MUST HAVE: Windows Home Server

Do you have more than one PC or Laptop in your home? Would you like a better way to make sure your computer data is backed up? If you answered yes then like me you want a Windows Home Server for your home network.

Last month, I finally decided that a Home Server system would be a good choice for me. After some serious research, I went ahead and purchased a HP EX490 1TB Mediasmart Home Server . At the time it was $500 but can now be had for $469 USD. I also added some drive space with an extra Western Digital 1.5 TB Caviar Green SATA Hard Drive for only $90.

HP Mediasmart Home Server

I can’t believe I waited so long before picking up this essential device for any home network. Designed as a single device to stream your music, videos and photos the Mediasmart Home Server has a variety of cool functions. For me the single feature which backs up all my computers was well worth the cost. When I first set up the Windows Home Server I had it back up all my home computers which took the better part of the day. Now, it backs up every system in 5-10 minutes and only stores what has changed. Everything is done without any intervention and alerts me only if an error occurs.

If I sound excited it’s because I am. I’m sure, I’m not the only one with 2+ computers at home and this is a must have addition to any home network. For more information on the power and features of the Windows Home Servers check out Microsoft’s Windows Home Server page.

I recommend highly that you add a Windows Home Server to your holiday wish list. This month keep your eyes out for special savings. Today on Twitter I read that Amazon has a HP LX195 MediaSmart Home Server with a 640 GB hard drive on sale for $199 USD. This smaller unit doesn't have room for more internal storage but includes 4 USB ports to easily add more space. If you’ve ever had a hard drive failure and/or looked at the costs of disk recovery you’ll want to order one today.

Full disclosure: As an affiliate of Amazon I do receive a commission if anyone uses the links above to make a purchase. I feel it’s important to disclose because that’s the kind of guy I am. I do hope it won’t diminish my message because I do believe you all should have a Windows Home Server. You won’t regret it. ;)

Radeon HD 5770, Radeon HD 4890, And GeForce GTX 275 Overclocked

Writing an article about overclocking is always a mixed blessing. On one hand, it gives us an excuse to push hardware to its limits and enjoy the feeling of garnering extra performance for free. On the other hand, we’re always very aware that our readers may not be able to achieve the same levels of success because there are so many factors involved.

Cooling is a good example. While the reference designs that grace the first cards to hit the market do their jobs well enough, after-market solutions tend to yield better results, as do models carrying a manufacturer’s own design. Heatpipes are good, and more heatpipes tend to be better. Along the same lines, a bigger heat sink is also beneficial, as the thermal load can be dissipated over a larger area. This is a very important point, since a reference cooler is designed to keep the GPU at a temperature of about 80 to 90 degrees Celsius at stock speeds while  (hopefully) producing only moderate noise.

If you go and increase your GPU's core frequency, resulting in higher heat output, the fan will become progressively louder, spinning up until it reaches its maximum speed in an effort to keep the graphics chip from overheating. Once this point is reached, the card is running at the highest clock speed the cooler will enable. Usually, stock coolers only provide a little headroom. And while the fan will try to cope with the additional heat by blowing more air onto the cooler, it can only do so much with the surface area it has at its disposal.

Something similar happens when you have two brawny graphics cards working together in an SLI or CrossFire setup. Although the cards' fans spin up from 85 to 100 percent duty cycle, they end up fighting a losing battle against the heat output of two cards running at full blast. The problem here is airflow. Too little cool air enters the case, so what little air there is inside the enclosure gets circulated again and again, heating up in the process. At some point, the air gets so warm that the cooler effectively stops cooling the GPU, resulting in a temperature buildup in the GPU, as well as other components.

    GeForce GTX 275 Video...
    *Dell Home : $269.99
    *PC Connection : $258.52
    *Compuvest : $277.64
    *CDW.com : $279.99

To recap: the higher the ambient temperature in the case, the harder it is to keep the graphics card cool.

Two more points to consider are the card’s BIOS and its graphics drivers. Ideally, both should support overclocking and clock scaling (lowering the clock speeds for the GPU and memory when the card is in 2D mode) where possible. In some cases, card makers don’t do their homework. They overclock the GPU by five percent and sell the card as an OC Edition. While this does boost 3D performance under load, locking the graphics chip in to a higher overclocked frequency means the board doesn't scale down when idle. The only winning party here is your power company. The other side-effect of the GPU being stuck at max speed is that it constantly produces the same amount of heat, whether you’re browsing the Web or playing a graphically-demanding 3D game. The cooler’s fans are never idle, either.

As a rule of thumb, frequencies should drop to 300/600/100 MHz (GPU/shader/memory) in 2D mode on Nvidia cards. For cards built around an ATI chip, scaling will depend on the model. Although the graphics chip is usually down-clocked to 240 or 500 MHz, the GDDR5 memory on older cards tends to stay at its top speed. Thus, overclocking has an immediate effect on idle power consumption of either vendor's products as well, because they keep running at the higher clocks in 2D mode as well.

The final factor, GPU voltage, is also controlled by the card maker. In the worst case, the card’s voltage is locked in place and overclocking such a card will result in very little margin. Although there are some ways to alter GPU voltage using BIOS modifications or utilities like ATI Tool, even these aren’t guaranteed to work for all cards. Also, don’t forget that overclocking your card almost certainly voids your warranty, since you’re running your hardware outside of specifications the manufacturer considers safe. Almost all current graphics cards have a mechanism to prevent overheating. Once they reach 100 degrees Celsius or so, they automatically reduce their clock speed. But no matter what, raising the GPU’s voltage significantly increases the risk of damaging your hardware.

    Radeon HD 5770 Video...
    *Newegg.com : $179.99

MSI ventured into voltage mod territory with its GeForce GTX 260 Lightning, a card that uses a special driver add-on allowing users to increase the GPU voltage at higher clock speeds to improve stability. MSI seems to have become more cautious with the card’s successor, the GeForce GTX 275 Lightning. Its software now displays a warning explaining that, while changes to certain parameters is possible, they can also result in damage to the hardware.

Our objective today is to attempt to reach the performance level of the next-highest class of graphics hardware through overclocking. We ordered two special models from MSI for this test that come with beefier cooling solutions and are sold as OC editions, namely the GTX 275 Lightning and the HD 4890 Cyclone SOC. As it turns out, reaching our goal was a snap on the GTX 275 Lightning, which can take on a reference GeForce GTX 285 once it is overclocked. ATI’s Radeon HD 4890 is already the fastest single-GPU card in the 4800-series, so we’ll only be comparing the improved overclocked performance to that of the reference card. Our final candidate is ATI’s brand new Radeon HD 5770. Without giving away too much, we can say that this card blew us away, amply demonstrating the scalability of the 40nm production process.

By Tom's

Tom's Hardware's 2009 Gift Guide: Part 1, For System Builders

Santa might whip up free toys for kids, but the rest of us have to pay with cash or credit, and that means the winter sky is not the limit. We’d all love to put a Core i7-975 Extreme in every stocking, but at a grand a pop, that’d be pretty ho-ho-horrific on the budget. If you want to give the gift of Intel's Nehalem architecture at 20% of the price, look no further than its Core i5-750.

You could almost fit Intel's retail box in a stocking...You could almost fit Intel's retail box in a stocking...

To know where and why Core i5 fits into the big value scheme, we need to revisit the ghosts of Nehalem past. Originally, there was the king, Core i7 on an LGA 1366 socket interface. This monster features four cores with Hyper-Threading, yielding eight logical cores. You also have 8MB of L3 cache shared among all four physical cores and a three-channel DDR3 memory controller built into the CPU. For more on Intel's current flagship, check out our review of the Core i7-975.

Next, we got Core i7 on the LGA 1156 socket. What’s the difference? Not much! In fact, the derivative architecture was so good that we called it Intel's Mainstream Magnum Opus in our launch coverage. It included the same number of cores, Hyper-Threading as a feature of the Core i7s, and the same shared L3 cache. You merely step down to a dual-channel integrated DDR3 controller. And sure, the LGA 1366 variant gets 36 lanes of PCI Express 2.0 through X58 versus 16 built into the LGA 1136-based processor. But this is only a concern if you focus on multiple high-speed graphics cards across multiple slots.

