information for you***

Checking out the latest mobile phone deals

2009-06-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of different mobile phone deals out in the market place however we have found a few handsets that look to offer exceptional usability features to the consumer. The first handset we feel worthy of mentioning here is the Sony Ericsson Yari a nifty little handset with satellite navigation and expected to be very reasonably priced on both contract and pay as you go. The other handset to give some thought to is the Samsung Jet, yet another handset under development from the Korean giants.

This is a phone in addition to the raft of Omnia handsets that have been released recently, although it seems that it is based on the same technology. Both of these handsets look set to be real winners in the European markets where they are set to be released. We will have to wait and see if they are released worldwide, however we reckon that if they sell well, they could be coming to a country near you sooner than you think.

Samsung announces the new Omnia Series

2009-06-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

Samsung is capturing the imagination of mobile phone users everywhere with the announcement of the new Omnia series of mobile phones. First up is the Samsung Omnia Pro, this comes complete with a Qwerty keyboard to enable fast typing of emails. The Omnia Pro also comes with Microsoft Office suite so you can edit and write documents on the move. There are similar features on the Nokia N97 and many of the Blackberry models that are available in the marketplace today. Then there is the Samsung Omnia 2, the powerful business smart phone that comes with the innovative TouchWiz user navigation bolted onto windows Mobile 6.1 OS system that will be fully upgradable to Windows Mobile 6.5 when it is released later this year.

This is Samsung's flagship device and we have to say it looks very special indeed. If you are looking for an Omnia phone that is a little lighter on the pocket then it is perhaps worth considering the Samsung Omnia Lite, a great all round performer that allows the user to fully customise the interface via downloadable widgets. Overall these 3 phones look set to shake up the mobile world in 2009. Why not check them out and see what you think of them?

File Extension Srt

2009-05-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

sure you already know the file format on the computer. file extension is a file format that contains the symbolic and numeric characters. they often view the video film certainly see different file extension SRT. This format supports all DVD media as an example. advantage of the file extension SRT is able to edit using the notepad without having to take the plugin in it.

this is one of the severity of the file extension SRT in the case of a film and we only open it through notepad. more than that if we have a Siemens mobile phone and want to transfer a ringing tone or a song you can draw directly ekstenai srt file. but not all types of mobile phone use.

File Extension 1 is Great software

2009-05-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

when we use the computer user to run a file that is usually not known, this particular format is usually hidden from the view of the user, files this extension go by various names which may appear strange to the user, but not dangerous, and sometimes very important for the program File Extension 1 certain.

file This will be useful when users want to transfer large files from one computer to another, but do not have enough space to do so at once. file extension 1 that is also used by other applications to serve many different use file. The UNIX operating system, Most of the commands on UNIX and LINUX machines typically have manual pages that are, in varying degrees of completeness and detail.1 extension file format as an archive file, usually when a file is to be split in several parts of different sizes ranging 1.44mb from 700MB to lebih.enggunakan or the file extension for Firefox web browser cookies, and popup image licensing. These file extension are usually located far away in the installation folder of the hierarchy. Since cookies, popup images and permissions can be changed through a web browser, does not need direct access to these files.

laptop cheap For Toshiba

2009-05-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

Toshiba began to look down secondary market to sell the laptop products. During this pecitraan the community to the Toshiba is a manufacturer of high end laptop with a price of course is quite expensive. However, in line with the trend changes and the impact of economic crisis, people now tend to look for more low end laptop version.

During this 70% of the market the Toshiba laptop is the laptop was bought with a price above Rp 8 million, this year began selling Toshiba products laptopnya with a price under Rp 8 million. (quoted from detikinet)

Gunawan Nugroho, President Director of PT Indonesia Techking Enterprise explains, "Now a lot of vendors who focus laptop version with the low end and more like the consumer version of it. If Toshiba does not follow the market taste akan less competitive. "

Discharge low end version is also a broadening focus marketing Toshiba.

File Extension Gadget

2009-04-23T18:22:00.001-07:00

One of the gadgets in Windows XP is that there is no file association, File Extension Gadget registered by the operating system during installation of the gadget.
For Windows Vista, the sidebar is part of the standard installation. Whatever. Gadget download files directly from Windows Live Gallery should work without incident. Download the file to your desktop, double-click the icon, and then see the gadget, such as installing. Some gadgets may need this system, but most do not.

The gadget has been known that only the files, Zip files with the extension. If this is true, then the gadget can be replaced and then extracted and opened with the program that supports archiving. Zip is one of them, care must be made when all the archives digging a not trusted source. they submit an inherent security risk. Users who employ the use of the File Extension Gadget must live always have anti-virus package installed, updated, and active. They also can be downloaded and installed from the internet, and bring the same inherent security risks.

File Cache Extension with the best solution

2009-04-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

in a computer program file.bermacam many kinds of files with the extension. for example if we access the internet, the web browser, especially for users mozilla Firefox cache file is saved directly to the destination that is in a folder called cache. stored in the folder is the type of image files, scripts, and web sites that lain.all you use the web browser where to save the cache, but not all use the cache to save the file to the cache in the browser can only open in the web browser itself. cache folder can also save the executable file or script associated with the virus komputer.File Extension Cache make your computer safe from malicious attacks the virus, so this is to protect.

File Extension Cache in addition to the is very easy to use, on the other hand is the anti-virus, the operating system and various other programs to use a special cache for each file name. These files perform the same function as the web browser cache folder. Information that is used regularly and should be quickly accessible in the file will be saved. These files are usually plain text files that can be opened with a standard text editor s. Error with the cache files and folders that are very rare because they are built automatically by the software that they should never get deleted or corrupted.

iPod, New Military Weapons United States

2009-04-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

Apparently the iPod trend does not only circulate among teenagers and young executives who akan thirsty gadget hi-end entertainment multipurpose. But now especially in the U.S. military Bhagdad are avid iPod.Bahkan Pentagon to give the signal that is very fashionable gadgets help in implementing the United States Military duty.

daily quoted from a Newsweek dukutip by cnet.com, the news that the iPod in features that provide maximum benefit to the U.S. military, especially in conditions of war. Now a fellow soldier can relate to one another and memnerikan image area information about the withdrawal military intelligence resources.

Things that are most useful language translator is a program that was installed on the iPod with the name Vcommunicator. Vcommunicator translate arab language, Kurdish language and Afghanistan in general to in writing and sound. This is very useful when trying to communicate with the soldiers of the native people say that it is very difficult language to understand each other and one another miskomunikasi vulnerable when using only body language such as that carried out for this.

Price should only be U.S. $ 230 by the apple at U.S. $ 600 to U.S. $ 700. Of course, with the version that is made slightly different from the standard version. Such as the addition of the protector is adapted to the conditions of war-prone and other application support. However, consider the U.S. military in Baghdad get a price of U.S. $ 435 for a hammer, $ 640 for a toilet pedestal and $ 7600 for a coffee. So be very cheap iPod. A / chend

File Extension PPS For Solution

2009-04-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

surely everyone knows that most of them know the File Extension PPS. an abbreviation of the Microsoft Powerpoint slideshow file. addition, this development also expanded and used by the Personal Producer Storyboard, Corel Paint Shop Pro, ArcView from ESRI and others. This file is the type of presentation that can be open by some program. the first definitive, of course, that most Microsoft Powerpoint file extension PPS. then we can open it with the free version of Microsoft Office that is OpenOffice.Org from Sun Microsystems.

of this software we can edit and export the file from the PPS or PPT files. other software that can open the File Extension PPS is the PowerPoint Viewer OCX, PowerPoint Viewer Portable, slideshow viewer ActiveX PowerPoint and Microsoft Word Perfect. usually we often fail to open the software diversiform powerpoint, this is caused by the computer because we do not install the software from the file. to overcome this problem, please go to this site that provide information useful for you to File Extension PPS

increase factor the google PageRank

2009-04-19T17:37:00.001-07:00

Now the Google PageRank Algorithm is very complex. Here is a list of things that can help us improve Google PageRank, with a rating scale beside it.

* Update Pages Frequently 2 / 10
* Add Pages Frequently 4 / 10
* Good Neighborhood Directories with high PageRank Levels 7 / 10
* Monster Websites 7 / 10
* Quality inbound links 8 / 10
* Quality Relevant Links 9 / 10
* No Broken Links 5 / 10
* Article Submissions (this can increase your PageRank by getting more inbound links)
* All these put together 10/10

Factors that can decrease the Google PageRank:

* Inbound links as a Bad Poker, Porn, Sex, Drugs, etc.
* Link spamming
* Bad Content
* Many of the link is broken
* Black Hat SEO Techniques

Game Xbox 360 'Made in Indonesia'

2009-04-10T03:10:00.000-07:00

Not forever gamer Indonesia consume only foreign-made game. There are also segilintir our youth who have high creativity, so able to make a game that can be worldwide.

One of them is the Barudak a shelter home in Agate Studio Bandung. This group succeeded in creating games for the Xbox 360 console.

The word 'extraordinary' worth may be addressed to them. The addition of the author who are still students and students, making this game also has not dimodali investor capital alias own pockets.

So may be, although with limited facilities and the capital, the youth is not broken charcoal and successfully created the game 'made in India' that the world can be.

This game has its own, entitled 'Ponporon', in which is a collection of several mini-games. The graphics, this game no less from foreign-made software house with mengusung feel of 2D and 3D animation.

Arief Widhiyasa, one of the developers say this game, do not take long for his team to develop 'Ponporon'. "Approximately one month only for the development, but for the concept takes approximately three months," he said when met at the between the place Indonesia Game Show 2008, in Hall Plennary JCC.

Currently, the game 'Ponporon' still present in the alpha version has about 20 mini-games. Expected, the collection of mini-games in 'Ponporan' can be added into 50 mini-games over the next development.

"In addition, we will also want to make this game fit in Xbox Live, but the size still too large. Later we find ways to memperkecilnya," Arief demolished, although the students are still in the ITB, but have become President of Agate Studio.

Hospedagem De Sites Solution For You

2009-03-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

In the World, the Internet is now a lot of websites that appear. for the webhosting service is necessary, we can choose webhosting services on the internet. price is also diverse. there is a cheap, expensive or very expensive depending on storage space.
Homehost solution for you who want to buy webhosting. price is also in accordance with the diverse levels of users. start with low to high level.

speed data access is also faster, cheaper, and a high level of security without the problem. please visit Hospedagem de sites that will provide satisfaction to you.

how to increase alexa rank?

2009-03-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a collection of methods you can use to boost your Alexa Rank. Most of these tips are derived from several fellow webmasters I know who claimed to have derived positive results through their experiments with the Alexa Rankings.
Some of the other tips were derived articles and sources, which I have duly referenced at the end of this post. Do these tips work? According to some, yes they definitely do work. But do note that most of them require active effort of some sort and hence, they will work as long as long as you are consistently performing specific actions. To increase your Alexa rank in the long run, I would highly recommended that one focus on developing quality content which attracts and maintains a large audience instead of purely focusing on artificially increasing your Alexa Rank. Great link-worthy content will leads to an natural increase in site traffic and is an excellent way to passively increase your Alexa rank. It is important to emphasize that you should devote most of your efforts in growing your site audience alongside integrated implementation of any of the following tips below.

1. Install the Alexa toolbar or Firefox’s SearchStatus extension and set your blog as your homepage. This is the most basic step.

2. Put up an Alexa rank widget on your website. I did this a few days ago and receive a fair amount of clicks every day. According to some, each click counts as a visit even if the toolbar is not used by the visitor.

3. Encourage others to use the Alexa toolbar. This includes friends, fellow webmasters as well as site visitors/blog readers. Be sure to link to Alexa’s full explanation of their toolbar and tracking system so your readers know what installing the toolbar or extension entails.

4. Work in an Office or own a company? Get the Alexa toolbar or SS Firefox extension installed on all computers and set your website as the homepage for all browsers. Perhaps it will be useful to note that this may work only when dynamic or different IPs are used.

5. Get friends to review and rate your Alexa website profile. Not entirely sure of its impact on rankings but it might help in some way.

6. Write or Blog about Alexa. Webmaster and bloggers love to hear about ways to increase their Alexa rank. They’ll link to you and send you targeted traffic (i.e. visitors with the toolbar already installed). This gradually has effects on your Alexa ranking.

7. Flaunt your URL in webmaster forums. Webmasters usually have the toolbar installed. You’ll get webmasters to visit your website and offer useful feedback. It’s also a good way to give back to the community if you have useful articles to share with others.

8. Write content that is related to webmasters. This can fall in the category of domaining and SEO, two fields in which most webmasters will have the Alexa toolbar installed. Promote your content on social networking websites and webmaster forums.

9. Use Alexa redirects on your website URL. Try this: http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?www.doshdosh.com . Replace doshdosh.com with the URL for your website. Leave this redirected URL in blog comments as well as forum signatures. This redirect will count a unique IP address once a day so clicking it multiple times won’t help. There is no official proof that redirects positively benefit your Alexa Rank, so use with caution.

10. Post in Asian social networking websites or forums. Some webmasters have suggested that East Asian web users are big Alexa toolbar fans, judging by the presence of several Asia-based websites in the Alexa Top 500. I suggest trying this only if you have the time or capacity to do so.

11. Create a webmaster tools section on your website. This is a magnet for webmasters who will often revisit your website to gain access to the tools. Aaron Wall’s webpage on SEOTools is a very good example.

12. Get Dugg or Stumbled. This usually brings massive numbers of visitors to your website and the sheer amount will have a positive impact on your Alexa Rank. Naturally, you’ll need to develop link worthy material.

13. Use PayperClick Campaigns. Buying advertisements on search engines such as Google or Exact Seek will help bring in Traffic. Doubly useful when your ad is highly relevant to webmasters.

14. Create an Alexa category on your blog and use it to include any articles or news about Alexa. This acts as an easily accessible resource for webmasters or casual search visitors while helping you rank in the search engines.

15. Optimize your popular posts. Got a popular post that consistently receives traffic from the search engines? Include a widget/graph at the bottom of the post, link to your Alexa post or use Alexa redirection on your internal URLs.

16. Buy banners and links for traffic from webmaster forums and websites. A prominent and well displayed ad will drive lots of webmaster traffic to your website, which can significantly boost your rank.

17. Hire forum posters to pimp your website. Either buy signatures in webmaster forums or promote specific articles or material in your website on a regular basis. You can easily find posters for hire in Digital Point and other webmaster forums.

18. Pay Cybercafe owners to install the Alexa toolbar and set your website as the homepage for all their computers. This might be difficult to arrange and isn’t really a viable solution for most. I’m keeping this one in because some have suggested that it does work.

19. Use MySpace . This is a little shady so I don’t recommended it unless you’re really interested in artificially inflating your Alexa Rank. Use visually attractive pictures or banners and link them to your redirected Alexa URL. This will be most effective if your website has content that is actually relevant to the MySpace Crowd.

20. Try Alexa auto-surfs. Do they work? Maybe for brand new sites. I think they are mostly suitable for new websites with a very poor Alexa rank. Note that there be problems when you try to use auto surfs alongside contextual ads like Adsense. They aren’t also long term solutions to improving your Alexa Rank so I suggest using with caution.[www.doshdosh.com]

Mainstreet Collection

2009-03-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

MSC Main Street Collection yang berwarna-warni, ceria, dan tidak merusak bank. Looking for the perfect gift? Mix and match tumblers, klip papan, dompet, mouse pads, coin purses dan portofolio! Semua bagian dari Mainstreet Koleksi olahraga yang menyenangkan monogram dalam warna-warna cerah.

The Higt Performance Hosting

2009-03-01T17:20:00.000-08:00

LAYERONLINE is a company that offers hosting. improve the performance with the performance of the website up to 60 times more. you can buy in LAYERONLINE hosting for website or forum. LayerSpeed with a technology to increase speed access to your website. with LayerEdge with each hosting package you get the latest in hosting technologies such as PostgreSQL, Ruby on Rails, Ruby Gems, tomcat / JSP, ASP.NET Mono, FFMPEG, SVN, and more.

LAYERONLINE support green hosting can save you 80% in the power, to reduce Recycle, and again, almost. Besides the fact that we only use the energy-star compliant server component, we also use various technologies to enable maximum power savings, such as cpu speed scaling, the strength of relationship management, and disk standby time. LAYERONLINE also take advantage of large disk cache, ramdisk and a sophisticated process management to use resources more efficiently, so that the truly significant increase in speed compared to non-power saving negeri.dengan high performance you can access the website you are also cepat.tersedia for CPANEL blog hosting and forum hosting. if you are interested please come in LAYERONLINE

how to build a business online?

2009-03-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

helping you build your business online by providing business-class web publishing and internet services. Online success tactics for your small business as an independent distributor for a gourmet candle home business, i was looking for information that i could use to build my business online. How to build your business online :: public relations and publicity how to build a website six module course, taught by the authors of cyber gold join the social community and learn how to create a website free online tools, dropship resources. Getqualityresults.com build your business 0nline. Build trust with an online home business opportunities newsletter trust register.com for online business tools, help getting your web site started as well as hosting, email and search engine marketing advice plus, learn about complimentary.

Build your business online - california real estate license program learn how to succeed with your real estate training. Live search: how to build a business online why do they do that because network marketing is a huge failure online it does not have to be that way the key is to build your business, the right way, the natural way. Build your business online : : building trust on internet is becoming a prerequisite to making web income and an online home business opportunities newsletter is a great relationship building tool build trust. Build your business online - small business web marketing, web hosting canadian residents - click here: united kingdom and european union residents - click here:.

Business blogging as an opportunity to build your business online the simple way to build an online business the biggest advantage to building a business online is that you can very easily measure each action you take and the outcome of those. How to build your online business - free software downloads and business blogging as an opportunity to build your business online looking for a business to join browse through our business opportunities. Build your business 0nline sign up for a free paypal account and start accepting credit card payments from all parts news: winners for the 2008 one on one promo and one versus 10,000 congratulations. The simple way to build an online business search results. Www4network -- helping you build your business online come to cnet download.com for free and safe how to build your online business downloads read business-related e-book.

New Laptop In 2009

2009-03-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

The big manufacturer pulled out some little laptops as hp showed off a new mini and some widescreen portable in las vegas. New targus laptop bags ces 2009 trendy gadget on the 11th of this month i finally decided what i wanted for christmas yes, a little late, but i just couldn t figure it out i bought a new laptop from dell yes, we. New laptop in 2009 with ces just around the corner, it's no surprise to hear whispers of a new lot of laptops from hp (or anyone else, for that matter) a smattering of from reports around the web. Igo has prepared a new laptop charger for ces 2009 nexgengadget info igo has prepared a new laptop charger for ces 2009 vampire energy isn t it exactly an issue by cutting which we can probably bring a superior input in. The life of minnie st claire: new laptop new laptop bags collection has been announced by targus at ces the collection includes the venture collection that available in both backpack and.

Live search: new laptop in 2009 today we got a call from our friend paul who was working on making my new laptop mounting plate that will be put on custom built mounting hardware from our friend paul when it is. A new laptop - computers - best buy forum 12 comments: nicholas p mitchell said that looks terrible 1/06/2009 09:40:00 am pastor justin said funny best line: "everything is just a few hundred clicks away. New laptop mounting plate is in, yay alin s blog search results. Lenovo announces new laptop and desktop pcs i recently purchased a new laptop, it was an emergency purchase buying this laptop thought me alot, 1 was that i need to make sure i have a decent amount of cash flow in my.

New year laptop service offer - laptop 2009 stimulus - icontact acer has launched the new ferrari 1200 laptop the 12-ich notebook is the third generation of ferrari desktops from acer and has an amd turion x2 ultra. Acer launches new ferrari laptop gearcrave the mens buying guide lenovo announces new laptop and desktop pcs posted on mon, 5 jan 2009 06:09:49 cst by shane mcglaun topic: ces 2009 news. First gadget of 2009 - new sony vaio laptop digitpedia.com o2 today unveiled its plans to enter the laptop market with a range of samsung laptops it says will help it create exclusive packages that will give customers everything they. New hp laptop releases rumored, mini 1000 mi included - engadget i want to buy a new laptop, but it s been a while since i ve been in the market for a computer so i decided to ask you, my readers, for advice. Imao blog archive help frank buy new laptop a new laptop posts: 3 registered: 01-28-2009 message 1 of 4 viewed 308 times.

Bocor, Detail Upgrade Gratis Windows 7

2009-02-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

Sudah mencoba Windows 7? Calon sistem operasi terbaru Microsoft ini memang sudah tidak bisa lagi di-unduh secara cuma-cuma. Namun kalau Anda belum sempat mengunduhnya, tidak perlu kuatir. Upgrade gratis ke Windows 7 dari Vista kabarnya sedang disiapkan oleh Microsoft

Begitu diungkap oleh Tech ARP yang memperoleh sebuah dokumen yang disebar Microsoft kepada para OEM-nya. Dalam dokumen tersebut terdapat rincian dari Windows 7 Upgrade Program.

Eh, jangan terlalu senang dulu. Program ini hanya berlaku melalui Program Eligibility Period. Tidak semua pemilik/pembeli Vista akan mendapatkan upgrade gratis ke Windows 7. Jika Anda tidak membeli salah satu versi Vista yang telah di-upgrade, berarti Anda harus membeli Windows 7. Jika Anda pemilik Vista Home Basic, Vista Starter Edition, atau XP Home/Professional, Anda juga tidak akan mendapatkan upgrade gratis ke Windows 7.

Namun jika Anda membeli Vista Home Premium, Anda boleh meng-upgrade gratis ke Windows 7 Home Premium. Sedangkan jika membeli Vista Business, Anda dapat meng-upgrade ke Windows 7 Professional. Sementara itu siapa pun yang membeli Vista Ultimate dapat melakukan upgrade ke Windows 7 Ultimate.

Sampai saat ini belum ada biaya yang diumumkan. Namun yang jelas, program tersebut dirancang untuk para konsumer dan sama sekali tidak memberikan dukungan bagi upgrade dalam jumlah besar untuk kalangan enterprise. Perusahaan yang ingin melakukan upgrade harus memanfaatkan program volume licensing, yang akan diberitahukan dalam waktu dekat.

[WIEK/www.kompas.com]

Mesin Javascript Opera Dinamai Carakan dari Bahasa Jawa

2009-02-14T15:36:00.000-08:00

Tim developer Opera Software memilih nama Carakan untuk mesin Javascript terbaru yang tengah dikembangkannya. Uniknya, nama Carakan diambil langsung dari Bahasa Jawa yang berarti daftar huruf Jawa yang dikenal sebagai Hanacaraka.

"Carakan sudah 2,5 kali lebih cepat dibandingkan Furthark, mesin Javascript dari Opera yang digunakan saat ini. Walaupun masih dalam pengembangan, namun dalam beberapa kali percobaan menunjukkan bahwa Carakan 50 kali lebih cepat," kata Anissa Putri, Indonesia Country Manager Opera Software Asa dalam email yang dikirim kepada Kompas.com.

Dengan Carakan Opera berambisi menjadikannya sebagai mesin JavaScript, bahasa scripting yang universal untuk Web, yang paling cepat dibandingkan pesaingnya. Sejauh ini, Opera yang berpusat di Oslo, Norwegia tidak hanya menyediakan browser web untuk PC namun juga fokus pada browser web mobile. Bahkan Opera satu-satunya pemain dominan yang menyediakan browser web mobile secara cuma-cuma untuk diunduh dan digunakan.

Ini merupakan langkah besar bagi para pengembang aplikasi web karena memungkinkan mereka untuk menciptakan generasi aplikasi berikutnya yang hanya memerlukan sambungan koneksi Internet. Informasi detil mengenai Carakan terdapat pada blog post developer Opera di http://my.opera.com/core/blog/2009/02/04/carakan [sumber:kompas.com]

Pengguna Facebook Lebih Suka Masuk Via Opera Mini

2009-01-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

JAKARTA - VKontakte dan Facebook adalah jejaring sosial yang paling banyak dikunjungi oleh pengguna Opera Mini berdasarkan pada laporan Mobile Web Opera.

Menurut data yang dipaparkan pihak Opera, berdasarkan data Mobile Web yang mereka miliki, pengguna unik Opera Mini pada Facebook meningkat lebih dari 693 persen pada tahun 2008. Berdasarkan kepopularitasan Opera Mini di negara berbahasa Rusia tersebut, vKontakte adalah jejaring social yang paling populer. Penggunaan situs tersebut bertambah hampir 910 persen pada tahun 2008.

Pengguna Opera Mini telah melihat lebih dari 6,4 miliar halaman pada bulan Desember. Sejak November, halaman tampilan telah meningkat 13,0 persen. Pengguna Opera Mini menghasilkan lebih dari 93,8 juta MB data dari operator diseluruh dunia.

Sejak November, data yang dikonsumsi meningkat hingga 13,2 persen. Data pada Opera Mini dikompres rata-rata hingga 90 persen. Karena data-data ini telah dikompres, maka pengguna Opera Mini telah melihat lebih dari 938 juta MB data pada bulan Desember.

Di Amerika, Facebook menyamai MySpace dalam tingkat penggunaan selama satu tahun, dengan pertambahan jumlah pengguna sebanyak 16 kali lipat, sedangkan pengguna MySpace meningkat hingga 52 persen saja.

Facebook meneruskan perbaikan performa tersebut secara impresif di negara-negara berbahasa Inggris. Di Inggris, pertambahan Facebook mencapai angka 536 persen dan menjadi situs jejaring sosial yang paling banyak dikunjungi oleh pengguna Opera Mini. Afrika Selatan juga mencatat Facebook sebagai situs jejaring sosial paling atas. Di luar negara-negara berbahasa Inggris, peningkatan jumlah pengguna Facebook di Mesir mencapai lebih dari 34 kali lipat.

