Cleanup will take a few minutes to examine your disk )
* When the Disk Cleanup dialog box appears, select the Files from the list that correspond to what you want to delete.
* Click OK
* Click Yes to "Are you sure you want to perform theses actions?" box
* Click OK
To Remove Files Stored on Your Hard Disk
To remove files stored on your hard disk that you no longer use, follow these steps:
* Click Start, and then click My Computer.
* Right-click the disk in which you want to free up space, and then click Properties.
* Click the General tab, and then click Disk Cleanup.
* Click the Disk Cleanup tab (if it is not already selected), click to select the check boxes next to the files that you want to remove, and then click OK.
* Click Yes to the proceed with this action, and then click OK.
To Remove Windows Components
* Click Start, My Computer
* Right-click Local Disk, then click Properties
* On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button
* Select the More Options tab
* Under Windows components, click Clean up
(the Windows Components Wizard starts)
* In the Components list, click to clear the check box next to the component(s) that you want to remove.
(A shaded check box next to a component indicates that only some of its subcomponents are installed )
* If you want to remove a subcomponent, click Details
* Click the check box next to the subcomponent(s) that you want to remove
* Click OK.
* Click Next.
* Click Finish
* Click Yes
* Click Yes to "You must restart your before the new settings will take effect" message
* Click OK
To Remove Installed Programs
* Click Start, then click My Computer.
* Right-click Local Disk, then click Properties.
* On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button.
* Select the More Options tab
* Under Installed Programs, click Clean up
(the Add or Remove Programs dialog box is displayed)
* In the Currently installed programs list, click the program that you want to remove, and then click Remove (or Change/Remove)
* Follow specific steps issued for each program if they appear
* Repeat above steps for each program you want to remove
To Remove Restore Points
* Click Start, My Computer
* Right-click Local Disk, then click Properties
* On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button
* Select the More Options tab
* Under System Restore, click Clean up
* Click Yes to "Are you sure you want to delete all but the most recent restore point?" message
* Click OK
If you are using Netscape Navigator, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera, this program does not clean temporary Internet files for those applications.
Disk Cleanup does not clear your browsing history. It certainly isn't necessary to clear these, but if you share your computer, there is a privacy issue when others can see where you go on the Internet
Content Sites - What Are They?
So just what the heck is a content site?
Glad you asked. A content site is a site that contains content. This literal definition of a content site, however, doesn’t convey the sheer effectiveness of utilizing a content site for affiliate programs. There are several distinct advantages of using a full content site as opposed to a single-page sales format.
Using a sales page or a mini site is one way to sell a product, but even then the sales page is usually accessed from a content site. These larger sites, which can be 20, 30, 40 pages or more, have the advantage of many pages of keyword optimized content that just can’t be reached by a single page. With pages and pages of keyword articles, the content site has the potential for a much higher rank in the search engine line.
In addition to the SEO action, a content site is much more likely to be referenced again and again. People interested in the content will bookmark it and come back to read more about it. Multiple views can only increase the chance of sales, as well as word of mouth about the content that is provided. There probably aren’t that many people that bookmark a sales page, but when a content site has lots of practical information that a reader can use, it has a better chance of being read. Using a content site is like having a catalog, and the sales page is the order form.
Having pages of content also allows you to go more into depth about the items you are selling. A sales page is an obvious sales pitch. Readers come in, mill around, and they’re told why the product is a good thing to buy. A content site is seen more as information about the items- and look! They just happen to sell them here.
And, unlike a smaller site, a content site has room for plenty of products. If one of the products is failing, it can always be squashed and replaced with something that can perform better. Content sites usually are concerned with a specific topic, and within that topic there is room for any number of different products to be promoted. This creates a better chance of revenue instead of relying on only one item for the entire bulk of sales. In addition to changing around the products if they become ineffective, there is also room to change the keywords for the same reason.
A content site is also easier to promote than separate pages that each have to be promoted. An informational site can be branded to create a name for the site and its products. Creating a brand is something that can’t be done with just one product that is probably being sold elsewhere on countless other pages. A brand is the collection of pages, which will be unique to your site. A brand is a powerful thing in cyberspace, and can be wielded for good or evil. Or, just to make the highest number of conversions possible.
Glad you asked. A content site is a site that contains content. This literal definition of a content site, however, doesn’t convey the sheer effectiveness of utilizing a content site for affiliate programs. There are several distinct advantages of using a full content site as opposed to a single-page sales format.
Using a sales page or a mini site is one way to sell a product, but even then the sales page is usually accessed from a content site. These larger sites, which can be 20, 30, 40 pages or more, have the advantage of many pages of keyword optimized content that just can’t be reached by a single page. With pages and pages of keyword articles, the content site has the potential for a much higher rank in the search engine line.
In addition to the SEO action, a content site is much more likely to be referenced again and again. People interested in the content will bookmark it and come back to read more about it. Multiple views can only increase the chance of sales, as well as word of mouth about the content that is provided. There probably aren’t that many people that bookmark a sales page, but when a content site has lots of practical information that a reader can use, it has a better chance of being read. Using a content site is like having a catalog, and the sales page is the order form.