    Core i5 750 Qaud Core...
    *o Newegg.com: $199.99
    *o Directron: $209.99
    *o CDW.com: $265.99

The difference between i5 and i7 is Hyper-Threading and a bit of core clock rate. That’s it. The bottom line is that stepping down from three DDR3 channels to two and losing Hyper-Threading will generally whack 10% to 20% in performance versus today’s flagship. If that sounds grim, I’ll put it another way: you can get better than 80% of the top-end Core i7's performance for 20% of the price in a Core i5. Happy holidays, indeed!

Keep in mind that Core i5 preserves Nehalem’s Turbo Boost capabilities, which shuts down unneeded cores and uses some of their overhead to "overclock" the remaining core. Turbo Boost will take the i5-750's default speed of 2.66 GHz up to 3.2 GHz when running a single-threaded workload. Or, if you're comfortable taking the manual approach, we've taken these CPUs beyond 4GHz thanks to the maturity of Intel's 45nm manufacturing process, too.

Much (if not most) of your software may not need the eight-threaded support that Hyper-Threading—four might be plenty. The fact is that for the majority of mainstream users, Core i5-750 is an almost unbelievably good value—so good that it’s hard to justify paying more for anything until we see what Intel’s next-gen Gulftown (32nm, six physical cores) adds when it pops up in the middle of next year.

By Tom's

‘Smart’ armor learns more with every bullet

State-of-the-art armor can evaluate its own condition, relay info to soldiers

Smart armor being developed by scientists and engineers at U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center in Michigan can not only predict its own failure, but also identify the size of bullets shot at it and even generate electrical power upon impact.

"As a kid, everyone played those video games that showed you how much armor you had left as a percentage bar," said John Wray, a TARDEC contractor. "That's exactly what we're working on here and more."

Intelligent armor is based on piezoelectrics, or materials that generate a small voltage when bent. The reverse is also true: Apply a small voltage, and a piezoelectric material will bend.

The sensors TARDEC scientists are installing on armor plates use both features. The armor itself isn't new, but the sensors are.

Each plate of armor, whether its wrapped around a soldier's body or a vehicle's chassis, has two piezeoelectric sensors attached to it.

An electric current flows into one sensor and turns it into mechanical energy in the form of a tiny vibration that ripples through the armor plate. The other piezoelectric device takes that mechanical vibration and turns it back into electrical energy.

Anywhere from five to 15 volts of electricity is pumped into, and out of, an intact plate of armor. If the armor has been damaged by bullets, shrapnel or anything else, some of the current released into the armor won't be picked up on the other end.

By measuring just how much energy is lost, the TARDEC scientists can determine how damaged the armor is.

The research into intelligent armor began several years ago, says Thomas Meitzler, a research scientist at TARDEC developing the intelligent armor. The Army approached TARDEC about finding a way to measure armor's integrity in the field.

"Right now, there are really only two ways to evaluate the health of a vehicle's armor," said Meitzler. "One is to get out and manually inspect the armor. The other is to bring it to a vehicle depot for an ultrasound." Neither option is ideal when soldiers are in the middle of a battle.

A third, real-time option was needed. Piezoelectric sensors were the answer.

The piezoelectric sensors don't just monitor armor's integrity. They also could help to make it stronger.

Each bullet striking the armor would create an electricity generating shock wave. It wouldn't be much electricity, says Meitzler, certainly not enough to power the vehicle, but it would be enough to run a small sensor if enough bullets hit the armor plating.

Each bullet would create a slightly different amount of electricity as well. Complex mathematical algorithms, also being developed at TARDEC, would analyze the amount of electricity generated by a bullet's impact and discover what kind of round was used.

A .22 caliber bullet, for example, will generate less electricity compared with a .45 caliber bullet.

The combination of knowing your opponent's weaponry and having real-time information about the integrity of the armor could save the soldiers' lives. "If you know that one side of the armor is weakening, you could turn the vehicle to protect that side," said Meitzler.

Other scientists are enthusiastic about the research.

John Ohab, the Department of Defense's new technology strategist, thought of Star Trek when he heard of the new armor sensors. "There was always damage to a certain part of the ship and a graphic that displayed what part was injured," he said.

Armored vehicles and soldiers could be just the start, says Ohab, adding that he doesn't see any reason why the sensors couldn't eventually be deployed on ships or aircraft.

Vladimir Genis, a professor of applied engineering technology who also develops piezoelectric devices at Drexel University, was also impressed with the research.

"This is an absolutely excellent idea," said Genis. "There is so much energy that simply disappears. If we can even capture a portion of that energy, we could power a multitude of electrical devices."

By Eric Bland

This holiday, who's looking out for online shoppers?

Web shoppers are in need of a digital-age Ralph Nader, the kind of firebrand consumer advocate who can focus public scorn on unscrupulous merchants.

Jeffery Boyd, Priceline's CEO, is among the merchants who "betrayed" customers, according to members of the Senate Commerce committee.
(Credit: YouTube)

Last week, the U.S. Senate Commerce committee revealed that some of the Web's best-known retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Hotwire, Yahoo, Pizza Hut, Travelocity, Fandango, and Victoria's Secret, were part of a dubious marketing operation designed to mislead their own customers.

Serious questions about who's policing e-commerce were raised after the Commerce committee issued a report detailing how three marketing firms, Affinion, Webloyalty, and Vertrue, generated $1.4 billion with the help of the e-tailers--largely by deceiving consumers into paying up to $20 a month for loyalty-program memberships. (Note to reader: take a look at the Commerce committee's report (PDF), as it's well written and seems to catch the e-tailers cold).

The lure for millions of consumers typically starts this way: Marketers present ads to them late in the transaction process at a retail site. An often-unwitting consumer is offered cash-back rewards if he or she provides an e-mail address. Tucked into the fine print are the full terms of the deal. By providing an e-mail address, a consumer agrees typically to pay between $10 and $20 a month.

For this number of marquee merchants to be mixed up in such a questionable gimmick seems unprecedented in the brief history of online commerce. Going into a holiday season that is already supposed to see soft spending, the scandal could undermine confidence in Web shopping, which generated $60 billion in sales during the first half of this year, according to the Senate report.

In their report, Senate investigators learned that Webloyalty surveyed 308 past and current users. This was the result.
(Credit: U.S. Senate Commerce committee)

One of the most glaring side issues of this fiasco is that for nearly a decade, consumers complained about these practices but few people in authority seemed to care. What is apparent is that many people in positions to help shoppers didn't, or from the perspective of some consumers, may not have done enough. They include:

Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal
On paper at least, Connecticut appears to be a haven for controversial marketing companies. All three of the marketing firms under investigation by the Senate--Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty--are based in the state.

In 2006, Blumenthal settled a lawsuit with Trilegiant (PDF), the name Affinion was called then, for $14.5 million. But Affinion continues to operate, and Blumenthal hasn't won anything from the other two firms.

In April, Blumenthal launched an investigation into Webloyalty. That came one month before the Senate Commerce committee launched its probe. The feds have since held a public hearing and shared revealing information about all three marketing firms with the public. Blumenthal, who has been Connecticut's attorney general since 1990, promises more action.

"I will continue to vigorously and aggressively fight membership club scams," Blumenthal announced on the day the Senate Commerce committee held its hearing.

Blumenthal did not respond to multiple interview requests.

The retailers' directors and CEOs
For readers who question whether the CEOs and directors of such companies as Orbitz, Continental Airlines, US Airways, and 1-800-Flowers knew about what the marketing companies were up to on their behalf, this is what the government had to say:

"Committee staff has spoken to more than a dozen e-commerce partners of Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty and has reviewed thousands of pages of e-mail communications," according to the Senate report. "The interviews and the e-mail communications provide abundant evidence that the e-commerce partners are aware that their customers are being misled by the enrollment offers from Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty."

What would make a director or CEO take such risk with their company's reputation? In July, blogger Andrew Left, who specializes in shorting stocks, wrote that VistaPrint, an online printing company and a retail partner of Vertrue's, has generated as much as 44 percent of its quarterly net income by charging Vertrue access to its customers' credit cards.

