Intel's @ Computer Update

Intel's MMX Inside

2009-08-30T16:34:00.000+06:00

The 57 instructions that make up MMX use a technique called Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) to deliver better performance by performing more tasks in parallel, or at the same time. Joanne Hasegawa, an Intel spokesperson, says MMX works because of the nature of most multimedia programming code.

"Multimedia and communications code tends to be small and repetitive," she says, "but there just seems to be so much of it." MMX lets the chip churn through more of these operations at once rather than serially, or one another. When the chip does more jobs at the same time, everything speeds up.

Intel says the performance boost will let its processors run several simultaneous, CPU-intensive multimedia tasks with more than enough power left over for additional applications. MMX is an attempt to keep the Intel-based PC in its position as the premier tool for running today's graphics-rich multimedia software and games. Other microprocessor companies such as Sun have added similar instructions to their architectures, but MMX appears to be the most ambitious such attempt to date.

MMX technology is based upon a careful analysis of multimedia applications. Intel engineers found that most video, music, image processing, and game applications shared several key features in the way they used a CPU's computing time. Chief among these was the large number of small, repetitive loops a program goes through to redraw screen elements or replay bits of sounds. MMX technology adds instructions to Intel chips to grant them special capabilities for dealing with these short, repetitive arithmetic operations.

In a graphics application, for instance, the individual pixels—the tiny dots that together make an image on a screen—usually are represented inside the computer as 8-bit numbers, or bytes. In a chip using MMX technology, eight of these bytes might be packed into one 64-bit number and moved together into the MMX area of the CPU. The necessary mathematical operations then are performed on all eight bytes at the same time.

The faster performance provided by this advanced number-crunching means developers can pump bigger data strings through the CPU in the time smaller strings now take. This ability leads not only to faster software, but to better software.

Intel's MMX Boosts Multimedia

2009-08-30T16:31:00.001+06:00

Intel plans to roll out new versions of its flagship desktop chip later this year, featuring special multimedia extensions for zipping through graphics and sound-intensive tasks. Intel calls its "MMX" multimedia instruction set the most significant enhancement to the Intel chip architecture since the 386 CPU, which extended the 80x86 family to 32 bits.

While Intel's statement invites charges of public relations exaggeration, designers at software companies from Macromedia to Microsoft lining up to incorporate the new technology into their code. Users will get to see for themselves how speedy MMX really is by the fourth quarter of 1996. The first MMX-enhanced Pentium, code-named P55C, is set to begin shipping toward the end of the year, with large-volume shipments ramping up in 1997. Because MMX instructions must be built into the CPU, owners of existing 486s, or even Pentiums, won't be able to add MMX to their systems without upgrading the entire chip.

Intel acquires Xircom

2009-08-30T16:28:00.001+06:00

The announcement came just before the release of its full-year 2000 results and as Nasdaq-listed Californian-based Xircom released Q1 2001 results.

The all-cash deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year, after which Xircom will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Network Communications Group. Xircom's board of directors has approved the $25 per share agreement and recommended stockholders accept the offer.

Mark Christensen, Intel vice-president and general manager network comms, said: "The acquisition provides Intel with an award-winning line- up of products and technologies in the fast growing mobile computing area.

"Xircom's strengths in small form factor design, combined with our silicon expertise, will allow us to provide customers with news and innovative solutions for linking mobile computing devices to corporate wired and wireless networks."

Xircom's Q1 saless were down 3.22% to $120.1m, with net income, excluding acquisition-related costs, of $200,000, compared to $15.3m, although when those costs are included it made a loss of $2.5m.

The combined strengths of Intel and Xircom will be a tremendous benefit. Customers will have access to a more complete line of products and will benefit from the innovation our companies will apply to mobile computing and wireless network.

Intel's 65W Quad-Cores

2009-08-30T16:27:00.000+06:00

Core 2 isn't going to be phased out soon, we're unlikely to see many more releases under that moniker. Last month, specifications were leaked for a potential Core 2 Duo E8700, a 3.5GHz offering, which we could probably expect to be the final C2D Dual-Core chip, although nothing's ever really set in stone. On the Quad-Core side of things, Intel helped pad their line-up with the help of three new models, launched late last month.

Each of these new models belong to the "S" series, although I don't believe that the letter represents an actual word. In addition, each of the new chips are absolutely identical to their non-"S" counterparts, aside from the lower TDP. At the top-end, the Q9550s is Intel's only 65W offering that includes 12MB of L2 Cache. This chip, like the original, settles in nicely at 2.83GHz.

That's not the CPU we're investigating today, however. Rather, we have both the Q9400S and Q8200S, two different processors that cater to two different crowds. The mid-range Q9400S runs at 2.66GHz and includes 6MB of L2 Cache, while the Q8200S (and non-"S") currently remains as Intel's lowest-end desktop Quad-Core offering, at 2.33GHz with 4MB of L2 Cache. All three of the new models continue to run with a 1333MHz front-side bus.

Intel's 65W Quad-Cores - A Closer Look

So, what's the reason for a launch of 65W Quad-Core parts at this point in time? It's difficult to assume, but it could be that since the Core i7 launch, the company hasn't released much in the way of processors, so the timing might have seemed right. To add to it, we can no longer go a single day without hearing about the effects of global warming and the shape of the environment, so the "S"-line might intrigue crowds who are passionate about those issues.

There is one caveat, though - the price. in our news a few weeks ago, these models are going to see limited adoption solely because of their premium pricing, and even Intel themselves acknowledge this. People that purchase these are those who are either building SFF (Small Form-Factor) PCs and want a fast CPU with great thermals, or those who are simply looking for the fastest CPU with the lowest power consumption possible.

Intel notes that all three of these models have been available as off-roadmap chips to OEMs for some time, and that won't change. It's only now that they've begun offering them to regular consumers, and while it's still catering to a very specific audience, it's a nice move.

Quad-Core CPU Name	Cores	Clock	Cache	QPI/FSB	TDP	1Ku Price
Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition	4	3.20GHz	8MB	3200MHz	150W	$999
Intel Core i7-940	4	2.93GHz	8MB	2400MHz	130W	$562
Intel Core i7-920	4	2.66GHz	8MB	2400MHz	130W	$284
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9775	4	3.20GHz	2 x 6MB	1600MHz	150W	$1,499
Intel Core 2 Extreme Q9650	4	3.00GHz	2 x 6MB	1333MHz	130W	$316
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550S	4	2.83GHz	2 x 6MB	1333MHz	65W	$369
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550	4	2.83GHz	2 x 6MB	1333MHz	95W	$266
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400S	4	2.66GHz	2 x 3MB	1333MHz	65W	$320
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400	4	2.66GHz	2 x 3MB	1333MHz	95W	$213
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300	4	2.50GHz	2 x 3MB	1333MHz	95W	$266
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200S	4	2.33GHz	2 x 2MB	1333MHz	65W	$245
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200	4	2.33GHz	2 x 2MB	1333MHz	95W	$163

As seen in the table above, the pricing premiums are rather stark. Where the Q8200 is concerned, we can see a 50% ($82) increase, while at the top-end, the Q9550 sees a 38.7% ($103) bump. There's an obvious price to be paid for fine-tuned products, but it's still too bad to see increases like these. If it was a more modest bump, we'd likely see far greater adoption.