Having pages of content also allows you to go more into depth about the items you are selling. A sales page is an obvious sales pitch. Readers come in, mill around, and they’re told why the product is a good thing to buy. A content site is seen more as information about the items- and look! They just happen to sell them here.
And, unlike a smaller site, a content site has room for plenty of products. If one of the products is failing, it can always be squashed and replaced with something that can perform better. Content sites usually are concerned with a specific topic, and within that topic there is room for any number of different products to be promoted. This creates a better chance of revenue instead of relying on only one item for the entire bulk of sales. In addition to changing around the products if they become ineffective, there is also room to change the keywords for the same reason.
A content site is also easier to promote than separate pages that each have to be promoted. An informational site can be branded to create a name for the site and its products. Creating a brand is something that can’t be done with just one product that is probably being sold elsewhere on countless other pages. A brand is the collection of pages, which will be unique to your site. A brand is a powerful thing in cyberspace, and can be wielded for good or evil. Or, just to make the highest number of conversions possible.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
How to Prevent and Protect Yourself from Online Fraud?
If you have ever been victim of fraud before, then you know all too well how ugly it can be. The key to preventing fraud is to use common sense and investigate with all the information you have.
Preventing Fraud
They key to preventing fraud is to collect as much information as possible. While more information is generally better, there is such thing as too much information too. You don't want to go around collecting your clients' SSNs, as that probably would scare them away. A shopping cart, or some sort of ordering system is usually a good idea in keeping your customer data secure and easily findable.
Below we're going to break up the different techniques you can do with certain types of information.
IP Address
The best thing you can do with an IP address is figuring out the location of it. You can do this with http://www.domaintools.com or http://www.dnsstuff.com. Sometimes an IP can be off by a few states or a few hundred miles at the most. But if the IP location is in a different country than your customer, then you may have a problem. From my experience, the IP is usually from an odd country. Generally IP is one of the most clear indicators, but it can be wrong.
Phone Number
With a phone number, you can do several things. The most obvious is figure out where the area code is. If this is a US phone number, you should be able just Google the area code and it will tell you the location of it. Be forewarned, that a lot of times people have an area code near them, but not necessarily in the same location. Then there are the oddballs who have a VoIP number or something similar on the other side of the country. You got to be very careful with phone numbers.
The next thing you can do is a reverse phone lookup. I find http://wwww.whitePages.com to be the most effective and easiest to use. A lot of numbers that you will lookup will be unlisted or cell phone numbers. A reverse phone lookup is also an effective method for finding out if your customer is a minor or just slightly older than a minor (as always, there are exceptions to this).
Domain
Every domain must have contact information. There are services out there that offer privacy protection for their contact information, but a lot of the domains are unprotected. You can lookup your client's domain using DomainTools to see if it's registered to them, and if it is, compare the information there with the information that they gave you.
Username / email
Almost all of the fraudsters that you will encounter will use a form of a free email address. The tricky part is, so will your legitimate customers. Googling their email address or a username will sometimes return some results that you can checkout, and learn more about your customer to see if he will be the ideal customer.
How to Deal with an Existing Fraud Case
Didn't see this tutorial in time to learn how to prevent fraud? Well, let's go over the basics on fighting those pesky chargebacks.
No matter what type of merchant account you own, if it is a legitimate fraud, then you will lose. It's pretty simple. However you do stand a chance against those who cry fraud, when in reality, they just wanted it free.
If you use Paypal, then you do stand a chance. If you sell a non-tangible service, such as software, or programming/designing etc. then tell Paypal this. Provide proof that you did fraud screening, and that you know this person received what you guaranteed to them. If they've paid through a credit card to Paypal, then your chances become increasingly smaller. Almost every dispute a consumer files with their credit card company, they will reward the consumer. Fighting a credit card chargeback is not an easy task at all.
The bottom line is use common sense. Try to call your customers directly if possible, to speak with them over the phone. This is by far the best method of preventing fraud. But just remember, there is not a single method that will reduce fraud by 100%. You should always be aware of that, each and every day.
Preventing Fraud
They key to preventing fraud is to collect as much information as possible. While more information is generally better, there is such thing as too much information too. You don't want to go around collecting your clients' SSNs, as that probably would scare them away. A shopping cart, or some sort of ordering system is usually a good idea in keeping your customer data secure and easily findable.
Below we're going to break up the different techniques you can do with certain types of information.
IP Address
The best thing you can do with an IP address is figuring out the location of it. You can do this with http://www.domaintools.com or http://www.dnsstuff.com. Sometimes an IP can be off by a few states or a few hundred miles at the most. But if the IP location is in a different country than your customer, then you may have a problem. From my experience, the IP is usually from an odd country. Generally IP is one of the most clear indicators, but it can be wrong.