But for even the most profit-at-all-cost investor, the questionable ploy could risk breaking customer trust and appears to have already battered stock prices.

Last week, the stock price of VistaPrint traded at nearly $56 the day before the Senate hearing on November 17, but it closed Tuesday at $50, a 10.7 percent drop. Shares of United Online, parent company of Classmates.com--which reportedly generated $70 million from the questionable marketing practices--fell from $8.40 before the November 17 hearing to $7.05 on Tuesday, a loss of about 16 percent.

When contacted, VistaPrint referred me to statements the company made earlier in the year in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In a 10-K SEC filing, the company said it expected revenue from membership discount programs "will decrease in the future" to possibly zero.

The big question is whether VistaPrint made that disclosure thinking that its payday would end as a result of the Senate investigation or one of the several lawsuits filed against it and Vertrue.

Visa, Mastercard, and American Express
The biggest credit card companies might also want to explain how they continued to process transactions from Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue, when apparently they had received scores of complaints about these companies.

When consumers ask their credit card company to force a retailer to issue a refund, it is called a chargeback. A merchant that sees too many chargebacks is supposed to suffer some penalties. For instance, at Visa, chargeback-prone merchants are supposed to be fined and eventually booted off Visa's network. What happened here?

A Visa spokeswoman said she was unable to comment at this time. Representatives from Mastercard and American Express were not immediately available.

by  Greg Sandoval

Smartphone App Illuminates Power Consumption

A new application for the Android smartphone shows users and software developers how much power their applications are consuming. PowerTutor was developed by doctoral students and professors at the University of Michigan.

Battery-powered cell phones serve as hand-held computers and more these days. We run power-hungry applications while we depend on the phones to be available in emergencies.

"Today, we expect our phones to realize more and more functions, and we also expect their batteries to last," said Lide Zhang, a doctoral student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and one of the application's developers. "PowerTutor will help make that possible."

PowerTutor will enable software developers to build more efficient products, said Birjodh Tiwana, a doctoral student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and another of the program's developers. Tiwana said PowerTutor will allow users to compare the power consumption of different applications and select the leanest version that performs the desired task. Users can also watch how their actions affect the phone's battery life.

PowerTutor shows in real time how four different phone components use power: the screen, the network interface, the processor, and the global positioning system receiver.

To create the application, the researchers disassembled their phones and installed electrical current meters. Then they determined the relationship between the phone's internal state (how bright the screen is, for example) and the actual power consumption. That allowed them to produce a software model capable of estimating the power use of any program the phone is running with less than 5 percent error.

PowerTutor can also provide a power consumption history. It is available free at the Android Market at http://www.android.com/market/.

PowerTutor was developed under the direction of associate professor Robert Dick and assistant professor Morley Mao, both in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Lei Yang, a software engineer at Google. The work is supported by Google and the National Science Foundation, and was done in collaboration with the joint University of Michigan and Northwestern University Empathic Systems Project.

by University of Michigan.

Knowing HTML Is Not Nearly Enough

Every web designer is familiar with the HTML programming language, which stands for Hypertext Markup Language. The language has been in use since the advent of cyberspace, and although it will probably always be used, it is already being supplemented by newer, more versatile versions of HTML.

The Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) is a family of current and future document types and modules that reproduce, subset, and extend HTML, reformulated in XML. XHTML family document types are all XML-based, and ultimately are designed to work in conjunction with XML-based user agents.

Unlike HTML, which focuses on describing how data or text is supposed to be displayed, The XML language instead describes what the data is. So, XML is not something that is apparent on a web page, because it does not actually tell your browser how to display the data. As information and data presented on the world wide web became more complex, XML was invented to effectively structure, store, and send this information.

What makes XML truly unique is that there are no predefined tags as is the case with HTML. All of the tags used in HTML have already been defined, such as the paragraph tag, the header tag, and all the various style tags. XML is not defined. You can make your own tags!

XML, forms the basis for a language called XHTML. XHTML is what is known as a meta-language, which is a language for defining a markup language. To put it simply, SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) is the basis for HTML. XML is a more refined subset of SGML, and forms the basis for XHTML. On the whole, XHTML is more flexible than HTML.

XHTML was developed for two reasons: (1) to try to create a language that could more effectively convey the meaning of a particular webpage to a computer, and (2) to create a layout for webpages that would be universally understood by browsers running on different platforms or on different types of screens.

This is extremely important, because people are now using a wide variety of gadgets to connect to the internet, as almost every electronic device on the market now comes equipped with email and internet access. Cell phones, palm tops, computers installed in automobiles; they all have built-in web access.

Each of these devices display text and graphics differently, and utilize different platforms and a variety of web browsers. As a result, someone using a cell phone to access a certain web site may not be able to view it properly because the browser running on that cell phone might not be able to display the HTML. The platforms that run on some of these new products and devices are not totally compatible with HTML.

So, it is imperative that most web designers learn to design web pages in XHTML. As almost every electronic device on the market is now equipped with internet access, it is important to use a versatile programming language like XHTML so that your web pages can be viewed and properly formatted across a wide variety of platforms.

By: Jim Pretin

Features And Benefits Of Anti-Spam Software

The best anti-spam software is the one that gives you your privacy. Ideally, an anti-spam device should be the one that delivers only the emails you want, and blocks 100 percent of the emails you do not want. This, though, is never going to be possible. Spammers are always one step ahead, and the manufacturers of anti-spam filter tries to catch up.

Most anti-spam solution can be customized to your needs, and only the approved emails come into your inbox. Such software always presumes that all the incoming emails are spam, and only allow those, from the people you know, to come in.

Benefits of Anti Spam Software

Let us look at some of the benefits and features of anti-spam software:

• Blocking Spam - Certain anti-spam solutions not only block specific email addresses, but also look for subject lines and text in the email messages. You can arrange to block incoming emails based on senders, and also if your email address is not in the recipient field.
• Automatic Filter Updates - Most software programs for filtering Spam come with hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of filters built in. In addition, companies offering these software release new anti-spam filters regularly. This ensures that your anti-spam software is always up-to-date.
• Creating Custom Filters - Some anti-spam programs allow you to create your own filters, depending on the spam you receive.
• Quarantining Spam -
• Anti-spam filters automatically quarantine the spam emails, ensuring your inbox is spam free. Such quarantined emails are held for a fixed number of days, say 30 days or so, and then dumped. The delay allows you to check and recover any legitimate email that may have been quarantined.
• Your Personal Whitelist - A feature in certain anti-spam software allows you to maintain a 'friendly' list of people whose emails you wish to accept. These emails are never mistaken for spam as against the blacklist of spammers. You can always update your 'whitelist', as and when you wish to.
• Monitoring Multiple Accounts - Other than deleting spam from your email account, this feature allows you to monitor and filter your email from multiple accounts. It allows you to filter your home email from work, and vice versa.
• Reporting Spam - There is an option in certain anti-spam software to report back to the company supplying the program. This allows the companies to develop new filters based on the analysis of the reported spam.

Some anti-spam software allow you to block attachments. Certain executable attachments could damage your computer.

Emails have become a very popular way of advertising, and it is time that you start filtering your emails, to avoid spam. Most software available can be customized to suit your requirements, whether they are the home or the business versions. A variety of anti-spam software is available from a number of online sources.

By: ArvindSingh

The Webwatcher

There are many legitimate and valid reasons why programs that track keystrokes and website visits may be installed on certain computers. Parents may be concerned about which sites their young children have exposure to or schools may try to curb access to questionable sites. But there are also potentially harmful applications when these programs are installed without your knowledge or consent. Is it possible that a program like Webwatcher is tracking your online movements?

What is Webwatcher?

Webwatcher is a parental control software program, which is designed to allow parents to read email and instant messages, track keystrokes, take pictures of the screen, and monitor which websites have been viewed, all from a remote location. It is geared towards parents who want to ensure that their children are safe while surfing online. If they do visit questionable sites or make contact with strangers, parents are notified and can take appropriate action.

Webwatcher can be a great tool for parents, who cannot physically be with their children all the time. However, this technology can also be used for less altruistic purposes. It becomes problematic when it is installed on your computer, as an adult, without your knowledge. If someone has access to your computer and a few moments alone to download the software, then they are able to put Webwatcher on your computer and monitor it from any location. They no longer need any direct access to your computer, and they will be able to view websites you visit and other data you enter, which can include personal or financial information.