One thing that should be stressed though, is that while the new models will naturally draw less power over time, when compared to non models, thermals will alo see an improvement. With less voltage being required to run to the CPU, the temperatures will drop, which is one of the reasons the "S"-line is perfectly-suited for SFF PC builders.

Intel Reveals Westmere 32nm Roadmap

2009-08-30T16:21:00.001+06:00

That announcement was a precursor to a media briefing that was held this afternoon, where all of the focus was directed towards the company's "Tick" phase. As a quick recap, Intel abides by a Tick/Tock methodology, where the Tock is a brand-new micro-architecture, such as Nehalem, while Tick is a revision, which, up to now, has always involved a brand-new process.

As we've known for a while, Intel's first 32nm processors are known as Westmere, which is a follow-up to Nehalem. However, there's a lot more to Westmere than just a die shrink, as Intel has made numerous changes to the architecture. No joke. Intel has either changed or added so much here, that Westmere could almost be considered to be a "Tock" phase. But, Westmere isn't really a brand new micro-architecture, but a revision to Nehalem, with many features tacked-on.

One of the main pieces of information most people are going to look for out of a media briefing like this is the roadmap update, and that's one thing we got. Although most of the talk was about Westmere, we're still far from done with the 45nm offerings, and many more are en route. Take the Lynnfield desktop chip, for example, which is likely to come out as Core i5, and also the mobile counterpart Clarksfield. Both of these chips will be Quad-Cores that feature 8 threads, just like Nehalem. Imagine that... eight threads on a notebook.

Both the desktop Lynnfield (LGA-1156) and mobile Clarksfield (mPGA-989) will become available sometime this year, with the 32nm parts to come later. What's most notable about the 32nm parts though, is the fact that initial models will deliver both a GPU and CPU inside of the same processor.

This is an area where we have to divulge a little more information, because this progression is far too important to just skip through. When launched, Intel will likely become the first to offer a GPU + CPU in one package, the result of which should be IGP graphics performance that is unparallelled to anything before it. It's really hard to conclude on that thinking without testing the processor out for ourselves, but placing a GPU so close to the CPU has got to be something that brings noticeable benefit.

The major changes don't end there, however... even our motherboards will undergo some alteration. Because of the die shrink, and the move of the memory controller onto the CPU, various components have been shifted around, as a result, the Southbridge has been removed entirely. The slide shown below gives an example of the new "2-Chip Solution".

Intel Core 2 Overclocking Basics

2009-08-30T16:18:00.002+06:00

Intel's LGA 775 Core 2 series has been an extremely successful line of desktop processors. Most models are somewhat overclockable, and some are real overclocking monsters. Both Intel and nVidia have recently produced motherboard chipsets really conducive to overclocking. In the past, it was obvious that all but a handful of motherboard manufacturers considered overclocking as an annoyance, but today, nearly all motherboard manufacturers incorporate overclock-specific features into their motherboards and BIOS, and advertise their motherboards as overclock-friendly.

Depending on the BIOS, overall, the Core 2 is an easy overclocker. Gains are easily seen by merely raising the FSB to increase the CPU speed. There are certain models, or particular steppings of models, that aren't great overclockers, but if the CPU happens not to be a great overclocker, gains can also be seen by lowering the CPU multiplier to keep the processor running at or near stock speed, and just increasing the FSB, or Front Side Bus, though usually a better motherboard is required for significant performance increases using that method.

Even though overclocking has come a long way from hacked BIOS, pencil tracing, etc, it still isn't for the squeamish. You can still fry your CPU or motherboard, though it is much harder due to safety measures built into Intel processors and most motherboards. But with a little preparation and forethought, nearly anyone can successfully give their rig some extra oomph by a mild overclock, or make it really scream with a serious overclock. Read on to find out how!

This primer is directed towards the begin overclocker, or for the enthusiast recently introduced to LGA 775 Intel processors. It will cover the bare basics, and is in no way intended to teach someone to be an extreme overclocker, nor will the seasoned Core 2 overclocker likely learn much if at all from this article.

Intel Core i7 Processors

2009-08-30T15:56:00.001+06:00

Core Frequencies - 3.2GHz (965), 2.93GHz (940), 2.66 (920)
QPI Speed - 6.4GT/s (965), 4.8GT/s (940, 920)
TDP (Thermal Design Power) - 130W
Stepping - 4
Number of CPU Cores - 4
Shared L3 Cache - 8MB
L2 Cache - 1MB (256K x 4)
Processor input voltage (VID) - 1.160v
.045-micron manufacturing process
Shared Smart Cache Technology
PECI Enabled
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST)
Extended HALT State (C1E) Enabled
Execute Disable Bit (XD) Enabled
Intel 64 Technology
Intel Virtualization Technology (VT)

Packaging - Flip Chip LGA1366
Total Die Size: Approximately 263mm2
Approximately 731M Transistors
MSRP - $999 (965), $562 (940), $284 (920)

Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology

2009-05-02T14:08:00.000+06:00

New Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology Brings 'HD-to-Go'; Adds Security and Manageability Features, Boosts Speed, Battery Life and Wireless Range

SAN FRANCISCO, July 15, 2008 – Intel Corporation unveiled its Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology products for laptops today, powered by five new Intel® Core™2 Duo processors. Close to 250 innovative consumer and business notebook PC designs are on the way, including those equipped with the right combination of powerful processors, graphics and battery life to enjoy viewing stunning high definition videos and myriad other computer and Internet activities.

Intel also introduced intel mobile core processer, the Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor running at a brisk 3.06 GHz, as measured by SPECint*_rate_base2006, an industry benchmark (www.spec.org)**.

Rounding out a mobile-focused summer for the company, Intel said it also plans to unveil eight processors within 90 days that will include first-ever mobile quad-core products and second-generation products for ultra-thin and light notebooks. In total, Intel will bring 14 diverse new processors into the marketplace as laptop sales continue to outpace desktop PCs.