Meski demikian, hal ini bukanlah suatu kekalahan bagi MySpace. Di Jerman, MySpace merupakan situs jejaring sosial yang paling kuat, meningkat hingga hampir lima kali lipat pada tahun 2008.

Di satu sisi dalam dunia maya, Orkut adalah yang paling populer di India dan Brasil sedangkan Nasza-klasa adalah yang paling populer di Polandia. Hal ini menggarisbawahi keyakinan Opera bahwa harusnya hanya ada Satu Web, yang dapat diakses menggunakan berbagai macam perangkat.
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"Situs jejaring sosial membantu peningkatan pertumbuhan Satu Web. Meskipun kondisi ekonomi seperti sekarang, kami berharap bahwa penggunaan web melalui perangkat bergerak akan terus berkembang pada tahun 2009. Lebih banyak orang menginginkan akses ke Web dalam skala global. Dengan kapasitas ekstra di negara maju dan berkembang, kami berharap masyarakat akan lebih banyak menggunakan handphone untuk mengakses internet dibandingkan dengan perangkat lain," ujar Jon von Tetzchner, CEO Opera melalui keterangan resminya. [srn/okezone.com]

Baca Isi Ponsel Orang Lain Via Bluetooth

2009-01-22T00:45:00.000-08:00

Sejak lima tahun lalu, fitur Bluetooth menghiasi sebagian besar -ponsel baru. Si gigi biru mengambil alih posisi inframerah yang lebih dahulu eksis. Banyak keuggulan yang ditawarkan Bluetooth. Melalui fasilitas ini, Anda dapat bertukar kartu nama digital, chatting, bertukar file, hingga membuat jaringan pribadi. Semuanya dilakukan secara wireless alias tanpa kabel.

Di samping kemudahan bertukar file, Bluetooth punya kelebihan lain dibanding inframerah. Dua di antaranya ialah kecepatan transfer yang lebih tinggi, dan tak perlu saling berhadapannya perangkat pengirim dan penerima selama transmisi data.

Karena kelebihan-kelebihan inilah kemudian berkembang berbagai aplikasi yang mengandalkan koneksi Bluetooth. Salah satunya adalah Super Bluetooth Hack. Sebagian dari Anda tentu bertanya-tanya mengapa ada kata “Hack” di belakang nama aplikasi. Apakah aplikasi ini merusak?

Tenang saja, aplikasi ini tidak berbahaya untuk ponsel Anda. Sang pembuat membubuhkan kata “Hack” karena aplikasi ini dapat digunakan untuk melihat isi ponsel orang lain melalui Bluetooth. Beberapa kelebihan yang ditawarkan aplikasi ini, Anda bisa melihat informasi ponsel, daftar panggilan, phone book, SMS, kalendar, menjalankan aplikasi, musik, menulis teks, mengunci ponsel, mengganti nada dering, volume, alarm, jam, bahasa, mode ponsel, profil, koneksi, sampai menekan tombol ponsel secara jarak jauh dari ponsel Anda.

Sayang, saat Sinyal mencoba aplikasi ini, ternyata tidak semua ponsel berBluetooth bisa “di-hack” Ponsel-ponsel dengan sekuriti tinggi tidak bisa diakses dengan mudah melalui aplikasi ini.

Contohnya ponsel Linux. Ponsel dengan sistem operasi ini default-nya mematikan fitur Bluetooth. Jika Anda mengaktifkannya dan membuat Visibility-nya dalam mode On, Bluetooth hanya akan bisa dicari oleh perangkat lain dalam 10 menit. Setelah itu secara otomatis ponsel tidak bisa dicari lagi di “udara bebas” Kalaupun bisa terhubung, ponsel juga tidak memberikan akses penuh begitu saja. Itu sebabnya mengapa aplikasi ini praktis tidak bisa digunakan untuk mengoprek ponsel-ponsel tertentu.

Gratis, Mudah
Untuk menggunakan aplikasi unik ini, sangatlah mudah. Setelah mengunduh Super Bluetooth Hack v1.07.jar dari http://www.getjar.com/products/13076/SuperBluetoothHack/versions (106KB), Anda bisa memilih menu Connect dari jendela utama aplikasi.

Setelah itu, Anda bisa memilih perangkat yang ingin diakses dari daftar (jika sebelumnya Anda pernah mengakses perangkat tersebut) atau pilih Inquiry devices untuk mencari perangkat di sekitar Anda yang Bluetooth-nya sedang aktif.

Setelah ditemukan, Anda cukup menekan tombol Connect. Tak lama kemudian, koneksi ke ponsel tujuan akan terbentuk. Anda akan melihat menu-menu yang menawarkan akses penuh ke ponsel tersebut. Pilihlah yang Anda suka. Super Bluetooth Hack akan menggunakan akses yang didapatnya untuk mengeksekusi ponsel “target”.

Dalam menggunakan aplikasi ini Anda mungkin menemui ada beberapa fungsi yang tidak bekerja dengan baik di semua tipe ponsel. Dengan mengaktifkan kotak cek Disable Unsuported Functions pada menu Settings, kemungkinan ini akan berkurang. Sebab, beberapa fitur yang tidak dapat bekerja di ponsel tujuan akan dieliminasi dan tidak ditampilkan pada menu.

Jangan lupa, aturlah menu Saving Files to yang juga terdapat pada menu Settings untuk menentukan di mana Anda ingin menyimpan berbagai file yang didapat dari ponsel tujuan.

TIPS: Agar Anda tidak menjadi “korban” aplikasi ini, pastikan Bluetooth Anda dalam kondisi tidak aktif jika tidak digunakan. Selain akan menghemat batere, aplikasi semacam Super Bluetooth Hack tidak akan bisa mengakses ponsel yang Bluetoothnya mati.[sinyal]

Menerima Telepon dari Pengunjung Blog

2009-01-22T00:42:00.000-08:00

Blog umumnya menawarkan kemudahan berinteraksi antara pemilik blog dan pengunjungnya. Alat komunikasi yang biasa digunakan oleh pemilik blog bisa berupa komentar di setiap posting, atau kolom komentar umum. Jika sang pemilik blog ini berkomunikasi secara personal dengan pengunjungnya, tak jarang disediakan pula ruang chat pribadi atau alamat Messenger.

Dengan hadirnya jaxtr, pengunjung blog akan mendapatkan pengalaman yang berbeda. Mereka tidak lagi berkomunikasi dalam batas tulisan, tetapi bisa melakukan panggilan langsung ke ponsel pemilik blog langsung melalui web.

Cara kerja jaxtr Widget sebetulnya cukup sederhana. Jika pengunjung membuka situs Anda, akan muncul pilihan “call me free” untuk menelpon Anda atau “send voice mail” untuk mengirim pesan suara. Jika jaxtr mendukung pengiriman SMS ke operator seluler Anda, maka akan muncul juga opsi “text me” di widget.

Setelah pengunjung memilih layanan yang diinginkan, pengunjung situs akan diminta untuk memasukkan nomor teleponnya, lalu mengklik tombol 'call me'. Tak lama kemudian jaxtr akan menelepon Anda dan pengunjung situs. Setelah sama-sama terhubung, Anda bisa ngobrol dengan pengunjung melalui telepon. Selanjutnya, pengunjung situs akan mendapatkan nomor jaxtr Anda untuk menghubungi Anda di lain waktu. Sebaliknya juga dengan Anda akan mendapatkan nomor penelpon. Jangan khawatir soal privasi, masing-masing pihak tidak akan mendapatkan nomor telepon yang sesungguhnya melainkan yang muncul adalah nomor jaxtr.

Untuk memasang fitur tersebut di blog, Anda harus login dulu ke Jaxtr. Di halaman utama, masuklah ke menu 'Widgets'. Atur tampilan Widget Anda di bagian 'Customize'. Setelah semuanya siap, pilih menu 'Post it!'

Di menu 'Pick your site', pilih di situs mana Anda akan memasang widget jaxtr. Setelah itu, pilih format widget yang ingin Anda gunakan pada bagian 'Select widget for :'. Terdapat beberapa pilihan ukuran di sana, mulai dari yang berukuran besar dan lengkap hingga yang paling sederhana. Di bagian bawahnya, terdapat petunjuk cara memasukkan widget tersebut ke situs Anda sesuai dengan lokasi di mana widget jaxtr akan diletakkan.

Selanjutnya, jaxter Widget siap digunakan oleh pengunjung.

Tidak hanya blog, Anda juga bisa menggunakan fitur ini di situs pribadi atau di situs jejaring sosial Anda, seperti Friendster, My Space, Facebook, Hi5, LinkedIn, Yahoo 360 dan berbagai situs jejaring sosial lainnya.[pcPlus]

Bersihkan PC dari Spyware

2009-01-22T00:41:00.000-08:00

Windows Vista sudah dilengkapi dengan antispyware, namanya Windows Defender. Aplikasi ini secara otomatis akan melakukan scan cepat terhadap isi komputer setiap pagi hari. Tujuannya adalah memastikan Anda dapat bekerja dengan aman pada hari itu.

Apabila mendeteksi adanya spyware, Windows Defender akan langsung menampilkan sebuah jendela pemberitahuan yang menyatakan adanya spyware di sistem Anda. Selanjutnya, Anda bisa membersihkan spyware tersebut dengan satu kali klik [Remove].

Namun, cara tersebut tidak melulu dapat membersihkan spyware secara tuntas sebab pemeriksaan yang dilakukan Windows Defender adalah pemeriksaan cepat yang tidak diikuti pemeriksaan seluruh isi hard disk. Oleh karena itu, bila Windows Defender pernah menampilkan peringatan adanya spyware, lakukan pemeriksaan penuh terhadap sistem Anda.

Caranya:
1. Klik tombol Start, ketik Windows Defender pada kotak pencarian dan tekan [Enter].
2. Setelah Windows Defender terbuka, klik panah bawah yang terdapat di sebelah tombol Scan dan pilih Full Scan.
3. Tunggulah beberapa saat sampai proses scan selesai.
4. Setelah selesai, hasilnya akan ditampilkan. Jika PC Anda terjangkit spyware, daftarnya akan ditampilkan oleh Windows Defender. Klik Review Items untuk mengetahui apa yang terjadi dan bagaimana solusinya.
5. Pada layar Scan Results, semua software berbahaya yang terdeteksi Windows Defender akan ditampilkan. Klik tombol [Remove All], untuk membersihkan semua “sampah” spyware.

Yahoo Akan Terapkan Google Ads

2009-01-22T00:32:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANSISCO - Yahoo dikabarkan telah mencapai kesepakatan dengan Google untuk menjalankan jaringan iklan di internet. Langkah ini diprediksi akan semakin menyulitkan Microsoft.

Kesepakatan Yahoo dengan Google akan semakin menyulitkan Microsoft mengakuisisi Yahoo karena diprediksi perusahaan milik Jerry Yang ini akan meningkatkan pendapatannya melalui penerapan Google ads.

Sebelumnya, dua minggu lalu, Yahoo dan Google telah mengadakan uji coba penerapan sistem iklan. Hal ini juga sempat menimbulkan kekhawatiran pemerintah akan adanya praktek anti-persaingan karena kedua perusahaan pencarian terbesar di internet ini dikabarkan bersaing dengan Microsoft dalam wilayah yang berbeda-beda. Bahkan kabarnya, Google dan Yahoo sangat ingin menjatuhkan Microsoft.

Dilansir melalui PC World, Jumat (2/5/2008), kerja sama ini diprediksi akan menghasilkan revenue kepada Yahoo sebesar USD1 miliar per tahun. Angka itu belum termasuk sharing pendapatan dengan Google.

Langkah ini dianggap Yahoo sebagai salah satu langkah tepat untuk memuaskan para stakeholdernya sekaligus menunjukkan kepada Microsoft kalau Yahoo memiliki harga lebih dari yang mereka tawarkan.[okezone.com]

insurance forum website

2008-12-30T23:10:00.000-08:00

Masyarakat kebanyakan, mencari tahu terlebih dahulu beban biaya dari produk asuransi, kemudian menentukan berapa besar harga yang mereka sanggupi. Ini merupakan pendekatan yang terbalik. Sebaiknya, langkah awal adalah menentukan berapa besar uang pertanggungan yang Anda butuhkan. Hal ini sangat dipengaruhi oleh banyak hal, misalkan usia anak-anak Anda, gaya hidup yang diinginkan oleh keluarga, dan berapa besar kemampuan pasangan Anda untuk menutupi kehilangan dari penghasilan bulanan.
Bila Anda membutuhkan asuransi jiwa untuk tujuan terntentu, misalkan menjaga kelangsungan investasi untuk biaya pendidikan anak, perhitungan besarnya uang pertanggungan yang dibutuhkan menjadi lebih mudah.

Bila membaca di berbagai buku teks seputar keuangan keluarga, paling tidak Anda menyiapkan 6 kali dari pendapatan kotor Anda atau 10 kali pendapatan bersih. Mungkin saja nilai ini cukup bagi sebagian keluarga tapi mungkin juga kurang bagi sebagian lain. Tapi paling tidak Anda memiliki acuan dalam menentukan nilai uang pertanggungan yang dibutuhkan untuk melindungi keluarga dari kekacauan dalam aspek finansial.untuk berbicara tentang asuransi, anda bisa berbicara mengenai hal tersebut di insurance forum sebuah situs yang menyediakan forum tentang asuransi. anda bebas bertanya mengenai beberapa hal tentang asuransi. dengan mendaftar secara gratis anda bisa memanfaatkan insurance forum sebagai media tukar pikiran dan pendapat, sehingga kita bisa memilih asuransi-asuransi yang tepat untuk anda.website insurance forum masih baru. jadi anda bisa mendapat kesempatan berbicara dan menanyakan yang hal berhubungan dengan asuransi

A Guide on RSS Tool

2008-10-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

by: Terry Leslie

RSS is an abbreviation that has evolved into the following, depending on their versions:

• RDF Site Summary (also known as RSS 0.9; the first version of RSS)
• Rich Site Summary (also known as RSS 0.91; a prototype)
• Really Simple Syndication (also known as RSS 2.0)

Today, RSS stands for 'Really Simple Syndication', and it has the following 7 existing formats or versions:

• 0.90
• 0.91
• 0.92
• 0.93
• 0.94
• 1.0
• 2.0

RSS tools refer to a group of file formats that are designed to share headlines and other web content (this may be a summary or simply 1 to 2 lines of the article), links to the full versions of the content (the full article or post), and even file attachments such as multimedia files. All of these data is delivered in the form of an XML file (XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language), which has the following common names:

• RSS feed
• Webfeed
• RSS stream
• RSS channel

They are typically shown on web pages as an orange rectangle that usually has the letters XML or RSS in it.

RSS feeds can be used to deliver any kind of information. Some of these 'feeds' include:

• Blogs feed - each blog entry is summarized as a feed item. This makes blog posts easier to scan, enabling 'visitors' to zoom in on their items of interest.

• Article feed - this alerts readers whenever there are new articles and web contents available.

• Forum feed - this allows users to receive forum posts and latest discussion topics.

• Schedule feed - this allows users (such as schools, clubs, and other organizations) to broadcast events and announce schedule changes or meeting agendas.

• Discounts or Special feed - this is used to enable users (such as retail and online stores) to 'deliver' latest specials and discounted offers.

• Ego or News Monitoring - this enables users to receive 'filtered' headlines or news that are based on a specific phrase or keyword.

• Industry-specific feed - used by technical professionals in order to market, promote, or communicate with current (and prospective) customers and clients within their specific industries.
RSS feeds enable people to track numerous blogs and news sources at the same time. To produce an RSS feed, all you need is the content or the article that you want to publicize and a validated RSS text file. Once your text file is registered at various aggregators (or 'news readers'), any external site can then capture and display your RSS feed, automatically updating them whenever you update your RSS file.

RSS tools are useful for sites that add or modify their contents on a regular basis. They are especially used for 'web syndication' or activities that involve regular updates and/or publications, such as the following:

• News websites - as used by major news organizations such as Reuters, CNN, and the BBC.
• Marketing
• Bug reports
• Personal weblogs

There are many benefits to using RSS feeds. Aside from being a great supplemental communication method that streamlines the communication needs of various sectors, RSS tools and feeds can also have tremendous benefits in your business, particularly in the field of internet marketing.

RSS tools and feeds provide Internet users with a free (or cheap) and easy advertising or online marketing opportunity for their businesses. Below are some of the RSS features that can help make your internet marketing strategies more effective.

1. Ease in content distribution services. With RSS, your business can be captured and displayed by virtually any external site, giving you an easy way to 'spread out' and advertise them.

2. Ease in regular content updates. With RSS, web contents concerning your business can now be automatically updated on a daily (and even hourly) basis. Internet users will be able to experience 'real time' updates as information in your own file (such as new products and other business-related releases) is changed and modified simultaneously with that of the RSS feeds that people are subscribed to.

3. Custom-made content services. With RSS, visitors can have personalized content services, allowing them total control of the flow and type of information that they receive. Depending on their interests and needs, visitors can subscribe to only those contents that they are looking for (such as real estate or job listings).

4. Increase in (and targeted) traffic. With RSS, traffic will be directed to your site as readers of your content summary (or 1 to 2 lines of your article) who find them interesting are 'forced' to click on a link back to your site.

These are just several of the many things that you can do with RSS. The possibilities are endless, and they are all aimed at providing you with an effective internet marketing strategy for your business.

In the mean time, Good Luck on your journey to success…

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Sistem dan Informasi

2008-10-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Oleh : Ariyawan Agung Nugroho

Sistem
• Berasal dari bahasa Latin (systēma) dan bahasa Yunani (sustēma) adalah suatu kesatuan yang terdiri komponen atau elemen yang dihubungkan bersama untuk memudahkan aliran informasi, materi atau energi. stilah ini sering dipergunakan untuk menggambarkan suatu set entitas yang berinteraksi, di mana suatu model matematika seringkali bisa dibuat.
• Berasal dari bahasa Latin (systēma) dan bahasa Yunani (sustēma) adalah suatu kesatuan yang terdiri komponen atau elemen yang dihubungkan bersama untuk memudahkan aliran informasi, materi atau energi. stilah ini sering dipergunakan untuk menggambarkan suatu set entitas yang berinteraksi, di mana suatu model matematika seringkali bisa dibuat.
• Sistem adalah : Suatu kesatuan yang terdiri dari dua atau lebih komponen yang saling berinteraksi untukmencapai/mendapatkan suatu tujuan.

• Cara pandang sebuah sistem
–Suprasistem,
– sistem, dan
– subsistem

Ciri Sistem
• Terdapat kelompok elemen, Sebuah sistem memiliki lebih dari satu elemen.
• Elemen terpadu Semua elemen dari suatu sistem harus mempunyai beberapa hubungan yang logis.
• Maksud bersama untuk mencapai tujuan Dirancang untuk mencapai satu tujuan atau lebih. Semua elemen bekerja untuk mencapai tujuan sistem dan bukan untuk masing elemen tersebut.

Kategori Sistem
• Atas dasar keterbukaan:
– sistem terbuka.
– sistem tertutup.
• Atas dasar komponen:
– Sistem fisik, dengan komponen materi dan energi.
– Sistem non‐fisik atau konsep, berisikan ide‐ide.
Karakteristik Sistem
•Components Komponen (sup,sis,sub)
• Boundary Batasan (scope)
• Environments Lingkungan (diluar batas)
• Interface Penghubung(antar komp)
• Input Masukan
• Output Keluaran
• Process Proses
• Objectivenes Sasaran
• Goal Tujuan

Baterai Laptop Dell Latitude Tahan 19 Jam

2008-08-19T02:58:00.001-07:00

Dell, Selasa lalu telah mengumumkan laptop seri terbarunya, Latitude. Latitude menurut rencana akan menjadi laptop ultramobile komersial yang paling ringan dan sistem yang besar yang menyediakan ketahanan baterai hingga 19 jam. Sebagai contoh model Dell Latitude E6400 dapat bertahan hingga 10 jam dari satu paket sembilan baterai dan sebuah tambahan baterai yang ada di belakang laptop yang mampu bertahan hingga sembilan jam. Laptop Latitude ini memberikan user akses full seharian tanpa membutuhkan AC adapter untuk mengisi baterai.

Jeff Clarke, senior vice president dan general manager dari Dell, mengungkapkan bahwa pihaknya telah mengembangkan teknologi untuk mendukung ketahanan baterai dari laptop. Teknologi tersebut berfokus pada pembuatan komponennya seperti penghematan energi dari baterai. Dell juga mengembangkan software-nya dan manufaktur komponennya untuk membuat baterai lebih tahan lama. Dell juga menambahkan fitur hemat energi ini ke model Latitude lain, dan juga akan dimasukkan dalam fitur model Inspiron.

Latitude E6400 akan hadir dengan layar berukuran 14.1 inch dan berjalan dengan processor tipe Intel Core 2 Duo. Laptop Latitude E6400 juga memiliki RAM memori 8GB dan penyimpanan

dalam harddisk 250GB. Sistem operasi dalam Latitude E6400 adalah Windows Vista, dengan pilihan downgrade ke Windows XP, dan harga berkisar USD 1,139. Lain halnya dengan Latitude E6500, yang walaupun memiliki layar besar yang sama, namun harganya sedikit lebih mahal sekitar USD 1,169.

Pihak Dell juga menambahkan peningkatan produktivitas laptop Latitude, yakni AC adapter pengisi baterai yang lebih kecil dan ringan, yang dapat mengisi baterai lebih cepat. Beberapa model Latitude dapat di-charge dengan alat elektronik milik user, seperti ponsel, atau via USB tanpa harus menghidupkan laptop. Dell juga akan meluncurkan laptop ultraportable, termasuk Latitude E4200, laptop terkecil dan teringan versi Dell. Latitude E4200, akan hadir dengan layar 12,1 inch dan berat hanya 2,2 pound (1kg). Laptop ultraportable lainnya seperti Latitude E4300, yang memiliki layar 13,3 inch dan berat 3,3 pound. Kedua laptop ultraportable tersebut akan berjalan dengan processor Intel Core 2 Duo ultra-low voltage (ULV) antara 1,4GHz dan 2,4GHz. Menurut Dell, sementara harga belum diumumkan, dan laptop akan hadir mulai minggu depan.

Laptop ultramobile Latitude juga memiliki fitur technology “Dell On”, yang dapat memudahkan user untuk mengakses email, web dan contact tanpa memerlukan sistem operasi. Namun, Dell belum memberikan detail yang lebih lengkap lagi mengenai produk Latitude ultramobile ini. (h_n)

Asus UFoto UF735, Bukan Hanya Frame Digital Foto

2008-08-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

Asus baru-baru ini meluncurkan 7" digital photo frame, Asus UFoto UF735, yang tidak hanya menampilkan foto digital favorit dengan iringan musik, namun juga dapat berfungsi sebagai monitor mini yang akan menampilkan informasi terbaru seperti messenger Windows, informasi gadget, picture viewer, dan lain-lain. Dengan desain yang unik dan sangat baik, Asus UFoto UF735 benar-benar patut mendapatkan penghargaan desain produk RedDot 2008 yang menghadirkan inovasi, kegunaan dan kualitas produk.

Asus UFoto UF735 dibangun dengan panel digital LCD 7-inch dengan resolusi tinggi untu menampilkan foto yang briliant. Asus UFoto UF735 didesain dengan frame metal dan efek cahaya, tombol kontrol yang simetris yang sangat mudah digunakan. Dengan Asus UFoto UF735 user dapat menyimpan foto digital favorit dan musik dengan memory card, USB flash, atau mengambil dari komputer. User juga dapat mengkombinasikan foto digital dan musik dalam foto slideshow yang diiringi dengan efek transisi untuk menyempurnakan moment yang diinginkan.Dengan teknologi warna yang beragam dari UFoto UF735, maka user dapat menampilkan efek foto yang berbeda-beda.

Asus UFoto UF735 juga mempunyai fungsi sub-display yang dapat digunakan sebagai display sekunder. Hal ini akan memberikan kenyamanan bekerja di layar monitor utama untuk user, sementara pada display kedua user sedang melakukan update seperti messenger windows, informasi gadget, picture viewer, dan lain-lain. Display sekunder tersebut juga menyediakan tiga mode dalam pengambilan informasi gambar seperti contoh user dapat melakukan drag dan drop form apapun dari display utama dari PC atau laptop, ke UFoto UF735 dalam extended mode. Sub-display juga menyediakan fitur kalender dan alarm untuk user.

Dengan Asus UFoto UF735 user dapat mudah mencari foto berdasarkan data tanggal yang diinginkan. UFOTO UF735 juga dapat diletakkan secara vertical, horizontal atau menempel di dinding. Dengan sensor auto-rotation dapat menampilkan posisi foto baik landscape maupun portrait dan dengan sensor AI Light mampu mengatur secara otomatis pencahayaan dan ketajaman foto.