Is Webwatcher Installed on My Computer?

Because children tend to be more tech-savvy than their parents, Webwatcher is designed to be invisible. Children do not know that their being monitored, giving parents an accurate account of what their children do and see while on the internet. The program is not on the list of running processes in the Task Manager, nor are there visible files. Webwatcher is able to get around firewalls and antivirus programs, which means children will not accidentally find it when running a virus scan or searching for other files. Webwatcher is so effective at running without detection that it meets safety standards of worldwide intelligence agencies and various law enforcement agencies have used the program as an investigative tool.

While this is beneficial for parents who wish to monitor their children’s online activity, it makes it virtually impossible to detect its presence on your computer. And while it is beneficial for parents of young children and teenagers, as an adult computer user, it becomes an invasion of privacy that can have potentially damaging consequences. If Webwatcher is installed on your computer, you may notice a slowing in performance. Like rogue programs, Webwatcher also resides in the virtual memory and will divert more of your computer’s resources to its operation. This leaves less for your programs, making even simple tasks slower. If you check your CPU usage when you have no programs running and find that you are using much more of your memory capacity than you should be, then that is a good indication that there is a rogue or hidden program in your system.

What if Webwatcher is Installed on My Computer?

As mentioned, Webwatcher may cause a slowdown in your computer’s performance, but if used as intended, it is perfectly safe for your system. Unlike rogue programs, Webwatcher does not usher in malware, adware, or spyware or cause technical difficulties in your computer. You won’t notice an increase in pop-ups. This is why it is ideal as a parental control tool. If it is installed on an adult’s computer without consent by someone with negative intentions, then it allows access to all of your information. The websites you visit can be tracked, and if you use online banking services or vendors, then it is a possibility that the person monitoring can see your financial information and use it for their own gain.

How Does Webwatcher Become Installed?

Unlike rogue antivirus programs and other forms of malware, Webwatcher has to be directly installed on your computer. That is, you do not pick up a virus through a trojan and inadvertently download Webwatcher. Someone has to be at your computer and download the software directly. From there, it can be monitored from any computer. Parents are typically the ones who download Webwatcher because they are concerned for their children’s safety. When used for purposes other than parental concern, Webwatcher can be installed by anyone with access to your computer, such as spouses, employers or employees, or friends.

If you suspect that this program is installed on your computer, then it is advisable to take steps to remove Webwatcher as soon as possible. To prevent it from being downloaded, it is always good to use caution by limiting access to your computer if appropriate or protecting it with a password.

By: Wayne Davis

Digital video and storage systems

It is a digital world and no doubt about it. But digital video is possible only with compression. Television, for example is extremely information rich. Digital television transmission is at 270 mega bits per second which is huge amount of data. This kind of data requires cabling and satellite communication would not be realizable. It requires very large bandwidth and formidable storage space . Compression is the only alternative available. Digital compression systems take the advantage of the inherent contents of television video i.e. repetition and redundancy, both within and between picture frames.

DV, digital Video and MPEG are the key compression technologies, which have emerged for video and television. DV compression being intra frame is the most suitable for video recording and post production. MPEG compression being inter frame makes use of repetition and redundancy contained in video. It has high compression ratios which are suitable for storage and transmission.

Digital video, DV has led to cost effective video tape recording, non linear post production work stations, video servers and multi-channel satellite TV transmission. It is possible to transmit more than six TV channels simultaneously over a medium which would otherwise support only one analog channel.

The latest entrant to the DV community has been HDTV or high definition TV and Digital cinema. With digital or e-cinema, new avenues have opened for cinema broadcasting via satellite. Digital cinema delivery is far cheaper than film print cost. The hard, cumbersome and time consuming job of distributing heavy canisters of film may soon be a relic of the past. This would likely be replaced by fast, high bandwidth satellite transmission.

Video storage systems

Moore’s law in the development of electronics has been true in the case of disc drives. The capacity of disc drives has doubled every two years and its cost has fallen to half. We are therefore witness to higher capacity hard discs available at cheaper cost. Non-linear editing in a networked environment , storage of video assets on servers ,automation in news and transmission have been implement in a large scale multi channel environment . Video servers are the only viable option for multi-channel broadcasting where playing repetitive program material such as commercial spots, promos and films for video on demand services.

Moore’s law in the development of electronics has been true in the case of disc drives. The capacity of disc drives has doubled every two years and its cost has fallen to half. We are therefore witness to higher capacity hard discs available at cheaper cost. Non-linear editing in a networked environment , storage of video assets on servers ,automation in news and transmission have been implement in a large scale multi channel environment . Video servers are the only viable option for multi-channel broadcasting where playing repetitive program material such as commercial spots, promos and films for video on demand services.

Digital Camcorders with hard disc drives are also available, but for initial acquisition of live video analog systems and tapes are still the preferred medium for its cost, reliability and convenience. Moreover professionals are used to existing analog systems and are slow in absorbing the devices of the new age. Soon we will find analog systems totally eclipsed by digital ones.

By: Dean Barnard

Todays Spearphishing Attacks (Email Attachments) Can Kill Small Businesses

For years, spear phishing attacks relied on the foolishness and naivete of computer users to trick them into revealing passwords and other sensitive information to individuals posing as legitimate parties via spoofed emails or fake websites. Today's spear phishing attacks effortlessly rob even cautious cynics with expensive name-brand security software. Small business owners can literally be wiped out with a single email!

What Are Phishing Attacks?

Phishing attacks are launched by cybercriminals upon consumers primarily to gain a few pieces of important data that can be used for financial gain, such as a person's user ID and password to their online bank account. Typically, consumers receive emails that appear to be from their bank or some other legitimate organization that trick the recipient into literally telling the criminals their user ID and password, for example. One class of phishing attacks increasingly prevalent today no longer relies on tricking end-users but instead employ what security practitioners call a 'man-in-the-browser' attack.

Basically, 'man-in-the-browser' attacks exist because the security within a web browser is alarmingly flawed from the perspective of stuff separate from other stuff. So, that other tab in your browser, or that web page you visited prior to your online bank website, might leave malicious code inside your web browser that allows cybercriminals to eavesdrop or insert financial transactions such as a bank payment to an overseas account.

This is why I strongly recommend that all computer users utilize two or more different web browsers, not separate web browser windows or tabs from the same web browser software, but use Internet Explorer, Firefox, or whatever all at the same time but for different types of websites. BTW, the web browser that you use for financial activities should not be the one that renders a web page after you've clicked on a link in your email, instant messenger, or PDF reader!

What Are Spear Phishing Attacks?

Phishing Attacks sound pretty scary. Fortunately, using two or more different web browsers radically reduces your risks from phishing attacks. There are additional risks when web browsing from a hotel room or public Wi-Fi that I'd have to address in another post if anyone is interested (let me know).

Spear Phishing Attacks are phishing attacks that target a specific person or organization. For the most part, spear phishing attacks are carried out via email, though instant messengers and social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn can be used also. These attacks exploit the trust that we all have with our familiars: friends, family, and business associates. We'll read an email or some other kind of message from a familiar. More importantly, we're quite likely to accommodate a request or recommendation from a familiar to:

    * Open a document

    * Play a multimedia file

    * Click on a hyperlink

    * Install software

    * Add a Facebook app

Any one of these actions is intended to install malicious software into the targeted user's PC. Attacks do so by exploiting programming mistakes in the PC software that we use every day. Once this malware has infested a PC, it systematically steals anything of value. Computers users do not have to be tricked into revealing their bank account number, user ID, and password to be robbed.

Small Businesses Are "Out of Luck"

As Brian Krebs of The Washington Post wrote in a recent article on Spear Phishing Attacks, American consumers who bank online are covered by a statute called "Regulation E", which "generally holds the consumer harmless for money stolen from their accounts via cyber crime". However, business owners that are victims of Spear Phishing Attacks would "more than likely be out of luck if a scammer empties their business account".