Formerly codenamed Montevina, Intel Centrino 2 processor technology and technology improve upon every facet of a laptop's main features, including performance and battery life via new processors and chipsets, faster draft 802.11n wireless (with winmax arriving later this year), and new business-class manageability capabilities.

"When we first introduced intel , there were very few Wi-Fi hotspots, YouTube videos and social media didn't really exist, ‘thin and light' only referred to weight goals and desktop PCs outsold notebooks by a very wide margin," said Mooly Eden, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of the company's Mobile Platforms Group. "Today, notebooks outsell desktops in the U.S, and we're paving the way to HD entertainment, rich online gaming, faster broadband wireless speeds and an easier and more secure way for businesses to manage, update and repair their notebook fleets."

Intel is introducing intel's core based on Intel's reinvented transistors (high-k metal gate formula) and advanced 45-nanometer manufacturing process. These processors come with a faster 1066MHz front side bus and up to 6MB of L2 cache, and three versions reduce laptop processor wattage about 30 percent, down to just 25 watts. Also featured is Deep Power Down Technology that turns off processing components such as core clocks and cache memory when the laptop is idle for greater energy savings.

Intel also unveiled its Mobile Intel® 45 Express Chipset and wireless Intel® Wi-Fi Link 5000 series that is shipping to customers now, with laptops arriving later in July and August. Delivering five times the speed and twice the range of older 802.11a/g technology, the Intel Wi-Fi Link 5000 series provides 802.11 draft-N support that delivers the fastest data rates possible today -- up to 450 Mbps.

Switchable graphics, a new optional power-saving feature available on Intel Centrino 2-based notebooks, provides both integrated and discrete graphics on a single notebook, enabling users to easily switch between the two options. Switchable graphics delivers greater 3-D performance when needed while providing the option for greater power savings for the best of both worlds.

For consumers, Intel Centrino 2 processor technology delivers the horsepower and battery life to enjoy a typical full-length, Blu-ray* high-definition video on a single battery charge for the first time, plus the ability to play a variety of online games, download music or post videos faster than before.

For businesses, Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology offers enhanced manageability and security options. This is increasingly important as companies replace desktops with notebooks and need to remotely diagnose, update and repair systems over a wireless network. Improved manageability with atm 4.0 has also been added that provides wireless manageability during system sleep states, ongoing remote configuration capabilities, support for next-generation management standards (WS-MAN and DASH 1.0) and the ability for an employee to initiate communications to IT from outside a company's firewall.

Intel Security Implications of Mobile Workforce

2009-05-02T13:53:00.004+06:00

Notebook Computer Study Reveals Security Implications of Mobile Workforce

Study Uncovers Surprising Financial Repercussions of Lost and Stolen Notebooks

The study, which was conducted by the Intel, calculated that notebooks lost or stolen in airports, taxis and hotels around the world cost their corporate owners an average of $49,246, reflecting the value of the enclosed data above the cost of the PC.

"For a rapidly growing number of workers, desktop computers have given way to notebooks, rewarding users with the increased productivity and freedom that mobility affords," said molly Edan, vice president and general manager, Mobile Platforms Group. "As this trend continues, the study suggests that companies need to be increasingly vigilant that their security systems are up for the job. At Intel, providing adequate security not only requires development of effective technologies, such as Intel anti thief , but also collaboration with the leading providers of encryption, data-deletion and other security services to ensure comprehensive solutions."

Intel undertook the study to better understand the problems and solutions associated with lost notebooks. The study reveals that sensitive data, not the notebook itself, is the primary factor driving costs upward. The study also suggests that use of products and technologies for encrypting data reduces the financial consequences.

Analyzing 138 instances of lost and stolen notebooks, the study based the $49,246 price tag on costs associated with replacement, detection, forensics, data breach, lost intellectual property, lost productivity, and legal, consulting and regulatory expenses. Data breach alone represents 80 percent of the cost.

"This is the first study to benchmark the full cost of a lost or stolen notebook," said Dr. Larry Ponman, chairman and founder of the Ponman Institute. "Some of the results are startling to say the least, pointing to the sizable consequences associated with the loss of notebooks and, more importantly, the data inside them that companies must consider."

The study also shows that how quickly a company learns of the missing notebook plays heavily in the eventual cost. The average cost if the notebook is discovered missing the same day is $8,950, according to the study. After more than one week, this figure can reach as high as $115,849.

Who owns a missing notebook also plays an important role in the cost. Surprisingly, it is not the Ceo's computer that is the most valued, but a director or manager. A senior executive's notebook is valued at $28,449, while a director or manager's notebook is worth $60,781 and $61,040, respectively.

Solutions
The study found that data encryption makes the most significant difference in the average cost: A lost notebook with an encrypted hard-disk drive is valued at $37,443, compared with $56,165 for a non encrypted version.

PC that can be triggered by internal detection mechanisms or by a remote server to lock a lost or stolen notebook, rendering it completely useless. The technology can respond, for example, to repeated log in failures or expiration of a timer that requires a notebook to periodically connect to a central server. Intel Anti-Theft Technology, which is available from a growing number of PC manufacturers, is frequently offered through companies that provide data-encryption or deletion services.

Intel Next Generation Device

2009-05-02T13:39:00.004+06:00

Intel® Atom™ Processor Anniversary Brings New Chips, Demonstration of Next-Generation Device

Intel Executives Share Vision, Updates at Beijing Tech Event

BEIJING, April 8, 2009 – Celebrating the 1-year anniversary of Intel Corporation's introduction of its wildly popular Intel® Atom™ processor family, Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group, introduced two new processors for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and several other milestones during his keynote today at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing.

Chandrasekher was joined by two other Intel executives, Craig Barrett and Pat Gelsinger, whose keynotes focused on the company’s directions for the next year and beyond. The event, held at the Renaissance Beijing Capital Hotel, was geared toward the Chinese market in support of local innovation and Intel’s industry leadership in the region.

Mobility Keynote
During his keynote, titled "Mobility's Next Wave of Growth," Chandrasekher demonstrated the first live demo of Intel's next-generation Atom-based MID platform, codenamed "Moorestown." Chandrasekher provided a sneak peek into the low-power innovation of the platform by showcasing a greater than 10x idle power

reduction compared to today's Atom-based platform in a side-by-side demo. This dramatic reduction is made possible through a combination of new power management techniques, a new partition optimized for the MID segments and Intel's Hi-k 45nm manufacturing process.