Phone Number
With a phone number, you can do several things. The most obvious is figure out where the area code is. If this is a US phone number, you should be able just Google the area code and it will tell you the location of it. Be forewarned, that a lot of times people have an area code near them, but not necessarily in the same location. Then there are the oddballs who have a VoIP number or something similar on the other side of the country. You got to be very careful with phone numbers.
The next thing you can do is a reverse phone lookup. I find http://wwww.whitePages.com to be the most effective and easiest to use. A lot of numbers that you will lookup will be unlisted or cell phone numbers. A reverse phone lookup is also an effective method for finding out if your customer is a minor or just slightly older than a minor (as always, there are exceptions to this).
Domain
Every domain must have contact information. There are services out there that offer privacy protection for their contact information, but a lot of the domains are unprotected. You can lookup your client's domain using DomainTools to see if it's registered to them, and if it is, compare the information there with the information that they gave you.
Username / email
Almost all of the fraudsters that you will encounter will use a form of a free email address. The tricky part is, so will your legitimate customers. Googling their email address or a username will sometimes return some results that you can checkout, and learn more about your customer to see if he will be the ideal customer.
How to Deal with an Existing Fraud Case
Didn't see this tutorial in time to learn how to prevent fraud? Well, let's go over the basics on fighting those pesky chargebacks.
No matter what type of merchant account you own, if it is a legitimate fraud, then you will lose. It's pretty simple. However you do stand a chance against those who cry fraud, when in reality, they just wanted it free.
If you use Paypal, then you do stand a chance. If you sell a non-tangible service, such as software, or programming/designing etc. then tell Paypal this. Provide proof that you did fraud screening, and that you know this person received what you guaranteed to them. If they've paid through a credit card to Paypal, then your chances become increasingly smaller. Almost every dispute a consumer files with their credit card company, they will reward the consumer. Fighting a credit card chargeback is not an easy task at all.
The bottom line is use common sense. Try to call your customers directly if possible, to speak with them over the phone. This is by far the best method of preventing fraud. But just remember, there is not a single method that will reduce fraud by 100%. You should always be aware of that, each and every day.
What Is RSS?
RSS is technology - a simple software program - that allows you to access web and blog content automatically. The acronym's most popular translation is "Really Simple Syndication. Once your browser or computer has an RSS reader on board, you can subscribe to any number of RSS "feeds." A feed is simply a way in which a reader may subscribe to website content - most commonly blogs or news sites. A news site, for example, may list their latest headlines or entire articles in their feed every time a new article is published. A blog would publish this feed as a series of recent posts.
Feeds are published by millions of publishers, from small individuals to large organizations like Newsweek. The value of a feed is that it brings the most current site content to you in a format that is easily scanned; further, you are spared the task of visiting each source site each day. This is typically done through the use of what is called an 'aggregator' or 'feed reader'.
Feed readers or RSS readers, are software programs that run on your computer (or PDA or phone); let you easily subscribe to feeds, and allow you to read through them efficiently. Some are relatively simple, showing the headline and summary. The fancier ones often work with (or in) your browser to make viewing the material look much like the source page. Once you have a reader on your computer, subscribing to a feed with is an easy click or drag from your browser. Sites that provide RSS feeds will usually have a button for that purpose.
There are several RSS feed formats as well as one with an entirely different methodology called Atom. Atom has become popular with some bloggers and blogging tools. Some aggregators can read both. The other acronyms you will see in "feedspeak" are XML, which stands for 'extensible markup language' and is the code standard for these simple text feeds. An 'OPML" file is a format for indexing hierarchical feed lists. If you dive into this web habit in a big way, your aggregator or reader may keep your subscription list in an OPML file.
An RSS feed is a great method for staying abreast of issues and topics that interest you. There are a number of feed "libraries," so to speak, from which you can learn what's out there in your areas of interest. Google has a built-in reader that makes the subscription process easy, as does Yahoo. Firefox has a downloadable extension for the purpose of aggregating RSS feeds, as well as a default ability to save RSS feeds as "live bookmarks" that update via the RSS feed. You can download a number of stand alone readers and aggregators; you can find them through a simple web search.
The whole RSS "movement" is a step towards utilizing the Internet more efficiently. The trick is to avoid overloading your email inbox with daily reports that you end up ignoring most of the time. For that purpose, there are sites like Feedster that will search millions of RSS feeds for articles that are relevant to your interests. Like any search tool, however, these services are hit and miss. They are still working off keywords and sometimes what they find is relevant, sometimes not. But if you want daily news broken into categories, it's great technology once you learn how to make it work for you.
Feeds are published by millions of publishers, from small individuals to large organizations like Newsweek. The value of a feed is that it brings the most current site content to you in a format that is easily scanned; further, you are spared the task of visiting each source site each day. This is typically done through the use of what is called an 'aggregator' or 'feed reader'.
Feed readers or RSS readers, are software programs that run on your computer (or PDA or phone); let you easily subscribe to feeds, and allow you to read through them efficiently. Some are relatively simple, showing the headline and summary. The fancier ones often work with (or in) your browser to make viewing the material look much like the source page. Once you have a reader on your computer, subscribing to a feed with is an easy click or drag from your browser. Sites that provide RSS feeds will usually have a button for that purpose.
