Advanced Information Technology

Virtual Private Network

2011-04-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a way of using the Internet to provide remote users with secure access to their network. Data is scrambled as it's sent through the Internet ensuring privacy. In other words a business which may be located in New York can use the company's network to send encrypted information to differentbranches of the business located in other parts of the country.

Information doesn't have to be sent office to office either. An individual choosing to work at home can have all of the same amenities (programs, email, etc) as working in the office, thanks to a VPN. Because all data is scrambled prior to being sent, and decrypted once it reaches its destination, there's no fear of interception since only authorized users can view the information.

With a VPN, data is carried over the Internet through a process called tunneling. Tunneling is when a package is placed within another packagebefore it's encrypted and sent to its destination. The path in which the packet travels is called a tunnel.

A firewall can be set up to prevent a barrier between a private network and the Internet. The firewall can be set up to only accept certain information and also reject packets containing unwanted information. For purposes of security, the firewall should be set up prior to installing a VPN.

The Benefits of a VPN are:

- Increased Productivity
- Improved Security
- Lower operational costs
- Simplified Network Topology
- Opportunities for Global Networking

While there are plenty of pros to setting up and using a Virtual Private Network, there's also a con or two. For instance, someone with in-depth knowledge of network security and dealing with VPNs will have to be on staff or specialized training will be required to ensure things run smoothly. Also, different vendors might provide different technologies so not all networks may be compatible. For sure there are kinks to be worked out. Once they are however, it would be worth it to look into Virtual Private Networking for your business - especially if the benefits outweigh the risks.

Source: http://www.articlecircle.com/computers/networks/what-is-a-virtual-private-network.html

ERP Software Implementation Best Practice

2011-04-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

ERP is being utilized by most of the organizations to fulfill their requirements and increase the productivity. ERP implementation best practices should be followed for a successful implementation of the ERP software.

Enterprise Resource Planning is being utilized by most of the organizations to fulfill their requirements and increase the productivity. A lot of planning is involved before implementing the ERP system since it is has an important role to play for the organization. ERP implementation best practices should be followed for a successful implementation of the ERP system. To make the most of the time, money and efforts put into the Enterprise Resource Planning implementation, the company should set certain levels which should be followed. The software has chances of failing even if the best software is implemented. There are many risks and challenges involved in the implementation like delays, low benefits and increase in costs. If the ERP implementation best practice is followed, it ensures a successful implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning system.

Some of the ERP implementation best practices are as below:

1. Understanding: It is necessary to have proper defined goals and have an understanding of the goals. Take some time to validate the vendor’s understanding of the business needs. All the stakeholders and employees of the company should be informed well about the implementation of the ERP system.

2. Plan: Planning is essential for the implementation and this is one of the ERP implementation best practices. Time should be given for proper planning, testing, customization, etc.

3. Business needs: It is important to thoroughly understand the requirements of the business. This ERP implementation best practice focuses on the operation of the business. Give priority to the crucial requirements.

4. Return on Investment: There should be focus on obtaining a better ROI or return on investment. Establish a performance measure to track the post implementation performance as the business needs to realize tangible benefits too.

5. Management: The top management should be actively involved as the ERP implementation best practice. They should offer their support in order to reduce conflicts and establish regular reports with the team. The ERP system implementation project needs to be approved by the management.

6. Project: The project should be managed in a proper manner and there should be coordination between the functional departments and the IT department. The project should be managed by a project manager and develop a strong control over the project as the ERP implementation best practice. The employees need to be trained and educated as to how to use the software in the best practice. Reviews should be conducted during the implementation.

7. Data: Testing of data should be done and the scope of the data should be defined.

These are the ERP implementation best practices for a successful system implementation. Without the right planning and strategy, the risks increase and can cause failures. As there are many steps involved and ERP implementation is a complex process, it is wise to follow these best practices for reducing the risk of a failure. Also, the ERP implementation differs from company to company, so it is important to keep the best practices in mind to make you aware while evaluating the implementation process.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

Disk Defragmentation: All You Needed To Know

2011-04-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Much like an automobile, a computer needs a little bit of maintenance every so often to keep it running smoothly. One of the most overlooked of these tasks is defragmenting the hard drive. Here are some frequently asked questions regarding defragmentation.

What Is File Fragmentation?
Think of your computer's hard disk drive as a largewarehouse for your data. Every bin in the warehouserepresents a file, and the boxes filling the bin represent the bytes of data that make up the file.

In order to ensure fast access to your bins, you want to keep the bins at the front of the warehouse full, so they can be pulled from as quickly as possible. Let's say, however, that when you get a new shipment of product, you completely fill up the bin, have more boxes of product to store, and the bins next to it are full as well. In most warehouses, the extra product is moved to the back of the warehouse and a note left in the original bin as to where the overstock is stored.

Your computer works in much the same way. Space is allocated on the hard drive to keep each file. To keep your computer running smoothly, files are often stored right next to each other in the first available space. However, if you go back and add a few pages to that story you were writing, the computer doesn't see any space on the hard drive to store the new data. Therefore, it moves the new data into the next available spot on the hard drive and leaves itself a "note" of sorts as to where the rest of your file is. This splitting of the file into separate pieces is known as "file fragmentation".

Why Do I Need to Defragment My Hard Drive?
As more and more files get more and more fragmented, it takes the computer longer to access these files, whether you're opening, editing, or even deleting them. If we revisit our warehouse analogy, when someone purchases the entire stock of a product, the warehouse employees may have to visit 3-4 different bins to fill the order. This same exact thing is happening on your hard drive.

What Does Defragmenting My Hard Drive Do?
The disk defragmentation process takes all the pieces of a file and puts them back together in one single spot on the hard drive. Additionally, your file is moved toward the front of the drive so that it can be accessed faster.