Due by 2010, the Moorestown platform is comprised of a System on Chip (codenamed "Lincroft") that integrates a 45nm Intel® Atom™ processor core, graphics, video and memory controller, and a companion input/output (I/O) hub (codenamed "Langwell"). The platform will be accompanied by a new Moblin software version that is optimized to enable the rich,

interactive, PC-like Internet experience along with cellular voice capabilities.

Intel also announced two new Atom processors for MIDs: the Z550 and Z515. The Z550 extends the performance of the MID product line to 2GHz with Intel Hyperthreading technology support, setting a new standard for the highest performance processor in the under-3-watt power envelope. The Z515 incorporates the new Intel® Burst Performance Technology (Intel BPT), which enables the processor to run at 1.2GHz when performance is needed in existing small and sleek MID form factors.

These new Atom processors further extend customer choices to enable the best Internet experience in pocketable MIDs. Chandrasekher also announced several new MID designs for the China market.

Discussing Intel Centrino 2-based laptops, Chandrasekher pointed out additional OEMs choosing to include Intel ultra low-voltage processors to create ultra-thin laptop designs that are less than 1 inch thick. While lighter in size and weight, these notebooks still offer great performance and

battery life consumers have come to expect. Chandrasekher then described the next-generation processors for laptops based on the Nehalem architecture that will be available in the second half of this year on the "Calpella" platform. These processors will be more powerful then their predecessors by including such technologies as Intel Hyper-Threading Technology and Intel Turbo Boost Technology.

Enterprise Keynote
During his keynote, titled "IA: The Intelligent Architecture Investment," Pat Gelsinger, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group, discussed Intel's latest client, server and embedded product lines, and gave developers an update on the latest programming tools available for the Larrabee architecture.

Intel's complete Intel Architecture future product roadmap was also revealed. Gelsing

er said the "Nehalem" microarchitecture has received worldwide acclaim with the Core® i7 processor launch in 2008 and the recent Nehalem-based Xeon 5500 series introduction. The Xeon 5500 series combines the world's leading processor microarchitecture with a new memory and I/O subsystem, QuickPath Interconnects and Intelligent Power Technology to control power consumption.

Gelsinger said Intel and the industry now look to adopting more mainstream PC and laptop versions of the Nehalem microarchitecture, including 32nm manufactured versions with on-processor graphics, as well the multi socket Nehalem EX server processor, all in production in the second half of 2009. The future Nehalem-EX processor will provide eight cores for the multiprocessor "intelligent server" market.

For embedded computers, Gelsinger discussed a range of recently announced Atom processor solutions with industrial temp for applications such as in-vehicle infotainment and industrial automation. He also disclosed, for the first time ever, the Nehalem-EP based processor (codenamed "Jasper Forest") that is specifically designed to deliver increased compute density and integration required for embedded and storage applications.

Gelsinger also addressed Larrabee, which is Intel's first many-core architecture designed for high throughput applications and features a programmable graphics pipeline that enables developer freedom. The Intel executive discussed availability of a C++ Larrabee Prototype Library and a future parallel programming solution based on "Ct" technology. The first Larrabee discrete graphics products are due in the late 2009/2010 timeframe.

Vision & Leadership Keynote
During the conference's opening keynote, Intel Chairman Craig Barrett described how technology is a tool for the improving education, health care, economic development and the environment. He challenged the developer community to use its collective technology expertise to develop solutions that tackle these challenges.

"Nothing beats investing in good people and good ideas," said Barrett, whose conclusions are drawn from observations from trips to more than 30 countries a year. "Public-private collaboration is fundamental in driving solutions that confront global challenges."

Barrett announced that Intel had selected the four winners of the INSPIRE•EMPOWER

Challenge he launched last August. The winners will each receive $100,000 to further fund their innovative solutions that apply technology to address unmet needs related to education, health care, economic development and the environment.

The INSPIRE•EMPOWER Challenge winners are: Bibek Chapagain of Winrock International in Kathmandu, Nepal; Daniel Fletcher of the University of California, Berkeley; Eric Morrow of the Maendeleo Foundation in Kampala, Uganda; and Michael Potts of Catholic Relief Services in Nairobi, Kenya. Details on the winning solutions are available at intel home.

Intel Developer Forum
IDF spans the worlds of mobility, digital enterprise, digital home and technology and research. The Beijing IDF, as announced in December 2008, was scaled back from a two-day event due to current economic circumstances and business pressures the industry is facing globally. Next up on the IDF schedule is a three-day event in San Francisco, which will be held Sept. 22-24 at Moscone Center West. Further information is available by visiting

Intel® Xeon® Processor 5500 Series ALL NEW

2009-03-29T14:34:00.009+05:00

"The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series is the foundation for the next decade of innovation," said Patrick Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group. "These chips showcase groundbreaking advances in performance, virtualization and workload management, which will create opportunities to solve the world's most complex challenges and push the limits of science and technology."

"Nehalem is a game changer just about every way, especially performance. It overcomes most, if not all, the potential performance roadblocks associated with multicore configurations. It creates a foundation for future processors, and it resets performance expectations, especially for applications requiring high I/O or memory bandwidth." Jim McGregor, Industry Analyst, InStat
"The London Stock Exchange recognises the importance of both low latency and latency consistency in the operation of efficient markets. We make extensive ongoing use of the Intel fasterLAB in order to evolve our core business applications and to test the effect of processor level innovation. We have been able to see the immediate impact of the move to 45nm and scaling to the multi core Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series and beyond. The fasterlab – being equipped with advanced testing facilities and Intel engineering expertise – is a significant asset to our ongoing software development programs." Robin Paine, Chief Technology Officer, London Stock Exchange
"As one of the world's largest business and IT consultancy firms, Capgemini is asked by its clients to consult on improving their business performance while reducing costs. One of their primary concerns is the power consumption in the data centre. Capgemini evaluated the new Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series because the promised performance per Watt could help our clients reduce their concerns. Capgemini noticed an enormous performance increase up to 500%, while the power usage dropped a staggering 65%. As an example queries to a Microsoft SQL* database took just ten seconds, compared to three minutes on a previous generation Intel® Xeon® processor. Even older applications, not designed for multi core processors are no challenge for this processor. The time for login sequences, went back from 40 seconds to just five. For Capgemini it is without doubt that this processor provides customers with increased performance while reducing energy costs." Arnold Verhoeven, Managing Consultant, Capgemini, Netherlands
"Based on our benchmarks of the Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series, we expect an increase in performance-per-Watt of about 30% or more, compared to the already very power-efficient combination of the previous generation Intel® Xeon® processors and the Intel 5100 (San Clemente) chipset. The new CPU is a strong candidate for highly demanding Physics applications." Helge Meinhard, Coordinator for Server and Storage Procurement at CERN-IT
"It is a challenge to build a high performance computer that suits the different demands of our many research groups. Our new Sun* blade cluster powered by Intel® Xeon® processors 5500 series is a very well balanced system, tuned to highest performance. With 12 TB memory, a quad data rate Infiniband network and 160 TB fast parallel file system, we will be able to satisfy most of our users' demands for the next three to four years. The Sun* blades with Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series also satisfied our energy consumption and TCO demands. Compared to our five-year-old cluster, the new platform provides more than 10 times the compute power for less than three times the energy consumption." Alexander Godknecht, CTO IT Services, University of Zürich
"The European Space Agency (ESA) has recently been testing brand new systems based on the innovative new Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series. Its unrivalled performance enables ESRIN, the ESA establishment in Frascati, Italy, to analyse and share large volumes of data collected by its satellites more quickly and efficiently via its Grid computing infrastructure. Early tests revealed that the new processor technology has reduced critical computational time, for example as requested for the mapping of large flooded areas, by 50 percent." Luigi Fusco, Senior Advisor of Earth Observation Applications and GENESI-DR project coordinator at ESA