Spesifikasi lengkap mengenai Asus UFoto UF735 :

Layar : 7-inch high-resolution (800x480 pixels) digital LCD panel (viewing area: 720x480) :
Memori Card : Support CF/ SD/ MMC/ MS/ xD memory card dan USB flash
Interface : USB2.0, Earphone jack
Foto-in-Motion Mode : Vivid / Nostalgic / Black-and-White / Spotlight / Standard
Sub-display Mode : Duplicate/ Selected / Extended
Built-in memory : 128MB
Built-in stereo speakers : Ya
File format supported : JPEG / BMP / GIF / MP3
Power mode : AC power / built-in rechargeable battery
Frame color : Star Silver / Blush Pink / Sky Blue

E-book Gratis Microsoft Untuk Tuning Vista

2008-08-10T06:14:00.000-07:00

E-Book Windows Vista Performance and Tuning bertujuan untuk membantu kita mempercepat kinerja Windows Vista agar sistem operasi (OS) dapat berjalan lebih responsif dan meningkatkan efektifitas kerja. Yang menarik adalah e-book ini diedarkan secara gratis oleh Microsoft yang dalam beberapa minggu terakhir bekerja keras berusaha mengubah persepsi publik akan Vista melalui berbagai inisiatif, termasuk Mojave.
Contoh-contoh tuning dalam e-book yang berjumlah 14 halaman tersebut:

Melakukan konfigurasi sehingga komputer dapat berjalan lebih responsif
Menggunakan perangkat keras tertentu untuk mempercepat kinerja
Melakukan pengaturan tertentu untuk mempercepat waktu booting
Memantau kinerja komputeragar masalah yang ada tidak semakin besar

E-book ini tersedia dalam dua format:

Edit File PDF Dengan OpenOffice 3.0

2008-08-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

Terkadang kita pernah dihadapkan pada situasi di mana sebuah dokumen PDF yang dikirim seseorang harus di-edit/modifikasi karena dokumen aslinya tidak tersedia dalam format Word. Salah satu aplikasi gratis yang dapat melakukan tugas ini adalah versi terbaru OpenOffice 3.0.

Versi mutakhir dari OpenOffice adalah OpenOffice 3.0 yang masih berada dalam versi Beta 2 saat tulisan ini dibuat) dan dengan menambahkan sebuah Extension PDF Import, OpenOffice dapat membuka file PDF dalam aplikasi OpenOffice Draw dan Impress untuk dapat dimanipulasi.

Cara pemakaian

Instal OpenOffice 3.0
Unduh dan instal Sun PDF Import Extension
Buka salah satu aplikasi OpenOffice seperti Writer, pilih menu Tools --> Extension Manager dan tambahkan extension yang baru diunduh tadi

Setelah instalasi Sun PDF Import Extension selesai cobalah buka sebuah file PDF menggunakan OpenOffice Maka otomatis akan di import dan dibuka oleh aplikasi Draw. Dari sinilah dokumen PDF di-edit dan disimpan kembali dalam format PDF setelah selesai.

How to Hire Like a Start-Up

2008-08-09T00:45:00.000-07:00

In an ideal world you would take as long as you want to fill a position. This would allow you to be very picky about who you interview and even pickier about who you hire. I’m a staunch supporter of this approach and tend to be a pretty harsh interviewer as a result; at times interviewing 30 or 40 candidates before giving someone the nod.

But sometimes you don’t have the luxury of spending four or five months to fill a position. There may come a time in the life of your company when you’re faced with more job openings than you have developers, and you need to hire people in a hurry.

Hiring Fast
The best example of this is a venture funded start-up. Start-ups backed with venture capital are on strict deadlines to reach financial goals or risk having their funding eliminated. As a result they consume new hires with an insatiable hunger, and more than once I’ve seen situations where the development team needs to grow two or three times its size in the span of a few months. If you’re a manager in this situation you’re forced to leave conventional wisdom behind and enter a mode of hiring fast rather than hiring perfection. Take this not-so hypothetical situation: your current team of 6 developers needs to be at 22 people in 4 months. You have 16 open positions, more than 2.5 times the number of developers on staff, and you need developers who can hit the ground running.

I think I just heard someone scream.

We could argue all day about the drawbacks to growing a team this quickly, but assume that you’ve been told to hire 16 developers or find yourself a new job (hire or be hired, in other words). Think about it in these terms: any start-up attempting to dominate a rapidly-growing market must take this approach or be consumed by competitors who will.

So the question is: how can we modify the strategies of conventional hiring without throwing them out entirely?

Hiring fast consists of the following steps:

Write the Shortest Job Description Ever
Skim Resumes Like Crazy
Use the Numbers
Hold Phone Interviews
Finish In-Person

1. Write the Shortest Job Description Ever
Don’t kid yourself, job hunters don’t read long job descriptions. They read bullet points, skip to the required skills section and submit their resume. The shorter your description is, the higher the likelihood you’ve adhered to the single most important tenet of good writing: brevity. A long job description usually means the person writing it doesn’t really know what the candidate will be doing once she’s hired (what I call the kitchen-sink approach). Aside from the Pope, there’s not a job on earth that requires a three page description.

If your description is longer than half a page (three quarters if you use a lot of bullets), revise it.

2. Skim Resumes Like Crazy
Hiring is about playing the numbers; as a manager you’re trying to maximize the chance that the person is going to fit. Since we don’t have time to meet every candidate in person we rely on other means such as resumes and phone interviews to give us a picture of a candidate’s abilities. A resume can get you about 20% of the way, with phone and in-person interviews taking you to 80% (the highest you can get without actually working with someone).

Most managers take resumes too seriously. If you’re spending 15 or 20 minutes reviewing a resume you’re better off spending the time on a phone interview. You can tell a lot more from a conversation than you can from a piece of paper.

Your sole task when reviewing their resume is to decide if the candidate is worth talking to on the phone. You must become fast at skimming resumes; you should be able to evaluate one in 3-5 minutes.

3. Use the Numbers
In his book, Winning, Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, introduced a concept called Differentiation that consists of rating each employee as an A, B, or C according to performance. Intel uses a similar approach. The intent of these scales is to create a common, familiar method of ranking employees. The exact scale is not important; using a consistent metric everyone can understand is the key. In my experience a 10-point scale works best.

My dad has worked in the construction industry since people built skyscrapers out of dirt, and he learned early on how to evaluate electricians. His method is something I call the Rule of Thirds: on a 10-point scale you make money with your 7s, 8s, and 9s, break even with your 4s, 5s, and 6s, and lose money with your 1s, 2s, and 3s. There are no 10s in that list since no one is perfect; the highest possible rating is a 9+.

In every job search there are hires, maybes, and no-hires. Using the Rule of Thirds, 7-9 is a hire, 4-6 is a maybe, and 1-3 is a no-hire.

The only difference between hiring slow and hiring fast is what you do with the maybes; when hiring slow the maybes become nos, when hiring fast you let the maybes proceed to the next round of evaluation. If you’re at the last round (the in-person interview), you should never hire anything less than a 5.

In general, a developer with killer technical ability but so-so people skills is a 7. A developer with fabulous people skills and so-so technical skills is a 6. Someone with the complete package can range from an 8 to 9+.

The key to hiring fast: Always hire 7-9s, never hire 1-4s, and hire as many 5s & 6s as you need until you can find more 7-9s.

4. Hold Phone Interviews
From the time you receive a resume to a scheduled phone interview should be no more than two days. This may sound fast, but it follows from the fact that the best candidates are hired very quickly, if they hit the job market at all. Executing quickly is critical to finding 7s, 8s and 9s.

Phone interviews are the next step of evaluation after reviewing a resume. First round phone interviews should be given by hiring assistants or recruiters and consist of 5-10 short answer technical questions. If the candidate makes it through the first phone interview, call them yourself and ask 10-15 in-depth technical questions. You should keep this call to 20 minutes.

Here are a few tips for this phone call, which is your first real contact with the candidate:

Start with Witty Banter. Psychologists say that 55% of communication is non-verbal. I’ve found that people tend to be very nervous during phone interviews due to the lack of visual cues, and nervous candidates are less likely to give you a true picture of their capabilities. Put them at ease with an introduction and some small-talk, typically relating to something other than work.

Give Them An Outline. Continue with a quick rundown of what to expect during the call. You’re dealing with developers so known, logical steps are helpful.

Ask for Clarification. Next, try to get to the bottom of any ambiguous statements on their resume. This typically involves asking about specific details of their current position, including why they want to leave. Also ask about any outrageous claims or discrepancies.

Ask Technical Questions. Candidates tend to get nervous when answering technical questions so be sure to explain how many questions you’re going to ask and to let them know that you’re not looking to pass or fail them, rather to get an idea of their strengths and weaknesses. Try to stick to more conceptual subjects like architecture and basic programming concepts, as opposed to language specifics.

See If They Have Questions. Since you are their first technical contact with your company they will typically have questions about the size of your team and whether there’s free soda in the lunchroom.

If the candidate is obviously an 8 or better, try to schedule an in-person interview at the end of the call. If not, close the interview and use their 1-10 ranking to decide how to proceed. 6. Finish In-Person
The in-person interview has been discussed in so many articles that I’m not going to beat it to death here. Joel Spolsky’s Guerilla Guide to Interviewing has a good outline for an in-person technical interview. Here are a few of my thoughts:

Ask a few technical questions that don’t have specific answers and observe how the candidate responds. There are plenty of smart developers, but someone who can translate complex concepts into words is an exception.
Ask them to write code and watch how they approach the problem. Recursive questions are always fun and help indicate whether or not they understood the things they were taught in their computer science courses.
Ask any additional technical questions you haven’t covered before now. This is your last chance before making a decision.
Finally, if you’re at all interested in the candidate, be sure to evangelize your company and answer their questions to the best of your ability. You’re almost to the point where you’re going to make them an offer, so you want to convince them that working anywhere else is a mistake.

Once the interview is complete, use their 1-10 ranking and the Rule of Thirds to help with your hire/no-hire decision, keeping in mind you should never hire less than a 5.

If hiring were easy it wouldn’t be the subject of so many books, articles and seminars. Hiring technical people is extremely challenging, and hiring a whole slew of technical people in a short time can feel like parting the Red Sea. My hope is that this article lends some guidance when you’re forced to hire like a start-up.

Nine Things Developers Want More Than Money

2008-08-09T00:39:00.000-07:00

Many of the developers I know have been programming since they were in junior high. Whether it was building text-based games on an Apple IIe or creating a high school football roster app in Visual Basic, it’s something they did for the challenge, for the love of learning new things and, oh yes, for the ladies. Ladies love a man who can speak BASIC to his Apple.

College graduates face a sad reality when they leave the protective womb of a university and have to get their first real job. Many of my friends found jobs paying around $25k out of school, and were amazed that the starting engineering and computer science salaries were nearly double that. But the majority of the engineers in my class didn’t become engineers for the money; we did it because it touched on a deep inner yearning to tinker and impress their friends. And did I mention the ladies?

Money is a motivating factor for most of us, but assuming comparable pay, what is it that makes some companies attract and retain developers while others churn through them like toilet paper?

Hygiene and Motivation
In the 1950s a researcher named Frederick Herzberg studied 200 engineers and accountants in the US. He asked them a few simple questions and came up with what is one of the most widely-accepted theories on job satisfaction called Two Factor Theory.

His theory breaks job satisfaction into two factors:

hygiene factors such as working conditions, quality of supervision, salary, safety, and company policies
motivation factors such as achievement, recognition, responsibility, the work itself, personal growth, and advancement

Hygiene factors are necessary to ensure employees don’t become dissatisfied, but they don’t contribute to higher levels of motivation. Motivation factors are what create motivation and job satisfaction by fulfilling a person’s need for meaning and personal growth.

Think of a large financial company like Countrywide or IndyMac. Although I’ve never worked for either, the stories I’ve heard indicate the hygiene factors are well taken care of: working conditions are good, supervision is reasonable, salaries are decent, they have good benefits, etc…

However, the motivation factors are, shall we say, incognito. As Herzberg noticed, this scenario leads to employees viewing the job as little more than a paycheck, which is probably all right for companies like Countrywide and IndyMac.

Take the flip side: a tiny startup in a dingy office with no windows, crappy benefits, little supervision (because the CEO’s on the road making sales), and no company policies (because the CEO’s on the road making sales). But the constant rush of learning, being responsible for the company’s success or failure (almost single-handedly at times), and believing in the company’s future growth makes this job much more desirable for many developers.

One of my early programming jobs was for a web consulting startup during the dot-com boom. There were 7 of us (we grew to 17 during the height of the boom) shooting each other with water pistols, throwing Nerf footballs around the office, and cranking out insane amounts of caffeine-driven code. We learned a new language every project and were always on the cutting edge.

I remember thinking that a company across town could have offered me a $15,000 dollar raise and I wouldn’t have taken it. The motivation factors were overpowering.

On the flip side, the benefits were terrible, the office was a series of tiny cubicles, gray from years of neglect - Smurf-blue network cables hung from the ceiling, and supervision was…well…non-existent. And although hygiene factors were lacking, developers flocked to work for this company and only one left while I was there. She was interested in a more stable work environment and better benefits, and went to work for a large financial institution much like IndyMac.

Rob’s Criteria for Keeping Your Developers Happy
If you want to collect a paycheck for 25 years and retire with a gold watch and a pension then go for companies that have the hygiene factors nailed. Stroll in at 8, head for the door at 4:59, and count the years until you’re kicking up your feet on a beach bar in Costa Rica.

But if you’re reading this, odds are that you aren’t the kind of person who never thinks about code after 5:01; you’re more likely to have a collection of DVDs that come up in an Amazon search for “Silicon Valley.” You’re probably one of those people who needs motivation factors or you go crazy with restlessness, and when the motivation factors are in place you’ll work ridiculous hours for low pay just because it’s so damn fun.

I talked to a dozen colleagues and pored over my own experiences to arrive at this list of nine software development motivation factors - Rob’s Criteria for Keeping Your Developers Happy.

There’s only one rule when determining your score: your vote doesn’t count unless you’re a developer. If you’re not in the trenches writing code then forward this article to someone who does and ask for their opinion. In addition to keeping management from making an unfair assessment, my greater hope is that this inspires conversation and forces management and developers to talk about these issues so we can get them out in the open.

Without further ado, here they are:

1. Being Set Up to Succeed
It’s a sad reality, but most software projects are set up to fail. Every developer has their horror stories; the “anti-patterns” of software project management. I’ve seen an architect given documentation for a legacy system that he pored over for week while designing a new interface for the product. After the design was complete he found out that the documentation was three years old and didn’t reflect several major changes the system.

I’ve spent hours preparing a detailed technical estimate only to be told that the real deadline, already set by product development, gives me half the time I need.

Realistic deadlines are a huge part of being set up to succeed. Developers want to build software that not only works, but is maintainable; something they can take pride in. This is not in-line with product development’s goals, which are for developers to build software that works, and nothing more.

The first thing to go when time is tight is quality and maintainability. Being forced to build crap is one of the worst things you can do to a craftsman. Delivering a project on-time but knowing it’s a piece of crap feels a heck of a lot like failure to someone who takes pride inwhat they build. It’s critical to have buy-in to do things the right way, and not just the quick way. As one developer I talked to put it “Quality is as important as feature count and budget.”

Schedule is not the only way a project can be set up to fail, but it is the most common. Others include: being forced to use cheap tools (be it software or hardware), working with a partner who doesn’t deliver, bad project management (see #2, below), changing scope, and unspoken expectations, among others.

2. Having Excellent Management
Excellent management, both for projects and people, is a must-have motivation factor. This means no micro-managing, the encouragement of independent thinking, knowing what it takes to build quality software, quick decision making, and a willingness to take a bullet for the team when product development tries to shorten the schedule

These are the traits of an amazing software manager; the traits of a manager whose team would bathe in boiling oil to defend her, and work all-nighters to prove her right. When a manager takes bullets for the team, good developers tend to return the favor and then some. It creates an almost cult-ish loyalty, and the results are not only motivated developers, but insanely good software.

3. Learning New Things
Behavioral research indicates we’re happiest when we’re learning new skills or challenging old ones. A recent article cites a study by two University of Columbia researchers suggesting that workers would be happy to forgo as much as a 20% raise if it meant a job with more variety or one that required more skill. This research suggests that we are willing to be paid less for work that’s interesting, fun, and teaches us new skills.

This is why companies using Ruby can find experienced programmers willing to work for less than their typical salaries. The learning factor is huge when it comes to negotiating compensation.

Every developer I know loves playing with flashy new technologies. It was Perl and HTML in the mid-90s, ASP, PHP and Java in the late-90s, ASP.NET and XML a few years ago, and today it’s AJAX and Ruby (and in some circles ASP.NET 2.0). Give someone a chance to use these toys and they’ll not only be able to impress their friends, but fulfill that piece inside of them that needs to learn.

Keep a developer learning and they’ll be happy working in a windowless basement eating stale food pushed through a slot in the door. And they’ll never ask for a raise.

4. Exercising Creativity and Solving the Right Kind of Problems
Developers love a challenge. Without them we get bored, our minds wander, we balance our checkbook, check our email, hit Digg and Slashdot, read a few blogs, hit the water cooler, and see if any of our friends are online so we can once and for all settle the debate surrounding your uncle, the IDisposable interface, and that piece of toast shaped like the Virgin Mary.

I’ve watched developers on multiple occasions stay up until sunrise to solve a technical problem without being asked and without extra pay. The best developers are addicted to problem solving. Just drop a Sudoku in the middle of a group and watch them attack it.

Faced with the right type of challenge many developers will not stop until it’s fixed, especially if it requires a particularly creative solution. Faced with the wrong type of challenge and they’re back on instant messenger describing the toast.

The right type of challenge is a technical challenge that teaches a new skill, preferably one everyone’s talking about. One example could be: “Consume these five RSS feeds, aggregate the data, and display the headlines on a web page…and figure out how to use AJAX to make it cool.”

The wrong types of challenges are things like: “Fix that other guy’s code. You know, the one we didn’t fire because we were afraid he might cause problems. Well, he wrote a really crappy system and now we need to fix it and make it high-quality and maintainable. Oh, and you have until tomorrow.”

If your business doesn’t provide challenging work to developers, figure out how you can start. If there is no chance you’ll ever be able to provide challenging work, find developers who are into hygiene factors, because developers who need motivation factors won’t stay long.

5. Having a Voice
Developers are in the trenches, and they’re the first ones to know when a system or process is not working. One developer I spoke with told me:

“[I want] someone to listen to my problems and actually take them seriously. I’ve worked at a few places where more RAM, more hard disk space, or faster/dual CPUs were simply not a priority for the company, but it was incredibly aggravating to the point of impeding my work. At one place I worked, every time I wanted to compile the software I had to clear all my temporary files because I needed more disk space. Talk about asinine. Being forced to work using outdated technology is really frustrating.”

When a developer speaks, someone should listen. When several developers are saying the same thing, someone should listen and act…quickly.

6. Being Recognized for Hard Work
As engineers we love building things that impress ourselves and our friends. At least the ones who realize how hard it is to write a Perl compiler. From scratch. In FORTRAN. On a Vic 20.

Building something great is fun, but it’s much more fun when someone’s there to pat you on the back, throw you a party, sing your praises, or buy you a steak dinner. Most developers enjoy hearing praise and receiving recognition for hard work, but even the ones who don’t need it are somehow soured when they don’t receive it (or worse yet, someone else receives recognition for your work).

Recognition is one of Herzberg’s core motivation factors and it applies to software developers as much as the engineers originally interviewed.

7. Building Something that Matters
Even though we’re not medics in Bosnia or food carriers in Sudan, most people want to feel like we’re somehow doing our part to make the world a better place, both technologically and socially. Some of us might think we do it just for the sake of technology, but in the back of our minds we see ourselves as part of a grand scheme.

For instance, a friend of mine works for a financial company and cherishes every time they launch a product that helps the under-served financial community.

An Albertsons inventory system developer enjoys coming to work every day because his work ensures, via complex supply and demand algorithms, that the baby cereals are always available on the shelves.

Building something that matters makes an L.A. Times software engineer ecstatic that the trucks are now saving over 30% of their mileage and fuel costs due to his shortest path finding software implementation for newspaper delivery.

On the other hand, writing an interface to a buggy API that’ll be used a total of 15 times in the next year doesn’t seem like it matters much.

Copying and pasting an entire application and changing a bunch of labels isn’t as exciting as it might sound.

And hacking in a few more case statements in a ridiculously complex stored procedure in order to service yet another customer without creating a proper data structure somehow doesn’t seem to fulfill that part of us that wants to build something that matters.

8. Building Software without an Act of Congress
I was a contractor for three years starting in 2001, and during that time I built a ton of web applications. Since much of my development was off-site I became accustomed to writing software really quickly once we knew what to build. Another developer and I built insane amounts of software over the course of two years.

When I got my next full-time job it felt like I was dragging 50-pound weights. For every page I wanted to build I had to call a meeting with six people. Any change to the database required three approvals. It was nuts, and applications took 5x longer to build. Talk about frustrating.

The authority to make project decisions without calling a meeting is huge.

9. Having Few Legacy Constraints
No one likes developing against buggy interfaces, crappy code, and poorly-designed data models. Too many legacy constraints kill creativity, require an act of congress to modify, and generally sucks the fun out of building software (see several of the previous points for why this is bad).

If you have gobs of legacy liability, try to figure out a way to minimize its impact on future development. If you can’t, look for people who value hygiene factors, because motivation factor developers are not going to maintain the same poor-quality applications for very long.

Determining Your Score
Let’s face it, the bar has been set pretty low when it comes to motivating developers. How many companies can you think of that would score even as high as a 3?

Since this test hasn’t been administered to companies across the globe there’s no basis for comparison, but that’s where you come in. I’d like to do an informal survey so we can get an idea of how things are in the real world. Please post your company’s score in the comments (you don’t have to post the company name).

Most large companies I can think of would be lucky to score a 1. Google would probably score an 8 or a 9.

Wrap Up
If you’re a manager, when was the last time you asked your developers about these issues? If you’re a developer, when was the last time you respectfully raised one of these issues, providing examples and a possible solution?
If the answer is “a long time ago” then you have some work to do. Send this article to a few of your colleagues and start discussing how to enact change.

Warning: SoftwarWarning: Software Startups are Not as Easy as Everyone Sayse Startups are Not as Easy as Everyone Says

2008-08-07T01:42:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I had a conversation with a successful friend of mine (by successful I mean 29 years old, self-employed, a six-figure income, and two houses in Northern California). He runs a software company.

We were discussing what it takes to be a software entrepreneur and in a moment of self-reflection he said “I’m not as successful as I anticipated. I thought success would be easier.”

One of the Smart Kids
When you’re young people throw compliments at you left and right.

Wash your hands, get a round of applause.

Tie your shoe, get a standing ovation.

Read the Guinness Book of World’s Records cover to cover…well, that will get you beat up by a 6-foot third grader named Chuck…but you get my point.

When you’re young, people tell you that success is easy to keep you from getting discouraged. They say anything is possible if you work hard enough.

As you get older, if you read anything outside of school you know more than your peers. You wind up in classes with prefixes like Honors and A.P. And you begin to feel smart.

At some point you see infomercials that talk about how easy it is to make money investing in foreclosures, your own business, and the internet. But their angle is obvious. (I’ll give you a hint, it starts with “But wait, there’s more!”).

And you hear stories from your unsuccessful Uncle Ned that end with “…and he invented the digital squeegee and became an overnight millionaire. What I wouldn’t give to be him!” Of course, you don’t hear about the thousands of hours the inventor spent working alone in his basement preparing for “overnight” success. That would ruin his story.

The Startup Conspiracy
Your parents, teachers, television, and Uncle Ned have driven into your brain that being smart and having an idea is enough to guarantee your spot on the cover of ~~Red Herring~~ ~~Business 2.0~~ Fast Company. There seems to be some kind of conspiracy that startup success is easy; that it’s handed out like a lei as you step off the plane at the San Francisco Airport.

But it’s not easy. It’s really hard. It’s a combination of enormous amounts of hard work, intelligence, and luck. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something. Even if it’s just a magazine.

Your 2% Chance
If I read another story about Facebook Apps I’m going to punch someone in their Facebook.

It seems like every time I open my RSS reader I see quotes like this one (from a recent Fast Company article):

“Created in a week by two brothers from India, [their Facebook app] caught on like wildfire, with half a million users signing up in the first 10 weeks.”

This is one of about 20 articles I’ve read on the Facebook Apps phenomenon. Each has numerous examples of apps built in a matter of days that now have huge user bases.

Super poke your friend!

Throw a sheep at your friend!

Throw virtual poo at your friend!

That’s not luck, it’s pure genius…really.

An enterprising developer reads these articles and thinks “I want to write an app that gets half a million users in 10 weeks. I’m going to do what they did!” So she spends a week in her basement and cranks out a Facebook application. When she uploads it she finds a few thousand users and not enough monthly ad revenue to buy a Frappuccino. Why is that?

Because the vast majority of the traffic (87%) goes to 84 of the 5,000 apps currently on the platform. That’s less than 2%. Not one of the articles I’ve read has mentioned this ratio, or the enormous luck factor involved in creating a “successful” Facebook application.

Luck out the Wazoo
I can hear someone out there thinking:

“What about HotOrNot.com and PlentyOfFish.com? Their founders make money hand over fist, they don’t appear to be exceptionally gifted, and didn’t put in much hard work. It was easy for them…”

Hot or Not and Plenty of Fish are the poster children for generating huge sums of money with little work (if you’re not familiar with them, they are two dating sites that became smash hits “overnight” and make their owners millions of dollars per year for around 10 hours of work per week).

If you listen to their stories and compare the amount of luck to the amount of skill and hard work it took for their sites to succeed…the amount of luck is astonishing. Not only was their timing absurdly fortuitous and their ideas not exceptionally creative, but the sites were quite easy to build. They both seemed to walk into some kind of weird anomaly in the fabric of time that happened…as best I can tell…exactly twice.