I strongly recommend that business owners talk to their banks immediately! If your business seldom involves payments to overseas accounts, see if you can require such payments get verbal or other approval prior to processing.

Ineffective Protection from Today's Spear Phishing Attacks

Those of you with up-to-date anti-virus/spyware software from Symantec, McAfee, or other well known vendors have less than 50-50 odds of deflecting a Spear Phishing Attack. That is because they rely on malware detection technology invented over a decade ago that utilizes signatures, which are like electronic fingerprints. Cyber criminals effectively alter the fingerprints of their Spear Phishing Attack instruments (malicious PDF or PowerPoint document, spiked JPEG or AVI, etc.) in minutes, orders of magnitude faster than vendors add new fingerprints to the 'most wanted list'.

AppGuard and EdgeGuard Block Spear Phishing Attacks

Adding AppGuard or EdgeGuard to a computer with any anti-virus/spyware security software boosts protection to 90%. Without AppGuard or EdgeGuard, anti-virus/spyware software, which only stop OLD malware, only block about 45%, including Spear Phishing Attacks.

By: Eirik Iverson

Simple Scripts - Adding Features to Your Website Made Easy

Have you ever wished your website had a forum, a blog, a photo galley, or maybe even a shopping cart? And you were so excited to get that all set up until you realized you had no idea how to do it and quickly became so frustrated trying to find an easy solution you just gave up?

What if all you had to do was click one button? If only it were that easy you say? Seriously, it\'s now that easy - or so claims the team at Simple Scripts. We\'re putting their single-click script installation system to the test and comparing it against their competitors Fantastico and Installatron.

Simple Scripts VS. Fantastico VS. Installatron

Round 1 - Just How Simple is Simple Scripts?

A quick overview shows us that Simple Scripts has made a solid initial entry into the competition. It clearly has an edge over Fantastico and maintains a slight edge over Installatron in a few key areas. The first, and probably most important is in the ease of deployment for the end user. To install a feature you quite literally click one button. Simple Script Upgrade Page. For example we wanted to upgrade our Word Press blog to the latest stable build (2.6.1) so we went to our control panels Simple Script page saw that next to our Word Press icon there was an upgrade link. We clicked that and the next screen looked like the one here. Clicking on the upgrade button brought up a bar which showed us what was going on and in a few moments we were at the completion screen which included some really exciting notes. Simple Script Revert Version Page Notice the links to view your site and even go back to the old one if something went wrong. Maybe it\'s just us, but that seems really slick. I can\'t tell you the number of times I\'ve upgraded software to find that it\'s destroyed something and I\'ve been left with no way to revert the process. But the question remains, how did it do?

Selecting the link to view the site we noticed our custom image on the top was gone. I guess we\'ll have to replace that with each update - maybe we edited it improperly. It should be an easy fix but for fun we decided to revert back to the old site and see what would happen. Clicking the revert button gave us a list of backups we could use so we chose the most recent one and hit the Submit button. A few moments later and the blog was back to it\'s old state. Ultimately we really did want to upgrade so we went and performed the upgrade, quickly added our image back to the top and we\'re now fully updated. Pretty impressive.

With Fantastico and Installatron things aren\'t alwasy so quick and simple. Fantastico, for example, requires you to wait for the host to upgrade to the latest version which could take weeks. Installatron does a bit better but still could often leave you out of date for several days.

Round 2 - The Overview

The following chart shows a breakdown of the core differences between the three script installation systems. Notice that Simple Scripts has the best option in each category except for it\'s lack of support for DirectAdmin. Regardless we have to give it props for being the best all around package.

(A table with the feature comparison can be viewed on the author\'s original site)

Round 3 - Script Support

Each of the systems also comes with a host of ready to go scripts. In this category Installatron has a small lead with Fantastico coming in at a close second, but for most users Simple Script still has a solid initial offering covering all the key areas you\'ll be interested in. In our evaluation we couldn\'t find anything we really needed that wasn\'t available. Several of the extra scripts you\'ll find for Fantastico and Installatron are really specific and not overly useful to most people. It remains undecided though how all three will continue to support new scripts.

(A table with the scripts for each system can be viewed on the author\'s original site)

Conclusion - And The Verdict Is?

There\'s definitely a new competitor in town, and a very solid one at that. While Simple Script support is currently only found on a few web hosting services we\'ve been told negotiations are taking place and we\'re expecting to see its use expand significantly. When it comes down to it Simple Scripts really is a very simple, easy to use system and we expect it to be received very well by the web hosting community. If you\'d like to check out Simple Scripts you can visit their website at www.simplescripts.com. If you\'re currently a Bluehost user you already have access to Simple Scripts and really should give it a try.

By: Ed Grier

Fun And Easy Robot Building With Lego Mindstorm NXT

Robot hobbyists, come aboard. Lego has come up with the next generation Lego Mindstorm, NXT. The real easy way of forming, programming, and manipulating your very own robotic Lego creation. Don’t be intimidated. You need not be a true blue robotics expert to enjoy the Lego Mindstorm NXT. Amateurs and professionals, kids and adults alike would definitely enjoy the collection spontaneously.

The same concept in Lego building is followed. You need to have the usual Lego building blocks that come with the kit. The kit includes about 519 parts that you piece together. You can either follow the instructions on the guide that comes with it or add your creativity and construct your own robot creation The Lego Mindstorm NXT guide contains easy to follow guides and pictures. You can deviate from the design as you wish. Since it’s easy to follow, kids will find it simple and enjoyable to do. Big kids would look forward to the programming part of the Lego Mindstorm.

The Lego Mindstorm’s robotic ability to execute commands is because of the NXT main data controller named the "intelligent brick". There it contains the firmware, the memory and the program needed for it to work. This is the big yellow Lego brick that you’d construct the robot on. You’ll build around this piece. The heart of the new system is the NXT brick, an autonomous 32-bit LEGO microprocessor that can be programmed using a PC, or for the first time in the retail offering, a Mac. After building their robots, users create a program within easy-to-use yet feature-rich software, powered by LabVIEW from National Instruments.

The addition of sensors to the Lego Mindstorm NXT give user's creations a whole new level of awareness. Ultrasonic sensors allow robots to "see", sound sensors enable robots to react to sound commands including sound pattern and tone recognition. Improved light and touch sensors allow your robot to see colors and feel or touch objects.

When it comes to programming, this will be the fun part. Programming gurus would definitely have a kick out of it. Novices will find it simple and easy. There’s a series of commands that you can select, drag and drop into your set of commands. Click a button and watch your creation perform the task.

You can select a series of preset commands in there. This means that no programming knowledge is required whatsoever. Codes are already in there, ready for you to select and activate. Good for newbies. The robot can go different directions, reverse, or roll over. There’s also an option to create your own chain of program codes which professionals will find appealing. The robot can do plain or complicated tasks depending on the user.

This program will then be beamed from the computer via Bluetooth or the included USB 2.0 cable to your Lego Mindstorm NXT robot. Then just sit back and watch your Lego Mindstorm NXT robot execute your commands. The Lego Mindstorm is simply not just a toy. It is actually used by universities teaching robotics. The simple robotic logic and design will be good for students to understand the basics of robotics. Lego Mindstorm NXT will enhance your creativity, skills, and technical background. Highly recommended to hobbyists out there. It’s very technical yet simple. Right on for anyone’s taste.

By: Jonathan Brunet

Customize Your Website with Professional Drupal Themes

There was a time when websites were only for the big boys: the few large companies who could hire full-time web designers or outsource the work to expensive design companies. A lucky few had specialized degrees with knowledge of web programming and could design their sites by themselves.

Today it is a totally different ball game. If you aren't doing business on the web, most customers won't even know you exist, putting you light years behind your competition. The question is no longer whether you are have a website, but how much of your business is done online?

As the demand for websites increased, content management systems were designed that made the creation of functional websites much more accessible. You no longer needed a design team or a MIS degree to build a website, only creativity and ingenuity.

One of the most flexible and highly adaptable tools for designing websites is Drupal, a free, open source content management system. Open source simply means that users have practical access to source code, which has no restrictions on its use. With access to the source code, the extensive community of Drupal users have developed their own modules to further customize Drupal's core website. Modules are plugins that make Drupal more functional and extend or enhance its capabilities.