How Often Do I Need to Defragment My Hard Drive?
This is going to depend on how you use your computer. If you access a lot of large files on a frequent basis, chances are your files will fragment more quickly than someone who only checks his e-mail a few times a week. Generally speaking, the average home user should defragment his or her hard drive 4-6 times per year (which is every 2-3 months).

How Do I Defragment My Hard Drive?
Your operating system should have a built-in utility for performing this task. Check your manual, help files, or favorite search engine for the full procedure. Although the process can take a long time, depending on the size of your files and how many files are fragmented, starting the process is usually straightforward.

If it's been a while since you last defragmented your hard drive, you should notice your computer running much faster and more stably than it was before.

Source: Free Articles

Overclocking your Processor

2011-04-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

Overclocking, which was once the domain of power users and high-end gamers, has now gone mainstream. It's true that overclocking might prove to be a shot in the arm for your CPU. However, if things go awry, you could well have a fried CPU.

There are scads of information regarding overclocking on the Internet. But sadly, most of thewebsites tout overclocking as a walk in the park, misleading users by concealing the associated risks. A computer novice, unaware of the risks involved, may set out to overclock the processor based on some advice he got from such a website. This really makes me cringe. Is the whole process of overclocking a no-brainer?

In simple words, overclocking your processor requires an alteration in the hardware settings in order to make it run faster than the manufacturer's specification. The ideology is that the manufacturer's ratings are a result of stringent trials and tests performed against the CPU. Then onwards, the CPU is tagged with a particular clock frequency at which it can take up substantial workload on a regular basis without malfunctioning. This clock rate is often a notch lower than the maximum a CPU can sustain.

PC enthusiasts perceive this as a windfall, and try to breach the frequency barriers set by the manufacturers. This can be a viable option for CPUs which can be easily overclocked, since some CPUs have better overclockability than others. But in general, overclocking your processor can be a risk-prone endeavor.

Overclocking is also employed by a few unscrupulous component resellers. They overclock a processor, falsely remark it as a high speed processor, and then onwards sell it at profit. Major brands like Intel strive to curtail such swindling acts. Intel has employed a mechanism called CPU locking, where the clock multiplier is set to a permanent value. Therefore, overclocking your processor, especially if it's an Intel product, is a bit harder than usual.

A point to be noted is that Intel's CPU locking mechanism has much to do with unscrupulous vendors rather than end user overclocking. But at the end, it looks like you might have to seek out other means for overclocking your processor.

Let's say you really want something extra from your existing CPU, but you are on a shoestring budget, and the best possible option is overclocking. Even if you opt for overclocking your processor, you need to take a few precautions, lest it can be a real bummer for you.

The conventional heat sink and CPU fan won't do much good, since an overclocked processor dissipates a lot more heat. If not dealt with properly, you could face frequent hang ups, system crashes and random reboots. Though a rarity, your processor could also suffer permanent damage. It is recommended that you install an effective cooling mechanism for your overclocked processor, such as water cooling or Peltier cooling. Also ensure that you possess a computer case that enables proper ventilation for an efficacious cooling.

What I have presented here might appear dissenting to a few overclocking zealots, but it's the truth. I suggest you carry out some basic research before you plan on overclocking your processor.

Source: Free Articles

List of computer hardisk brand - which is better?

2011-01-21T00:24:00.000-08:00

LaCie®
Your best source for high performance, rugged and designer style hard drives. LaCie® builds high performance storage products that are reliable and attractive additions to your buiness or home media entertainment center.

Imation® Solid State Drives from Imation® are industry leading solid state storage technology that provide an solution for drive-intensive applications and environments that experience heat and cold temperatures.

Samsung®
From optical disk drives to standard hard disk, Samsung® builds the best for desktops or mobile applications including surveillance or DVR and the large enterprise.

SimpleTech® portable hard drives that are built from recycled aluminum and bamboo offer both designer class and green storage. Find high performance read / write speeds and free online backup with purchase.

Buffalo Technology™
Award winning network storage and external hard drives offer easy file access and sharing including flash drive storage for portable secure backup.

Fujitsu Hard Drives
Enterprise class performance and capacity in a small form factor make this the choice for fire safe hard drives safes for paper business documents and removable computer media from Sentry Security group.

HP™
Data storage products, solutions and services for storage infrastructure, networking and information management.

ioSafe
Fireproof and waterproof hard drive manufacturer that offers 3.5" internal drives for computers or servers as well as USB desktop storage with RAID or a NAS storage server.

Western Digital®
Manufacturer of several brands and types of hard disk drives for the home entertainment / media server market as well as external storage

Maxtor®
From DAS (direct attached storage) to Network storage drives this division of Seagate Technology® makes some of the most reliable hard drives built for the home, office or enterprise

IBM® Storage Systems
IBM® systems provide scalable and simple data storage for better integrated infrastructures. Choose and compare blade servers or clusters that offer storage for small and large businesses that are flexible and innovative.

IOGEAR®
Pocket card readers, USB 2.0 hubs SATA hard drive enclosures for desktop solutions.

Toshiba®
Internal hard drives in a 2.5" or 1.8" form factor for consumer electronics, laptops, and portable mobile storage for mobile applications or environments.

Olixir®
Rugged external hard drives for military spec applications are the most durable and reliable disk drives for use as portable storage. With patented shock and vibration protection the drives can survive a fall or drop and now include optional encryption technology in Firewire, USB and SATA versions that are engineered for extreme heat and cold temperature and still stay operable.

Hitachi®
Offers a wide range of products in many sizes with hard drive capacity, performance and reliability.

Kanguru Portable HD
High quality, high speed hard drives work with PCs, Notebooks and Macs! Fast and affordable, Kanguru Drives are a great way to increase your computers storage capacity! Offering external hard drives, removable hard drives and even scalable storage solutions.