Intel Nanometer CPU

2009-03-28T20:20:00.002+05:00

Innovation That Breaks the Performance Barrier

Intel® 45nm high-k metal gate silicon technology is the next-generation Intel® Core™ microarchitecture. With roughly twice the density of Intel® 65nm technology, Intel's 45nm packs about double the number of transistors into the same silicon space. That's more than 400 million transistors for dual-core processors and more than 800 million for quad-core. Intel's 45nm technology enables great performance leaps, up to 50-percent larger L2 cache, and new levels of breakthrough energy efficiency.

Smaller transistors pack the performance punch

Intel's had the world's first viable 45nm processors in-house since early January 2007—the first of fifteen 45nm processor products in development. With one of the biggest advancements in fundamental transistor design in 40 years, Intel 45nm high-k silicon technology can deliver more than a 20 percent improvement in transistor switching speed, and reduce transistor gate leakage by over 10 fold.

Taking great leaps forward in transistor design

Using a combination of new materials including hafnium-based high-k gate dielectrics and metal gates, Intel 45nm technology represents a major milestone as the industry as a whole races to reduce electrical current leakage in transistors—a growing problem for chip manufacturers as transistors get even smaller.

This new transistor breakthrough allows Intel to continue delivering record-breaking PC, laptop, and server processor speeds well into the future. It also ensures that Moore's Law—a high-tech industry axiom that transistor counts double about every two years to deliver more performance and functionality at decreasing cost—thrives well into the next decade.

Delivering the world's first 45nm processor to the world

The first processors based on the new Intel 45nm high-k silicon technology deliver many new architectural advancements impacting hardware and software performance. Intel has also moved to 100 percent lead-free materials in our 45nm technology and is making the additional move to halogen-free products in 2008 in order to meet our environmental performance goals. Included in the first 45nm launch are new members of the Intel® Core™2 processor and Intel® Xeon® processor families.

Intel® Atom™ Processor

2009-03-28T20:02:00.003+05:00

Intel® Atom™ Processor

The Intel® Atom™ processor is Intel's smallest processor, built with the world's smallest transistors and manufactured on Intel's industry-leading 45nm Hi-k Metal Gate technology. The Intel Atom processor was purpose-built for simple, affordable, netbooks and nettops.

Intel Atom processor-based netbooks and nettops offer both an easy-to-use mobile device with simple interfaces and targeted performance for a good online experience. They are rugged and compact in design, and offer the freedom and flexibility of wireless connectivity¹.

Great for Internet, these devices are an affordable option for education, photo and video viewing, social networking, voice over IP, e-mail, messaging, browsing, and numerous other Internet activities and basic applications.

Features and benefits

For all other features & benefits, specific to netbooks & nettops, click on the links below:	All Intel® Atom™ processors feature: Small Form Factor CPU Package Low TDP Power Optimized Front Side Bus Enhanced Data Prefetcher & Enhanced Register Access Manager

For all other features & benefits, specific to netbooks & nettops, click on the links below:

All Intel® Atom™ processors feature:

Small Form Factor CPU Package
Low TDP
Power Optimized Front Side Bus
Enhanced Data Prefetcher & Enhanced Register Access Manager

Related products

Chipsets	Netbooks - Mobile Intel® 945GSE Express Chipset Nettops - Intel® 945GC Express Chipset

Chipsets

Netbooks - Mobile Intel® 945GSE Express Chipset

Nettops - Intel® 945GC Express Chipset

¹ Wireless connectivity is not an Intel® Atom™ processor brand requirement. See your manufacturer for details.

² Intel® 45nm products are manufactured on a lead-free process. Leadfree per EU RoHS Directive (2002/95/EC, Annex A). Some RoHS exemptions may apply to other components used in the product package.

³ Applies to components containing flame retardants and PVC only. Halogens are below 900 PPM bromine, 900 PPM chlorine, and 1500 PPM combined bromine and chlorine. Copyright © 2008 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel. Leap ahead., and Intel. Leap ahead. logo, Intel Atom, Intel SpeedStep, and Atom inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor

2009-03-28T19:53:00.002+05:00

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor

The Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor is designed to deliver performance across usages—such as image processing, video content creation, games and multimedia—where end-users can truly appreciate the performance. With a PC based on the Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor with HT Technology†, you get advanced performance and multitasking capabilities for today's digital home and digital office applications.

Features and Benefits

Versatility, performance and reliability to meet all your computing needs
Everyone wants something different from their computer—work, play, Internet, music, learning and more. A PC featuring the Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor opens the door to many new experiences. It's as versatile as you are.

Greater performance with Hyper-Threading Technology (HT Technology)†
Hyper-threading enables multi-threaded software applications to execute two software threads in parallel, thereby improving system responsiveness. Intel Pentium 4 Processors enabled with HT Technology deliver performance and multitasking gains that result in increased productivity and efficiency.

Improved Power Management with Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology‡
Intel Pentium 4 Processors that are enabled with Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology allow the operating system to adjust the processor clock down when running applications that require less power. Increased power efficiency brings savings.

Scalability and performance with Intel® EM64TΦ
Intel® Extended Memory 64 TechnologyΦ (Intel® EM64T) can improve performance by allowing the system to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory. Intel EM64T also provides support for 64 bit computing to help handle the applications of tomorrow.