If you think all it takes to build a software company is a nice website, a pretty application, and a link from GigaOm…please reconsider.

The web is littered with applications launched by people who thought it would be that simple. They read about Hot or Not, built and launched an app, received a link or two from an A-list blogger and when money didn’t start rolling in they called it quits. Now they’re selling their labor of love on Sitepoint.

Don’t let this happen to you.

The Bottom Line
There are exceptions to the rule that software startups are hard. But if you plan to succeed with an idea like throwing virtual sheep, you’re better off spending your 40 hours of development time as a paid consultant and buying lottery tickets with your earnings.

If you want a chance at succeeding you should stay far away from trying to duplicate the “one in a million” stories. You’re chances of success are at least an order of magnitude greater with a boring idea like bug tracking or invoicing software than with the next “hot” consumer website. Just ask the zillions of free dating sites that launched after Plenty of Fish hit it big.

You can spend your time dreaming of success and thinking that if you just had one brilliant idea you’d make millions, grace the cover of Sexy Startup Magazine, own a vegetarian-friendly Ferrari, and have that beautiful trophy husband/wife. Or you can put your head down, become an expert in your field, work your ass off, and someday, maybe…you’ll have a taste of success.

Software predicts where El Niño will strike next

2008-08-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

El Niño events periodically wreak havoc on the world's weather, increasing the risk of hurricanes and flooding in some regions, and droughts and forest fires in others. But despite telltale signs of their presence in the Pacific Ocean, including a reversal of ocean currents and large temperature rises, it can be hard to tell where else El Niños are having an effect.

However, forecasting the weather during an El Niño event could soon be as simple as joining the dots, thanks to software that maps the world's climate as an interconnected network. The software, developed by a team led by Avi Gozolchiani from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel, plots daily temperature measurements for each of several locations to nodes of the network. It then calculates links between nodes if their measurements change in the same way.

By applying the technique to climate records from 1979 to 2005, the team found that the majority of these links are stable over time, forming a "skeleton" to the world's climate. Yet it's the weaker links, which break and then reform, that are of more interest. Under normal climate conditions this happens only occasionally, but disturbances from an El Niño event cause the links to "blink" on and off every few weeks (Europhysics Letters, DOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/83/28005).

"Their behaviour becomes much more erratic," says Gozolchiani, whose team includes researchers from the Tokyo University of Information Sciences in Japan. The location of the blinking links reveal where the El Niño is having an influence, he says.

GPS cellphones to unleash gamers onto the streets

2008-08-06T00:23:00.000-07:00

They may not yet know it, but gamers will soon be quitting their living rooms and heading outdoors.

Handheld consoles and laptops made gaming portable, while the Nintendo Wii made gaming active. Now active, portable gaming is possible thanks to GPS and improved graphics becoming standard in cellphones.

By 2013, the world's largest handset manufacturer, Nokia, expects half of its phones to be GPS capable, giving them the ability to fix their locations on the planet to within a few metres.

Apple's iPhone, seen as a benchmark for other manufacturers, also has GPS and many handsets have motion-sensing accelerometers, just like a Wii controller. Games studios are racing to exploit a new world of what is called "pervasive gaming", where everyone carries a powerful gaming machine in their pocket.

Hotter, colder

The first wave of games are largely based on treasure hunts, with a phone guiding users through a set of waypoints to a particular goal.

UK firm LocoMatrix does it using photos of a neighbourhood. An onscreen thermometer lets a player know if they are "getting warmer" as they close in on the next waypoint, and users can create and share their own treasure hunts.

Richard Vahrman of LocoMatrix was inspired while using handheld GPS for walking routes, and says location-aware gaming could have health benefits. "If we could make a compelling game on a mobile, then youngsters might get out more," he says.

Other treasure hunt games include GPS Mission, from Orbster in Karlsruhe, Germany. But games that blend real and virtual worlds can offer a richer gaming experience.

Real-world fun

European academics exploring pervasive gaming have created a detective game called Crash.

Another example, Stamp the Mole, starts with users defining an arena using GPS, before chasing moles visible only on their mobile screens inside it.

The Shroud, from Florida firm Your World Games mixes the real world around a player into the world of an adventure game. Travelling to real-world locations can unlock or solve quests in the virtual world.

While some location-aware games can be played anywhere, others may be strongly connected to a particular area, says Constance Fleuriot of the Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol, UK, those strongly connected to a particular area, say, Manhattan, and those that can be played anywhere.

"The former could be linked to the history of an area and give you a different viewpoint of a place," says Fleuriot. "The latter are portable."

Socially mobile

Phones with GPS also allow players to discover each other's locations and meet physically as well as virtually. That kind of camaraderie will appeal to many, says Mark Eyles, principal lecturer in the Advanced Games Research Group at the University of Portsmouth, UK.

"If they are designed correctly, they will attract people who currently aren't gamers simply because they are social and fun," says Eyles.

Just as the sometimes madcap physicality of Wii gaming has loosened inhibitions, Fleuriot says social location-based gaming can do the same.

"We had a group of adults who played an activity game of Stamp the Mole outdoors and they said: 'We look like prats, but at least we're all prats together,'" says Fleuriot.

Jon Dovey, a new media expert at Bristol University, says GPS gaming is likely to be the first application to introduce the masses to being connected digitally to their surroundings, something he calls "ambient connectivity".

The 14-to-19 age group will lead the way, Dovey says, because their social lives depend heavily on cellphones.

"As soon as you get the link between texting, social networking and GPS-enabled devices, you are going to get something that takes off like wildfire among young people because their culture is already primed for it," he told New Scientist.

Game over

But being able to discover the physical location of other people has downsides. Researchers at Portsmouth University have had to abandon GPS games projects because they cannot get approval from the ethics committee.

"Already there are social networking applications for the GPS iPhone which let you see where other iPhone users are," says Andy Bain, lecturer at Portsmouth University's School of Creative Technologies. "If I were a thief I'd abuse that knowledge right away to get myself more iPhones."

Commercial games developers are not subject to the same ethical scrutiny as academics, he adds. It could be left to their customers to work out how to avoid anti-social gamers.

In fact, truly mobile gamers must learn to weigh up a range of new hazards. Bain worries that gamers may focus so hard on their mobile phone's small screen that they lose awareness of real-life hazards, such as traffic on a busy road.

The developers of The Shroud have clearly thought of this already; its terms and conditions state baldly that "You will be responsible if you or anyone else is injured or killed while you are playing". Game over.

Syarat - syarat menjadi seorang AdSense Publisher.

2008-08-03T01:47:00.000-07:00

Pertama, jangan mendaftar account untuk membuat blog dilayanan portal blog di wordpress.com. Tapi syarat ini saya tidak tahu berlaku sampai kapan, tapi ini yang harus diperhatikan sebelum anda menyesal kemudian. Saya pun sebenarnya sedikit menyesal dengan mendaftar di wordpress.com, tapi penyesalan saya sebenarnya terbayar juga, bahwa ternyata engine worpress ini SEO friendly sehingga blog saya gak butuh waktu lama muncul di ingat sama “paman” Google.

Kedua, Anda harus cukup umur, cukup umur kebelakang atau kedepan. Maksudnya apa ?? Cukup umur kebelakang maksudnya adalah, kalau anda belum berusia 18 tahun walaupun sudah menikah, setahu saya, anda tetap tidak diperbolehkan (beda dengan Indonesia, min. 17 tahun atau sudah menikah). Jadi kalau usia anda masih 17 tahun jangan putus asa, tetaplah bikin website siapa tahu website anda terkenal, nah pada saat usia 18 tahun baru daftarkan. Tapi waktu bikin website, jangan daftar untuk bikin blog di”sana”, ingat syarat pertama.

Ketiga, “Lho tunggu.. jangan dulu syarat ketiga, artikel ini belum menjelaskan maksud cukup umur ke depan”, sahut si Budi menyela. “Ooo kalau itu maksudnya, kalau seseorang sudah divonis 24 jam lagi masa hidupnya sama dokter karena sakit yang parah, yaa lebih baik habiskan umurnya buat bertaubat, jangan menghabiskan umur buat daftar jadi AdSense Publisher.”, begitu kata penulis. Kaget si Budi tidak mengira dan berang, “Hah!! wong edan, memang umur urusannya dokter.”, penulis hanya menjawab kalem, “Gitu aja kok repot”.

Ketiga, saya gak tahu lagi, Bagaimana bisa tahu, jadi member di GMail aja belum sebulan. Bagusnya sih kunjungi blog - blog yang sudah banyak yang sukses jadi seorang AdSense Publisher, mereka lebih mengerti dibandingkan wong cilik seperti saya.

Tips : Saat mendaftar, pastikan bahwa diri anda adalah diri anda sendiri, jangan sampai anda memastikan diri anda bahwa anda sebenarnya adalah Bil Gate atau Steve Jobs. Jika itu terjadi, maka tempat anda bukan di warnet tapi di kost-kost yang ada dokter pribadinya, alias rumah sakit jiwa.

Tips ini disampaikan karena maraknya orang yang mendadak gila karena tidak bisa menyikapi dengan bijak kenaikan harga BBM, sehingga jangan sampai saat dia mendaftar di Google AdSense, harapannya membumbung tinggi karena banyak orang yang sukses, eehh sedangkan dia penghasilan bulan pertamanya $ 0.0000000001. Mungkin gak sih segitu pertamanya ?? Gila kali yeee.

ATI Radeon HD 4850 & 4870: ATI-AMD Terbaru (Superb VGA)

2008-08-03T01:45:00.000-07:00

AMD perusahaan processor yang mengakuisisi ATI, menghadirkan terobosan terbaru dalam teknologi Video Card. Yakni, meluncurkan chip grafis teraflop pertama di dunia lewat ATI Radeon HD 4850 dan kartu grafis pertama di dunia yang mengusung memori dengan bandwith sangat besar, GDDR5, ATI Radeon HD 4870.

Yang menjadi sorotan adalah ATI Radeon HD 4850. VGA ini mampu mengungguli 40% lebih tinggi dari GForce 8800GT dibeberapa BenchMark Game, Sedangkan pada 3DMark06, kinerja Radeon HD4850 lebih tinggi 20% ketimbang Geforce 8800GT. Bahkan dibanding Geforce 9800GTX yang harganya berkisar $350 itu, kinerja Radeon HD4850 pada 3DMark06 masih lebih tinggi 10%, padahal ATI Radeon HD 4850 dirilis dikisaran harga $200 saja.

“ATI Radeon 4800 series menunjukkan performa 2 kali lebih baik dibandingkan ATI Radeon HD 3800 GPU, peningkatan terbesar sejak peluncuran Radeon 9700 yang menghadirkan revolusi game pada 2002,” kata Dommy Arnanta, Country Manager AMD Indonesia dalam rilisnya.

ATI Radeon 4800 series, lanjut Dommy, menciptakan standar industri yang baru seperti performance-per-watt, performance-per-mm2 of chip die size, dan performance-per-dollar.

Kelt Reeves, presiden Falcon Northwest mengatakan, dalam performa, ATI Radeon HD 4850 dan ATI Radeon HD 4870 menjadi ancaman serius kartu grafis lain dengan harga setara, serta lebih hemat energi dan fan noise yang sangat rendah.

Maka tidak salah, kalau NVIDIA harus panik melihat VGA generasi baru ATI-AMD ini, padahal selama beberapa tahun terakhir sejak kejayaan Radeon 9500 series, selanjutnya ATI adalah bulan - bulanan NVIDIA dalam urusan VGA Card. Bahkan sudah bukan rahasia lagi, NVIDIA pun melakukan berbagai sabotase dalam game agar fitur - fiturnya tidak bisa dijalankan di VGA ATI.

Tapi dengan VGA terbaru ATI ini, mungkin ini kebangkitan ATI lagi setelah diambil alih oleh AMD.

Ingin merasakan kehebatan ATI Radeon HD 4850, silahkan beli VGA Card ini dari Amazon yang tentu saja dengan harga yang lebih miring dan kualitas yang lebih baik sedikit lebih baik.

Alive YouTube Video Converter

2008-08-03T01:42:00.000-07:00

terbaru dari YouTube saat ini adalah berita mengenai released aplikasi terbarunya, Alive YouTube Video Converter versi 1.2.0.8. Alive YouTube Video Converter ini merupakan sebuah aplikasi download profesional dari YouTube yang dapat dipergunakan untuk men-download video dan mengkonversinya menjadi berbagai jenis format file secara langsung. Format output yang dimaksud meliputi AVI, MPEG, MP4, DivX, XviD, ASF, WMV, MOV, QuickTime, VOB, iPod, PSP, 3GP, iPhone, Zune, MP3, AAC, AC3 and M4A.

Dengan begitu kita akan dengan mudah membuat suatu versi CD atau DVD dari video-video tersebut, atau meng-copy-nya ke komputer lain atau bahkan meng-upload-nya ke iPod/iPhone, handphone, PocketPC, PDA, PSP atau media-media lainnya.

Fitur-fitur utama yang ditawarkan oleh aplikasi ini antar lain adalah :

Download video dari YouTube, Google Video, dan MySpace
Aplikasi ini juga dapat menjadi konverter yang mengijinkan pemakainya untuk mengkonversi video dari YouTube, Google Video dan MySpace
Jenis format output audio dan video yang beraneka ragam dan populer.
Windows Clipboard Monitor, sebuah utility untuk memonitor dan menganalisa secara otomatis jika ada online video YouTube beserta URL-nya.
Kecepatan download dan konversi format yang memuaskan.
Multithread, dapat melakukan download sekaligus konversi. Fitur ini juga sekaligus memampukan aplikasi ini untuk mendownload dan mengkonversi beberapa video sekaligus dalam satu waktu yang bersamaan.

The Connection Has Been Reset

2008-08-02T02:36:00.000-07:00

The first thing they’ll probably notice is that China’s Internet seems slow. Partly this is because of congestion in China’s internal networks, which affects domestic and international transmissions alike. Partly it is because even electrons take a detectable period of time to travel beneath the Pacific Ocean to servers in America and back again; the trip to and from Europe is even longer, because that goes through America, too. And partly it is because of the delaying cycles imposed by China’s system that monitors what people are looking for on the Internet, especially when they’re looking overseas. That’s what foreigners have heard about.

They’ll likely be surprised, then, to notice that China’s Internet seems surprisingly free and uncontrolled. Can they search for information about “Tibet independence” or “Tiananmen shooting” or other terms they have heard are taboo? Probably—and they’ll be able to click right through to the controversial sites. Even if they enter the Chinese-language term for “democracy in China,” they’ll probably get results. What about Wikipedia, famously off-limits to users in China? They will probably be able to reach it. Naturally the visitors will wonder: What’s all this I’ve heard about the “Great Firewall” and China’s tight limits on the Internet?

In reality, what the Olympic-era visitors will be discovering is not the absence of China’s electronic control but its new refinement—and a special Potemkin-style unfettered access that will be set up just for them, and just for the length of their stay. According to engineers I have spoken with at two tech organizations in China, the government bodies in charge of censoring the Internet have told them to get ready to unblock access from a list of specific Internet Protocol (IP) addresses—certain Internet cafés, access jacks in hotel rooms and conference centers where foreigners are expected to work or stay during the Olympic Games. (I am not giving names or identifying details of any Chinese citizens with whom I have discussed this topic, because they risk financial or criminal punishment for criticizing the system or even disclosing how it works. Also, I have not gone to Chinese government agencies for their side of the story, because the very existence of Internet controls is almost never discussed in public here, apart from vague statements about the importance of keeping online information “wholesome.”)

Depending on how you look at it, the Chinese government’s attempt to rein in the Internet is crude and slapdash or ingenious and well crafted. When American technologists write about the control system, they tend to emphasize its limits. When Chinese citizens discuss it—at least with me—they tend to emphasize its strength. All of them are right, which makes the government’s approach to the Internet a nice proxy for its larger attempt to control people’s daily lives.

Disappointingly, “Great Firewall” is not really the right term for the Chinese government’s overall control strategy. China has indeed erected a firewall—a barrier to keep its Internet users from dealing easily with the outside world—but that is only one part of a larger, complex structure of monitoring and censorship. The official name for the entire approach, which is ostensibly a way to keep hackers and other rogue elements from harming Chinese Internet users, is the “Golden Shield Project.” Since that term is too creepy to bear repeating, I’ll use “the control system” for the overall strategy, which includes the “Great Firewall of China,” or GFW, as the means of screening contact with other countries.

In America, the Internet was originally designed to be free of choke points, so that each packet of information could be routed quickly around any temporary obstruction. In China, the Internet came with choke points built in. Even now, virtually all Internet contact between China and the rest of the world is routed through a very small number of fiber-optic cables that enter the country at one of three points: the Beijing-Qingdao-Tianjin area in the north, where cables come in from Japan; Shanghai on the central coast, where they also come from Japan; and Guangzhou in the south, where they come from Hong Kong. (A few places in China have Internet service via satellite, but that is both expensive and slow. Other lines run across Central Asia to Russia but carry little traffic.) In late 2006, Internet users in China were reminded just how important these choke points are when a seabed earthquake near Taiwan cut some major cables serving the country. It took months before international transmissions to and from most of China regained even their pre-quake speed, such as it was.

Thus Chinese authorities can easily do something that would be harder in most developed countries: physically monitor all traffic into or out of the country. They do so by installing at each of these few “international gateways” a device called a “tapper” or “network sniffer,” which can mirror every packet of data going in or out. This involves mirroring in both a figurative and a literal sense. “Mirroring” is the term for normal copying or backup operations, and in this case real though extremely small mirrors are employed. Information travels along fiber-optic cables as little pulses of light, and as these travel through the Chinese gateway routers, numerous tiny mirrors bounce reflections of them to a separate set of “Golden Shield” computers.Here the term’s creepiness is appropriate. As the other routers and servers (short for file servers, which are essentially very large-capacity computers) that make up the Internet do their best to get the packet where it’s supposed to go, China’s own surveillance computers are looking over the same information to see whether it should be stopped.

The mirroring routers were first designed and supplied to the Chinese authorities by the U.S. tech firm Cisco, which is why Cisco took such heat from human-rights organizations. Cisco has always denied that it tailored its equipment to the authorities’ surveillance needs, and said it merely sold them what it would sell anyone else. The issue is now moot, since similar routers are made by companies around the world, notably including China’s own electronics giant, Huawei. The ongoing refinements are mainly in surveillance software, which the Chinese are developing themselves. Many of the surveillance engineers are thought to come from the military’s own technology institutions. Their work is good and getting better, I was told by Chinese and foreign engineers who do “oppo research” on the evolving GFW so as to design better ways to get around it.

Andrew Lih, a former journalism professor and software engineer now based in Beijing (and author of the forthcoming book The Wikipedia Story), laid out for me the ways in which the GFW can keep a Chinese Internet user from finding desired material on a foreign site. In the few seconds after a user enters a request at the browser, and before something new shows up on the screen, at least four things can go wrong—or be made to go wrong.

The first and bluntest is the “DNS block.” The DNS, or Domain Name System, is in effect the telephone directory of Internet sites. Each time you enter a Web address, or URL—www.yahoo.com, let’s say—the DNS looks up the IP address where the site can be found. IP addresses are numbers separated by dots—for example, TheAtlantic.com’s is 38.118.42.200. If the DNS is instructed to give back no address, or a bad address, the user can’t reach the site in question—as a phone user could not make a call if given a bad number. Typing in the URL for the BBC’s main news site often gets the no-address treatment: if you try news.bbc.co.uk, you may get a “Site not found” message on the screen. For two months in 2002, Google’s Chinese site, Google.cn, got a different kind of bad-address treatment, which shunted users to its main competitor, the dominant Chinese search engine, Baidu. Chinese academics complained that this was hampering their work. The government, which does not have to stand for reelection but still tries not to antagonize important groups needlessly, let Google.cn back online. During politically sensitive times, like last fall’s 17th Communist Party Congress, many foreign sites have been temporarily shut down this way.

Next is the perilous “connect” phase. If the DNS has looked up and provided the right IP address, your computer sends a signal requesting a connection with that remote site. While your signal is going out, and as the other system is sending a reply, the surveillance computers within China are looking over your request, which has been mirrored to them. They quickly check a list of forbidden IP sites. If you’re trying to reach one on that blacklist, the Chinese international-gateway servers will interrupt the transmission by sending an Internet “Reset” command both to your computer and to the one you’re trying to reach. Reset is a perfectly routine Internet function, which is used to repair connections that have become unsynchronized. But in this case it’s equivalent to forcing the phones on each end of a conversation to hang up. Instead of the site you want, you usually see an onscreen message beginning “The connection has been reset”; sometimes instead you get “Site not found.” Annoyingly, blogs hosted by the popular system Blogspot are on this IP blacklist. For a typical Google-type search, many of the links shown on the results page are from Wikipedia or one of these main blog sites. You will see these links when you search from inside China, but if you click on them, you won’t get what you want.

The third barrier comes with what Lih calls “URL keyword block.” The numerical Internet address you are trying to reach might not be on the blacklist. But if the words in its URL include forbidden terms, the connection will also be reset. (The Uniform Resource Locator is a site’s address in plain English—say, www.microsoft.com—rather than its all-numeric IP address.) The site FalunGong .com appears to have no active content, but even if it did, Internet users in China would not be able to see it. The forbidden list contains words in English, Chinese, and other languages, and is frequently revised—“like, with the name of the latest town with a coal mine disaster,” as Lih put it. Here the GFW’s programming technique is not a reset command but a “black-hole loop,” in which a request for a page is trapped in a sequence of delaying commands. These are the programming equivalent of the old saw about how to keep an idiot busy: you take a piece of paper and write “Please turn over” on each side. When the Firefox browser detects that it is in this kind of loop, it gives an error message saying: “The server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.”

The final step involves the newest and most sophisticated part of the GFW: scanning the actual contents of each page—which stories The New York Times is featuring, what a China-related blog carries in its latest update—to judge its page-by-page acceptability. This again is done with mirrors. When you reach a favorite blog or news site and ask to see particular items, the requested pages come to you—and to the surveillance system at the same time. The GFW scanner checks the content of each item against its list of forbidden terms. If it finds something it doesn’t like, it breaks the connection to the offending site and won’t let you download anything further from it. The GFW then imposes a temporary blackout on further “IP1 to IP2” attempts—that is, efforts to establish communications between the user and the offending site. Usually the first time-out is for two minutes. If the user tries to reach the site during that time, a five-minute time-out might begin. On a third try, the time-out might be 30 minutes or an hour—and so on through an escalating sequence of punishments.

Users who try hard enough or often enough to reach the wrong sites might attract the attention of the authorities. At least in principle, Chinese Internet users must sign in with their real names whenever they go online, even in Internet cafés. When the surveillance system flags an IP address from which a lot of “bad” searches originate, the authorities have a good chance of knowing who is sitting at that machine.

All of this adds a note of unpredictability to each attempt to get news from outside China. One day you go to the NPR site and cruise around with no problem. The next time, NPR happens to have done a feature on Tibet. The GFW immobilizes the site. If you try to refresh the page or click through to a new story, you’ll get nothing—and the time-out clock will start.

This approach is considered a subtler and more refined form of censorship, since big foreign sites no longer need be blocked wholesale. In principle they’re in trouble only when they cover the wrong things. Xiao Qiang, an expert on Chinese media at the University of California at Berkeley journalism school, told me that the authorities have recently begun applying this kind of filtering in reverse. As Chinese-speaking people outside the country, perhaps academics or exiled dissidents, look for data on Chinese sites—say, public-health figures or news about a local protest—the GFW computers can monitor what they’re asking for and censor what they find.

Taken together, the components of the control system share several traits. They’re constantly evolving and changing in their emphasis, as new surveillance techniques become practical and as words go on and off the sensitive list. They leave the Chinese Internet public unsure about where the off-limits line will be drawn on any given day. Andrew Lih points out that other countries that also censor Internet content—Singapore, for instance, or the United Arab Emirates—provide explanations whenever they do so. Someone who clicks on a pornographic or “anti-Islamic” site in the U.A.E. gets the following message, in Arabic and English: “We apologize the site you are attempting to visit has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political, and moral values of the United Arab Emirates.” In China, the connection just times out. Is it your computer’s problem? The firewall? Or maybe your local Internet provider, which has decided to do some filtering on its own? You don’t know. “The unpredictability of the firewall actually makes it more effective,” another Chinese software engineer told me. “It becomes much harder to know what the system is looking for, and you always have to be on guard.”

There is one more similarity among the components of the firewall: they are all easy to thwart.

As a practical matter, anyone in China who wants to get around the firewall can choose between two well-known and dependable alternatives: the proxy server and the VPN. A proxy server is a way of connecting your computer inside China with another one somewhere else—or usually to a series of foreign computers, automatically passing signals along to conceal where they really came from. You initiate a Web request, and the proxy system takes over, sending it to a computer in America or Finland or Brazil. Eventually the system finds what you want and sends it back. The main drawback is that it makes Internet operations very, very slow. But because most proxies cost nothing to install and operate, this is the favorite of students and hackers in China.