Apricorn Portable External Hard Drives
Rugged storage that is small enough to fit in your pocket with 1.8" external disk drives, DVD drives or portable floppy disks are high capacity and built with the latest technology.

Windows multi-touch mouse vs Apple Magic Mouse

2011-01-20T00:17:00.000-08:00

The best multi-touch mouse for Windows

Microsoft Touch Mouse makes navigating Windows 7 a breeze. Discover how its elegant design speeds up computing and handles everyday on-screen actions like scrolling, minimizing/maximizing, and docking with easy-to-learn finger gestures.

Features

    * Enhances Windows 7 navigation
    * Allows easy switching between tasks
    * Easy to learn and fun to use
    * Uses gestures to quickly scroll and pan, navigate, and manipulate content
    * Helps you get more done in less time

Microsoft Touch Mouse enhances Windows 7

Touch Mouse brings a new dimension to Windows 7. By quickly responding to gestures, it speeds up everyday tasks that are already fast in Windows 7: scrolling, panning, paging forward and back, docking, minimizing/maximizing, showing desktop, and more.

Touch Mouse also provides elegant touch functionality to non-touch Windows 7 PCs, so you can enjoy dynamic touch sensitivity at a fraction of the cost of a new PC.

Introducing Magic Mouse. The world’s first Multi-Touch mouse.

Now included with every new iMac.

It began with iPhone. Then came iPod touch. Then MacBook Pro. Intuitive, smart, dynamic. Multi-Touch technology introduced a remarkably better way to interact with your portable devices — all using gestures. Now we’ve reached another milestone by bringing gestures to the desktop with a mouse that’s unlike anything ever before. It's called Magic Mouse. It's the world's first Multi-Touch mouse. And while it comes standard with every new iMac, you can also add it to any Mac with Bluetooth wireless technology for a Multi-Touch makeover.
Laser Tracking
Seamless Multi-Touch Surface

Magic Mouse — with its low-profile design and seamless top shell — is so sleek and dramatically different, it brings a whole new feel to the way you get around on your Mac. You can’t help but marvel at its smooth, buttonless appearance. Then you touch it and instantly appreciate how good it feels in your hand. But it’s when you start using Magic Mouse that everything comes together.

The Multi-Touch area covers the top surface of Magic Mouse, and the mouse itself is the button. Scroll in any direction with one finger, swipe through web pages and photos with two, and click and double-click anywhere. Inside Magic Mouse is a chip that tells it exactly what you want to do. Which means Magic Mouse won’t confuse a scroll with a swipe. It even knows when you’re just resting your hand on it.
Laser-Tracking Engine

Magic Mouse uses powerful laser tracking that’s far more sensitive and responsive on more surfaces than traditional optical tracking. That means it tracks with precision on nearly every surface — whether it’s a table at your favorite cafe or the desk in your home office — without the need for a mousepad.

Wireless

Magic Mouse connects to your Mac via Bluetooth wireless technology, so there’s no wire or separate adapter to worry about. Pair Magic Mouse with your Mac and enjoy a reliable and secure connection up to 33 feet away. When you combine Magic Mouse with the Apple Wireless Keyboard, you create a workspace free of annoying cables.

And because Magic Mouse is wireless, it can venture beyond the confines of your desk. A quick flick of the on/off switch helps conserve battery power while Magic Mouse is tucked in your bag. Even when it’s on, Magic Mouse manages power efficiently, by detecting periods of inactivity automatically.

What is multi-touch technology?

2011-01-19T00:09:00.000-08:00

What is multi-touch technology?

On touchscreen displays, multi-touch refers to the ability to simultaneously register three or more distinct positions of input touches.It is often used to describe other, more limited implementations, like Gesture-Enhanced Single-Touch, Dual-Touch or real Multi-Touch.

Multi-touch has been implemented in several different ways, depending on the size and type of interface.

From physical point of view there are:

    * Resistive Touch
    * Surface Capacitive Touch
    * Projected Capacitive Touch (PST)
    * Bending Wave Touch,
    * Surface Acoustic Wave Touch (SAW),
    * Infrared Touch (IR)
    * Optical Touch technology.

The most popular form are mobile devices (iPhone, iPod Touch), tables (Microsoft Surface) and walls. Both touchtables and touch walls project an image through acrylic or glass, and then back-light the image with LEDs. When a finger or an object touches the surface, causing the light to scatter, the reflection is caught with sensors or cameras that send the data to software which dictates response to the touch, depending on the type of reflection measured. Touch surfaces can also be made pressure-sensitive by the addition of a pressure-sensitive coating that flexes differently depending on how firmly it is pressed, altering the reflection.Handheld technologies use a panel that carries an electrical charge. When a finger touches the screen, the touch disrupts the panel's electrical field. The disruption is registered and sent to the software, which then initiates a response to the gesture.

In the past few years, several companies have released products that use multi-touch. In an attempt to make the expensive technology more accessible, hobbyists have also published methods of constructing DIY touchscreens.

The largest Multi-Touch trackpad ever for Mac desktop computer.

Desktop users, your time has come. The new Magic Trackpad is the first Multi-Touch trackpad designed to work with your Mac desktop computer. It uses the same Multi-Touch technology you love on the MacBook Pro. And it supports a full set of gestures, giving you a whole new way to control and interact with what’s on your screen. Swiping through pages online feels just like flipping through pages in a book or magazine. And inertial scrolling makes moving up and down a page more natural than ever. Magic Trackpad connects to your Mac via Bluetooth wireless technology. Use it in place of a mouse or in conjunction with one on any Mac computer — even a notebook.