Execute Disable Bit° functionality protects your investment
Execute Disable Bit can prevent certain classes of malicious "buffer overflow" attacks when combined with a supporting operating system

Intel technology in Laptop

2009-03-28T19:38:00.006+05:00

Sony Laptop

Sony laptop

Toshiba laptop

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor

2009-03-28T16:36:00.003+05:00

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor

The power to multitask: Get revolutionary energy-efficient performance with next-generation hafnium-infused 45nm technology and more smart cache allowing you to multitask twice as fast.
Energy-efficient performance: Stay unplugged longer with the enhanced power and energy efficiency technologies.
Thinner, lighter notebooks: Enhanced Intel® Core™ microarchitecture enables outstanding performance with thin and light notebook designs.

Rich video quality: Intel® Clear Video Technology, a built-in feature of the latest Intel® Graphics, lets you enjoy an enhanced video experience with smoother playback.λ And with new Intel® HD Boost, you’ll experience up to 50 percent faster performance for intensive multimedia applications like video encoding.‡¹
The ultimate Windows Vista* experience: With Intel Graphics, you can enjoy the full spectrum of visual advancements offered by Windows Vista Home Premium* edition.

Intel® Celeron® Processor 440

2009-03-28T16:29:00.003+05:00

Intel® Celeron® Processor 440

The Intel® Celeron® processor 440Δ balances proven technology with exceptional value for embedded computing designs such as print imaging, gaming, interactive clients, and industrial automation. Featuring Intel® Intelligent Power Capability, it supports smaller, quieter, more energy-efficient embedded systems with improved performance over previous Intel Celeron processors.

Manufactured on 65nm process technology, the Intel Celeron processor 440Δ at 2.0 GHz offers 512 KB of L2 cache with a thermal design power (TDP) of 35 watts. Based on a new energy-efficient microarchitecture, this Celeron processor enables smaller and quieter embedded designs. It features Execute Disable Bit° (for built-in security support) as well as Intel® 64 architectureΦ (Intel® 64), enabling applications to access larger amounts of memory when used with appropriate 64-bit supporting hardware and software.

The Intel Celeron processor 440Δ is available in an LGA-775 package with integrated heat spreader. When combined with any of the following chipsets, the resulting platform provides scalability, along with exceptional value with mid-range performance and reduced power.

Motherboard Source List for Intel® Pentium® Processor and Intel® Celeron® Processor

2009-03-28T16:02:00.006+05:00

Motherboard Source List for Intel® Pentium® Processor and Intel® Celeron® Processor

Following is a list of motherboards advertised by the hardware vendor as being specifically designed for the Intel® Pentium® processor 2000 Sequence and Intel® Celeron® processor 400 Sequence.
Intel has not evaluated or tested these motherboards with the listed processors. This information is for reference use by PC integrators only and is provided solely as a convenience. Please check with the hardware vendor for compatibility information regarding specific models of these products.

Brand Model Name Form Factor Chipset Manufacturer Chipset
Asus* Maximus Formula ATX Intel® Intel® X38 Express Chipset Asus P5E-VM DO ATX Intel Intel® Q35 Express Chipset
Asus P5E3 Deluxe ATX Intel Intel® X38 Express Chipset
Asus P5E3 Deluxe ATX Intel Intel® X38 Express Chipset
Wi-Fi@n
Asus P5E3 ATX Intel Intel® X38 Express Chipset
Asus P5B-VM DO uATX Intel Intel® Q965
Asus P5GZ-MX uATX Intel Intel® 945GZ
Asus P5N-E SLI ATX NVIDIA* nForce 650i SLI
Asus P5N32-SLI ATX NVIDIA dd nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition
Asus P5N32-E SLI ATX NVIDIA NF680I SLI
Asus P5VDC-MX uATX VIA* P4M800 PRO/8251
Asus P5VDC-MX SE uATX VIA P4M800 PRO/8252
Asus P5VD2-X uATX VIA PT890/VT8237A
Abit* IX38 QuadGT ATX Intel Intel® X38 Express Chipset
Abit AW9D ATX Intel Intel® 975X
Abit IL9Pro ATX Intel Intel® 945P
Abit IP-95 uATX VIA P4M890/VT8237R
Abit SG-95 uATX SiS* 662/966L
Abit IB9 ATX Intel Intel® 965/ICH8
Asrock* 4Core-Dual VSTA ATX VIA PT880 Ultra
BIOSTAR TF7150U-M7 ATX NVIDIA GeForce 7150
BIOSTAR* 945G-M7 uATX Intel Intel® 945G
Colorful* C-945-PL ATX Intel Intel® 945PL
ECS* PT890T-A ATX VIA PT890
ECS P4M900T - M V1.0 uATX VIA VIA P4M900
ECS 945GZT-M V1.0 uATX Intel Intel 945GZ
EVGA* nForce 680i SLI ATX NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
Foxconn* X38A ATX Intel Intel® X38 Express Chipset
Gigabyte* GA-X38-DQ6 ATX Intel Intel® X38 Express Chipset
Gigabyte GA-X38-DS5 ATX Intel Intel® X38 Express Chipset
Gigabyte GA-X38T-DQ6 ATX Intel Intel® X38 Express Chipset
Gigabyte GA-945PL-S3 ATX Intel Intel® 945PL Exp
Gigabyte GA-945GME-DS2 uATX Intel Intel 945G
Gigabyte GA-945GZM-S2 uATX Intel Intel 945GZ
Gigabyte GA-945P-S3 ATX Intel Intel® 945P
Gigabyte GA965G-DS3 ATX Intel Intel® G965
Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH uATX Intel Intel 945GZ
Intel DP35DP ATX Intel Intel® P35
Intel DQ35JO uATX Intel Intel® Q35
Intel DQ35MP uATX Intel Intel Q35
Intel DG33FB ATX Intel Intel® G33
Intel DG33BU uATX Intel Intel G33
Intel DG33TL uATX Intel Intel G33
Intel DG965MS uBTX Intel Intel G965
Intel DG965OT uATX Intel Intel G965
Intel DG965RY ATX Intel Intel G965
Intel DG965SS uATX Intel Intel G965
Intel DG965WH ATX Intel Intel G965
Intel DP965LT ATX Intel Intel® P965
Intel DQ963FX ATX Intel Intel® Q963
Intel DQ965GF uATX Intel Intel Q965
Intel D975XBX2 ATX Intel Intel 975X
Intel D946GZIS uATX Intel Intel® 946G
Intel D946GZTS uATX Intel Intel 946G
Intel D945GCCR uATX Intel Intel 945G
Intel D945GCL uATX Intel Intel 945G
J & W* 945GZ uATX Intel Intel 945GZ
Mercury* PI945GZD uATX Intel Intel® 945GZ/ICH7
Mercury PI945GCM uATX Intel Intel® 945GC/ICH7
Mercury PVM890M uATX VIA Via P4M890
Mercury PVM900M uATX VIA Via P4M900
MSI* X38 Platinum ATX Intel Intel® X38 Express Chipset
MSI 945GM3-F uATX Intel Intel 945G
MSI 945P Neo-3 uATX Intel Intel 945P
MSI P4M900M-L uATX VIA P4M900
MSI P4M890M-L uATX VIA P4M890
MSI P965 Platinum uATX Intel Intel P965
MSI G965M-F uATX Intel Intel G965
MSI Q965 MDO-F1 uATX Intel Intel Q965
MSI P965 Neo (-F) ATX Intel Intel P965
nVidia nForce 680i SLI ATX nVidia C55 SPP/MCP
nVidia nForce 650i Ultra ATX nVidia nForce 650i SLI
Onda* 965PD ATX Intel Intel P965
Onda 945GZM uATX Intel Intel 945GZ
Onda 945PLD ATX Intel Intel 945PL