A VPN, or virtual private network, is a faster, fancier, and more elegant way to achieve the same result. Essentially a VPN creates your own private, encrypted channel that runs alongside the normal Internet. From within China, a VPN connects you with an Internet server somewhere else. You pass your browsing and downloading requests to that American or Finnish or Japanese server, and it finds and sends back what you’re looking for. The GFW doesn’t stop you, because it can’t read the encrypted messages you’re sending. Every foreign business operating in China uses such a network. VPNs are freely advertised in China, so individuals can sign up, too. I use one that costs $40 per year. (An expat in China thinks: that’s a little over a dime a day. A Chinese factory worker thinks: it’s a week’s take-home pay. Even for a young academic, it’s a couple days’ work.)

As a technical matter, China could crack down on the proxies and VPNs whenever it pleased. Today the policy is: if a message comes through that the surveillance system cannot read because it’s encrypted, let’s wave it on through! Obviously the system’s behavior could be reversed. But everyone I spoke with said that China could simply not afford to crack down that way. “Every bank, every foreign manufacturing company, every retailer, every software vendor needs VPNs to exist,” a Chinese professor told me. “They would have to shut down the next day if asked to send their commercial information through the regular Chinese Internet and the Great Firewall.” Closing down the free, easy-to-use proxy servers would create a milder version of the same problem. Encrypted e-mail, too, passes through the GFW without scrutiny, and users of many Web-based mail systems can establish a secure session simply by typing “https:” rather than the usual “http:” in a site’s address—for instance, https://mail.yahoo.com. To keep China in business, then, the government has to allow some exceptions to its control efforts—even knowing that many Chinese citizens will exploit the resulting loopholes.

Because the Chinese government can’t plug every gap in the Great Firewall, many American observers have concluded that its larger efforts to control electronic discussion, and the democratization and grass-roots organizing it might nurture, are ultimately doomed. A recent item on an influential American tech Web site had the headline “Chinese National Firewall Isn’t All That Effective.” In October, Wired ran a story under the headline “The Great Firewall: China’s Misguided—and Futile—Attempt to Control What Happens Online.”

Let’s not stop to discuss why the vision of democracy-through-communications-technology is so convincing to so many Americans. (Samizdat, fax machines, and the Voice of America eventually helped bring down the Soviet system. Therefore proxy servers and online chat rooms must erode the power of the Chinese state. Right?) Instead, let me emphasize how unconvincing this vision is to most people who deal with China’s system of extensive, if imperfect, Internet controls.

Think again of the real importance of the Great Firewall. Does the Chinese government really care if a citizen can look up the Tiananmen Square entry on Wikipedia? Of course not. Anyone who wants that information will get it—by using a proxy server or VPN, by e-mailing to a friend overseas, even by looking at the surprisingly broad array of foreign magazines that arrive, uncensored, in Chinese public libraries.

What the government cares about is making the quest for information just enough of a nuisance that people generally won’t bother. Most Chinese people, like most Americans, are interested mainly in their own country. All around them is more information about China and things Chinese than they could possibly take in. The newsstands are bulging with papers and countless glossy magazines. The bookstores are big, well stocked, and full of patrons, and so are the public libraries. Video stores, with pirated versions of anything. Lots of TV channels. And of course the Internet, where sites in Chinese and about China constantly proliferate. When this much is available inside the Great Firewall, why go to the expense and bother, or incur the possible risk, of trying to look outside?

All the technology employed by the Golden Shield, all the marvelous mirrors that help build the Great Firewall—these and other modern achievements matter mainly for an old-fashioned and pre-technological reason. By making the search for external information a nuisance, they drive Chinese people back to an environment in which familiar tools of social control come into play.

Chinese bloggers have learned that if they want to be read in China, they must operate within China, on the same side of the firewall as their potential audience. Sure, they could put up exactly the same information outside the Chinese mainland. But according to Rebecca MacKinnon, a former Beijing correspondent for CNN now at the Journalism and Media Studies Center of the University of Hong Kong, their readers won’t make the effort to cross the GFW and find them. “If you want to have traction in China, you have to be in China,” she told me. And being inside China means operating under the sweeping rules that govern all forms of media here: guidance from the authorities; the threat of financial ruin or time in jail; the unavoidable self-censorship as the cost of defiance sinks in.

Most blogs in China are hosted by big Internet companies. Those companies know that the government will hold them responsible if a blogger says something bad. Thus the companies, for their own survival, are dragooned into service as auxiliary censors.

Large teams of paid government censors delete offensive comments and warn errant bloggers. (No official figures are available, but the censor workforce is widely assumed to number in the tens of thousands.) Members of the public at large are encouraged to speak up when they see subversive material. The propaganda ministries send out frequent instructions about what can and cannot be discussed. In October, the group Reporters Without Borders, based in Paris, released an astonishing report by a Chinese Internet technician writing under the pseudonym “Mr. Tao.” He collected dozens of the messages he and other Internet operators had received from the central government. Here is just one, from the summer of 2006:

17 June 2006, 18:35

From: Chen Hua, deputy director of the Beijing Internet Information Administrative Bureau

Dear colleagues, the Internet has of late been full of articles and messages about the death of a Shenzhen engineer, Hu Xinyu, as a result of overwork. All sites must stop posting articles on this subject, those that have already been posted about it must be removed from the site and, finally, forums and blogs must withdraw all articles and messages about this case.

“Domestic censorship is the real issue, and it is about social control, human surveillance, peer pressure, and self-censorship,” Xiao Qiang of Berkeley says. Last fall, a team of computer scientists from the University of California at Davis and the University of New Mexico published an exhaustive technical analysis of the GFW’s operation and of the ways it could be foiled. But they stressed a nontechnical factor: “The presence of censorship, even if easy to evade, promotes self-censorship.”

It would be wrong to portray China as a tightly buttoned mind-control state. It is too wide-open in too many ways for that. “Most people in China feel freer than any Chinese people have been in the country’s history, ever,” a Chinese software engineer who earned a doctorate in the United States told me. “There has never been a space for any kind of discussion before, and the government is clever about continuing to expand space for anything that doesn’t threaten its survival.” But it would also be wrong to ignore the cumulative effect of topics people are not allowed to discuss. “Whether or not Americans supported George W. Bush, they could not avoid learning about Abu Ghraib,” Rebecca MacKinnon says. In China, “the controls mean that whole topics inconvenient for the regime simply don’t exist in public discussion.” Most Chinese people remain wholly unaware of internationally noticed issues like, for instance, the controversy over the Three Gorges Dam.

Countless questions about today’s China boil down to: How long can this go on? How long can the industrial growth continue before the natural environment is destroyed? How long can the super-rich get richer, without the poor getting mad? And so on through a familiar list. The Great Firewall poses the question in another form: How long can the regime control what people are allowed to know, without the people caring enough to object? On current evidence, for quite a while.

Ports and the Security of Your Internet Connection

2008-08-01T02:18:00.001-07:00

What are Internet ports?

Although your computer has a single IP address on the Internet, a variety of functions and software are involved in an Internet connection . For example, receiving email, sending email, viewing a Web page, using a newsgroup, and uploading files are all different processes, with each using different software methods. In order to carry out these various functions in a systematic way, use is made of numbered "ports" as local addresses. (These ports have no physical existence and are not to be confused with actual things such as USB or parallel ports.) These local addresses are used to direct the various types of Internet activity to the appropriate software on the local computer.

Think of your computer as an office building, with different rooms used to carry out various functions. The usual IP address would correspond to the street address of the building and the ports would correspond to room numbers. In fact, the standard form of an URL ( the human-friendly equivalent of the numerical IP address) has a section for designating a port. ( More details are in this article.) The port number is almost never necessary in an URL, however, since port number 80 is assigned by convention to the Internet protocol http.

Ports are numbered from 0 to 65536. However, port numbers are not assigned haphazardly but conform to standards from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Ports 0-1023 (designated as "well known ports") are assigned by IANA and are generally reserved for system processes. For example, as mentioned above, the protocol http is assigned port 80. Ports 1024- 49151 are called "registered ports"; their assignments are coordinated and approved by IANA. A list of these is published so that conflicts in the use of ports do not arise. (Malware writers, of course, do not observe these rules.) The remaining ports 49152- 65535 are called "dynamic" and/or "private ports".

Making ports secure

Since ports are used to exchange information between a computer and the Internet, they are also a pathway for intruders to gain access to your computer or for malware to use your computer for unauthorized activity on the Internet. Applications or services monitor ( "listen" to) the port that they are assigned. If this listening action is done without taking security steps, the port will be open to incoming signals and may be vulnerable to intruders. This is where a firewall comes in. A firewall will monitor incoming signals and will block any that your system has not specifically requested. Most software firewalls ( but not the built-in Windows XP version) also watch for outgoing traffic and will block any that is not authorized. This protects against Trojan horses and any unwanted activity by spyware or adware.

Crackers are constantly using scanning software to probe many thousands of IPs, looking for a computer with open ports. Today no unprotected computer is safe on the Internet. Estimates vary from a few minutes on up as to how long it takes an unprotected computer to get infected. SANS, a security firm, shows a chart of the average time between attacks for its clients and recent times are 20-30 minutes. All PCs, therefore, need to have some kind of firewall protection. The sidebar contains references with more details on firewalls.

Even if you have a firewall installed, it is wise to have your ports scanned to see if they appear invisible to the outside world. There are a number of Web sites that provide a free scan of the "well known" ports and several are listed in the sidebar.

Computer Users Face New Scourge

2008-07-30T02:18:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO -- Chuck Harris remembers when the Internet was fun and he'd spend hours reading his favorite news sites, checking the church calendar, browsing the shops. Then, a few weeks ago, he lost control of his computer. It turned into a giant electronic billboard.

The Web browser was taken over by a company he didn't recognize. Pop-up windows tried to download stuff he didn't ask for. Strange icons kept appearing offering low home mortgage loans and sexual enhancement pills he didn't want.

Harris spent days trying to fix the computer, but the programs had multiplied to the point where he couldn't run anything else and he decided to give up on the machine. Last week, the 68-year-old retired aerospace engineer from Yorktown, Va., shelled out $1,000 for a new computer, but now he and his wife, Dorothy, use it only when absolutely necessary.

"We have just about quit using the computer," he said. "It isn't worth the aggravation."

As if computer users didn't have enough to worry about with hackers, viruses, spam, and other online menaces, now comes a new scourge.

Millions of consumers like Harris have been struggling with a recent surge in what computer experts call spyware or adware.

The terms apply to a broad range of programs that users download from the Internet, usually without intending to. Unlike the occasional pop-up ad, these electronic hitchhikers are hidden programs that stay on the computer's hard drive. They keep serving up advertisements, redirecting browsers to certain Web pages or reporting the computer user's movements and personal information. Or all of the above.

Some spyware comes attached to free, brand-name software that users want and install themselves -- instant-message, video-player and file-sharing programs, for example. A reference to the spyware may be included in the legal jargon of one of those on-screen installation agreements that computer users routinely accept with the casual click of a "yes" button.

Others come unbidden as a side effect of browsing shady sites. Many appear on people's machines simply because they are connected to the Internet.

Experts estimate that tens of thousands of spyware and adware programs circulate on the Internet. For now, the problem of such unauthorized software almost exclusively affects Microsoft Windows users. It's by far the most popular operating system and the same features that make it so versatile also make it easier for intruders to secretly run programs on it.

'DNA computer' is unbeatable at tic-tac-toe

2008-07-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

A computer that uses strands of DNA to perform calculations has mastered the game tic-tac-toe.

MAYA-II, developed by researchers at Columbia University and the University of New Mexico in the US, uses a system of DNA logic gates to calculate its moves.

A DNA logic gate consists of a strand of DNA that binds to another specific input sequence. This binding causes a region of the strand to work as an enzyme, modifying yet another short DNA sequence into an output string.

Scientists have already developed DNA computers capable of various similar simple calculations. But the researchers behind MAYA-II say their design should prove particularly useful for exploring ways to identify the genetic markers associated with certain diseases.

Another level

A human plays MAYA-II by adding a DNA sequence that represents their chosen move at a particular point in the game. This is added to all 8 wells that correspond to the outer squares on a tic-tac-toe grid. One limitation of the system is that the human player must always go second, after the centre square has been filled by the machine.

The previous version of MAYA, unveiled in 2003, was even more limited. The human opponent’s first move was restricted to one of two squares (see First game-playing DNA computer revealed).

Each well contains between 14 and 18 DNA logic gates. After a human player makes their move, MAYA-II responds through a DNA reaction. The strand outputted feeds into a series of other DNA logic gates that link the different wells. This results in a chemical reaction that generates a green fluorescent glow in the square MAYA-II selects as its next move. The strand also interacts with the remaining wells, priming them to respond appropriately to future moves.

"MAYA-II moves bio-computation up to the next level of power," says Joanne Macdonald, a researcher at Columbia University, who helped build the system. "It's similar to the invention of the first microchips with hundreds of logic gates."

Right direction

"Those kind of experiments are the right direction for DNA computation," says Martyn Amos, an expert at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK. But he adds that, "it's not something you can pit against silicon".

"Playing with MAYA-II takes a long time," Macdonald admits. The system needs between 2 and 30 minutes to compute each move and a second machine is required to translate the fluorescent signals generated each time into a move in the game.

However, Macdonald believes the technique could help researchers refine techniques for analysis of DNA samples. She is already using DNA logic gates to separate viruses and detect particular combinations of DNA mutations.

Amos agrees that MAYA-II could help researchers in this way. But he warns that the DNA molecules used cannot be controlled perfectly, and could be prone to the occasional malfunction.

Physical Damages of Hard disk

2008-07-29T02:09:00.001-07:00

When clicking sound starts coming from hard disk drive, this indicates that hard drive is facing some problem. This only happens when power fluctuate while you are working on the computer. This shows that your hard disk is physically damaged.
Some of the hard disks give message when such sounds start coming that some error has reached. Such kinds of troubles are faced by many factors but most common which becomes the primary cause for its failures are given below.

Hard disk head smashed:
Hard disk magnetic plates are used to store the data on the disk and head on the hard disk supports in reading and writing of the data. When head finds any scratches on the magnetic plates; sound is produced when head revolves on the plate to that specific sector for reading or writing data. This needs to be taken care of immediately because if you start fixing the damage then it may result in further disk damage. Immediately shutdown your system and call any recovery experts for consultation. Data stored in hard disk is very sensitive it should be examined and recover in clean room labs.
Bad sectors of the Hard disk:
Bad sectors of the hard disk are areas on the tracks of magnetic plates which get corrupted due to any reason. When head try to read data from these sectors, its all attempts go in vain. Sound heard during the reading of that corrupted sectors which indicates that some of the sectors are failed and damaged.
If hard disk is very old and its condition seems to be very bad; best tip to stream line it again is to scan the whole disk for bad sectors. Scanning process will help in identification of all the damaged or corrupted areas and it will not let hard disk to write any thing on those sectors again.

Damaged Circuitry of Hard disk:
Other than the above two major reasons, additional grounds can be cause of failure of some internal components of the hard disk. It can be out of order spindle; loose head of hard disk, wrong placement of head and any disconnected connection of internal circuitry.
This is always seen that after clicking sound of your hard disk it freezes or stop working any more. Best solution to fix the damage is to take your hard disk to any famous hard disk data recovery company.

Lesser space of storage:
If stored data on hard disk cross the storage limit of hard disk then hard disk uses the technique of virtual memory paging to do the task which are left to process. Such kind of tasks increases the processing of the hard disk and raises it to exhausted state.
In order to overcome over this problem some extra space should be added, for this purpose RAM and extra hard disk is the best solution.

Webmaster:

Geeksnerds, data recovery solutions UK offers data recovery services and software to salvage data from damaged hard drive, RAID system, laptop and removable storage media.

NTT Donates IPv6 Bandwidth to Open Source

2008-07-28T02:13:00.000-07:00

Contributing to open source typically conjures images of working on a project's code. But offering bandwidth is another critical way the movement can benefit.

That's the approach taken by NTT America, a Tier 1 carrier and a division of Japan-based NTT Communications, which is now helping open source by donating IPv6 transit (define) to the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC).

The ISC is a nonprofit organization that leads the development of the open source BIND DNS server and also hosts the F-root name servers. The group's Hosted@ISC effort also provides hosting for some of the top open source efforts, including Mozilla, FreeBSD and kernel.org, the official Linux kernel repository.

The IPv6 donation by NTT America, which has been working with ISC since 2002, will deliver additional bandwidth for Hosted@ISC, as well as potentially spurring open source adoption of IPv6 -- which might help to counter the sluggish pace of IPv6 deployment in the U.S. and elsewhere.

NTT has been a longtime contributor of network services to ISC, Peter Losher, program manager for Hosted@ISC, told InternetNews.com This expansion of IPv6 connectivity is a result of our mutual desire to see the use of IPv6 grow. NTT's donation effectively doubles our IPv6 transit.

Davis suggested the donated bandwidth could potentially amount to thousands of dollars per month.

As a backbone provider, we charge our customers based upon a factored amount of the bandwidth they utilize, Christopher Davis, IPv6 product manager at NTT America, told InternetNews.com. This figure could change on a monthly basis, so it's hard to peg an exact figure [on the donation]. Having said that, NTT America has donated ISC a Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) connection, [so] they could use up to 1,000 mbps.

Davis also said telecom researcher TeleGeography recently reported that GigE connections in the San Francisco Bay Area carry an average monthly cost of $14 per mbps -- bringing the total potential donation to $14,000 worth of bandwidth at current prices.

Added Losher, We can tell you, ISC, as a 501(c)(3) public-benefit organization, couldn't afford to buy this amount of connectivity.

NTT has not asked for a tax deductible receipt, he also said.

For the telecom provider, on factor behind the donation was the chance to benefit open source.

NTT utilizes and respects open source projects, Davis said. I wouldn't characterize open source as a key strategy for the network, however, many of the engineering staff are directly involved with the IETF, IEEE, NANOG, APRICOT and other standards bodies -- many of which include open source aspects in their governance.

Meanwhile, the ISC is hoping that the NTT donation will continue to raise awareness of IPv6 and encourage adoption among its Hosted@ISC participants.

We have several participants already using IPv6, like FreeBSD and Mozilla, Losher said. We hope to add the rest over time.

FreeBSD is the biggest user of the ISC's IPv6 bandwidth, Losher said. Not surprisingly, the project's leadership applauded NTT's move.

The FreeBSD Project greatly appreciates the opportunity to use ISC's high-performance IPv6 transit, said Robert Watson, president of the FreeBSD Foundation, in a statement. As early adopters and implementers of IPv6 networking, this gives us the chance to exercise and improve IPv6 support in our operating system, as well as serve our current IPv6-ready users better.

A Mozilla spokesperson declined to comment on how Mozilla currently uses IPv6. However, the project represents 25 percent of ISC's total IPv6 traffic on any given day, Losher said. source:www.internetnews.com

Google Opens Knol, a Wiki with Bylines

2008-07-28T02:11:00.000-07:00

Google opened its Web site Knol to the public on Wednesday, allowing people to write about their areas of expertise under their bylines in a twist on the encyclopedia Wikipedia, which allows anonymity.

We are deeply convinced that authorship -- knowing who wrote what -- helps readers trust the content, said Cedric DuPont, product manager for Knol.

The name of the service is a play on an individual unit of knowledge, DuPont said, and entries on the public website, knol.google.com, are called knols. Google conducted a limited test of the site beginning in December.

Knol has publishing tools similar to single blog pages. But unlike blogs, Knol encourages writers to reduce what they know about a topic to a single page that is not chronologically updated.

What we want to get away from is 'this last voice wins' model which is very difficult if you are a busy professional, DuPont said.

Google wants to rank entries by popularity to encourage competition. For example, the first knol on Type 1 Diabetes is by Anne Peters, director of the University of Southern California's Clinical Diabetes Programs.

As other writers publish on diabetes, Google plans to rank related pages according to user ratings, reviews and how often people refer to specific pages, DuPont said.

Knol focuses on individual authors or groups of authors in contrast to Wikipedia's subject entries, which are updated by users and edited behind the scenes.

Knol does not edit or endorse the information and visitors will not be able to edit or contribute to a knol unless they have the author's permission. Readers will be able to notify Google if they find any content objectionable.

Knol is a hybrid of the individual, often opinionated entries found in blogs and the collective editing relied on by Wikipedia and other wiki sites.

The service uses what it calls moderated collaboration in which any reader of a specific topic page can make suggested edits to the author or authors, who retain control over whether to accept, reject or modify changes before they are published.

In its early stages, Knol remains a far cry from Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org, which boasts 7 million collectively edited articles in 200 languages.

Google signed a deal with Conde Nast's New Yorker, giving Knol authors the rights to use one of the magazine's famous cartoons in each Knol posting. Google will allow Knol writers to run ads on their entries and will share income with them.

DuPont said that rather than competing with Wikipedia, Knol may end up serving as a primary source of authoritative information for use with Wikipedia articles.

Knols will fill gaps on what we have on the Web today. That is what we hope, DuPont said. source:www.internetnews.com
(Kunjungi www.hotels.trav4.com, www.hotelscombine.co.cc)

More IT Shops Plan to Wait for Windows 7

2008-07-28T02:01:00.001-07:00

Microsoft executives put their best face on Windows Vista sales at the company's annual financial analysts meeting Thursday when they presented their year-end results and year-ahead plans to stock pickers.

However, despite selling some 180 million licenses for Vista to date, two new surveys of IT decision makers paint a significantly bleaker picture of Vista's near-term prospects in the enterprise.

Translation, large-scale deployments may have to wait until Vista's follow on release -- codenamed Windows 7 -- ships a year and a half from now or so.

A six month survey of 50,000 users in 2,300 large to very large enterprises, released this week by Forrester Research, found that even after Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), only 8.8 percent of Windows users are running Vista so far. That compares unfavorably with 87.1 percent for Windows users running Windows XP.

In addition, this latest survey goes against a pre-SP1 survey that Forrester released late last year.

Other analysis firms have also been tracking sluggish uptake of Vista among corporate customers lately, even after the first quarter's release of SP1.

For instance, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. reported in June that a year of overwhelmingly bad publicity, coupled with opportunities for continued XP 'downgrades' or potentially skipping over Vista for Windows 7, look to have meaningfully eroded support for Vista and are likely to impair the product's overall adoption, according to a copy of the report obtained by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

That was seconded in June when analysis firm Computer Economics weighed in with early results of its own poll. The preliminary results from our annual IT staffing, spending, and technology trends survey indicate that most organizations are still not including Vista in their plans for 2008. Many are not even planning, as yet, for an eventual migration, the report stated.

Now, another new survey, released Tuesday by KACE Networks which commissioned the report from King Research, reinforces Forrester's latest report. The survey, a follow up on a similar poll last November, found that of 1,162 IT professionals queried in June 2008, 60 percent have no plans to migrate to Vista. That's up from 53 percent in November.

Additionally, 92 percent say the delivery of SP1 had no impact on deployment plans – or lack of them.

It seems like a classic case of CEO Steve Ballmer's mantra that Microsoft's biggest competitor is its own installed base coming true in spades. Still, it goes against what has become common wisdom regarding new operating system releases over the past 10 years.

Typically, corporate IT shops will hold off deploying, and often testing, a new Windows release until Microsoft issues the first service pack – usually assuring that early bugs are squashed and compatibility and device driver issues are resolved.

This time around, even though XP is nearly seven years old and getting very long in the tooth, many shops appear to be sticking with the devil they know over the devil they don't.

The evidence that I've seen goes along with the Forrester report so far as Vista adoption in the enterprise, Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, told InternetNews.com.

Some of the hesitancy may be driven by tighter IT budgets in a continuing uncertain economic climate.

I get a sense that people are holding their breath, that it's not a time to go into debt to buy new PCs, said King, who has no relation to King Research. Risk assessment, at some point, is going to impact IT sales.

It seems to be more of a question of companies asking how much longer can we get along with XP, King added.

Whatever is causing it, the sluggish market for Vista has Microsoft brass running scared.

On the enterprise side … we saw a very strong acceleration post Service Pack 1. You saw those enterprises accelerating that deployment …. we're seeing that track very consistently with the deployment cycle we saw in enterprises around XP, Bill Veghte, senior vice president of the Windows Business Group, told analysts at Thursday's meeting.

One feature of Vista that Microsoft has hammered in with users has been its emphasis on security.

Today, you have a platform and a product that is 62 percent more secure than what we delivered in Windows XP SP2 and effectively the conversation with businesses and consumers relative to the security of Windows is not an issue for us based on that, Veghte said.

However, despite – or perhaps, because of – increased security, there have been continuing complaints that the system is sluggish and application incompatibilities abound – points that analysts raised with CEO Ballmer at the meeting.

Windows 7, meantime, promises to be a significant update to Vista and will include a system kernel that's based on both Vista as well as Windows Server 2008. However, the said publicly stated that rumors that Windows 7 would feature a new, much smaller kernel, are unfounded.

Indeed, even Ballmer seems to recognize that many customers may wait for Windows 7.

It's [Windows 7] going to be quite compatible … and the design point is compatible from the get-go in large measure, Ballmer told the analysts.

Just assuaging financial analysts' fears may not do the trick, however.

I don't know a single company that's deployed Vista, Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told InternetNews.com. The cost of migration in terms of disruption [due to app incompatibilities] has just been too high.

Even analysts who see all of Vista's warts, however, have to date recommended not waiting for Windows 7. That is, just because it's coming doesn't mean that Windows 7 will be a panacea.

I think an impressive number of folks in enterprises are going to hold onto XP until Windows 7 comes out [but] I don't think that's a good idea, Enderle said.
source:www.internetnews.com

Computer Science Enrollment is Going Down, and Taking Software Jobs With It

2008-07-28T01:44:00.000-07:00

You’ve heard it before: there’s a massive shortage of IT workers in the US (the stats are a few years old, but pick your number: 600,000, 578,711, or 425,000 excess jobs). Whether you’ve read the articles or experienced it first-hand, there is a noticeable lack of qualified programmers in the U.S. According to the US Department of Labor, 8 of the 10 fastest growing occupations between 2000 and 2010 will be computer related.