Magic Trackpad is just like the trackpad on the MacBook Pro — but bigger. It’s made with the same advanced touch-friendly and wear-resistant glass surface. But with nearly 80 percent more area, it’s the largest Multi-Touch trackpad made by Apple. So there’s even more room for you to scroll, swipe, pinch, and rotate to your fingers’ content. And since the entire surface is a button that clicks, you can use it in place of a mouse.
It fits in perfectly.

Magic Trackpad features the same sculpted aluminum design as the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and side by side the two sit flush at the same angle and height. Go from typing to gesturing in one motion, or do both at the same time. How perfect is that?

System Requirements

    * Bluetooth-enabled Mac computer
    * Two AA batteries (included)
    * Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.4 and latest software update

Google unveils Conversation Mode for Translate app

2011-01-18T00:09:00.000-08:00

Jacob Aron, contributor from http://www.newscientist.com

The universal translator is here - if you don't mind huddling around your phone to carry on the conversation.

English-speaking Android owners can now converse in Spanish thanks to a new version of Google's Translate app. The experimental Conversation Mode, currently only in "alpha" testing, analyses English speech and reads out a computerised Spanish translation. Native Spanish speakers can then respond in their own language and have it converted back in to English.

A microphone button for each language makes the app extremely easy to use, and instructions are provided in both English and Spanish. You will need a data connection for the translation to work, but as long as the app has access to Google's vast computing resources you'll get the result back instantly. Be sure to speak up loud and clear, as Google product manager Awaneesh Verma warns that the app may struggle with "regional accents, background noise or rapid speech". Even perfect aural clarity won't guarantee a proper translation, since Google admits that the statistical techniques it uses aren't always accurate.

Google first demonstrated the technology last September with a conversation in English and German but the new app only supports English and Spanish conversations for now. Don't cancel your trip to Berlin just yet though, as speech-to-speech conversion is supported from English to German, French and Italian, but since these languages currently don't work with the Conversation Mode interface your interlingual chat may be a little one-sided.

Despite these limitations, the new app suggests that we'll soon be throwing away our foreign dictionaries. The search giant is almost certainly working to add support for additional languages as part of its continuing efforts to increase the capabilities of Android phones - earlier this week it released a new version of Google Goggles that can solve Sudoku puzzles.

Google's preference for its own mobile platform also means that iPhone owners are currently limited to using the web version of Google Translate, which doesn't include Conversation Mode, but Apple fans have their own translation tool in the form of Word Lens. While it won't help you carry on a conversation, the app does translate foreign language signs captured with your phone's camera. Even the US military is experimenting with smartphone translation, using its own TRANSTAC software. Forget the phrasebook - just take your phone.

Apple Planning 3-D Kinect-Like Interface?

2011-01-05T21:58:00.000-08:00

By Stuart Fox, TechNewsDaily Staff Writer

While most people only woke up to the 3-D video revolution over the course of the last year, the brains over at Apple have been working on the problem for the better part of the last decade. Last month, Apple received approval from the U.S. Patent Office on a five-year-old patent detailing how Steve Jobs and company would produce a 3-D screen that viewers could use without any glasses. Even better, the patent outlines a Kinect-like interface that allows users to control digital 3-D objects as if they existed in real space.

Apple's particular innovation involves combining those screens with a projector and a tracker. As reported elsewhere, the screen style highlighted in the patent only provide the illusion of depth when viewed at specific angles. Apple's patent shows that the device would track the location of the user, altering the image to maintain an 3-D illusion regardless of the user's position. However, according to the patent, the tracker also serves as a 3-D input for any computer, TechNewsDaily has learned. Further investigation shows that Apple's scientists also envision this system running 3-D interactive programs.

"For example, the 3-D display system can present an unobtrusive 3-D virtual desktop (not shown) to the observer in the virtual display volume. The observer is then able to manipulate objects within the desktop by reaching into the virtual display volume and 'grasping,' 'pushing,' or otherwise manipulating the virtual objects as if they were actually present (which they appear to be)," reads the patent.

"The manipulation of the virtual objects occurs because the feedback mechanism recognizes observer movements, such as finger movements, at the locations of the virtual objects and reconfigures the display of the virtual objects in response thereto."

Forget the Kinect -- the Mac brains want you reaching into your iPhone, not just sliding your fingers across it.

The screen, which Apple has not announced anything official about, uses the same trick as the Nintendo DS: lenticular 3-D. In lenticular 3-D, the screen is not a flat surface, but a series of tiny dome-shaped lenses. Two images -- a left and a right -- pass through the small lenses, and distort in a way to create the illusion of depth. Viola, 3-D without the funny-looking head gear.

However, there are some drawbacks. For one, the patent also includes an eye tracking component, which implies that only one user at a time can experience the full range of 3-D. Additionally, previous attempts at mass producing high quality lenticular screens have only worked on smaller, portable screens.

If only Apple made small, portable products with screens that users would want to interact with in 3-D. They should probably get on with developing a few of those...

5 Technologies That Just Might Be Extinct By the End of 2011

2011-01-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

By Ned Smith, BusinessNewsDaily Contributor

Remember 8-track players? Typewriters? How about dial-up modems and VHS tapes?

Relics all, they are mementos of earlier technology that time has passed by. In their day, though, each stood as a triumph of the latest, greatest technology. Do you miss them? We didn’t think so.

With that cautionary tale in mind, BusinessNewsDaily decided to cap off the year on a nostalgic note by taking a look at current technologies that are part of our daily life to see which of them might be ready to jump the shark in the near future. We turned to a number of experts in technology and came up with this highly arbitrary list of candidates for the 2011 Technology Death Pool. Let the debate begin.