However, powerful content management systems like Drupal make professional, user-friendly websites a possibility for not just you, but your rivals as well, moving the challenge from “how do I build a website?” to “how do I make sure my website have a competitive edge?”

One way to impress is by using Drupal templates. A quick web search of "Drupal templates" will yield websites boasting hundreds of free Drupal templates to help you build your site. While these free Drupal templates may save time versus building a website from scratch or offer a good starting point for beginners, in the end they are worth what you pay for them. After all, who wants a cookie cutter design that customers have seen over and over again? You want a distinctive, expert design with an eye-catching layout that stands out from the pack.

TopNotchThemes creates original Drupal templates exclusively for Drupal-hosted websites that are fully customizable and can give your business the competitive edge you are looking for. Graphic designers and developers spend 40-60 hours on each theme, designing them especially for SEO and offering compatibility across a variety of browsers. All themes come ready to launch, but for the Drupal novice, TopNotch Themes offer a free e-book detailing how to get the most out of your Drupal template. The guide offers instruction on how to start your e-business, build your site and optimize and maintain your Drupal site. For superior quality Drupal templates for your website, contact them at www.TopNotchThemes.com.

By: Stewart.Martin

The Difference Between Toner Cartridges and Ink Cartridges

Well what is the Difference?
Its finally time to purchase a new printer. Apart from picking the best looking product, you must decide whether you want an ink jet or a laser printer. In the past, laser printers were very expensive, but they've come down in price to the point that, like ink jet printers, they're quite affordable. Ink jet printers use ink jet cartridges, and laser printers use toner cartridges. They're quite different, and knowing a little more about both types might make choosing a printer easier.

Printing Capacity: One of the biggest differences between toner cartridges and ink cartridges is the number of printouts you will be able to get from a single cartridge. Toner cartridges are quite large, hold a large amount of toner, and can usually print at least 5,000 pages. On the other hand, ink jet cartridges are compact products that can usually fit in the palm of your hand. Many hold a small amount of ink, so it's not surprising their printing capacity is much lower - you can expect to print only a few hundred sheets with an average ink cartridge.

Expense: Since toner cartridges can print a few thousand sheets instead of only a couple hundred, it's not surprising that a toner cartridge is more expensive than an ink cartridge. When you look at the cost of printing a single page, however, toner cartridges are the clear winner. For example, a single page printed with an ink cartridge can cost between 5 and 10 cents, while a page printed with a toner cartridge might only cost two or three. Generic versions of both types of cartridges are widely available, and they can greatly reduce printing costs.

Liquid/Solid: A printer ink cartridge contains liquid ink. It's usually water-based, but some cartridges also contain oil-based ink. Toner, on the other hand, is a dry, carbon-based substance that has the consistency of fine dust.

Printing Method: The way that ink and toner are actually distributed onto paper to create text and images is very different. Ink cartridges spray ink through small nozzles in the cartridge. Toner adheres to the page in a specific pattern as a result of static electricity.

Water Damage: Anyone who has had any experience with ink jet printers knows that the ink is water soluble as well as water based. Getting a printout produced with an ink cartridge wet will cause it to run. Even using products like highlighters can cause the ink to smear. This is not a problem when toner cartridges are used.

Dog Training With An Electronic Dog Collar

The fundamental purpose of the electronic dog collar is to stop a dog from barking. There are two fundamental ways this is resolved. In the first way, sensors in the dog collar can indicate when the dog is barking, and when the dog barks, the dog collar give off a high pitched sound that only dogs can hear, and the dog will stop barking directly. The other type of dog collars has a remote that the owner directs at the collar and gives the dog the unpleasant feeling with the push of a button.



Of course dogs bark, but , how intensely they bark is dependant on what type of breed they are. There are, for example, some smaller dog breeds that bark more than larger dog breeds. So, for dog owners who cannot stand their barking dog, they get an electronic dog collar.


However, electronic dog collars are alright to use during the training process, but when the dog has been trained you dont need them any more. When you want to get an electronic dog collar, visit your local pet supply store or go online.

For the second kind of electronic dog collar, you first need to have an electronic fence built in your lawn. There are several packages available you can install yourself, but you should hire a professional to build it if you do not have experience yourself.

Electronic fences are invisible fences that restrain a dog from leaving the garden. They have the advantage of being invisible for people that dont approve of fences. When a dog wears an electronic dog collar and walks too close to the outside perimeters of the fence, the dog is met by a shock.

Now when you know what an electronic dog collar is and what it is used for, you need to decide what collar is the right for the dog. Finding the right one for your dog is not easy as there are several different designs like christmas style dog collars, citronella dog collars, custom dog collars, designer dog collars and several other designs.

When choosing a dog collar for your dog, there are numeous different factors that you should consider, and one of the most critical things to think of is the price tag. You want to keep in mind the fact that the dog collar might get broken or lost, and so the best idea is not to spend too many dollars on one collar.

By: Mats

Get Trained Professionally By Microsoft

For every office based employees, one must have at least has a Microsoft office CBT. Why? Since this now the computers age, everything now involves computers, especially in office work environment. So, if you are interested, then it stands to reason you are also interested in the options available to you. There are fortunately quiet a few Microsoft training options available to you.

And this training includes Microsoft Office training disks, Microsoft Office training software, and Microsoft office training videos. You should know that there are a lot of ways you can be trained on Microsoft Office if you simply know of all your options, such as doing a self-study desktop software training on your own, but you have know what you are looking for and should know where to start.

Also, one option is Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions which offers online training as well as classroom training, aside from a CBT. And IT developers and professionals may take advantage of this Microsoft training course, as well. The Microsoft Official Curriculum is used by the Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions, just to let you that this legitimate and done by professionals.

And just to let you know that these IT professionals may also take advantage of the Microsoft E-Learning Library where they can use browser based training to learn all they need to know about Microsoft certification. So, you're actually in the same level as them when you applied this training program.

Aside from these, there are also books that help IT professionals study and train for their certification exams. And Microsoft even offers a Microsoft Office training CD with some of their books and if you have Software Assurance then you actually may be able to receive free products from Microsoft.

And those involved in e-Learning, they will use tutorials and modules that are interactive to assist them on learning more information on a variety of different topics and lessons. The Core and Advances Training are also offered for Microsoft Office as well as several other desktop applications there is. And even clients may also have certain training vouchers from their licenses for Windows and Microsoft Office.

As you can see the training options for Microsoft Office are wide and varied. There are enough options for you to find one that works for you. And no matter how busy you are or what your schedule is like, you will find a way to get Microsoft Office certified. So what are you waiting for?

By: Caitlinaa Fuller

Positivism a key to a successful life

You know why the fairy tales and fables were concocted. They were invented to give us hope and a belief that there is still good in the world, to motivate us to be good and to believe in good. Today, when we wake up with a fresh and rejoiced mood to the birds chirping and the beautiful sunshine, the positivism is gone the moment we open the newspaper or a news channel. To instil hope, positivism and faith in people these fables, tales and inspirational stories comes very handy.

These astonishingly inspiring movies shows the best of human spirit, reveal the goodness of man's nature and actions that exemplify a genuine yearning by many to improve the world we all live in and make it a better place. Books are man's best friend. You can turn to them when you are lonely, when you are feeling down and emotionally drained and cynical. Books are an important and vital part of humankind and every culture as they provide us with enormous sea of knowledge, which are helpful in strengthening us spiritually, mentally and emotionally. They are emotionally and morally appealing in nature and are usually based on thought provoking topics and issues, which are deep enough to boost and move our spirit to an unimaginable extent.

These stories succeed in offering you food for noble and tranquil thought process resulting in virtuous and righteous humankind. When you are inspired, you are motivated and passionate about the work or desire you want to accomplish and even hardest and toughest work starts looking easy and a child's play. It is a fact that almost 95% people never realize their full potential only because of negativity, lack of motivation or inspiration and low self-esteem.

There are ample instances where impossible things are made to happen like in case of: the greatest music composer Beethoven who despite being partial deaf created awe inspiring and beautiful music, or Louis Braille who despite being blind invented an easy and fast way for the blind to read, the Braille language, etc. Stories and experience of such great personalities and achievers, despite of their tough situations and disabilities achieved much more than what a normal man can, are a source of inspiration and motivation for many able and disabled human beings even after so many years.