With programmers making up the single largest category of IT workers (around 21%), and somewhere around 60% of software developers having a bachelor’s degrees, a good way to increase the supply of domestic software developers would be to enroll more Computer Science (CS) students.

Are you with me so far? CS enrollment up = more programmers in four years. Easy enough.

But this is where it gets grim: the number of students listing Computer Science as their probable major while entering college has dropped 60% over the past 4 years (you can see this graphically on the first page of this document).

Can you blame them? In 2000/2001 there were layoffs, offshoring, and decreasing pay scales. The reality is that hundreds of thousands of qualified candidates are still needed, but the temporary downturn in 2000/2001 and the dramatic portrayal by the press has left some people wondering if there will be enough computer jobs in the U.S. in five years. Couple this with the image that programmers are geeks that do nothing but sit at a computer all day and the picture becomes clearer; incoming freshman who might have chosen CS have turned their eyes to other majors.

Why We Should Care
So what? As demand rises and supply dwindles our rates will increase, right? It only makes it better for those of us who do have experience in the field.

To a point, yes. However, companies will not sit idly by and watch their profits dwindle because they are unable to find qualified people. They will turn to other avenues, such as increasing H1-B limits and offshoring development (cue ominous music), that have the potential to damage domestic job prospects in the long run. I don’t believe H1-B visas and offshoring are the force that will unravel the very fabric of reality that some make them out to be. But the bottom line is if companies are unable to find domestic developers, companies will find a way to function with or without them, and functioning without them is not good for any of us.

Secondly, on a selfish note, how many of us would kill to work with ultra-qualified, talented developers instead of whoever we can find that has a pulse and once wrote an Excel macro for a junior high class project? While dropping CS enrollment likely indicates that people entering the field are truly interested in CS, it is going to come full circle; people will eventually get hired, with or without degrees and regardless of how qualified they are, because companies will be desperate. And then we’ll be stuck working with folks who can’t find their text editor with two hands and an issue of Dr. Dobb’s Journal.

Given that we’d like to figure a way out of this mess, a good first step would be to graduate more CS students, which means encouraging more people to enroll as CS students. Here are a few approaches that each of us, as software developers, can take that might encourage incoming college students to entertain the idea of enrolling in Computer Science.

7 Winning Search Engine Optimization Tactics

2008-07-27T02:36:00.001-07:00

Search engine optimization should always be considered long before your website structure, colors, layout, and overall site design. But, the majority of people usually get caught up "in the moment"... thinking of riches instead of "how" they're going to attract more website visitors. This article is meant to get you back on track, and provide you with 5 winning search engine optimization tactics.

Identify Keywords

1. The single biggest mistake that most business owners make is trying to think of a "cool name" for their website, when they should have chosen a keyword-rich site name like 'prevent-corporate-bankruptcy.com' instead of SmithLawOffice.com' (as an example). Your potential customers search for keyword phrases... not business names... unless you're already a household name like Wal-Mart, eBay or Apple. Facing reality, many business owners gave up on websites ever helping their business a long time ago... usually because of a poor website name choice. And, it doesn't have to be this way.

Simply, discover what terms people are searching for. Identify the "action" keywords and phrases that people are actually using when they are searching Google, Yahoo, MSN or any of the other major search engines. I highly recommend looking for keyword phrases that incorporate the following keywords: buy, want, need, order, download, etc. I'm sure you're getting the idea now. Then, you need to purchase website names that are centered around the most popular keyword phrases. And, redirect these visitors to your current website. And, I promise that you can setup a website redirect in less than one minute... even if computers scare you. You just need to have access to your website hosting interface, with cPanel being the most popular choice.

Optimizing Your Web Page

2. After identifying a minimum of 10 keyword phrases, I recommend optimizing your current website pages' title tags, meta tags, image "alt" tags. You need to start using these keywords within your webpage content in bold text, underlined text, and as text links. Do not overuse these keywords though. These keywords should only comprise 4-6% of each page. So, if you have 500 words on a webpage, limit your keyword usage to 20-30 words. Most of the major search engines index every word of your page and compare them to your title META description and META keywords. So, you should never hide or add non-related keywords to your webpages: like Anna Kournakova, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, etc. This is a "black hat" tactic and should never be used, unless your want your website to be permanently banned by the search engine directories.

Most of the major search engines don't even consider the META keywords anymore, which is why the actual content of your webpages is becoming more and more important. Excessive repeating of keywords is considered as spamming, which will get your website penalized with a lower ranking. And, be sure mix your keywords in different combinations throughout the page and in your ALT tags, instead of using the same phrase over and over again.

Link Popularity

3. One of the most important factors to achieve a high ranking in the search engines is link popularity. The overall number of links to your web site is important, but the quality of the links are even more important. All the search engines are very fond of "on topic" links. Links from sites that contain your same keyword content and are focusing on the same topic as your site, are known as "on topic" links. Three of the best ways to get "on topic" quality backlinks are to comment on other industry-related blogs, make comments in industry-related forums, and to submit articles to article directories. Just make sure that you're adding comments or articles to high pagerank sites, avoiding low page rank sites.

Misspellings

4. Adding misspelled keywords within your META tags can also boost your website traffic, because many people are likely to misspell your keywords when browsing the search engine directories. As an example, here are several popular misspellings I found people making when they searched for a site submission service, as follows: "free search engine submision", "sumit", "subit", "search egnine submission", "submition", and "saerchengines".

Add Fresh Content

5. Adding fresh content to your website on a regular basis is another key factor that plays a critical role in your search engine rankings. Adding new content regularly gives your visitors a reason to come back. Search engine robots will also visit your website more often, once they notice that you update regularly. This is one of the main reasons why WordPress blogs are so popular right now. When visitors leave comments about blog posts you have made, the search engine bots see this as new content. And, it really helps your site rankings when a visitor makes a comment with a permalink back to their high pagerank site. This helps website owners save time, by allowing website visitors to create content for them.

Don't Kill the Search Engine Crawlers

Avoid using flash intro pages where it says "Click Here to Enter Site", because the search engines have a very difficult time indexing (seeing) anything beyond the intro page... unless you've submitted every webpage of your site to the search engine directories manually, which is very time consuming. Even if you use the alt attribute to specify alternate text for flash images, that text will not be anywhere near as important as real text on a main index page.

Provide Relevant Title Tags

7. Making your page titles simple, descriptive, relevant and "keyword rich" makes it easier for search engines to know what each page is about. Keyword rich titles help the search engine directories provide consumers with more relevant search results, helping them determine whether your website contains what they are trying to find. The title description is the most important element of your website design, after you have chosen your website domain name.

5 Tips to Organize your Server Room in 2008

2008-07-27T02:34:00.000-07:00

If you are looking to get your server room organized in 2008, there are a few key steps to keep in mind while you are going through the process. Your server room houses valuable information for your business and the safety and security of your equipment should be of top concern. In addition, the equipment that you choose should be efficient and safe for long term use.

1. Choose the Appropriately Sized Rack

As you are looking to organize your server room, the most logical place to start is by choosing new server racks. Select server racks with sufficient internal space to house all of your current equipment and room to accommodate future expansion. Having extra space is a must in your server room for expansion as well as unplanned additional equipment purchases. Some obvious things to check as well include determining that you have enough space to move the new servers in and that you have the proper floor space to maneuver around the equipment and that there is enough space in between the equipment to allow for safety spacing. When you are installing the equipment, be sure to install it according to the included instructions so that you do not have any future problems.

2. Include your New Server Room in your Security Strategy

Security, especially with vital information, is always important for a business to consider. As you are organizing your server room, be sure that any changes or additions fit into your overall business security plan. You may want to consider purchasing server racks that have locking doors, minimizing personnel access to the room and using monitor devices within the room for added protection. In addition, newer technology allows you to monitor the environment of the server room at all times. Temperature changes, water leaks, electrical circuit issues and other issues can change unknowingly, causing potential damage to your server room. With the addition of this technology, you will be able to act quickly to resolve any issues in order to protect your valuable equipment.

3. Customize your Server Rack Design

Once you have decided on a manufacturer for your server racks, most will allow for customization. Consider the addition or modification of the shelving, top or side panels, mounting rails and the feet to create a server room that matches all of your business needs and the space that you are utilizing as your server room.

4. Evaluate your Power Technology

Power technology is constantly updated, providing you with various options for your power strip. You have several choices to consider including rack mount power strips, remote power products, Three-phase power technology and standard power strips. Consider your space, the number of outlets that you will need, each plug’s requirements and any redundancy requirements when you are choosing the power technology for your server room.

5. Ensure your Safety with a Cooling Strategy

The heat that each unit gives off varies, making the cooling needs within your server room vary as well. Evaluate all of your requirements and the available cooling strategies to ensure the overall safety of the equipment, environment and company when making your selections.

How to Clean Disc Drives

2008-07-27T02:32:00.000-07:00

When your CD or DVD (disc) drive starts giving you problems, your first thought may be to replace it or take it to the repair shop, but a good cleaning may be all it needs.

Below are three methods to clean the disc drive. The easiest method is the least effective. The hardest method is the most effective. Since the hardest method takes some time to do, I recommend that you start with the easiest method. If it solves your problems, congratulations. If not, try the next method.

The Cleaner Disc method - this, the easiest method, uses a special cleaner disc which can be purchased in computer stores. The disc usually comes with a little bottle of cleaner solution. Apply a few drops of the solution to the disc and insert it in the disc drawer (be sure to read and follow the instructions that come with the cleaner disc). The drive will turn the disc and clean the lens. Unfortunately, this only works adequately about half the time.

The Cleaning Stick method - this is what I do in desperation when the cleaner disc does not work and I don't want to disassemble the drive. Since all that is needed (at least in my mind this is true) is a little more pressure applied to the lens, I start out in search of a thin, flexible stick of some type which is at least six inches long. It should not have sharp or rough edges that would scratch the lens. Next, get a soft, thin cloth and put water or rubbing alcohol in the middle of it. Place one end of the stick under the wet part of the cloth and slide it into the opened disc drawer. The goal is to rub the wet cloth on the lens to clean it. Do not apply so much pressure that you will scratch and ruin the lens. Also try blowing into the disc drive to remove any dirt that may have accommulated in it. If you do not succeed at this, proceed to the next method.

The Disassembly method - this method should work but it requires you to disassemble the drive. So if you are not comfortable with taking the drive apart, please take it to a computer repair shop and let them do it.

Take the cover off your computer, unplug the cords from the back of the disc drive, remove any screws holding it in, and slide it out (you may need to remove the face plate on the end of the drawer to get the drive out). Remove the screws in the drive housing and take the cover off. The bottom side of the drive is a circuit board, so if that is what you see when you take the cover off, figure out how to access the other side. On the correct side, you should see a lens that runs on a track (there is no harm in moving the lens along the track but do not touch the lens itself). Use a wet, soft cloth to clean the lens.

Sometimes a disc drive malfunctions because there is too much dust or debris in it, so be sure to clean out the inside with either compressed air, a soft cloth, or a cotton swab. Reassemble the disc drive, put it back in the computer case, and cross your fingers. Hopefully, it will work when you turn on the computer.

If these methods work, you just saved yourself some money. If not, you needed a better disc drive anyway.

Website Sales Purpose

2008-07-26T03:02:00.000-07:00

When designing a website, it is important that webmasters ask some general questions before they begin the design process...

What Is The Purpose Of Your Website?

Many companies use websites to establish their brand. Others use websites as a communication tool. Some companies see websites as sales vehicles and "billboards". Still others use their website as an educational tool. And some may be any combination of the above. The website must have a purpose in order for it to be effective.

What Is It That You Are Trying To Accomplish With The Website?

A strong understanding of the website will allow a webmaster to emphasize the action they want the website visitor to take on the website. By defining and understanding the purpose of the website, webmasters and publishers can better structure the information on the website. Information can be provided with the appropriate emphasis and navigation. An ideal website will lead the web visitor to take the action the webmaster wants.

Who Is Your Audience?

You must identify and understand your target audience. Understanding your demographic will allow you to cater content specific to that group.

What Are The Objectives Of The Website?

You also need to determine what the objective of your website is. What are you attempting to accomplish? Are you trying to sell something? Are you looking for downloads, or is sales your real objective? Is your website trying to promote a specific product or service? Do you want your visitors to take a specific action? Is the intent to profit from ad space in general or to have website visitor's click on specific ads? Are you trying to build a brand? Do you want visitors to purchase a product, or provide an email address?

When attempting to solicit a specific action, there are some general guidelines that you should follow. Your website should be designed to solicit the action you desire, so the navigation should intuitively lead the visitor to take the desired action. If clicking a link is the goal, then that link should be clearly indicated and prominent on the page. This will not only help insure that the maximum number of visitors will be able to adequately view and navigate your content, but it will also help prompt those visitors to take the action you wish to have occur.

For example: Many software companies struggle with the action they wish to solicit from the website visitor. Software companies and eBook publishers are often guilty of pushing users to download, at the expense of the actual sale. Some companies prefer to have users download prior to making a purchase decision, while others lose impulse purchasers by only pushing the download rather than the sale.

In Order To Maximize The Websites Sales Purpose And Objectives, Follow These Simple Steps...

Address Compatibility Issues

If a website visitor is unable to view the website's content, they are obviously going to be unable to complete the desired action. The compatibility issues could be related to technology or usability. Avoid using technologies that require the website visitor to download a plug-in before they can view the website content. If providing content using flash is important to you, you should also provide a flash-free version as well. Also, do not alienate website visitors who might have a disability -- use proper web construct, provide alt tags for images, and avoid using a color scheme that will cause confusion.

Define A Clear Navigation Path

A website's navigation should provide the visitor with a clear path. Information architecture is the organization and categorization of online content -- the process of creating clarity and organizing online information in a purposeful, and logical way. Prioritize and emphasize the most important items on the website. Give visitors a clear path to what they are seeking. Each and every page should intuitively provide them links to additional information and purchase options.

Minimize Distractions

Minimize choices and other website distractions. Website visitors should be provided a clear path of action. Do not provide the website visitor an abundance of choices -- studies show that a large number of choices often puts the consumer off. It is generally recommended that you provide no more than 3 choices. Keep your message concise and on-topic. Website visitors will often just scan a webpage rather than reading it, so bulleted lists and headlines might be used to emphasize your message.

It may sound like a cliche, but it's the little things that can make the biggest difference. Pay attention to all aspects of your website. Defining the specific website objectives and purpose will help to encourage the desired action or behavior from your website visitors.

Pointers For Choosing Your Laptop Computer

2008-07-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

Pointers for buying a laptop.

If you're thinking of buying a laptop computer there are undoubtedly some great deals to be found, but what should you be looking for when you're in the market for a updated or even your first laptop computer.

Well, it's always worth sitting down with a pen and paper and thinking about exactly what you need your new laptop computer to do. If you're simply going to use it for word processing and the odd email here and there you don't need the super fast processor and hard drive that can hold thousands of files, so don't let a slick salesman tell you otherwise that’s just going to hurt your pocket.

If it's a family laptop computer you're in the market for you'll want a good all rounder. kidshave a great knack of loading games and other large applications onto a PC without you knowing. which can really effect performance for when you need it for more important things like business or your own games. So make sure you get a good-sized hard drive and a good amount of ram.

Regardless of the type of laptop computer you're in the market for make sure you explain to the salesman exactly what you need it for ( ie is it for the home or on the road). More often than not they'll be able to show you in the right direction, but make sure you only spend an amount you're happy with.

If you're an online shopper then there are some great deals to be found, so just make sure you conduct proper research before jumping in to make that purchase. You'll probably see a lot of adverts for the newest laptop computer on the market , Buying a laptop computer , its just like anything else , make sure you do a good amount of research, be clear about the amount you want to spend and weigh up your options.

How to watch TV on Mac

2008-07-24T02:28:00.000-07:00

Mac or Macintosh is a brand name for different kinds of computer produced by Apple, Inc. Production of Mac includes all aspects of hardware and own operating system already installed. The Mac is a computer that can run all the major operating systems, including Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Vista.

TV on a PC is in nowadays. How about TV on a Mac?

Widgets are mini-applications that are downloaded and installed to a dashboard for a new function. There are amazing widgets for Mac that will allow us to play TV right on our Mac. There is this viewmy.tv widget that provides access to free Internet television. Besides viewmy.tv, there is also the Ustream.tv for viewing our favorite live stream channels. Before we can download these features, we should first check the system requirements. If we have what are needed to make this application works, we can enjoy watching our favorite shows directly on our Mac.

As we all know, we can’t depend on our Internet connection all the time. Heavy traffic is frequently experienced so we can’t enjoy our favorite show that much. It’s different when we don’t need to download and consume time to have our full view of the channels. But we can have our Macs installed with TV. Aside from widgets, we can enjoy the entertainment of watching TV on our Mac with the help of USB-based tuners like Elgato EyeTV Hybrid that allows us to watch analog and digital TV. Like other common pc, Mac also has its way to have TV on it.

If external devices (USB like EyeTV) do not satisfy us, we can use the PCTV cards like Miglia AlchemyTV Card that is a good choice for computer TV viewing and VHS-to-DVD transferring. It’s a PCI card that requires no additional power supply. We can check miglia.com to check if we have the latest version. After that, set up the PCI card in our Mac, and then install the software using the cd included. To access the newly installed program, we need to restart our Macs and go to the AlchemyTV dialog.

Miglia also offers a TV Micro unit that comes with the unit itself, a cable as connection, an external USB 2.0 extender, a remote control and an Elgato EyeTV 2.

Slingbox is also a good choice. It works not only for common PC but for Macs as well. It has ports for TV input and for Ethernet. Another one is the iTele, which is a Mac application that allows us to watch TV and record a channel we want.

When we are familiar of iTunes, we’ll know Mac. We can go to the iTunes Store to browse different shows and channels. We can have our favorite shows in advance. We can watch an episode before it will be aired or have a copy of the one we missed. We can watch all of this in Mac.These are only some of the ways on how we can have TV on our Macs. More are coming our way, thanks to the advanced technology.

A History Into Microsoft Products

2008-07-23T02:44:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of software operating systems by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). The most recent client version of Windows is Windows Vista. The current server version of Windows is Windows Server 2008.

Windows 1.0 (1985)

The first version of Windows provided a new software environment for developing and running applications that use bitmap displays and mouse pointing devices. Before Windows, PC users relied on the MS-DOS® method of typing commands at the C prompt (C:\). With Windows, users moved a mouse to point and click their way through tasks, such as starting applications.

In addition, Windows users could switch among several concurrently running applications. The product included a set of desktop applications, including the MS-DOS file management program, a calendar, card file, notepad, calculator, clock, and telecommunications programs, which helped users, manage day-to-day activities.

Windows 2.0 (1987)

Windows 2.0 took advantage of the improved processing speed of the Intel 286 processor, expanded memory, and inter-application communication capabilities made possible through Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). With improved graphics support, users could now overlap windows, control screen layout, and use keyboard combinations to move rapidly through Windows operations. Many developers wrote their first Windows–based applications for this release.

Windows 3.0 (1990)

The third major release of the Windows platform from Microsoft offered improved performance, advanced graphics with 16 colors, and full support of the more powerful Intel 386 processor. A new wave of 386 PCs helped drive the popularity of Windows 3.0, which offered a wide range of useful features and capabilities, including:

Program Manager, File Manager, and Print Manager.

A completely rewritten application development environment.

An improved set of Windows icons.

Windows NT 3.1 (1993)

When Microsoft Windows NT® was released to manufacturing on July 27, 1993, Microsoft met an important milestone: the completion of a project begun in the late 1980s to build an advanced new operating system from scratch.

Windows NT was the first Windows operating system to combine support for high-end, client/server business applications with the industry's leading personal productivity applications.

Windows for Workgroups 3.11 (1993)

A superset of Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 added peer-to-peer workgroup and domain networking support. For the first time, Windows–based PCs were network-aware and became an integral part of the emerging client/server computing evolution.

Windows for Workgroups was used in local area networks (LANs) and on standalone PCs and laptop computers. It added features of special interest to corporate users, such as centralized configuration and security, significantly improved support for Novell NetWare networks, and remote access service (RAS)

Windows NT Workstation 3.5 (1994)

The Windows NT Workstation 3.5 release provided the highest degree of protection yet for critical business applications and data. With support for the OpenGL graphics standard, this operating system helped power high-end applications for software development, engineering, financial analysis, scientific, and business-critical tasks.

Windows 95 (1995)

Windows 95 was the successor to the three existing general-purpose desktop operating systems from Microsoft—Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, and MS-DOS. Windows 95 integrated a 32-bit TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) stack for built-in Internet support, dial-up networking, and new Plug and Play capabilities that made it easy for users to install hardware and software.

The 32-bit operating system also offered enhanced multimedia capabilities, more powerful features for mobile computing, and integrated networking.

Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (1996)

This upgrade to the Microsoft business desktop operating system brought increased ease of use and simplified management, higher network throughput, and tools for developing and managing intranets. Windows NT Workstation 4.0 included the popular Windows 95 user interface yet provided improved networking support for easier and more secure access to the Internet and corporate intranets.

Windows 98 (1998)

Windows 98 was the upgrade from Windows 95. Described as an operating system that "Works Better, Plays Better," Windows 98 was the first version of Windows designed specifically for consumers.

With Windows 98, users could find information more easily on their PCs as well as the Internet. Other ease-of-use improvements included the ability to open and close applications more quickly, support for reading DVD discs, and support for universal serial bus (USB) devices

Windows 98 Second Edition (1999)

Windows 98 SE, as it was often abbreviated, was an incremental update to Windows 98. It offered consumers a variety of new and enhanced hardware compatibility and Internet-related features.

Windows 98 SE helped improve users' online experience with the Internet Explorer 5.0 browser technology and Microsoft Windows NetMeeting® 3.0 conferencing software. It also included Microsoft DirectX® API 6.1, which provided improved support for Windows multimedia, and offered home networking capabilities through Internet connection sharing (ICS)

Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) (2000)

Designed for home computer users, Windows Me offered consumers numerous music, video, and home networking enhancements and reliability improvements.

Windows Me was the last Microsoft operating system to be based on the Windows 95 code base. Microsoft announced that all future operating system products would be based on the Windows NT and Windows 2000 kernel.

Windows 2000 Professional (2000)

Windows 2000 added major improvements in reliability, ease of use, Internet compatibility, and support for mobile computing.

Among other improvements, Windows 2000 Professional simplified hardware installation by adding support for a wide variety of new Plug and Play hardware, including advanced networking and wireless products, USB devices, IEEE 1394 devices, and infrared devices.

Windows XP (2001)

With the release of Windows XP in October 2001, Microsoft merged its two Windows operating system lines for consumers and businesses, uniting them around the Windows 2000 code base.

With Windows XP, home users can work with and enjoy music, movies, messaging, and photos with their computer, while business users can work smarter and faster, thanks to new technical-support technology, a fresh user interface, and many other improvements that make it easier to use for a wide range of tasks

Windows VISTA

Windows Vista is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, Tablet PCs, and media centers.

Windows Vista contains many changes and new features, including an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Windows Aero, improved searching features, new multimedia creation tools such as Windows DVD Maker, and redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems

How to Clean your Keyboard-Part 2

2008-07-23T02:42:00.000-07:00

When it comes to cleaning your keyboard there are many methods that can be used, some harder and more effective than others.

The easiest method is the Shake Method. It is so easy that you can do it right now. Pick up your keyboard, turn it over being careful not to press any keys, and shake it. See all of that stuff fall out? It is dirtier than you thought, isn't it? You can use one of the following methods to clean it further.

The Blow Method - You can buy cans of pressurized air at the computer department or computer store which are made especially for cleaning your computer. They usually have either a hose and nozzle or a tube extending from the nozzle. Hold the keyboard up vertically (that means that end of the keyboard is up and the other end is down), aim towards the keys and press the button. Keep blowing until all of the debris is blown out. Be sure to get around and in between all of the keys. This can be done with the computer on, but it is better if it is off so that you do not have to worry about pressing the keys and coming up with a page of aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa's.

The Vacuum Method - This is just like the Blow Method except that a vacuum is used instead of a can of pressurized air. It is quite simple. Just turn the vacuum on, pull out the hose, and run the nozzle over the keys. Before doing this make sure your keyboard does not have any loose pop off keys that could be sucked into the vacuum.

The Cotton Ball Method - This can be done in addition to the above methods and in lieu of the following methods. Take a cotton ball or cloth and wet it with rubbing alcohol. It should not be so wet that the alcohol runs down into the cracks of the keyboard. Wipe the tops and sides of the keys.

The Dishwasher Method - I hesitate to tell about this method because there is the possibility that it could fry your keyboard. When I had less experience with computers, I dunked my keyboard in a sink full of water to clean it. It did work afterwards, so I don't doubt those who say this method will not mess up your keyboard, but if it does, don't complain to me. I warned you. If your keyboard is not the standard membrane type of keyboard or if it is on a laptop, do not even think of trying this.

This is how you do it. Unplug the keyboard and place it face down in an empty dishwasher. Do not disassemble the keyboard and do not put it in a dishwasher that has dirty dishes in it. Some say to add soap, some say not to. Run the dishwasher through a regular cycle. Take the keyboard out, shake the water out, and stand it on end until it is completely dry (this may take several days). If it does not work after doing this, it may not be dry. Let it stand another week and try it again. If it still does not work, I warned you.