There are several RSS feed formats as well as one with an entirely different methodology called Atom. Atom has become popular with some bloggers and blogging tools. Some aggregators can read both. The other acronyms you will see in "feedspeak" are XML, which stands for 'extensible markup language' and is the code standard for these simple text feeds. An 'OPML" file is a format for indexing hierarchical feed lists. If you dive into this web habit in a big way, your aggregator or reader may keep your subscription list in an OPML file.
An RSS feed is a great method for staying abreast of issues and topics that interest you. There are a number of feed "libraries," so to speak, from which you can learn what's out there in your areas of interest. Google has a built-in reader that makes the subscription process easy, as does Yahoo. Firefox has a downloadable extension for the purpose of aggregating RSS feeds, as well as a default ability to save RSS feeds as "live bookmarks" that update via the RSS feed. You can download a number of stand alone readers and aggregators; you can find them through a simple web search.
The whole RSS "movement" is a step towards utilizing the Internet more efficiently. The trick is to avoid overloading your email inbox with daily reports that you end up ignoring most of the time. For that purpose, there are sites like Feedster that will search millions of RSS feeds for articles that are relevant to your interests. Like any search tool, however, these services are hit and miss. They are still working off keywords and sometimes what they find is relevant, sometimes not. But if you want daily news broken into categories, it's great technology once you learn how to make it work for you.
When to Buy a Color Laser Printer Instead of an Ink-Jet Printer
Computer and technology products continue to improve, and color printers are no different. If you liked the printer your friend bought last week, just wait. You'll be able to get one better and cheaper next week.
So, if you're in the market for a new home or small office printer what should you get, ink-jet or laser? My short answer - laser. Let me explain.
When black ink-jet printers first came out you had to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $500. You could get a replacement ink cartridge for 20 bucks and you're good to go. Or, you could buy an ink refill kit and refill your cartridge for a fraction of the cost of a new cartridge. Well, those days are long gone. Now you pay twenty bucks for the printer and $500 for the ink! Well, not quite, but it seems that way.
I've worked on printers with a single color cartridge and with one cartridge for each of the three standard colors and either way, you end up paying a lot for ink. So what do a lot of people do to save money on ink? They use their printer as little as possible. While this may seem like a reasonable solution it creates another problem; the ink dries up. Then when you go to print it's all streaky because the ink has dried up and clogged the microscopic jets. So what to do now? You run your printer through the cleaning process, which, unfortunately, USES A TON OF INK!
Here's the answer, buy ink cartridges on sale and stock up. Oops, wrong answer. Ink cartridges have an expiration date and usually don't work after that date.
How about refilling? Most cartridges today use some kind of “smart” technology that knows when it's empty and won't work when refilled - plus it can be a real mess.
The reason most ink-jet printers are so inexpensive today is that printer manufactures use the same business model as cell phone companies, that is, give away the phone (printer) and make the profit by regularly selling minutes (cartridges). Add to that the natural trend of computer products getting cheaper and the fact that today's printers are really cheaply made (notice I didn't say “inexpensive,” I said “cheap”) and you'll see $29 ink-jet printers all the time.
But don't think you can just buy a new printer whenever your ink runs out, because most printers are sold with “starter” cartridges which are less than 50% full.
So, what about color laser printers? Color laser printers have been around for quite a few years now, costing about ten grand and weighing 100 pounds when the first came out. Now you can get one for under $300 that weighs less than 40 pounds. So obviously it costs more to purchase a laser printer than an ink-jet printer, BUT, the cost per page is much less with laser and the hassle is greatly reduced as well.
So, for routine small office and home use these days, I recommend color laser printers.
So, if you're in the market for a new home or small office printer what should you get, ink-jet or laser? My short answer - laser. Let me explain.
When black ink-jet printers first came out you had to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $500. You could get a replacement ink cartridge for 20 bucks and you're good to go. Or, you could buy an ink refill kit and refill your cartridge for a fraction of the cost of a new cartridge. Well, those days are long gone. Now you pay twenty bucks for the printer and $500 for the ink! Well, not quite, but it seems that way.
I've worked on printers with a single color cartridge and with one cartridge for each of the three standard colors and either way, you end up paying a lot for ink. So what do a lot of people do to save money on ink? They use their printer as little as possible. While this may seem like a reasonable solution it creates another problem; the ink dries up. Then when you go to print it's all streaky because the ink has dried up and clogged the microscopic jets. So what to do now? You run your printer through the cleaning process, which, unfortunately, USES A TON OF INK!
Here's the answer, buy ink cartridges on sale and stock up. Oops, wrong answer. Ink cartridges have an expiration date and usually don't work after that date.
How about refilling? Most cartridges today use some kind of “smart” technology that knows when it's empty and won't work when refilled - plus it can be a real mess.