These experiences, stories and fables are a memento to remind us and aware us of our abilities, capabilities, talents and strengths and to ring a bell about our aims, goals, ambitions, dreams and desires. Optimism is a key to a happy and satisfied life. Sometimes in difficult situations and circumstances, it becomes very hard for even a hard-core optimist to retain his or her positivism. Good news has healing powers, it makes us cheerful, happy and contended but bad news has just the opposite effect on even the strongest person. Positive news and stories gives us a reason to smile and be cheerful, which is a secret of healthy, contended and fully lived life.

By: Jessica Thomson

Connecting With The Router

The IP address 192.168.1.1 is the default address that connects a user and technician with the home routers. It is the original address set by the manufacturer and is one of the most important addresses both for experts and individuals, as it can affect the set up and installation progress of the router thus the internet connection as well. It is the default IP address; however it can be changed through the administrative system of the router.

The 192.168.1.1 is a so called private IPv4 address, set to all routers of every brand and company. All computers working on local networks can use this address. If you want to connect to it, you can open your browser and simply type it on the address space. When you type it and press enter you will be asked to enter a username and password. If it is the first time you enter or you haven't changed it, the default is usually ˜admin for username and admin for password. In some cases the username is blank, although this is rarer. Both the username and password can be changed through the administrative console.

Once you enter, you will have access to the configuration system of your router; whether you have a wireless or wired connection to the router, you will be able to perform numerous actions. Some of them are port forwarding, router security and password changes. You can also set a dynamic or static IP address (if your provider allows it).

What can you do if you cannot connect to the 192.168.1.1?

This usually happens if there is problematic connection to the router. One thing you should do is to check the status of the LAN connection. You can go to the Networks and click on Properties; check the Internet Protocol and if necessary choose to obtain an address manually in this case you can choose 192.168.1.2 as IP address, Subnet mask at 255.255.255.0 and type in 192.168.1.1 for the Default gateway.

You can also try to reset the router, pressing the reset button for 20-30 seconds. You will need to power the router off and then on again and try to connect once more. Usually this solves the problem.

By: Roberto Garabell

Web 2.0 - Camera, Lights, Action! Video Marketing Is Here

We have entered a new phase in the development of the Internet. Communicating on the World Wide Web is no longer the static, text based medium we’ve grown up with over the past dozen or so years. Technology has delivered the resources to allow easy use of good quality streaming video and multimedia.

From marketing tools, to movie clips - from online infomercials to streaming TV and live webcasting. Like it or not, we are in the grip of a major shift in online communication and we will all have to embrace this technology as our ’first-generation’ static (text-based) websites gradually become extinct.

Time scale? Probably two years.

The fact that Google has invested so much in Google Video is testament to the belief that streaming video will soon be a natural element of daily internet consumption for the millions of internet users around the world. This mindset is confirmed by their recent purchase of the popular YouTube website for a cool $1.65 billion...What a bargain! Why? Because Google knows how important it is to be positioned at the front of the online video curve.

YouTube was founded in February 2005 as a means for people to watch and share original video. Within two years it has grown into a site where more than 70 million videos are watched every day (figures are climbing day by day so when you read this, the real numbers could be way above that).

Most experts agree that worldwide technology is rapidly moving to the point of true convergence between the Internet, television and telecommunications systems that will provide one single service or application for a truly multimedia world.

The huge benefit of YouTube-type technology as opposed to other video formats is in the ease of playback. Based on Macromedia FlashPlayer 7, online video can be played on more that 85% of computers connected to the Internet.

This offers a distinct advantage for viewers who can immediately play video files on their computers rather than have to download and install additional software. This allows for real point and click ease.

Online video is here to stay. YouTube’s rapid growth has far exceeded that of other household name websites such as Craigslist, Myspace, even eBay and Blogger. This is indisputable proof that Internet streaming video and multimedia is here and here to stay.

The whole point of this brief synopsis is to illustrate the massive impact online video has had - and will continue to have - not only on the Internet, but also on traditional media such as network television. Media professionals predict that Internet video will be the biggest, fastest growing worldwide marketing medium for the next few years.

A majority of video clips uploaded to Google Video, YouTube and similar sites are by amateurs searching for their fifteen minutes of online fame or simply wanting to brighten up someone’s day with a laugh. With a little creative thinking, clever marketers can use this global video channel to bring a flood of traffic to websites and laser-target their message to millions of potential customers, for almost zero cost.

However, there’s more to this than simply uploading a video and hoping people stumble across it. The basic rules of keyword research and relevant descriptions apply just as much to this form of online promotion as they do to promoting a website.

Whether you’re selling a product, a principle or an idea, there’s absolutely no doubt that (for the moment) online streaming video services provide online marketers with the perfect vehicle for massive global publicity - though it may only be for a limited period, as it’s highly likely that the door to this particular free ride will be slammed shut within the next few months as more people catch on!

By: Dave Foster

Find The Best Iphone Applications At Mobclix

The Apple iPhone is truly amazing; it has opened the door to many new possibilities in today's technological world. While earlier we required having a variety of gadgets, the iPhone has now compressed everything into one phone. No longer do you need to carry a phone, navigation system, mp3 or a computer; it is all there in one small package. The iPhone is much more than just a phone, it's a very technically advanced piece of equipment that is capable of doing most things that a small laptop or a computer can do, and it fits right into your pocket.

When the iPhone was first revealed, it was certainly a breakthrough in mobile phone technology. However, other than looking good and showing the picture of the person who was calling you, it didn't do all that much. Nowadays, the scene has almost changed; the iPhone application market has changed all this. In the first few days of the App Store launch, over 900 new applications were added. The iPhone suddenly became a digital playground for its users.

Now, to explore and exploit your phone's full potential you will need to install some applications (apps). These are basically computer programs designed to run on your phone. There are so many applications available that can make your life so much easier. Applications available include games, entertainment, news, sports, travel, weather, spreadsheets, search tools, social networking, organizers, web browsers etc. The list is endless. This is the reason why iPhone has become so popular. You can buy apps from many different vendors on the internet.

Mobclix, a leading mobile application store online offers a number of latest Apple iphone applications (apps) and solutions for all age groups. See the movers and shakers for each application and experience the apps before you download them. Mobclix is the complete mobile application platform that serves analytics, monetization and distribution needs.

If you are looking for the latest iphone applications, visit Mobclix for free and paid iphone apps. For more information on iPhone applications or to read more in-depth reviews of iPhone apps visit the site http://www.mobclix.com.

By: Bob Smith123

Adware Spyware Uninstall – An Easy Tutorial On How To Perform An Adware Spyware Uninstall

If you have found this article chances are you have some form of adware or spyware on your computer. Annoying popups, random programs showing on your hardrive, and a slow sluggish computer are all symptoms of this problem. You may have contracted it from downloading an infected file, downloaded music or movies from a P2P sharing program, or visited a shady website. There are other ways to be sure but these seem to be the most popular. Now to execute a proper adware spyware uninstall you can do one of two things:

1. Find the malicious adware and spyware files yourself and remove them


2. Find a program to do it for you


I do not recommend option one for a few reasons. First it is very difficult to know by yourself what exactly is causing the problems with your computer. You could conceivably delete a necessary system file and screw up your computer even more. Even if you do know the malicious program and manually uninstall it, the file could have attached itself elsewhere and continue to affect your computer. Spyware and adware often work like parasites, they attach themselves to certain places and then spread throughout your system.

In order to conduct a FULL adware spyware uninstall you need the help of a well oiled spyware and adware killing machine. These spyware removers can detect spyware THROUGHOUT your system and particularly good ones can perform deep registry scans. The best spyware removal tools will have a huge database of potential threats that are constantly updated in order to find new ones. They should also give you detailed reports of the files scanned, detailing which are benevolent and which need to be destroyed.

And one of the best things about these spyware removal programs is some of them can prevent you from further attacks. You won’t even need to worry much about performing an adware spyware uninstall when it’s killing the malicious files BEFORE they infect your computer.