The Disassembly Method - This is the most thorough method, but it should not be done on laptop keyboards or non-standard non-membrane keyboards.

Turn off the computer and unplug the keyboard. Turn the keyboard upside down. You may want to get two books or short boards to place the keyboard on. Position them so that they hold up the keyboard on the edges when it is turned over. This should leave the keys dangling and not touching the books or the floor. This is especially needed when the keyboard's back is off; otherwise the keys will be lifted out of their position by the floor (or whatever surface it is laying on).

Get a screwdriver and remove all of the screws from the back of the keyboard. Lay the keyboard down on the books and carefully remove the back.

Take everything apart and clean thoroughly. It is better to take the keys out one at a time and clean them so that you do not put them back in the wrong place. Wipe each one down with a wet cloth and then with a dry cloth. Any keys that may be hard to put back in, can be cleaned in place without removing them. Wipe around the keys as they sit in place and blow any debris out with your lungs (using compressed air or a vacuum may upset the keys). If you are really brave, you can remove all of the keys at once and give the frame a good wipe down too.

Do a once over and make sure that you have cleaned everything. Then reassemble it all.

Don't forget the keyboard's cable. Wrap a wet cloth around it and wipe it down. It may have an accumulation of grime that needs to be scrubbed off. Also if any of the letters on the keys have rubbed off, you can use a fine point permanent marker to draw the letter back on the key.

Use these cleaning methods and your keyboard will last a long time and be something you can be proud of.

How to Clean your Keyboard- Part 1

2008-07-21T02:50:00.000-07:00

I know most of you will not heed this advice, but KEYBOARDS CAN MAKE YOU SICK (how's that for tactfulness?). Germs live on your hands and fingers. When you type, many of them jump on to the keyboard. When someone else types on your keyboard, those germs transfer to their fingers. Or when you later type on the same keyboard, those germs reconquer your fingers. Regularly disinfecting the keyboard can prevent this.

To disinfect the keyboard, turn off the computer. Then spray disinfectant on a cloth. Be sure to use disinfectant and not just any type of cleaner because not all cleaners disinfect. Also do not spray the disinfectent directly on the keys. Spray it on the cloth. Wipe down the top and sides of the keys. Give the keys a few minutes to dry off before turning the computer back on.

Now that you know how to do it, you should make it a regular practice to disinfect the keyboard. It's one step towards a healthier you.

So you have your keyboard disinfected and life is great. Then your child spills koolaide all over it. What do you do? There are certain steps that you should take when something, like pop, beer, wine, coffee, milk, or kool-aide, is spilled on the keyboard.

The first thing to do is immediately unplug the keyboard from the back of the computer and turn the keyboard over so that its keys are down. This will allow the liquid to drain out. You will probably want to put a cloth under the keyboard or at least make sure that the surface you have put it on is washable.

Then use the mouse to shut down Windows and turn off the computer (this is important because later you will have to plug the keyboard back into the computer and you should never plug any device into a computer while it is on).

While the keyboard is upside down use a cloth to dry as much of the liquid off as you can. If you have a can of compressed air or a vacuum, while the keyboard is upside down blow or vacuum it out. Then let the keyboard set upside down for at least a night so that it can adequately dry out.

If the liquid that spilled on it was sticky, you may want to follow the extensive cleaning procedure explained in the next article, How to Clean your Keyboard - Part 2.

Liquid spilled on a laptop keyboard can easily reach the hard drive, so turn it over immediately and leave it in that position until it dries.

Keyboards are quite resilient and so it should work when you turn it on again. But if not, another attribute of keyboards is that they are cheap and so it won't cost too much to buy another one.

With these pointers in mind and a quick reaction, you just may save your keyboard from total destruction the next time it gets coated with coffee.

How to Clean the Registry

2008-07-21T02:47:00.000-07:00

In the beginning Windows' registry consisted of two files totalling around 5mb in size. Today it consists of at least 12 files with the Software file itself being 30mb or bigger in size. As the size of the registry has exploded, so has the trash and clutter in it. It may seem like a daunting task, but cleaning the registry properly can fix system problems, speed your computer up, and make it run more efficiently.

I have spent many years developing and refining thousands of procedures to do just that. I could share these methods of hunting down the trash with you and let you find them and delete them by hand, but if you were to sit down at your computer right now and work nonstop, you would still be busy with them a week from now when the next issue of Ray's Computer Tips arrives. By then your registry would have new clutter and you would have to start all over again.

To make registry cleaning easier on everyone, I wrote a program called RegVac Registry Cleaner (http://regvac.com/regvac.htm) to perform those procedures. It has been so successful that several companies have asked me to model their registry cleaners after RegVac and even more have copied processes that first debutted in RegVac.

The first place RegVac cleans is the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT section (the Classes Vac in RegVac does this). This section contains settings for the classes of Windows. Think of a huge box full of snakes and you will get an idea of how complicated and interwoven it is. It is so complicated that many registry cleaners bypass it or simply perform surface scans of it. RegVac uses over a hundred processes to follow each tentacle of each class deep into this area and make sure that they abide by the rules.

Next RegVac validates the entries in 22 lists with 7 different methods (the FilesList Vac does this). This is a minor part of RegVac but the bulk of most other registry cleaners even though they usually do not clean all 22 lists.

Another part of RegVac, the Software Vac, which is unique to RegVac, finds old software sections in the registry and provides a way to remove that software's entire branch. Other registry cleaners only remove a few entries in this area often leaving huge portions of the registry that do nothing but take up space and get in the way.

Even more trash can be discovered in hundreds of stashes used to store data you will never use. Most registry cleaners do not even touch these. The Stash Vac lists these stashes and lets you go through and select which ones to empty out. Please use caution when using the Stash Vac because some of the items listed there may be important. For example, one folder in the Stash Vac lists places where data for international keyboards are stored. You probably will never use the data for Bulgarian keyboards, so you can remove it, but if you live in the US you may experience problems after removing the United States 101 keyboard. The items that you can safely remove are usually obvious.

Last but not least, when cleaning the registry, you should look for broken links to files on the computer (this is what the Bad Link Vac does). If a file is referenced in the registry but it does not exist on your hard drive, that is a good indicator that something is wrong. Many programmers start out writing a registry cleaner thinking all it has to do is check for these broken links and remove them. In fact, that is all many registry cleaners do.

Even though that is all they do, they often don't do it correctly. If you check the results of such scans, you will find out that many of the broken links are really good links. I spent several months refining this part of RegVac so that as far as I know it is 100% accurate. Despite this, please realize that some software enter broken links in the registry and require them to be there in order for them to run. RegVac skips the ones it knows about, but you still need to be careful with this part of RegVac.

RegVac has six more tools that clean even more areas: the Add/Remove Editor, the System Config Utility, the OpenWith Editor, the AutoComplete Editor, the Junk Keys Editor, and Registry Backup, Pack, and Restore.

Many of you already use RegVac but if you don't, you can downloaded a free 30 day trial of RegVac at http://regvac.com/regvacz.exe. For more information about RegVac Registry Cleaner go to http://regvac.com/regvac.htm. If you like RegVac, you can purchase it for only $29.95. All future updates are free.

Keep the Windows registry clean and running smoothly with RegVac Registry Cleaner.

How To clean your Case

2008-07-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

There is nothing wrong with leaving spills, dirt, and stains on your computer case. After all isn't that what the case is for, to protect the electronic components inside from spills and dirt? This is true, but there are still parts of the case that need to be cleaned and checked if you want your computer to live a long and prosperous life.

Unless you like looking at dirt everytime you look at your computer, you should go ahead and clean those spills, stains, and dust off of the case. You can do this with just about any cloth and cleaner. Do not use highly abrasive cleaners that might ruin or mar the surface and do not use solvents on plastic. A wet sponge will even work. Just make sure that the cleaner or any liquid does not seep into the inside through cracks and vents. If there is any possibility that you are going to get that messy, turn off and unplug the computer first and wait to turn it back on until any liquid has had a chance to fully dry.

After you have wiped off the outside, it is time for a little inspection. Look at the blades of the fan in the back of the computer. Also look at any vents. Is there dust there? Is there a lot of dust and grime caked on to it? If so, that is an indicator that the inside also needs to be cleaned (I will tell you how to do that in next week's article - How to Clean your Motherboard).

Some clean environments never have to have the inside cleaned. Some need it cleaned monthly. When I lived in Russia, even though I didn't notice it, the air was not clean. The fan on the computer would cake up with dirt and grime after about a month of use. And so I would have to clean the fan, vents, and inside monthly. If I had let it go for several months without cleaning, the fan would have stopped working and the computer would have overheated. Where I now live in the US, the air is clean and I have gone years without having to clean it. Again, the indicator of this is the blades of the fan and the vents. If they are dirty, they need to be cleaned.

You can do some of the cleaning from the outside. First, turn off the computer. Then get out the vacuum sweeper and using the hose, vacuum out the vents and the fan(s). If you have compressed air (you can purchase compressed air from your computer store), you may want to blow air in through the vents (or intake fan if you have one) to loosen the dust and suck it out using the vacuum. If there is still dust or dirt in the vents or on the blades of the fan, you can use a Q-tip to clean them.

If you do not have a vaccum, you can use compressed air alone. Always use short bursts to avoid moisture buildup. Start with the computer off and blow into every hole and vent. Then turn the computer on and blow everything except for the exhaust fan once again.

With the case clean, your computer will look nicer and with the fan and vents cleaned out it will breathe easier and run cooler.

How to clean your Mother Board

2008-07-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

If you have not done the inspection mentioned in the previous article - How to Clean your Case, now is the time to do so. Look at the blades of the fan in the back of the computer. Also look at any vents. Is there clusters of dust there? Is there grime caked on to it? If so, the inside needs to be cleaned. If the fan blades are clean but it has been several years since you have cleaned the motherboard or if the computer is around cigarette smoke, it probably should be cleaned anyway. Dust and particles in the air (like cigarette smoke) can build up on the circuitry of the motherboard and cause it to heat up and/or corrode.

The first thing that you need to do is unplug your computer. Then open up the case to get access to the motherboard. Cases open differently. If you don't know how to open your case, look on the back of your computer along the edge for some screws. These screws may hold on side panels or an upside down U shaped panel that covers the sides and top. Removing the screws will allow you to take off the cover. Other cases have the screws on the front of the computer. To get access to these screws, you must first remove the front panel by pressing a hidden latch. The cover is there to give easy access to the inside of your computer, so if you look hard enough, you should be able to figure out how to remove it.

Remember that if you touch anything on the motherboard, you should be grounded by either touching the metal frame of the computer with your other hand or by wearing a special grounding device.

The goal of cleaning the motherboard is to remove all dust and debris from the motherboard and all components inside of the case. This can be done using one of three methods.

The preferred method is to use a can of compressed air to blow it out. Always hold the can in an up-right position to prevent the propellent chemicals which can damage or corrode components from coming out. Dust and dirt should be blown away from the motherboard and out of the case.

Another way to remove dust is to use a vacuum. The common advice is to only use a battery operated vacuum because an AC powered vacuum causes static and static can ruin the motherboard. I have used an AC powered vacuum (before I knew that it was not recommended) to clean my motherboard many times and it has never caused any problems, but I may have just been lucky. When using the vacuum, keep the nozzle a couple of inches away from the motherboard or any other components so that it does not come in contact with them and so that any small parts are not sucked into the vacuum.

If you do not have a can of compressed air or a vacuum, you can use a dry cloth and brush to clean the motherboard. Be careful not to dislodge or break anything using this method.

While cleaning the motherboard, be careful not to unplug any cables or connections or to dislodge any loose components, such as, jumpers.

Methodically clean the whole inside of the case going over all of the motherboard from one end to the other and all other components. Don't forget to clean the fans and heat sinks. Do not open up the power supply box or stick anything in it beyond the fan. If you do, you could get a shocking surprise and ruin your computer.

If your computer does not work when you put it back together, something was obviously dislodged during the cleaning. Open the case back up and push all connections and cards into their slots. Look for anything that may have become disconnected.

Cleaning the motherboard is probably the most dangerous form of cleaning but it is necessary to prevent an early death of your computer.

How to Clean a Printer

2008-07-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

Does your printer have frequent paper jams? Does it put ink where ink shouldn't be? Is the outside of your printer dirty or covered with smudges? If so, it is time to clean your printer.

First, there are some general rules that apply to cleaning just about any electrical device. It is best to turn off the printer before cleaning it. Do not spray water or cleaner on or in the printer. Instead wet the rag with it and clean the printer with the rag.

Different types of printers require different cleaning methods. So if you can get your hands on cleaning instructions for your make and model of printer, do so and follow them. Unfortunately, many manufacturers only make that kind of information available to their licensed technicians. In that case, you are stuck with these instructions, so read on.

Open up your printer and take a look.

If you have an ink jet printer and there is an ink mess inside, clean it up with wet paper towels.

If you have a printer that uses toner either vacuum or blow it out. Some toner, especially color toner, can be harmful to you, so only use a vacuum with a micro-toner filter or blow and run. Figure out where the drum is (it is shiny and larger in diameter than the rollers) and do not touch or scratch it. If you do, the scratches will turn up as marks on every paper that you print and will require that you replace the drum (not a cheap option) to fix it.

Examine the path that the paper takes through the printer. Clean all of the rollers (but on a toner printer, not the drum or rollers near the drum and watch out for the rollers after the drum because they may be hot). It may take some disassembly and/or contorting of your arm to get to some of the rollers. Access is not always easy. The most important rollers to clean are the ones which pick up the paper from the paper bin and transfer it into the printer. If these rollers are dirty or bad, they will cause consistent paper jams.

The rollers are made of either hard plastic or rubber. All of the rollers can be cleaned with water or rubbing alcohol. If the rubber rollers have deposits that you can't get off, you can use harsher cleaners but be careful because those cleaners can damage the plastic rollers and parts.

To clean a roller, wipe across the roller with a wet rag, rotate the roller, and wipe again. Do this until you have worked your way all the way around the roller. Look at the rag. If it has been blackened by the roller, move to a clean part of the rag and clean the roller again.

Once everything is clean on the inside, close it up and clean the outside. Wipe off the case and each of the buttons or knobs. If there are staples or paper clips sitting on it or wedged in the cracks, remove them and throw them away.

Other areas of the printer can be cleaned but to do so, you will have to either get training and special tools or leave it to a trained professional.

CCNA, CCENT, Network+, And Security+ Practice Questions: TCP, UDP, Smurf Attacks, And More!

2008-07-18T06:32:00.000-07:00

by: Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933

Let’s test your knowledge of UDP, TCP, smurf attacks, EIGRP, and more with these questions designed to help you prepare for success on your CCENT, CCNA, CCNP, Network+, and Security+ certification exams!

CCENT Certification / Network+ Certification:

Which of the following protocols runs on both UDP and TCP?

A. DHCP

B. SNMP

C. DNS

D. ARP

E. Inverse ARP

Answer: C. DNS runs on port 53, both on TCP and UDP.

Security+ Certification:

Briefly define the term "smurf attack". (Not too briefly, though!)

Answer: Basically, a smurf attack involves sends ICMP Echo packets (pings) with the intended victim's IP address specified as the source of the Echo packets. This transmission takes the form of a directed broadcast, which means that quite a few hosts can receive it - and then respond with ICMP Echo Replies, which will all be sent to the intended victim.

CCNA Exam:

R1 and R3 are directly connected at their respective Serial1 interfaces via a DTE/DCE cable. What command will tell you whether the interface is connected to the DTE or DCE end of the cable?

Answer: Run show controller serial 1 on either router - the DTE / DCE information is near the top of the output.

CCNP Certification / BSCI Exam:

DUAL has discovered four possible paths to a remote network, with the following metrics: PathA, 1500. PathB, 1500. PathC, 2600. PathD, 3100. What command will allow EIGRP to use the first three paths without using the fourth?

Answer: variance 2 would do the job. Any path with a metric of 3000 or lower will be utilized; setting it to 3 would bring PathD into the equation.

CCNP Certification / BCMSN Exam:

What is the main purpose of IEEE 802.3ac?

Answer: The IEEE 802.3ac standard allows the maximum frame length to be extended to 1522 bytes, which means the dot1q 4-byte header doesn't cause problems in transmission.

CCNP Certification / ONT Exam:

Which queueing strategy gives priority to interactive, low-bandwidth communications by default?

Answer: Weighted Fair Queueing (WFQ) gives priority to interactive, low-bandwidth conversations, and then splits the remaining bandwidth fairly among the remaining conversations.

Look for a new set of Cisco and CompTIA certification exam questions soon!

Benefits Of One Way Link Building Services

2008-07-18T06:24:00.001-07:00

How can one way link building services help you and your business? In the world of internet marketing you probably already know by now that it is a tough and very competitive world out there. There are millions of websites, literally, and each one of them are trying to get customers just as you are. While not all are trying to get the same customers as you are, they are all trying to get customers. Now, your customer base will be a competitive field as well. You have other competition and they do want the same customers.

What can you do? There is a method called search engine optimization. This method is a host of techniques that work together to boost your ranking on the search engine and get your website noticed by your customer base, people searching for your keyword. Now, the problem is that other websites are trying for good ranking on the same keyword, at the same time. They too are trying to implement a good search engine optimization plan.

One method of search engine optimization is using one way link building services. Google uses many different elements to determine page rank. Links are extremely important to Google and the more links you have pointing to your website the better off you are. However, it is not always as easy as that. One way links are very difficult to get and maintain.

There are certain criteria that need to be met. First, these links must be of high quality. The links cannot be placed on link farms; this can actually hurt your page rank. The higher the quality of the page your link sits on, the better it is for your ranking. The links must also be from different websites. This means that each website your link is on, must come from an IP address different from all of the others.

Furthermore, the links must be permanent and one way. At one point in time, reciprocal links were the most common. You link to an important website and they link back to you. However, now a days more importance is placed on one way links than any other type.

Because this is hard to achieve, you can take many advantages of one way link building services. These services are offered by individuals or companies that are experienced in building one way links. They have access to websites that are high quality and accept one way links. Using these services can get your links on websites with high ranks on Google, which is ultimately important.

Provided that you use one way link building services that are reputable and experienced, you will find that your own rank increases and your customers have a better ability to find you and your services. One way links are just one method of search engine optimization that can help increase your popularity in the search engines and ultimately increase your traffic, sales, and income all at the same time, which is important to any business.

Web 2.0 And Why You Shouldn't Fake Reviews

2008-07-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

by: Simon Dance

The latest offering from Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares aired on Channel 4 last night, followed the somewhat disastrous adventures of ex-boxer Mike and his wife Caron Ciminera as they struggled to run the Fish & Anchor, a restaurant in Lampeter, West Wales. Whilst the couple's arguing appeared to better the food they were originally sending out (a mix of jarred sauces and home cook book trophy dishes) they did let slip on a fantastically poor bit of black hat optimisation, which I hope made all white hat SEOs laugh out loud.

If there was one lesson to take away from the show, it would be - Don't fake reviews!

In order to gauged the feeling of the local community for the failing restaurant come sports bar, Ramsay conducted a search on Google for the Fish & Anchor, to which he was presented with a range of reviews, two of which were rather suspiciously from a character calling himself Michael or Mike Burns.

On the Wales portal of the BBC website Burns had posted "Well i don't get excited about food too often, and having dined in Rick Stein's, and Gordon Ramsay's,I think i have found a better restaurant in West Wales". On the SugarVine website he also posted "what a fantastic restaurant for couples, and families. it seems to have everything, the food has to be the best i have eaten (home or abroad) this place will go far". Other online reviews echoed what has already been said, but with the dire state of the restaurant, its food, its reputation and its perception from both the local community and Ramsay itself, would it not be right to question who was telling the truth?

The restaurateur confessed to posting the reviews, his rational pointing to stimulating custom, however with any reactive strategy it requires a degree of foresight - and I am not sure he really thought through the wider ramification of posting these "inaccurate" reviews.

Firstly, a warning must be expressed. For example, if someone finds your restaurant or hotel via a positive (fake) review and they have a bad experience, there is a chance that they will post a true review to assist fellow users and generally have a rant. The initial seeding of this true review has the potential to lead to an onslaught of further reviews from other visitors who might not have otherwise posted. Don't forget the saying "people don't lead... they follow".

But how can you manage your reviews and ultimately what your customers are saying about you? Well first and foremost, address the problem(s)!

You wouldn't put a sticking plaster on a gun shot wound, so why think that a positive review about the quality of your food or the softest of your sheets is going to counteract the adversities of your customer service?

The customer is king, a point stressed by Ramsay, and one that should ring true for any business, after all, without them, where would we be?

By rectifying or at least making plans to manage any failings within your business, regardless of its size, will be the first step in managing your online reputation, but this is an area I will not going into comprehensive detail for this post. Instead, I will offer some simply pointers as to how to harness online reviews for good.

Sites like Trip Advisor, which boasts over 10,000,000 user generated reviews of various hotels, holidays and restaurants is gaining increasing weighting as an resource for honest and unbiased review and via its system of community recommendation it really has the power to drive custom, and in many instances, divert customer - the key factor being positive, and consistent reviews.

But if you do run a successful hotel or restaurant and wish to harness these social spaces, but wish to do so in a more ethical way than that demonstrated in Kitchen Nightmares than why not encourage your diners of hotel guests to post a review after their stay.

When the customer is paying their bill or even booking their hotel room why not take their email address, or even ask them to submit their business card in return for entry into a monthly prize draw for a free meal in the restaurant?

In addition to building up a client database by collecting this data - for use in promotional mailings including notifying customers of events, promotional and the launch of a new menu - you can also harness it to stimulate online reviews by dropping your customers a short email after their stay / meal, which might look something like the following example...

"Good afternoon Simon, and thank you very much for your booking at the Leapfrogg Restaurant, we hope you had an enjoyable meal.

We pride ourselves on the quality of our food and our attentive staff however we're always striving to enhance and improve what we do, and as such we would appreciate you taking two minutes of your time to write a review for us at Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com), a free travel guide and research website that allows users to post review and ratings.

Your comments are important to us, and will be used to improve the Leapfrogg restaurant.

Thank you very much for your time and we look forward to welcoming you again to the Leapfrogg restaurant in the near future.

Sincerely,

A Restaurateur
Leapfrogg restaurant
Brighton
Tel: 01273 669 450"

Of course, many of your requests will be ignored, but providing you are personal in your emails (a point we at Leapfrogg have mentioned previously in this blog) then you are more likely to get a response, and even if you only have a 5% success rate, this is still 5% of valuable customer feedback.

A point to which I will conclude this article is one which has stuck with me from London's SMX, and one that I will most certainly be repeating from here on out is that "Yesterday's news no longer wraps today's fish and chips". Online news and online content, including user generated reviews do not simply get binned like a newspaper at the end of the day, but they remain live, and can even appear within the search results for a brand keyword search... so isn't it worth paying attention to what your customers are saying?

Symantec Norton Antibot The Latest In Norton Computer Protection Software

2008-07-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

It seems like every other month a new “program” comes along to make our lives that much easier. For example, first we could bookmark favorites, and then RSS feed them, and then came widgets and now “bots” which are robots that do a lot of our computer work for us in the background. Examples of friendly bots are weather bots, game playing bots, instant messaging and my favorites are those on AOL Instant Messenger which do all kinds of functions for me like shop, find movie times and even give updates on the Wall Street Journal.

Unfortunately not all bots were created “equal.” Some are friendly and some are not. The ones that are not friendly can be a form of malware that allows control of your computer to be released, providing hackers with the opportunity to access your information and spread harmful bots to others. This type of computer virus can then be used to spread spam and commit various types of identity theft and other online fraud.

So with new threats to our computers and information, new methods of protection are required. One of the oldest and most well known software protection designers has recently released a new protection program, Symantec Norton AntiBot. This is a software product designed to prevent the hijacking of one’s personal computer by bots and uses the bots on design programs against them, to located and destroy them.

Many people already employ some form of protection on their personal computer, such as increasing the protection level from internet information to “high.” But these cannot detect some of the most recent bot programs and may not be the most efficient means of information protection, especially with the Internet being used more and more frequently for online shopping, ticket purchases, travel and other “high risk” activities.

A more effective method of detecting and eliminating threats caused by bots is to install software designed specifically to detect, destroy and prevent bots from having access to your computer. With Symantec Norton AntiBot software, protection against bots is enhanced several times and the threat of bot attack is greatly diminished. It’s program protects against bots by blocking bots from entering your computer through downloads and e-mail attachments (two of the common ways bots enter a personal computer), checking for any unusual behavior on your personal computer and eliminating it, and detecting malicious bot software at all levels; keeping your personal, financial and credit card information safe and stopping identify theft before it can occur.

Because bots operate in the background and are not detectable by antivirus or antispyware programs, many computer users are completely unaware that their personal computer has become infected. Many problems caused by bots go undetected until it is too late. Warning signs that your computer may have been accessed include: slowness of computer speed and unusual or irrelevant error messages. However, many times com these symptoms are sporadic and computer users will take little notice. Many people will continue to use their personal computer, unaware that bots have hijacked their personal computer and are slowly at work; looking for credit card numbers, passwords, and logon information which can be used for identity theft and in committing other types of online crime. This program scans your personal computer on a continuous basis, closing the gaps that could allow bots to infect your personal computer and better ensuring that bots do not invade and gain control.