The reason most ink-jet printers are so inexpensive today is that printer manufactures use the same business model as cell phone companies, that is, give away the phone (printer) and make the profit by regularly selling minutes (cartridges). Add to that the natural trend of computer products getting cheaper and the fact that today's printers are really cheaply made (notice I didn't say “inexpensive,” I said “cheap”) and you'll see $29 ink-jet printers all the time.
But don't think you can just buy a new printer whenever your ink runs out, because most printers are sold with “starter” cartridges which are less than 50% full.
So, what about color laser printers? Color laser printers have been around for quite a few years now, costing about ten grand and weighing 100 pounds when the first came out. Now you can get one for under $300 that weighs less than 40 pounds. So obviously it costs more to purchase a laser printer than an ink-jet printer, BUT, the cost per page is much less with laser and the hassle is greatly reduced as well.
So, for routine small office and home use these days, I recommend color laser printers.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Pretexting – Identity Theft With Personality
No doubt, by now, you’ve been warned about "phishing". Phishing attempts to steal personal information via faked websites or bogus "official" communications, designed to lure the user into providing information via web forms. There are numerous tools now available to help protect users against phishing, which is a fairly "passive" form of social engineering. The recent scandal at Hewlett Packard brought a more sophisticated form of identity theft via social engineering to the public consciousness: pretexting.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, pretexting is the practice of getting your personal information under false pretenses. Pretexters sell your information to people who may use it to get credit in your name, steal your assets, or to investigate or sue you. That information may include your Social Security Number (SSN), telephone records and your bank and credit card account numbers.
Pretexters use a variety of tactics to get your personal information. For example, a pretexter may call, claim he's from a survey firm, and ask you a few questions. When the pretexter has the information he wants, he uses it to call your financial institution. He pretends to be you or someone with authorized access to your account. He might claim that he's forgotten his checkbook and needs information about his account.
In this fashion, the pretexter may be able to obtain personal information about you such as your SSN, bank and credit card account numbers, information in your credit report. Pretexting is the key to identity theft, which most commonly results in credit card fraud, bank fraud, loan fraud and communications fraud (opening a phone account fraudulently).
However pretexting is also alive and well in the private gumshoe community: investigators ostensibly working quietly but aboveboard for legitimate clients. There is a thriving network of creative con artists who gather phone records and other private data. Some of their clients are major banks and insurance companies. Pretexting has often been the corporate investigative tool of choice.
The most notorious example of this practice coming to light recently has been the drama played out at Hewlett Packard, where the board chairwoman and other HP luminaries hired an investigative agency to track the source of leaks coming from board meetings. The investigators, in turn, engaged in pretexting to attempt to gain phone records on a suspected board member and on the journalist(s) who were writing stories based on the links.
Computer hackers call the use of an assumed identity "social engineering." That's an endearing title for theft, but the fact is that this type of behavior has been in the news for some time preceding the HP fiasco. Presidential candidate Wesley Clark had his cell phone records purchased by a blogger, who turned them into a major political story. The HP story has resulted in an investigation by the California Attorney General’s office, which says that it currently has six "major" pretexting cases under investigation, all of them corporate in nature.
HP’s filing with the Security and Exchange Commission regarding this matter states in part that, "The (HP board) Committee was then advised by ... outside counsel that the use of pretexting at the time of the investigation was not generally unlawful (except with respect to financial institutions)..."
The Federal Trade Commission’s web site section on this issue reads as follows: "Pretexting is the practice of getting your personal information under false pretenses. Pretexters sell your information to people who may use it to get credit in your name, steal your assets, or to investigate or sue you. Pretexting is against the law."
HP’s investigators are currently under indictment. It will be interesting to see what comes of the board members and lawyers who found their methods "not generally unlawful."
According to the Federal Trade Commission, pretexting is the practice of getting your personal information under false pretenses. Pretexters sell your information to people who may use it to get credit in your name, steal your assets, or to investigate or sue you. That information may include your Social Security Number (SSN), telephone records and your bank and credit card account numbers.
Pretexters use a variety of tactics to get your personal information. For example, a pretexter may call, claim he's from a survey firm, and ask you a few questions. When the pretexter has the information he wants, he uses it to call your financial institution. He pretends to be you or someone with authorized access to your account. He might claim that he's forgotten his checkbook and needs information about his account.
In this fashion, the pretexter may be able to obtain personal information about you such as your SSN, bank and credit card account numbers, information in your credit report. Pretexting is the key to identity theft, which most commonly results in credit card fraud, bank fraud, loan fraud and communications fraud (opening a phone account fraudulently).
However pretexting is also alive and well in the private gumshoe community: investigators ostensibly working quietly but aboveboard for legitimate clients. There is a thriving network of creative con artists who gather phone records and other private data. Some of their clients are major banks and insurance companies. Pretexting has often been the corporate investigative tool of choice.
The most notorious example of this practice coming to light recently has been the drama played out at Hewlett Packard, where the board chairwoman and other HP luminaries hired an investigative agency to track the source of leaks coming from board meetings. The investigators, in turn, engaged in pretexting to attempt to gain phone records on a suspected board member and on the journalist(s) who were writing stories based on the links.