Cable TV

Even when peace reigns between cable TV companies and the content providers, and we’re allowed to bask in 200-plus channels of content that ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime, we have an uneasy relationship at best with our cable providers. In most markets they have a monopoly and viewers face a take-it-or-leave-it choice. The alternative is rabbit ears and a digital converter.

Jay Levy, a principal at Zelkova Ventures, a venture capital firm with a technology bent , said the convergence of TV and the Internet is going to level the playing field in television distribution.

We’ll still have a cable leading to our homes and apartments, but it’ll be piping in the cornucopia of content that is the Internet. “People are fed up at this point,” Levy told BusinessNewsDaily. “You’ll continue to see a speeding up of convergence of TV and the computer. You have legitimate players like Apple coming after this market who want to democratize TV. People are already making the transition. I don’t think we’re going to miss anything. It’s going to be better and we’re going to be paying less. Is there anything we miss from black-and-white TV?”

Landline Telephones

POTS (plain old telephone service), with its drooping wires all over the place, is a tired old critter that deserves to be put out to pasture. That’s the sentiment, at least, of the millions of mobile users who have made their devices the telecommunications standard bearer here and abroad. Anyone with an older home who has tried to puzzle out its network of hidden telephone wires will agree that it’s time to cut the cord.

One in four households in the U.S. no longer has a landline connection and AT&T has petitioned the FCC to set a date for the extinction of landlines. Clearly, it’s technology whose time has passed. In the future, experts say, our home phone service most likely will be mobile or piped into our homes along with our Internet. The conventional justification for maintaining landlines was that you didn’t lose service if your electric power went out.

“Power outages are so infrequent that people don’t even remember them,” said Stowe Boyd, a social philosopher and webthropologist who has abandoned landlines altogether. “The younger generation will never use landlines at all.”

Laptop Computers AKA Notebooks

Laptop computers have long been a technology albatross around the road warrior’s neck. Many see them as being the worst of two worlds, trapped in limbo between powerful desktops and highly portable smartphones. Eventually, businesses will provide desktop computers in the office for productivity applications and mobile phones for workers away from their desk, said Khalid Muhammad, the Pakistan-based group managing director of the emagine group.

“With the massive growth of smartphones that do everything from taking pictures to handling MS Office documents, I don’t see people and businesses alike bothering to purchase laptops anymore,” Muhammad told BusinessNewsDaily. “As cloud computing grows more and more acceptable, more companies will start making their technologies, applications and data more mobile. Especially when you look at the massive acceptance of the iPhone and BlackBerry, people have already started to move in that direction, but the final push will be when cloud computing takes a firm hold in corporate environments.”

Hard Drives

Laptops won’t be the only casualty if the cloud establishes data storage and processing dominance. The whole idea of cloud computing drives a stake through the heart of the concept of keeping your information stored locally on a failure-prone device such as a hard drive.

“We will move everything to the cloud, with only a local cache in our PCs,” webthropologist Boyd told BusinessNewsDaily. “I don’t want to have to buy another hard drive. You’ve got to fudge around with them. It’s all bad. What if my hard disk crashed?”

And crash they do, as Boyd and legions of users know from firsthand experience.

“The only thing that saved me was my back-up cloud,” he said. “These guys are much less likely to have a catastrophic failure than I am.”

Desktop Operating System (OS)/Browser

Convergence in computing seems to be getting enough traction now to make it a real possibility rather than a pipe dream. It’s not just the convergence of TV and the Internet or the melding of devices such as the latest generation of smartphones. It’s now getting under the hood with your computer’s operating system and the browser that you use as your window to the online world. It can get confusing, even to the initiated. Take Google’s Chrome browser. The engineers in Mountain View, Calif., home of Google, are also developing an OS called Chrome. Which is which? And does it matter?

“The desktop OS will soon be replaced by a minimalistic OS, which is just a browser,” said Girish Lakshminarayana, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Klea Global, a technology firm. “The Google Chrome OS is a step in this direction. You could say this affects all the other technologies that are related to the standard desktop, including the browser and instant messenger (IM). The browser and IM will combine and will enable true real-time exchange and presence. The IM will acquire browsing capabilities. I better be right, because I have founded a company based on this theory, WebtoIM.”

Next-Generation Intel Chips Focus on Media Processing

2011-01-03T21:38:00.000-08:00

By Dan Hope, TechNewsDaily Staff Writer

In the era of the app, it's all about content, and Intel knows this. That's why the second generation of the Core i3, i5 and i7 processors will have a specific media processing focus, Intel says.

Intel unveiled the next generation of Core processors today, a total of 29 new chips and adapters, saying that users can expect to see up to twice the performance in graphics processing compared to the original Core processors.

The boost in performance is due to Intel's new design that puts the graphics processor and the system processor on the same chip, allowing them to share the same cache memory. This improves graphics processing for everything from gaming to YouTube videos. It's not a new concept – other processors have done the same thing – but it is a first for the Core line.

Intel is also including some new features on the Core processors. Intel Quick Sync Video will make video transcoding much faster (17 times faster than other integrated graphics processors). Intel InTru 3D will make 3-D playback possible over an HDMI connection to a TV. And WiDi 2.0 will allow the Core processors to stream full HD (1080p) video.

This is all good news for media fanatics (who isn't at this point), but it still isn't as powerful as having a discrete graphics processor. Gamers especially will still want to have a separate graphics card to handle newer games.

There are no official release announcements for computers running the new Core processors, but manufacturers are expected to announce many of them at the Consumer Electronics Show this week.

* CES 2011 Preview: Cricket Offers Unlimited Music Downloads
* CES 2011 Preview: Toshiba Tablet
* Samsung Sells 10 Million Galaxy S Smartphones Since June

Germany plans cyber-warfare defense center

2011-01-01T06:40:00.000-08:00

(Reuters) - Germany will create a new cyber-warfare defense center next year to fight off espionage attacks, the German interior ministry said.