The use of Symantec Norton AntiBot to determine what a harmful or useful bot and allows you to continue using those bots you love and have come to depend on for information and services. It can be used in addition to several other antivirus and antispyware programs. Its compatibility is not limited to only Norton products.

The cost of this software is $29.95 for one year of service. It was awarded PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award (2007) and underwent rigorous testing which included using AntiBot on computers with existing threats as well as allowing threats to try to access the computer after installation.

With the growing threat of identity theft and credit card fraud Symantec Norton AntiBot offers an additional level of protection needed to combat the threat of bots and prevent them from turning one’s personal computer into a robotic that turns into an instrument of destruction to both your personal and financial well-being.

Record Your Products: Reap The Rewards of Recording And Getting Your Product Done Faster And Easier.

2008-07-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

Some of you will remember when we had to type on typewriters. Some of you, present company included, may even remember when we had to type on “standard” or manual typewriters. For those who aren’t in the know, that’s a typewriter without electricity

Then we got electric typewriters. That was something new to learn, but all our work could be done faster, easier and with less mess.

Then came computers. There was more to learn but with this technology life was made even easier for secretaries, writers, or anyone having to convey information with the written word.

With each of these advances there were those who said they couldn’t do it. They didn’t like it, they didn’t like change. They could get along just fine, thank you very much, with a manual typewriter, or an electric one. They didn’t need computers. There was too much to learn. It was too different.

Don’t let that attitude keep you from learning the latest time saver for transferring words to paper and that is the digital recorder. As the manual typewriter has given way to more sophisticated electric typewriters, which have given way to the computer, so, too, has the digital recorder made it faster and easier to transfer the spoken word to the written word.

On the average a one-hour recording will yield about 20-30 typewritten pages. That means that with a one hour “conversation,” speaking your story or information into a recording device, then getting it transcribed, you can transfer your spoken word to a document in about 25% of the time it would take you to type it yourself.

It may take a bit of practice to learn to dictate into a recorder, but once you have, you will find that you can save yourself a ton of time. Statistics prove that the longer it takes to complete a project, the less likely it is that you will finish it. Embrace this new technology.

Here are some guidelines you should consider when purchasing a digital recorder:

1. You must be able to download your recording to your computer. Some of the less expensive recorders are not “downloadable.” You need to be able to transfer your recording through the Internet in order to send it to a transcription service or even if you want to transcribe it yourself.

2. Although most recorders come with internal microphones, it is best to have the capability to attach an external microphone. External microphones work better to record presentations or to record from a distance. Additionally, you can elect to use a lavaliere microphone for yourself and not be hampered with holding the recorder. Or, if you are recording more than one person, such as if you are interviewing someone, you can get an attachment which allows you to hook up two microphones.

3. The recorder should have at least four hours of available recording time using the high quality recording setting. You want to make sure the recorder has enough time to record a full presentation before having to be downloaded to the computer.

The capabilities of recorders change all the time, and in my recent research I found that the prices, like anything else, are coming down drastically and we are getting more and more recording time.

I checked out the Olympus recorder on the Internet and found a very good quality recorder for around $100.00. I also found that you could buy this at Best Buy in the Los Angeles area at the same price. Other locations such as Samy’s Cameras for those in the Los Angeles area, Circuit City, Radio Shack and Frys may also have them.

For those of you who live in the Los Angeles area, I found an Olympus and a Marantz at Samy’s Cameras which uses a flash card and can get you as much as 4G-8G of storage space. Both of these sell for just under $400.00. The Sony or the Edirol are also good recorders, and have similar capabilities and prices.

Buying a recorder is much like buying a blender or a computer. Although it’s wise to buy as much as your pocketbook allows, at the same time, you don’t need to buy more than you will use. Why spend the extra money.

A digital recorder is small and easy to use. On it you can record all of your information products, plus your presentations, blogs or articles.

Embrace this new technology. Using a digital recorder to record your information product, presentations or teleseminars, will allow you to finish your product in less than 25% of the time it would take you to type it yourself. If you get your audio transcribed, once you get it back, all you have to do is edit it and you can have your product completed in less than a week.

Internet And Business Online – The Act Of Interdependence

2008-07-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

The best role of business online is that of interdependency. We’ve all heard the old saying, “No man is an island.” When it comes to online business this is especially true.

If a business owner who takes their business into the online world determines they will be self reliant and never accept the help of anyone then that individual will not be in business long enough to change their minds.

It is accepted fact that the greatest tool for long-term exposure to your website is through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Without it potential customers can’t find you. It is unreasonable to expect that you can adequately develop a website without optimizing your website for the best possible search engine ranking.

Search engines also place a high value on sites that have links placed on existing sites. These ‘backlinks’ demonstrate to search engines that others trust your site. By placing your link on their website these other businesses indicate a trust and recommendation for your site.

In effect the two strategies listed above rely exclusively on what others can do for you when it comes to your online business.

Shirley Temple once proclaimed in her movie Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, “I’m very self-reliant.” American westerns are filled with lines dealing with pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and holding down the fort. Many of us have grown up to believe if we want something done right we have to do it ourselves.

This thinking is in opposition to the rules associated with an online business.

The online world can only exist because people share. Individuals share technology, but the also share links, reviews, blogs, forums and a wide range of other marketing strategies that find a commingling of interdependency.

In online business you are as dependent on others as they may be on you. Unlike the word ‘dependent’, the term interdependent indicates a mutual dependency. In other words you are depending on others to help provide links back to your site while they are equally dependent on you (or others) for the success of their business.

Have you really taken a proactive approach to networking? It’s possible you are reading this today and you’ve never considered asking someone else to place a link to your site on his or her online business site.

It can feel awkward depending on others to achieve online success especially if you’ve been lead to believe reliance on others is also a sign of imposing on their otherwise brilliant generosity.

I suppose it could be a deep-seated sense of pride that makes it hard to consider the need to ask others for help. However, the truth is depending on others is really what has made the Internet possible. The growth of this online world is comprised of a link of computers, networks and servers that are connected in a way that provides the maximum benefit for all.

Building an online business can feel a bit like trying to build a house of cards. Without the ability to rely on the other ‘cards’ around you it is virtually impossible to build.

Interdependence. This is the essence of online business.

Web Development And The Big Time Out

2008-07-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

One of the great debilitators in online business is simply the perceived (or real) lack of time. Business owners are used to moving forward. An online web presence can make them feel tied to an office chair learning skills they aren’t sure they want to know.

It’s not uncommon for those who deal in full time web design to have individuals contact them for a site design, but have absolutely no idea what they want. Furthermore when the designer questions them the response might be, “I don’t know, just make it look nice.”

Let’s not forget the core values or mission of the business. Many business owners have no idea how to answer those kinds of questions. They may stare blankly for a moment or two and there’s no more time for further deep thought so they go back to action – without answers.

In many cases it is possible to answer some of the questions needed, but it may require taking time away from a familiar setting. It may also require more time than you think you want to give.

If you can get to a place of concentrated contemplation you are likely to find yourself stripping ideas to their core to find out what your business is trying to accomplish and what your ultimate goals might be.

As with almost any project you can turn frustration around if you will just take the time to come to terms with your vision.

Sometimes we spend so much time ‘doing’ we never stop to ask the question, “Why?”

This process can be a bit like taking a bus that drives around the park. You keep looking at the flowers and the park bench and long to sit in the quiet shade of a tree and just absorb the calming atmosphere. You know they will have a positive effect on you, but for some reason you just can’t seem to find the energy to get off the bus.

It seems to me there are some sites that are misguided or rarely guided that could benefit from the process of self-evaluation. These sites may look nice, but there is a sense of disconnection that may not be easy to identify, but it’s fairly obvious to visitors.

Creative energy is at a minimum while business owners simply tackle what seem to be the most urgent details.

As more people gravitate to online business there needs to be a shift in the thinking of how one goes about doing business online. In many ways it can’t be approached in the same way a traditional business is developed, yet that is typically the way many new web commerce ventures choose to tackle the subject.

You may discover your business will be more successful if you take some time for rigorous reflection. The time set aside can be a bit like an architect that takes the time to develop plans for a new building. You wouldn’t expect the architect to simply tell a construction crew to, “Go out there and build – something.”

Work at ‘building’ your online business in a comprehensive way. Your effort can develop a firm foundation for long-term success.

Back to Back User Agents for Telecommunications

2008-07-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today’s telecommunications networks are a delicate blend of clients and servers that together offer virtually endless possibilities when it comes to services and applications. For every new client developed, there seems to be a score more on the way — from mobile handsets, PDAs, terminals, telephones, video phones, IP set-top-boxes, and so on.

There are essentially two types of servers that connect between clients on large networks: Proxy servers and Back-to-Back User Agent (B2BUA) servers. The more prevalent Proxy servers feature predictable behavior — simply connecting between clients. Effectively, B2BUA servers are much stronger and intelligent entities that perform actions which Proxy servers cannot. Moreover, B2BUA servers provide a flexible solution for a wide range of applications and services and are becoming the primary engine for more and more SIP servers in NGN and IMS networks.

The difference between Proxy servers and B2BUA servers is sometimes not fully understood. In this article, we will explore what makes B2BUA servers such an appealing alternative to standard Proxy servers. Better understanding of B2BUA servers can help managers understand the value, and the tradeoffs, of choosing a B2BUA server, as well as the frameworks needed to develop a wide range of SIP applications and SIP services using it.

Figure 1 - Architectural difference between Proxy servers and B2BUA servers

B2BUA Server Defined
B2BUA servers are used to provide value added features for point-to-point calls and manage multi-point calls. The power behind a B2BUA server is derived mostly from the fact that it has a very generic definition, which gives it almost unlimited power. However, this same characteristic is the root of the controversy surrounding it.

IETF standard (RFC 3261) defines a back-to-back user agent as “a logical entity that receives a request and processes it as a user agent server (UAS). In order to determine how the request should be answered, it acts as a user agent client (UAC) and generates requests. Unlike a Proxy server, it maintains a dialogue state and must participate in all requests sent on the dialogues it has established.”

B2BUA servers have capabilities that far exceed those of other types of SIP servers, and answer the need for developing sophisticated value added SIP applications that cannot be implemented as Proxy applications.

Some of these capabilities, which are unique to B2BUA servers, are outlined below:

3rd Party Call Control (3PCC) Features
3rd Party Call Control (3PCC) is the ability of an entity (usually a controller) to set up and manage communication between two or more parties. 3PCC is often used for operator services and conferencing.

3PCC actions are important capabilities, exclusive to B2BUA servers since “passive” non call-stateful elements, such as Proxy servers, cannot initiate these types of activities. Some examples of 3PCC services are online billing, QoS, resource prioritization, call transfer, click-to-dial, mid-call announcement and more.

3PCC actions can be initiated automatically by B2BUA server applications, like disconnecting a call following credit expiration in an online-billing system. Or they can be initiated by remote administrative control (OSS), e.g. invite parties to a multi-point conferencing session.

Figure 2 - Schematic outline of B2BUA server offering 3PCC functionality

Inter-working Function (IWF) for Interoperability

SIP was designed as a highly flexible and extendible protocol. The very strength of this flexibility is also an inherent weakness, since the vast array of client types in the market still need to connect.

B2BUA Inter-working Functions (IWF) defines a wide range of powerful SIP servers that connect SIP clients that “speak” in different protocol dialects, or support different capabilities. This Inter-working function is very important in enabling connectivity between clients with different capabilities and/or protocol dialects. Or even between clients and networks – where the B2BUA server actually acts as an access device.

Examples of what IWF can do include:

• Connecting SIP clients to IMS networks by adding and removing IMS SIP protocol extensions (AKA P-Headers) that are essential for connecting to the IMS network
• Connecting clients with different Session Timers settings
• Connecting clients with different media capabilities and with distinct Session Description Protocol (SDP) messages by relaying between the two types of control sessions
• Connecting to different types of networks (e.g. IPv4, IPv6) and support for different transport types, such as TCP/UDP/SCTP/TLS

Figure 3 - Schematic outline of a B2BUA Inter-Working Function

Multi-point Call Management

B2BUA servers an also implement multi-point call scenarios where multiple CPE devices connect to the B2BUA, and the B2BUA provides services to all CPE.

Due to these unique capabilities, B2BUA servers are widely used in the communications industry. A few examples are listed below:

• Online-billing/prepaid functions
• Servers supporting Resource Prioritization (RP) and/or Quality of Service (QoS) features
• Multi Point Conferencing servers
• IVR servers
• PBX Applications and Softswitches
• Application Layer Gateways (ALG)
• FW/NAT Traversal applications
• Privacy servers
• 3rd-Party Call Control Applications (3PCC)
• Service Creation Environment (SCE) runtime engines
• Session Boarder Controller (SBC)
• IMS S-CSCF, P-CSCF, I-CSCF
• SIP Inter-work Function (IWF) Gateway
• Security Gateway (SEG)
• Voice Call Continuity (VCC) servers

In addition, B2BUA servers play an important role in emerging IMS networks. Recent releases of 3GPP IMS specifications (3GPP TS 24.229 V8.0.0) indicate that an increasing number of IMS network element servers, such as P-CSCF, IBCF,SBC etc., are B2BUA servers. The reason for this is that value added services are usually session stateful, and feature capabilities that go beyond basic call proxying. Applications written on top of B2BUA Application servers fulfill several roles, such as SIP User Agents, SIP Proxy servers and SIP Registrars.

B2BUA Server Challenges

B2BUA application developers face many challenges, such as achieving rapid time-to-market, conformance and interoperability, offering customization for proprietary services and support for High Availability (HA) and redundancy. A comprehensive B2BUA framework can help developers overcome these challenges.

A solid B2BUA framework should have modular application building block architecture for increased flexibility, abstraction and short delivery time. Traditional architecture, which features a single configurable state machine, is not flexible enough. Also, a B2BUA framework should facilitate developing B2BUA applications by flexibly linking “pluggable” high-level Modular Application Building Blocks (MABB). Developers should have the ability to combine these MABBs and they should be designed in a way that allows developers to further customize their behavior if needed. This type of architecture complies with contemporary Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) concepts, and is suitable for powering flexible business communication platforms. This modular architecture can save months of work. With a set of MABBs in hand, developing the application is a matter of combining existing MABBs to produce the required business logic. In addition, this architecture enhances efficiency; development of new MABBs can be done concurrently.

A B2BUA framework should facilitate developing applications that fully conform to standards and are interoperable; without restricting developers from customizing protocol behavior for special cases. Moreover, it should conform for non-standard implementations, as well as to mediate between two versions of the same standard. This type of framework allows developers to focus on their proprietary application with the confidence that their final application will be fully interoperable.

And finally, a B2BUA framework should provide the ability to configure, amend and replace application building blocks to create proprietary features. With this ability, developers can maximize existing code – significantly reducing development time, shortening testing cycles, and reducing overall time-to-market.

Figure 4 - Traditional architecture of a B2BUA framework

RADVISION’s B2BUA Application Framework http://www.radvision.com/Products/Developer/SIPServer delivers these capabilities and more. The B2BUA Application Framework module is a part of the RADVISION SIP server Platform, a software framework that offers the essential building blocks for the development of a wide variety of high performance SIP and IMS servers. The rich set of components and modules can be flexibly combined to match customers’ requirements for developing SIP servers that offer both standard and advanced SIP services.

Applications written on top of RADVISION’s B2BUA framework are developed by combining customizable modular application building blocks. This is effectively large chunks of functionality that can be strung together to form ad-hoc applications, enabling developers to focus on the high-level business logic and use building blocks that hide low-level details.

As one of the most popular IM applications, Yahoo! Messenger was the first large consumer player that adopted B2B UA. Yahoo! Messenger combined its backend scalable platform with RADVISION’s B2B UA to serve millions of monthly unique messaging users around the world. Yahoo selected RADVISION’s B2BUA due to its robust performance and scalability features.

Figure 5 - The architecture of RADVISION B2BUA Application Framework

RADVISION also offers automatic High Availability (HA) and Redundancy support. The B2BUA framework automatically replicates the run-time state of the different Services and B2BUA framework core. In the event of a server outage, a redundant server takes over seamlessly and provides uninterrupted service continuity.

B2BUA framework benefits in a nutshell

• Significantly reduces time to market developing proprietary B2B applications and services.
• Allows adding advanced services easily to retain competitive advantage and evolve to meet growing customer demands.
• Focuses on the business logic and hides low level operator communication intricacies.
• Delivers off-the-shelf conformance and interoperability.
• Enables rapid development of applications that can interoperate with different vendors.
• Enables adding high-availability features easily.

Click here http://www.radvision.com/Resources/WhitePapers/b2bua.htm for more extensive information on B2BUA Servers.

The Battle of the Browsers – The History and the Future of Internet Browsers

2008-07-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

With Internet Explorer 8 now available, can Microsoft hope to retain market dominance over fierce open source rivals such as Mozilla's Firefox or the feature packed Opera web browser. Can history give us a clue to what the future of web browsers/browsing might hold? How did Netscape Navigator go from having a dominant 89.36% market share of all web browsers in 1996 and yet only 3.76% by mid 1999?

Let us take a journey that will begin long before even the intellectual conception of Internet Explorer, that will glance at its long defeated rivals, examine the current browsers available and will end with a prediction of what the future of browsing will offer us – and which browser(s) will still be around to offer it.

People often think that Internet Explorer has been the dominant web browser since the golden age of the internet began. Well for a very long time now it has indeed been the most popular browser and at times been almost totally unrivalled. This was mainly a result of it being packaged free with Microsoft Windows, in what some would later call a brutal monopolisation attempt by Microsoft. The last few years however have heralded the arrival of new, possibly superior browsers. Mozilla's Firefox has been particularly successful at chipping away at Explorers market dominance. So where did it all begin, and why were Microsoft ever allowed to have a hundred percent market dominance?

Origins

The truth is they never did have total dominance, but at times they have come very close. Microsoft actually entered the Browser Battle quite late on. Infact a man named Neil Larson is credited to be one of the originators of internet browsers, when in 1977 he created a program – The TRS-80 - that allowed browsing between “sites” via hypertext jumps. This was a DOS program and the basis of much to come. Slowly other browsers powered by DOS and inspired by the TRS 80 were developed. Unfortunately they were often constricted by the limitations of the still fairly young internet itself.

In 1988, Peter Scott and Earle Fogel created a simple, fast browser called Hytelnet, which by 1990 offered users instant logon and access to the online catalogues of over five thousand libraries around the world – an exhilarating taste of what the internet, and web browsers, would soon be able to offer.

In 1989 the original World Wide Web was born. Using a NeXTcube computer, Tim Berners-Lee created a web browser that would change how people used the internet forever. He called his browser the WorldWideWeb(http://www., which is still likely to sound familiar to internet users today. It was a windowed browser capable of displaying simple style sheet, capable of editing sites and able to download and open any file type supported by the NeXTcube.

In 1993 the first popular graphical browser was released. Its name was Mosaic and it was created by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina. Mosaic could be run on both Unix, and very importantly, on the highly popular Microsoft Windows operating system (incidentally it could also be used on Amiga and Apple computers). It was the first browser on Windows that could display graphics/pictures on a page where there was also textual content. It is often cited as being responsible for triggering the internet boom due to it making the internet bearable for the masses. (It should be noted that the web browser Cello was the first browser to be used on Windows – but it was non graphical and made very little impact compared to Mosaic).

The Browser Wars - Netscape Navigator versus Internet Explorer

Mosaic's decline began almost as soon as Netscape Navigator was released (1994). Netscape Navigator was a browser created by Marc Andreessen, one of the men behind Mosaic and co-founder of Netscape Communications Corporation. Netscape was unrivalled in terms of features and usability at the time. For example, one major change from previous browsers was that it allowed surfers to see parts of a website before the whole site was downloaded. This meant that people did not have to wait for minutes simply to see if the site they were loading was the actual one the were after, whilst also allowing them to read information on the site as the rest of it downloaded. By 1996 Netscape had almost 90% market dominance, as shown below.

Market Share Comparisons of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer from 1996 to 1998

....................Netscape.......IE
October 1998..........64%.........32.2%
April 1998............70%.........22.7%
October 1997..........59.67%......15.13%
April 1997............81.13%......12.13%
October 1996..........80.45%......12.18%
April 1996............89.36%.......3.76%

In these two years Netscape clearly dominated the internet browser market, but a new browser named Internet Explorer was quickly gaining ground on it.

Microsoft released their own browser (ironically based on the earlier Mosaic browser which was created by one of the men now running Netscape), clearly worried about Netscape's dominance. It was not so much the worry that it would have a 100% market share of internet browsers on their Windows operating system, but more the worry that browsers would soon be capable of running all types programs on them. That would mean foregoing the need for an actual operating system, or at the most only a very basic one would be needed. This in turn would mean Netscape would soon be able to dictate terms to Microsoft, and Microsoft were not going to let that happen easily. Thus in August 1995, Internet Explorer was released.

By 1999 Internet explorer had captured an 89.03% market share, whilst Netscape was down to 10.47%. How could Internet Explorer make this much ground in just two years? Well this was down to two things really. The first, and by far the most important was that Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer in with every new copy of Windows, and as Windows was used by about 90% of the computer using population it clearly gave them a huge advantage. Internet Explorer had one other ace it held over Netscape – it was much better. Netscape Navigator was stagnant and had been for some time. The only new features it ever seemed to introduce were often perceived by the public as beneficial for Netscape's parent company rather than Netscape's user base. (i.e., features that would help it monopolise the market). Explorer, on the other hand, was given much attention by Microsoft. Regular updates and excellent usability plus a hundred million dollar investment would prove too much for Netscape Explorer.

2000 – 2005

These years were fairly quiet in the Battle of the Browsers. It seemed as if Internet Explorer had won the war and that nobody could even hope to compete with it. In 2002/2003 it had attained about 95% of the market share – about the time of IE 5/6. With over 1000 people working on it and millions of dollars being poured in, few people had the resources to compete. Then again, who wanted to compete? It was clearly a volatile market, and besides that everybody was content with Internet Explorer. Or were they? Some people saw faults with IE – security issues, incompatibility issues or simply bad programming. Not only that, it was being shoved down peoples throats. There was almost no competition to keep it in line or to turn to as an alternative. Something had to change. The only people with the ability and the power to compete with Microsoft took matters into their own hands.

Netscape was now supported by AOL. A few years prior, just after they had lost the Browser Wars to Microsoft, they had released the coding for Netscape into the public domain. This meant anybody could develop their own browser using the Netscape skeleton. And people did. Epiphany, Galeon and Camino, amongst others, were born out of Netscape's ashes. However the two most popular newcomers were called Mozilla and Firefox.

Mozilla was originally an open sourced project aimed to improve the Netscape browser. Eventually it was released as Netscape Navigator 7 and then 8. Later it was released as Mozilla 1.0.

Mozilla was almost an early version on another open source browser, Firefox. With it being an open source the public were able to contribute to it - adding in what features it needed, the programming it required and the support it deserved. The problems people saw in Internet Explorer were being fixed by members of the open sourced browser community via Firefox. For instance, the many security issues IE 6 had were almost entirely fixed in the very first release of Firefox. Microsoft had another fight on their hands.

2005 – Present

Firefox was the browser that grew and grew in these years. Every year capturing an even larger market share percentage than before. More user friendly than most of its rivals along with high security levels and arguably more intelligent programming helped its popularity. With such a large programming community behind it, updates have always been regular and add on programs/features are often released. It prides itself on being the peoples browser. It currently has a 28.38% market share.

Apple computers have had their own browser since the mid 1990's – Safari - complete with its own problems, such as (until recently) the inability to run Java scripts. However most Apple users seemed happy with it and a version capable of running on Windows has been released. It has had no major competitor on Apple Macs, and as such has largely been out of the Browser Wars. It currently holds a 2.54% market share and is slowly increasing.

Internet Explorer's market share has dropped from over 90% to around 75%, and is falling. It will be interesting to see what Microsoft will attempt to regain such a high market share.

Opera currently holds 1.07%.

Mozilla itself only has a 0.6% market share these days.

The Future of Web Browsing

Web browsers come and go. It is the nature of technology (if such a term can be used), to supplant inferior software in very short periods of time. It is almost impossible for a single company to stay ahead of the competition for long. Microsoft have the advantage of being able to release IE with any Windows using PC. That covers over 90% of the market. They also have the advantage of unprecedented resources. They can compete how they wish for as long as they wish. So there is no counting IE out of the future of web browsing.

Safari is in a similar position, being easily the most popular Mac web browser. Its long term survival is dependant upon Apple and the sale of their computers.

These are the only two browsers that are almost guaranteed another five years of life, at least. Firefox may seem like another candidate, but the public is fickle, and one bad release, or if it seriously lags behind the new Internet Explorer 8 for long, could easily see its popularity quickly descend into virtual oblivion.

However, it seems likely community driven browsers, such as Mozilla and Firefox, will be the only types of browser capable of competing with the wealthy internet arm of Microsoft in the near future.

As for web browsing itself, will it change any time soon? Well it already has for some online communities. For example, if you want to buy clothes you could try entering an online 'world' creating an online virtual You to go from 'shop to shop' with, looking at products and trying/buying what you see. Some 'worlds' allow you to recreate yourself accurately including weight and height and then try on things apparel such as jeans to give you an idea of how you would look in that particular item.

Will 'worlds' like this destroy normal web browsers such as IE ? - It seems unlikely. Traditional web browsers provide such freedom and ease of access that it is hard to see any other alternative taking over. However they are part of the new, 'thinking out of the box' wave of alternatives that some people will find attractive, and really who knows what the future will bring.