Computer hackers call the use of an assumed identity "social engineering." That's an endearing title for theft, but the fact is that this type of behavior has been in the news for some time preceding the HP fiasco. Presidential candidate Wesley Clark had his cell phone records purchased by a blogger, who turned them into a major political story. The HP story has resulted in an investigation by the California Attorney General’s office, which says that it currently has six "major" pretexting cases under investigation, all of them corporate in nature.
HP’s filing with the Security and Exchange Commission regarding this matter states in part that, "The (HP board) Committee was then advised by ... outside counsel that the use of pretexting at the time of the investigation was not generally unlawful (except with respect to financial institutions)..."
The Federal Trade Commission’s web site section on this issue reads as follows: "Pretexting is the practice of getting your personal information under false pretenses. Pretexters sell your information to people who may use it to get credit in your name, steal your assets, or to investigate or sue you. Pretexting is against the law."
HP’s investigators are currently under indictment. It will be interesting to see what comes of the board members and lawyers who found their methods "not generally unlawful."
CCNA Cisco Certification Training Case Study: How Multiple Passwords Affect Router Access
Your CCNA certification exam efforts must include practicing with different password types and knowing how to configure them on a Cisco router - but for CCNA exam success and to thrive in real-world networks, you also have to know how to examine a Cisco router configuration and determine the level of network security that is already present. After all, most routers you work with already have passwords set, and it's up to you to determine if those passwords are getting the job done.
Let's start with a telnet password. Telnet passwords are configured on the VTY lines, and no telnet access is enabled on a Cisco router by default. If you saw the following configuration, what would it mean?
line vty 0 4
privilege level 15
password baseball
login
That small Cisco router configuration means three things - first, Telnet access is enabled. Second, the password is baseball. Third, the "privilege level 15" command means that any user who attempts to Telnet to the router and knows the password will automatically be placed into privileged exec mode. (If that command were not present, the user would be placed into user exec and then prompted for the enable password before being allowed into privileged exec.)
You may not want to give that level of access to all incoming Telnet connections. If you walked into a client's router room and saw this configuration on a router, what would it mean to you?
username halas password 0 bears
username ewbank password 0 jets
username ed privilege 15 password 0 mcdaniel
line vty 0 4
login local
This configuration means three things as well. Each user attempting to telnet in will be prompted for both a username and password. Each individual user must enter the password that's been assigned to them. For example, the user "halas"would have to enter the password "bears" to successfully Telnet into this router. The command "login local" under the VTY lines means that this local database of usernames and passwords will be used for authentication.
Again, by default, users who are Telnetting in will be placed into user exec mode by default. Only users with "privilege 15" in the middle of their username / password definition will be placed into privileged exec immediately upon login.
Notice that zero in each of the username / password statements? I didn't enter that when I configured these statements. This number indicates the level of encryption the password is currently under; a zero is the lowest level of encryption, indicating that the passwords aren't encrypted at all. There's a single line near the top of a Cisco router configuration that tells you why.. which of these three is it?
service timestamps debug uptime
service timestamps log uptime
no service password-encryption
Simple enough! The password encryption service is off by default. To turn it on. just run the command service password-encryption. Let's do so here and then take a look at the configuration.
R1(config)#service password-encryption
username halas password 7 1415170A1E17
username ewbank password 7 070524585D
username ed privilege 15 password 7 082C4F4A08170C121E
Now that's what I call encryption! Note that the zero has changed to a "7" - that's the highest level of encryption on a Cisco router, and as you can see, it's very effective.
Knowing how to read a Cisco router configuration is a valuable skill for both the CCNA certification exam and working with production networks. Keep practicing, keep studying, and you'll have the coveted letters "CCNA" behind your name soon!
Let's start with a telnet password. Telnet passwords are configured on the VTY lines, and no telnet access is enabled on a Cisco router by default. If you saw the following configuration, what would it mean?
line vty 0 4
privilege level 15
password baseball
login
That small Cisco router configuration means three things - first, Telnet access is enabled. Second, the password is baseball. Third, the "privilege level 15" command means that any user who attempts to Telnet to the router and knows the password will automatically be placed into privileged exec mode. (If that command were not present, the user would be placed into user exec and then prompted for the enable password before being allowed into privileged exec.)
You may not want to give that level of access to all incoming Telnet connections. If you walked into a client's router room and saw this configuration on a router, what would it mean to you?
username halas password 0 bears
username ewbank password 0 jets
username ed privilege 15 password 0 mcdaniel
line vty 0 4
login local
This configuration means three things as well. Each user attempting to telnet in will be prompted for both a username and password. Each individual user must enter the password that's been assigned to them. For example, the user "halas"would have to enter the password "bears" to successfully Telnet into this router. The command "login local" under the VTY lines means that this local database of usernames and passwords will be used for authentication.