"We plan to create a so-called 'National Cyber-Defense Center' in 2011," a spokesman told reporters on Monday. "It will work by bundling existing know-how in the area of cyber defense."

As computer systems become more important to control essential services, from power grids to banking, computerized attacks are seen as becoming as important a part of nations' arsenals as conventional or nuclear weaponry.

Britain announced a 650-million-pound ($1 billion) program last month, labeling cyber security a key priority despite broad cuts to government spending, including on defense.

Several Western security experts believe one computer worm, known as Stuxnet, may have been created by a national counterterrorism authority intent on crippling Iran's nuclear program by sabotaging the industrial control system at its atomic energy plant in Bushehr.

(Reporting by Rene Wagner and Christiaan Hetzner)

Do you need Autoresponder?

2010-12-31T06:38:00.000-08:00

Autoresponder can be personalized, especially when you need to add a personal touch in answering your inquiries. It helps a lot especially when there is a large bulk of work and inquiries are coming in. It also gives you a chance to systematize work.It is sometimes called automailer, infobot, mailbot, or simply known as an e- mail responder.

The good thing about autoresponder is you can put on your subscription list and delete or add addresses at will. In so doing you manage your customers very well, and nobody is left out.

You can send business discounts twenty four hours daily, using your management screen. These mailings can be sent to all your subscribers or selected clients only, depending on your client segmentation.

If you have a website for your business, it is advisable to have an autoresponder, because it will help new comers, and they will experience first class personalize experience even if it's a virtual reality shopping center, or even if it is a site for selling cars or tractors. Whatever type of business you have, an autoresponder is helpful in building traffic and making your first time and old time clients feel first class.

Why you should go for Bluetooth mice

2010-12-30T06:33:00.000-08:00

Bluetooth mice are compatible with many different devices. For example, if the user installs the correct drivers on their cell phone, they can use their bluetooth mouse to crawl through menus and select options on their cell phone as if the two devices were always meant to be used together. Bluetooth mice also work with PDAs, MP3 players, cordless home phones, and many other devices. Each device must, of course, be bluetooth-enabled and individual devices may require different drivers.

Bluetooth mice can also be taken virtually anywhere, put in virtually any pocket (bags, jackets, etc.), and can be used by many different devices. Bluetooth mice also have a much farther range than other wireless mice. For example, an infrared mouse has a "line of sight" which means that it has to be able to actually see the device; bluetooth mice do not have this problem as they use radio waves instead of infrared lasers. While an infrared mouse has a range of 5-6 feet, a bluetooth mouse has a range of about 30 feet.

The best Bluetooth mouse so far is the Razer Orochi Notebook Gaming Mouse is aimed at traveling notebook gamers, Razer presents the Orochi Bluetooth Notebook Gaming Mouse. This is an ultra-high-performance Bluetooth mouse, equipped with a 4000dpi sensor for precise inputs. The Orochi gives you the option of wireless mode, or a performance-enhancing wired mode for when you can set up your equipment. A 3-foot micro-USB cable is provided, along with a gold-plated micro-USB port on the mouse itself. The Orochi features Razer’s Synapse on-board memory function for loading your configuration profiles, along with an on-the-fly sensitivity adjustment. Although it may be expensive, the extra precision and rapid response times make the Razer Orochi Bluetooth Notebook Gaming Mouse an attractive option for those looking for a Bluetooth mouse that can deliver wired-mouse performance.

Do you know about a Keyboard Sniffer?

2010-12-29T06:21:00.000-08:00

keyboard sniffer is a program which reads the keystrokes made by a user and transmits them to someone else. Such programs are usually used by intruders into computer systems in order to capture important information such as PASSWORDS.

Depending on the nature of the keyboard sniffer, it can be difficult to detect and remove the application. Many sniffers are designed to be installed at the Operating System (OS) kernel-level as a rootkit, which gives them access to all information typed on a computer's keyboard. The primary means of detection is to keep a commercial anti-virus program active and updated on the computer. To help guard against keyboard loggers that the anti-virus cannot detect, keep a sharp eye on email and bank account information. Both can indicate whether your accounts have been hacked as you will notice unexplained transactions or get confirmation emails for services that you have not ordered.

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LG Xnote P210 Claims World's Thinnest Bezel Title

2010-12-28T06:13:00.000-08:00

LG Xnote P210 Claims World's Thinnest Bezel Title
by Roydon Cerejo

Just when we thought LG was throwing in the towel with their notebook lineup, out comes a new Xnote P210 to grab the title of the world's thinnest bezel. LG has managed to fit a 12.5" screen in a size that is similar to notebooks with 11.6" form factor. The notebook is actually quite powerful as it packs in a Core i5 -470UM processor, 4GB of RAM and 320GB hard drive. There isn't any mention of the screen resolution but it has an "HD Ready" badge so expect something like 1366x768 resolution.

The P210 is extremely light at just 1.3kg and measures around 299 x 192 x 20.9 mm. On the connectivity front, the notebook has WiFi 'n', Bluetooth 3.0 and Windows 7 Home Premium x64. From it's slim design and specification it seems like it will go against Acer's Timeline X series when it comes out sometime in February next year. The P210 should be priced around US. $1,100 (Rs. 49,500).

Internet road rules near FCC vote Part 2

2010-12-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

WIRELESS FREEDOM

Genachowski has proposed giving wireless Internet providers even greater freedom to manage traffic, in recognition of wireless' status as a younger technology.Supporters of the wireless portion of the plan say it recognizes the limited bandwidth available to support everything from telephone calls to movie downloads.