I have reviewed some of the best spyware remover programs available today on my website. Come see what I consider to be the #1 spyware removal tool on the internet. Before you conduct an adware spyware uninstall please check out my reviews to find the best spyware remover for you today!

By: Jim Marshall

For many people, private jets are big producers of carbon and ridiculous wastes of money in pursuit of a status symbol. Think Paris Hilton, sun beaming off her Gucci shades, teetering down the stairs

For many people, private jets are big producers of carbon and ridiculous wastes of money in pursuit of a status symbol. Think Paris Hilton, sun beaming off her Gucci shades, teetering down the stairs of a G550 toting her little pooch Tinkerbell in a Louis Vuitton puppy bag. Or Donald Trump standing in front of the giant letters TRUMP painted on the side of his private 727.

By: petr86

When government entities need a Web Conferencing solution

Web conferencing solutions are becoming important tools for communication and collaboration. As these solutions become more affordable, Government entities are recognizing the productive cost effectiveness in doing business across geographic boundaries in order to take action in real-time.

However, security mandates, regulatory statutes, technical requirements and other factors have limited them to a few options available. Hosted web meetings, such as WebEx or GoToMeeting cannot resolve these issues. That is why a web conference appliance such as TurboMeeting by RHUB may be the perfect solution.

TurboMeeting is an on premise appliance solution that works with your firewall to protect your meetings. When you deploy this web conference appliance behind your firewall or DMZ for both internal and external meetings, you have implemented the strongest security measures. RHUB's TurboMeeting system uses both SSL and proprietary encryption. The transmission of user and meeting passwords and meeting IDs over the Internet is always SSL-encrypted. This is the only appliance that offers a patent pending Universal Attendance technology that provides support sessions by using a browser on any platform including Windows, Windows Mobile, Mac, iPhone, Unix and Linux. You can remotely access computers at home or in the office from anywhere, anytime with no download of any kind. TurboMeeting appliance also offers remote access for up to 200+ attendees for each web meeting.

The TurboMeeting web conferencing appliance is also easy to setup and run. It is an affordable solution for your most sensitive security needs. For a one time low payment, you own it so you control it.

Today, Government entities are recognizing the cost effectiveness in doing business across geographic boundaries in order to take action in real-time. They must deliver quality public service as efficiently as possible, all the while being accountable to different constituency groups. Hosted web conference systems cannot meet strict security mandates. However, RHUB’s TurboMeeting can be the perfect solution for web conferencing and collaboration. For more information on RHUB’s on-premise web conferencing appliance, visit their web site at www.rhubcom.com.

By: clones

Rackmount LCD has got a flip-up design.

Rackmount LCD has seamlessly combined comfort with technology. People these days look for comfort and ease while working in their computers. They also look out for space-saving options. They often run out of space in their server cabinets. It then becomes almost imperative to put in a sliding monitor. Catering to the needs of different types of people, However Rackmount LCD Monitor comes with a host of advantages. These include:

Rackmount LCD has got a flip-up design, which is a great idea to save space. It also imparts a stylish look to it, makes it quite attractive. It has adjustable brackets, which enhances its flexibility. This adds to the comfort and ease of the user. Rackmount LCD are compatible with a number of operating systems such as DOS, Win 3x, Win 95/98SE/2000/ME/SP, Win NT, Netware, Unix, Linux.

Hot plugging facility allows the user to connect the monitor with the computer without restarting the device. Support higher video resolutions, up to 1920x1440 for local PCs and up to 1280x1024 for remote PCs. Supports most of the encryption protocols commonly used to secure networks.

Rackmount LCD has minimal or no impact on server and network performance. There is absolutely no influence in this regard. Rackmount LCD fully support KVM over IP and analogous telephone lines, to ensure maximum compatibility with different technologies used in networking. Automatic sensing of best video resolution ensures perfect picture quality at all times. The crisp LED display makes status monitoring a snap for users.

High-performance tracking and synchronization of mouse movements ensures silky smooth performance with a variety of mice, including traditional ball-mouse and the optical variety.

Therefore, with such features, Rackmount LCD is sure to accomplish a lot. It offers a great blend of technology, comfort and innovation. Apart from the listed features, a lot of other features are yet to come up. A great amount of research is going on to make the performance even better and easy-going.

The users can now dream of a comfortable and hassle-free operation in their computers. To meet the different requirements of different people, the 'comfortable innovation' of Rackmount LCD is indeed path-breaking and is sure to open several gateways in near future.

By: johnrocks

Ajax Tutorial- Loads of Information Available Online

It’s often a difficult scenario on the part of an I.T aspirant to get into a thorough analysis of the particular subject matter but since the advent of internet as a valuable source of information, there have been the emergence of tutorials that are available online related to Ajax. The first and foremost tutorial defines Ajax that stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. It is the use of the nonstandard XMLHttpRequest object to communicate with server-side scripts. It can send as well as receive information in a variety of formats, including XML, HTML, and even text files. The tutorial provides with Ajax’s most appealing characteristic, of having an “asynchronous” nature, which means it can do all of this without having to refresh the page.

The Ajax tutorial gives an introduction to ECMAScript for XML (E4X), a simple extension to JavaScript that makes XML scripting very simple. The tutorial has related information on how to make asynchronous requests with JavaScript and Ajax, informative material on Ajax - Try/Catch Blocks of Code, sending requests with XMLHttpRequest to allow user to make requests and receive responses, adding AJAX to a website, Form validation with AJAX/PHP/MySQL, Callbacks and Ajax where user sets the onreadystatechange property of the XMLHttpRequest object to the name of the function to run. Then, when the server has processed the request, it will automatically call that function, to build Ajax-enabled applications using Dojo and JSON, the two very different but complementary technologies that can significantly enhance the interface and usability of web applications and more reference tutorials.

There are mini-tutorials on the black art of iframes and browser history, known to AJAX experts but rarely presented clearly, mini-tutorial on saving state across page loads on the client side, without using cookies so as to save large amounts of data beyond cookies size limits, valuable and effective resource on Easy Ajax with jQuery, Top Ajax Poller Scripts, fast introduction to the basics of Ajax for people that already know how to write the server-side part of the process using servlets and JSP, AJAX username availability checking that allows a user who is registering for your site to see if the username they want to use is taken already or not, without having to submit a form and reload the page, RadAjaxPanel that exposes a rich set of client-side events which allow for easy and flexible use in a wide range of application scenarios and tutorial that explains on how to work with the XML Response or "The X-Files" and more in line in order to enhance and learn new aspects in Ajax. Online education therefore is the most reliable and active source for gaining knowledge for I.T. aspirants through, Asp, Java and Ajax tutorial and the internet is a vast knowledge based environment making things a little more easy with downloadable and accessible information relevant to AJAX.

By: Peter Parkar

MySQL to MSSQL

Professional MySQL DB converter tool transfers all database attributes, constraints such as data types, rows, columns, primary key, unique key, foreign key, default and null values from any version Mysql database to MSSQL server DB. MySQL to MSSQL database migrator is an efficient, less cost and time consuming software which converts full mysql DB or selected table records into MSSQL database.

Database synchronization application creates completely new database of MSSQL or merges table records with existing MSSQL DB tables with all DB attributes and properties. MySQL to MSSQL server DB translation application facilitates multibyte character support without braking database schema limitations of both MySQL and MSSQL. Migration tool for MySQL DB also maintains Unicode architecture and database integrity after converting DB into MSSQL. Mysql to mssql database conversion utility stores all migrated database at a secure place on your PC. MySQL DB transformation tool supports all version of mysql, msql and major versions of windows OS with complete install and uninstall support.

Features:

* MySQL to MSSQL converter software merges selected tables or translates complete DB with table attributes, constraints such as data type, rows and columns.

* Mysql DB migration utility maintains Unicode structure, database integrity and support multibyte characters. * DB transformation application instantly stores all migrated DB at user defined location for future reference.

* Migrator tool for MySQL to MSSQL is an easy and cost effective conversion program which provide GUI interface for windows OS such as 98, 2000, XP, NT, 2003 and Vista.

* Mysql to MSSQL translator utility does not required any special training for technical or non technical users for software operations.

By: Pen Drive Data Recovery