Again, by default, users who are Telnetting in will be placed into user exec mode by default. Only users with "privilege 15" in the middle of their username / password definition will be placed into privileged exec immediately upon login.
Notice that zero in each of the username / password statements? I didn't enter that when I configured these statements. This number indicates the level of encryption the password is currently under; a zero is the lowest level of encryption, indicating that the passwords aren't encrypted at all. There's a single line near the top of a Cisco router configuration that tells you why.. which of these three is it?
service timestamps debug uptime
service timestamps log uptime
no service password-encryption
Simple enough! The password encryption service is off by default. To turn it on. just run the command service password-encryption. Let's do so here and then take a look at the configuration.
R1(config)#service password-encryption
username halas password 7 1415170A1E17
username ewbank password 7 070524585D
username ed privilege 15 password 7 082C4F4A08170C121E
Now that's what I call encryption! Note that the zero has changed to a "7" - that's the highest level of encryption on a Cisco router, and as you can see, it's very effective.
Knowing how to read a Cisco router configuration is a valuable skill for both the CCNA certification exam and working with production networks. Keep practicing, keep studying, and you'll have the coveted letters "CCNA" behind your name soon!
The Basics Of Podcasting
Podcasting in its simplest form is the uploading of MP3 files to the internet, where they can be accessed by the majority of the online universe with little more than a modern browser. You might consider a podcast to be an audio blog, although podcasts are basically standalone units of communication and not limited solely to “audio.” The term is also applied to short video pieces that are uploaded for general consumption; that is becoming more common, but the term was born as a reference to the audio format. Although the term stems from Apple’s iPod line of products it is generic in nature and refers to any MP3 (and increasingly, video) file provided via one Internet channel or another. Technical Tips
To that end, the number of channels that are now using podcasts is nothing short of phenomenal. They are used in educational formats (distance learning programs) and by the mainstream media. Business Week Online is an example of excellent utilization of the format. They provide professionally conducted interviews with both newsmakers in the business world and with experts on topics like developing technology. It is both an extension of their current events function and the features section of the magazine that focuses on broader industry analysis.
Every major news outlet online – ABC, ESPN, Fox, CNN and so forth – use podcasts to augment their print-and-graphics webpage formats. You can find them on political websites and blogs, often carrying the candidate’s message but more often carrying the opponent’s gaffe. This particular phenomenon has led to the practice of campaigns hiring “trackers” to trail their opponent from public event to public event with a video camera, hoping to catch a misstatement, a contradiction or some sort of unfortunate occurrence that can be distributed via the assortment of political websites and blogs that clog the web today.
You can now “subscribe” to podcasts that are delivered via an RSS application automatically to your computer. “Podcasters” are individuals or information distributors of some sort that provide an ongoing series of podcasts. Podcasts very quickly found their way to the marketing and advertising industry, which as adopted them for widespread use on the Internet. Video podcasts in particular have become the most recent form of “popup” advertising on the web. You can be clicking through a commercial site and suddenly you are watching a commercial.
The proliferation of podcasts that are webcasts of mistakes, poor behavior or just plain foolishness began with people in the public eye but now extends well beyond the currently and formerly famous. Because these snippets of audio and video are so widespread and move across the digital network so quickly, one begins to feel uneasy. What if someone catches me falling off a bicycle and thinks it looks funny enough to share?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
When email entered our society, it provided a screening device to communication that was somehow comforting. Podcasts and to some degree the whole social networking phenomenon create the opposite effect. It’s easy to feel exposed, Android phones in India. regardless of the fact that you’re still one person using one computer.
For a technical explanation of the various methods of podcast delivery, take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting. They provide an excellent and extended explanation of the various software options and delivery choices that you can make in allowing podcasts into your life. For a fairly comprehensive directory of podcast feeds and sources, try http://www.podcast.net/. As a good resource for news in the podcast universe and also for a directory, there’s http://www.podcastingnews.com/
To that end, the number of channels that are now using podcasts is nothing short of phenomenal. They are used in educational formats (distance learning programs) and by the mainstream media. Business Week Online is an example of excellent utilization of the format. They provide professionally conducted interviews with both newsmakers in the business world and with experts on topics like developing technology. It is both an extension of their current events function and the features section of the magazine that focuses on broader industry analysis.
Every major news outlet online – ABC, ESPN, Fox, CNN and so forth – use podcasts to augment their print-and-graphics webpage formats. You can find them on political websites and blogs, often carrying the candidate’s message but more often carrying the opponent’s gaffe. This particular phenomenon has led to the practice of campaigns hiring “trackers” to trail their opponent from public event to public event with a video camera, hoping to catch a misstatement, a contradiction or some sort of unfortunate occurrence that can be distributed via the assortment of political websites and blogs that clog the web today.
You can now “subscribe” to podcasts that are delivered via an RSS application automatically to your computer. “Podcasters” are individuals or information distributors of some sort that provide an ongoing series of podcasts. Podcasts very quickly found their way to the marketing and advertising industry, which as adopted them for widespread use on the Internet. Video podcasts in particular have become the most recent form of “popup” advertising on the web. You can be clicking through a commercial site and suddenly you are watching a commercial.