At stake is how quickly handheld devices, like Research in Motion Ltd's BlackBerry and Apple Inc's iPhone, can receive videos and other data-heavy content.Some critics of Genachowski's proposal say it gives Internet providers too much power and fear it could harm consumers, stifle innovation and carve up the Internet in irreversible ways, contrary to "open" Internet concepts.

More than 80 groups sent a letter to the FCC on December 10, saying Genachowski's proposal was not "real" net neutrality.

They demanded a ban on paid prioritization of online content, which would prohibit Internet providers from charging websites for a "fast lane" to reach users more quickly."It is likely that there is going to be strong language disfavoring paid prioritization," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior vice president and policy director of the Media Access Project.

Medley Global Advisors analyst Jeffrey Silva said Copps and Clyburn would likely vote to adopt the rules, but issue statements outlining where they believe the regulations fall short.Specific details of the draft order have not been made public as the commissioners work to shape the final proposal.

Silva expects the final rules to stay close to Genachowski's December 1 outline of his proposal, to avoid angering the various Internet stakeholders currently backing his plan.Arbogast said tougher rules would stir up these stakeholders and could prompt more aggressive challenges of the rules in court, particularly from wireless carriers like AT&T Inc and the cable television companies.

Schwartzman said everybody who is unhappy will go to court. "I would expect challenges from all directions -- people who think it's gone too far and people who think it hasn't gone far enough."

Internet road rules near FCC vote Part 1

2010-12-19T23:06:00.000-08:00

By Jasmin Melvin

WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 19, 2010 1:40pm EST

(Reuters) - A controversial proposal for Internet traffic rules that would allow providers to ration access to their networks is scheduled to come before communications regulators for a vote on Tuesday.

The rules would ban high-speed Internet providers like Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications from blocking lawful traffic, but are expected to acknowledge their need to manage network congestion and possibly charge consumers based on Internet usage.Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan will likely attract the grudging support of his two fellow Democrats, analysts say, overcoming opposition from the agency's two Republicans.

Items on the FCC's agenda are sometimes withdrawn on late notice when agreement cannot be reached, but those following the issue think Democrats Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn will decide imperfect rules are better than no rules at all.Copps wanted the FCC to reclassify Internet traffic under tougher rules applying to telephone service, while Clyburn has said she is uneasy about giving wireless Internet providers more freedom to manage their networks than wireline services.

The Republican commissioners have said they prefer that Internet traffic remain free of regulation."But I still think it's more likely that they will work something out," said Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus and a former division chief at the FCC.Internet providers say they should be free to manage their networks for the benefit of all users, but content providers fear disruption of access and anti-competitive behavior.

The rules could help cable companies battling competitors who deliver competing video content over the same Internet lines the cable companies hook up to customers' homes.Level 3 Communications, a company that helps Netflix Inc stream videos online, has accused Comcast of charging it unfair fees to deliver content to Comcast subscribers.The FCC's ability to regulate the Internet has been in doubt since an appeals court in April said the agency lacked the authority to stop Comcast from blocking bandwidth-hogging applications.Court challenges are expected over this latest rule-making effort, although senior FCC officials have said they will invoke new legal arguments not employed in the Comcast case.

5 Benefits Of Smarthphone Bluetooth

2010-12-19T22:44:00.000-08:00

The technology stays Bluetooth technology is a world wide, universal wireless standard.
Instant PAN (Personal Area Network) You can connect up to seven Bluetooth devices to each other within a range of up to 30 feet, forming a piconet or PAN. For a single room, you can also set up multiple piconets.
Low energy consumption As a result of Bluetooth using low power signals, the technology requires very little energy and will use less battery or electrical power as a result.
Standardized protocol Bluetooth is standardized wireless, meaning that a high level of compatibility among devices is guaranteed.
Bluetooth is actually inexpensive The technology of Bluetooth is cheap for companies to implement, which results in lower costs for the company.

Mozilla Moves

2010-11-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

Mozilla Moves Sharing from Web Pages to Browser
By Leslie Meredith, TechNewsDaily Senior Writer

Mozilla Labs this week launched F1, a social plug-in for Firefox to quickly share any webpage link along with a personal comment from the user. For now you can share to Facebook, Twitter and Gmail contacts, but creators Mozilla Messaging say they will add more options in the next round of development.

After a quick install, the F1 icon is displayed in the upper right hand corner of the browser window. Click and a dialogue box appears with options to share to Facebook, Twitter and Gmail. Once you've allowed access to your accounts, it's a simple matter to choose your channel, add a note and post.

Twitter users will appreciate F1's automatic URL shortener using bit.ly. Facebook users will like the fact they can add a comment along with the expected screenshot and brief description.

The Gmail integration is especially slick. When you choose to email a contact, the auto complete function that's part of Gmail's "compose new message" is also part of F1. Start typing a contact name and the address is automatically inserted based on your Gmail address book.

Yahoo was supposed to be included in the options, but Yahoo's mandatory CAPTCHA got in the way, according to F1 developers. "If this extra step were avoidable we would consider adding Yahoo back into the list of supported services," Bryan Clark, Mozilla Labs developer, wrote in a blog post.

At the end of the day, it's Mozilla's attempt to make sharing a browser feature rather than a web page feature, and start to clear off all those sharing button arrays that lead to "web pages that are cluttered, ugly, but also not very usable."

Low-cost handsets and smartphones

2010-11-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

Low-cost handsets and smartphones will together account for almost 79% of all new mobile phones by 2014, according to analyst Juniper Research.

Juniper Research predicted that demand for mobile phones will be driven by the influx of new users from low-income socio-economic groups in developing markets and a rising demand for complex "smart" devices from affluent users in developed markets.

Mobile phone makers such as Nokia, Apple and RIM (makers of Blackberry) are well positioned to benefit from these trends, according to Juniper Research. However, mid-market phone manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson and Motorola will have to rethink their strategy.