Some of these boards may not be available in your country due to regulatory restrictions or distribution limitations. The hardware vendor remains solely responsible for the design, sale, and functionality of its product, including, without limitation, any liability arising from product infringement and product warranty.
This information on the source list is provided "as is" with no warranties whatsoever, including any warranty of merchantability, noninfringement fitness for any particular purpose, or any warranty otherwise arising out of any proposal, specification, or sample.
Intel retains the right to make changes to these materials at any time, without notice. Intel assumes no responsibility for any errors which may appear in this document, nor does it make any commitment to update the information contained in it.
No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property rights is granted hereby, by the Terms and Conditions or by the sale of Intel products.
The hardware vendor remains solely responsible for the design, sale and functionality of its product, including, without limitation, any liability arising from product infringement or product warranty.

Amazing Intel i7

2009-03-27T19:13:00.006+05:00

Amazing Intel i7

Intel Core i7
Its Real

Brilliantly fast

With faster, intelligent, multi-core technology that applies processing power where it's needed most, new Intel® Core™ i7 processors deliver an incredible breakthrough in PC performance. They are the best desktop processors on the planet.¹

You'll multitask applications faster and unleash incredible digital media creation. And you'll experience maximum performance for everything you do, thanks to the combination of Intel® Turbo Boost technology² and Intel® Hyper-Threading technology (Intel® HT technology)³, which maximizes performance to match your workload.

Product information

2.93 GHz and 2.66 GHz core speed
8 processing threads with Intel® HT technology
8 MB of Intel® Smart Cache
3 Channels of DDR3 1066 MHz memory

Mother Board For Core i7

Intel's Gallry

2009-03-27T17:51:00.007+05:00

Intel's Gallry

Core 2 Extreme
Quad-Core

Intel® Core™2 Extreme quad-core processor
When more is better—with four processing cores the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor delivers unrivaled¹ performance for the latest, greatest generation of multi-threaded games and multimedia apps.

Now with a new version based on Intel's cutting edge 45nm technology utilizing hafnium-infused circuitry to deliver even greater performance and power efficiency. The Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor QX9770 running at 3.2 GHz delivers the best possible experience for today's most demanding users.

* 12 MB of total L2 cache
* 1600 MHz front side bus

Intel wireless

The Intel® PRO/Wireless Network Connection is the integrated Wireless LAN (WLAN) solution for Intel® Centrino® processor technology and desktop personal computers. The Intel PRO/Wireless Network Connection provides freedom and flexibility to work and play without hunting for a phone jack, network cable, or plugging in a special card. Get connected through wireless LAN networks in your home, in the office, and in wireless LAN hotspots in airports, hotels and coffee shops. +

Deploying WLAN technology in your home and business increases productivity, efficiency and flexibility by enabling faster decision making, reducing down-time, and enhancing employee satisfaction. For more information visit our WLAN ROI and WLAN Deployment web pages.

Ram It's Supported
Intel Core

Choosing Domain Names for Professional Sites: Six Guidelines

2009-03-26T19:48:00.005+05:00

Choosing Domain Names for Professional Sites: Six Guidelines

A professional or business site is one where the primary purpose of the site is to facilitate business transactions. You can sell items directly online or exclusively offline, but the result is the same. You want customers to buy products and/or service directly from you.
To create a domain name for this type of website here are a few guidelines:

1.Shorter is better
2.Make the name easy to pronounce
3.Think long term
4.Stick to Categories and Topics
5.Do a trademark search
6.Always have a tag line

Shorter is better:
If you want to make real money online, try to keep your domain name as short as possible. In the online world, the choices of where to shop and get information is overwhelming. A shorter name will instantly be memorable. It is always easier to remember short words and phrases. A shorter name is good for word of mouth advertising online and offline. Customers can easily remember the the URL and therefore they’re more likely to pass it on and return to the website. The name will also stand out when it is printed on brochures, business cards and other business collateral. Liz, Dick, Kate, Feds are all examples of our incessant need to reduce every term in the English language to three syllables or less.
Easy to Pronounce:
If you want a short name, you must be very creative. To be creative and strategic make sure that your domain name is easy to pronounce. It is perfectly acceptable to create a name from scratch, but it must sound like a real word when you try to say out loud. Any three or four syllable term will do a long as it easily rolls off the tongue. If you are at a loss for words, try writing a description of your product or service on paper.
This is a very easy way to come up with those little words that you can use without losing the meaning of what you’re trying to say. You can also use a dictionary and a thesaurus to come up with additional words. You can also choose a longer word but shorten it or use acronyms only. When you decide on a domain name, say it out loud a few times. If it doesn’t sound right, go back to the dictionary and try again.
Think long term:
You want a domain name that will last a very long time. If you pick a name that is a slang term or too cutesy, you could find yourself looking for a new name in a year or two. This is not the best way to proceed. Once you build a certain level of online success, the traffic will follow the domain name. You don’t want to mess with your brand and your online reputation with redirects and ‘we have moved’ notices. Online customer will buy, but only if your site makes it convenient for them to do so. If you don’t see yourself using the same domain name three to four years from now, get a new name before you set up your website.
Trademark Searches:
Do a trademark search. If you build up your online business and domain name, you don’t want to find a court order ordering you to give it up because it belongs to another company. Remember, the traffic and therefore your sales will follow the domain name to the new company.
Tag line:
Tag lines are the work horses of the marketing industry. An interesting, professional tag line can bring you more word of mouth advertising than you can ever buy from a search engine company. It will bring your name into random conversations in newsgroups, newsletters and casual conversations. This can help you save money on paid advertising and create the ultimate viral marketing campaign without very little effort.