The proliferation of podcasts that are webcasts of mistakes, poor behavior or just plain foolishness began with people in the public eye but now extends well beyond the currently and formerly famous. Because these snippets of audio and video are so widespread and move across the digital network so quickly, one begins to feel uneasy. What if someone catches me falling off a bicycle and thinks it looks funny enough to share?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
When email entered our society, it provided a screening device to communication that was somehow comforting. Podcasts and to some degree the whole social networking phenomenon create the opposite effect. It’s easy to feel exposed, Android phones in India. regardless of the fact that you’re still one person using one computer.
For a technical explanation of the various methods of podcast delivery, take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting. They provide an excellent and extended explanation of the various software options and delivery choices that you can make in allowing podcasts into your life. For a fairly comprehensive directory of podcast feeds and sources, try http://www.podcast.net/. As a good resource for news in the podcast universe and also for a directory, there’s http://www.podcastingnews.com/
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Ways To Hide Files On Your Computer
At some point in time, perhaps on your family computer, or your own computer, you will develop, collect, and store some important personal files on your hard drive that are strictly for your needs and purposes. These digital files may be so important to you, that under no circumstances, should anyone ever be able to access and see them. Some of these personal and business files may include documents, spreadsheets, emails, pdfs, text files, invoices, pictures, videos, and mp3s. These files may be so sensitive in nature, that you realize a need to prevent your spouse, kids, friends, or anyone for that matter, from viewing and accessing them. Perhaps, you may even need to hide porn or other explicit files. Just imagine if your spouse, or little ones at home, did a file search for all picture files and movies that were on your computer. Hopefully the results wouldn't expose them to anything that you wouldn't want them to see. Just imagine what could happen, if your children at home decided to fool around with your work and files that was listed in the recent documents menu. Ok, you get the point. And thus, this question is raised: How do I hide files and folders so that they won't be discovered?
There are several ways in which you can hide files: You can put your files within a folder and apply the hidden attribute to the folder. You can bury your files deeply in subdirectories within subdirectories and hope that no one browses using Windows Explorer. You can change the file name and file extension of your file to something unique and strange, so that no one recognizes it, or you can purchase a file hiding software security application such as a folder lock or folder hider with password protection.
All of the above methods may be your solution to hide your important files. It simply depends on the significant importance of your files and level of security you need. You can apply the hidden attribute to a folder or file by choosing to do so within its properties. This is a simple way of hiding a folder in Windows XP. However, the files will still show up if a user sets the option "show hidden files and folders" within the folders options. Another way to hide a file is simply by concealing it by dumping it into a folder you think no one will ever access. However, you run the risk of it appearing within the results of a Windows Search and having it displayed in the documents list. Another way to hide a file is by renaming it along with its file extension so that no one recognizes it or is able to open it using its standard program. Although this method could possibly work for you, you would have to waste time renaming it and changing it back to the correct extension.
And thus, the following question is raised: What is a quick and sure proof way to hide files in windows so that they won't appear within Windows Explorer and won't be displayed in the results of a Windows search? Your solution: A simple and easy to use folder security software utility that will allow you to hide files and folders and make them reappear all with a simple hotkey. Supreme Folder Hider is such a solution that will save you time and will provide you with an extra added sense of security. Supreme Folder Hider prevents all file access from Windows Explorer, the command prompt, shortcuts, and most recently used document lists.
There are several ways in which you can hide files: You can put your files within a folder and apply the hidden attribute to the folder. You can bury your files deeply in subdirectories within subdirectories and hope that no one browses using Windows Explorer. You can change the file name and file extension of your file to something unique and strange, so that no one recognizes it, or you can purchase a file hiding software security application such as a folder lock or folder hider with password protection.
All of the above methods may be your solution to hide your important files. It simply depends on the significant importance of your files and level of security you need. You can apply the hidden attribute to a folder or file by choosing to do so within its properties. This is a simple way of hiding a folder in Windows XP. However, the files will still show up if a user sets the option "show hidden files and folders" within the folders options. Another way to hide a file is simply by concealing it by dumping it into a folder you think no one will ever access. However, you run the risk of it appearing within the results of a Windows Search and having it displayed in the documents list. Another way to hide a file is by renaming it along with its file extension so that no one recognizes it or is able to open it using its standard program. Although this method could possibly work for you, you would have to waste time renaming it and changing it back to the correct extension.
And thus, the following question is raised: What is a quick and sure proof way to hide files in windows so that they won't appear within Windows Explorer and won't be displayed in the results of a Windows search? Your solution: A simple and easy to use folder security software utility that will allow you to hide files and folders and make them reappear all with a simple hotkey. Supreme Folder Hider is such a solution that will save you time and will provide you with an extra added sense of security. Supreme Folder Hider prevents all file access from Windows Explorer, the command prompt, shortcuts, and most recently used document lists.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