The report's author Andrew Kitson said: "Low-cost handset shipments will number more than 700 million in 2014, up by 31% from levels seen in 2008, albeit down slightly from a peak of 716 million in 2012, as some users begin to upgrade to costlier devices.

"At the same time, smartphone shipment volumes will grow continuously across the forecast period, reaching almost 360 million by the end of the period. We therefore expect that mid-range device sales volumes will fall by more than 41% over the period."

Smartphones are becoming increasingly used as essential business tools. Microsoft and Nokia have joined forces to port Microsoft Office to Nokia smart phones, a move that could see the Nokia devices become more integrated with corporate IT.

Articles by Cliff Saran from http://www.computerweekly.com

mobile coupons

2010-11-16T08:16:00.000-08:00

This report looks in depth at the key developments within the mobile coupons market over the past 12 months and includes a number of key interviews with leading mobile coupon vendors, coupon scheme operators and mobile marketing agencies.

Key questions answered by this report include:

* How many mobile subscribers will use their mobiles to redeem coupons over the next five years?
* Which will be the leading regions in the market in 2014?
* What will be the size of overall mobile coupon redemption values?
* How large will be the NFC coupons and smart posters ARPU opportunity?
* What are the trends, drivers and constraints affecting the development of the market?
* What will be the regional trends in mobile coupon values over the next five years?
* How are mobile coupons currently being used by brands and merchants around the world?

Currently, almost all of the mobile coupon systems are based on delivering a code, usually a barcode, to the mobile phone. The code is either stored in the SMS or MMS inbox or is sent to a mobile coupon application that has been downloaded to the phone, as is the case with the Cellfire solution in the USA. Downloadable applications allow for the end-to-end coupon transaction to be managed from a single point and allow other mobile advertising applications to work in parallel to the mobile coupon function. With the growth of smart phones, coupon-specific downloadable apps have become very common over the last year, often linked to location based searches. And By 2014, consumer usage of mobile coupons will generate a redemption value close to $6bn globally.

news from http://www.computerweekly.com

6 Internet Security Suites Software

2010-11-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

Here are the criteria we used to evaluate internet security suites software:

Antispyware
Spyware is becoming the top threat to computers today. The security software you choose must have antispyware features capable of defeating worms, Trojans, adware and any other kind of spyware that might be out there. Suites that come from companies that offer quality antispyware products have a leg up in this area.

Antivirus
Although viruses have slipped behind spyware on the list of top security threats, they’re still a very real concern. You need to pick a suite with the ability to take down any viruses your computer might come across. The best antivirus applications include advanced heuristics which can spot virus-like activity long before a virus program has been identified and added to a protection program’s virus definitions.

Firewall
When you’re dealing with threats to the sanctity of your digital domain, you need to have a wall in place to keep them from coming in. Your ideal suite should have a firewall that stops threats before they have to pass through antivirus or antispyware scanners. The best firewalls are two-way, preventing not only incoming threats but also blocking outgoing information that can compromise your data or identity. The firewall needs to be the most solid part of your defense against computer security threats.

Other Security/Features
Your suite of choice should have a number of different features besides their antivirus, antispyware and firewall options. The more useful features you have, the more useful your program is going to seem to your customers. Useful features do nothing but increase the value of a program. Parental controls are prominent among these extras as are programs that help protect your identity by providing defense against spam and phishing attempts.

Ease of Use
Protecting your computer is a serious game that’s not for the faint of heart. The suite you choose must be easy enough for computer novices to figure out yet versatile enough for computer experts to be able to take advantage of their advanced features.

Help/Support
The software manufacturer must have enough help and support options in place to answer whatever questions you may have when you’re trying to keep your computer protected. These options can come either within the program or on the manufacturer’s website. All that matters is that they exist and they are going to be there when you need them.

Instant Previews by Google

2010-11-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

Google has updated its search capability with Instant Previews, which enables users to see what a web page looks like before opening it.

The Instant Previews feature comes just two months after Google Instant, which displays results as users type in search terms.

Now users can find the right results even faster, says Google, by looking at snapshots of the webpages by clicking on the magnifying glass next to any search result and then hovering over further results.

"In our testing, we've found that people who use Instant Previews are about 5% more likely to be satisfied with the results they click," Raj Krishnan, a Google product manager, wrote in a blog post.

"The previews provide new ways to evaluate search results, making you more likely to find what you're looking for on the pages you visit."

But it is difficult to predict what impact the innovation will have on pay-per-click advertising, said Jim Warren, pay-per-click (PPC) account manager at search marketing agency Greenlight.

"However, you can be sure a negative reaction to a site layout or colour design of a website in Google Instant Previews would have an effect on online advertisers' percentage click-through rates, something they have not had to worry about in the past," he said.

This would result in a drop in quality score and an increase in cost per click, not good news for sites with a poor user experience, said Jim Warren.

But he said there could be a positive impact on brands with easily recognisable colours that may find they benefit from Google Instant Previews.

However, he warned this could lead to a rise in PPC sites using similar colours and designs to big brands, in a bid to trick users into clicking on the wrong site.

news from http://www.computerweekly.com

Trend Micro Anti-Spyware

2010-11-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

Trend Micro Anti-Spyware for the Web

Trend Micro Anti-Spyware for the Web is a free online tool that checks computers for spyware, and helps remove any infections discovered. When the detection process is complete, the tool will display a report describing the results including which if any, spyware was detected, and prompt you before beginning the removal process.

Symptoms of spyware infections:

Slow computer performance when opening programs or saving files
Unwanted pop-ups
Browser homepage hijacking
Repeated change in your web browser's home page
Random error messages
New and unexplained toolbars in your web browser
Supported Operating Systems: Windows XP/2000/ME/98 SE