Hot multimedia tips

2009-03-26T18:58:00.003+05:00

Hot multimedia tips

Some of Howwired's best web developers and designers have converged to share their techniques to create effective audio, video and animation in the web. Here are excerpts from the pool's tips, tricks and wizardry to help you optimize your multimedia efforts.

•Use layers as often as you want to. Using a liberal dose of layers will make it much easier later when it's time to re-edit and animate. In addition, it doesn't add much to the overall file size.

•Save copies of the file as you work when using Flash. This is especially helpful when you're using a Mac. This will come in handy when you suddenly experience problems in opening a Flash file you've been slaving your days with.

•Use color outline layers and guide layers liberally. Both are found under the layer pulldown menu. The color outline layers show a layer in its outline form--- great for getting quick and precise positioning particularly with scanned drawings. Guide layers are for positioning bitmap guides or for testing layers you may want to remove from your final version. They allow you to keep a layer from exporting.

•Mix and match programs and media to get better results. Experiment and try combinations such as flat color vectors with photographic bitmaps for an interesting and rich output.

•Foradditional depth and color to vector images, use gradients; but don't overuse so as to avoid adding to the file size and speeds.

•Don't overdo your media. Your audience will definitely get indigestion from your web site.

•Never make your audience wait. Downloading an image that takes millions of years to finish will definitely make your audience cranky. They'd probably clicked to another site even before your banner finished downloading itself. "If people have to wait, be sure it's really worth their while," says HotWired's resident interface designer.

•Design delays that cover the loading process. Flash features full attributes that helps in keeping the audience occupied while that giant sound file is loading in the background. Flash's Bandwidth Profiler is said to provide a big help on this.

•Use the knowledge and wisdom of your friends and colleagues. A good multimedia comes from a diverse source of skills found in people. The adage that two minds are better than one definitely applies here. Talk to other multimedia designers or join groups and mailing lists to share ideas and knowledge. What you think is trash for you might be a goldmine for another artist.

6 Tips For Raising Your Search Engine Rankings

2009-03-26T18:46:00.005+05:00

6 Tips For Raising Your Search Engine Rankings

Whether your site is profitable or not with PPC advertising, search engine rankings are an important factor to consider in improving profitability. The higher you are on a variety of search engines, the better off your profitability.

1. Site NavigationThe navigation menu that appears on your website should include your page’s titles if possible. Also, your sites navigation should be consistent and on every page so that not only people may easily navigate your site, but search engine spiders as well.

2. Choose Less Popular KeywordsDon’t just use the most popular keyword phrases – the market is so competitive that you should be sure to include some special keywords relative to your website. This is especially true if you are just starting to market your site on the web.

3. Choose Related LinksMake sure that you don’t have a lot of irrelevant links on your site. The more closely the links on your site are related to your site, the better the chances of being ranked well in search engines.

4. Update Your ContentYou need to periodically update the content of your website, even if it’s only a slight change.Search engine spiders give better rankings to sites that update content often.

5. Don't OversubmitYou need to consider the fact that many search engines don’t like automatic submissions or multiple submissions. Therefore, submit only once and don't use a whole slew of submitting software.

6. Subscribe To and Read Search Engine Relevant News.

5 ways to stop spam from reaching your mail box

2009-03-26T18:10:00.004+05:00

5 ways to stop spam from reaching your mail box

The internet arena of emailing is a murky one in which your email might be traded and sold in some internet networks which I have seen sell and trade in email contacts online. That is the reason why when you get one type of spam email, you tend to get more of the same type of email as your email has been sold to a large emailing list which is in turn sold to marketers to email to. This article will highlight some ways in which spammers can get your email address and highlight ways to deal with them.

1.Non Cloaked emails on websites This is actually one of the most easy way to get spam. I’ve talked to a system administrator in the office and she expressed surprise at not knowing about this. Most people start building a website on free webhosts and then add their email address at the bottom of the website. While this is good for website usability which is a separate topic altogether, it allows unscrupulous people to harvest your email address with powerful online website crawling programs. What these programs do is crawl websites and then classify them and sell the extracted leads to lead vendors. So if your website is about health, they might classify your extracted email address as a health lead and sell it to other marketers to email to you. The simple solution to this problem is to do email cloaking. This is usually a simple script which breaks up your email into two parts when a robot on the internet crawls your website. But to the normal user who looks at it, the browser combines it together to show a normal email address. Do a simple google search for “email cloaking script” and you should be able to do this by copying the script into your website. So then you prevent spam and at the same time allow people to continue to contact you. Another simpler solution which may confound some of your website users who are not so internet savvy is just to do use /at/ instead of @. So for instance your email will read Abc/at/abc.com rather than abc@abc.com. However as mentioned, if your target audience is older and not so good with the internet, this may be a problem and prevent them from contacting you.

2.Spam via cookies or malicious code or programs Spyware flooding your computer is a real problem. Most people do not really realize this until they find popups suddenly appearing when they reach some pages or find that their starting page has been high jacked by some website. When you visit a website like Yahoo and log in, a cookie is deposited into your computer browser to tell Yahoo that you have logged in to their system. These cookies have short life spans and self delete when you log out of the system. However there are some websites that have cookies for the sole purpose of tracking all email sent into and out of your computer when the browser is on. It then tracks your name and email address and sends it secretly to a central server where it then sells you name and email address to email lists. Thus some people report an increase in spam after visiting certain websites and this may be the reason. Another reason for spam can be attributed to malicious code which can possiblyinstall itself into your browser without you knowing it and does the same thing as the cookies in the above example but on a longer term basis as the cookies would be deleted when you clear your cookies and cache in your browser. Some of this malicious code can even do keyword logging and send your passwords and bank IDs to the programmer who came up with the code! The best solution to the problem is to download the Mozilla Firefox Internet browser which has a built in security system which prevents such malicious code from being installed into your web browser without your knowledge and allows you to clear your cache and cookies easily. I do this on a constant basis to prevent my email inbox from being filled with spam.

3.Spyware via free programs installed Another reason why there is an increase in spam is that there are third party spyware that is bundled with free software which is why the software is free in the first place because the spyware companies pay the programmer to bundle it with their software. Always look at the agreement before downloading any free wallpapers or free programs like weather programs as there could be a possibility that spyware could be bundled together with it and flood your email box with spam. The best solution is to download Spyware Search and Destroy or Lavasoft’s Adaware anti-spyware programs to detect and clear any spyware from your computer. In addition, you might find that your computer might run faster when you are connected to the internet as the spyware does take up some bandwidth in its communication to the central server.

4.Random emails Some of the more powerful email programs have the ability to flood servers with permutations of email addresses. This means that they can basically email anyone online because they have powerful computers which run software which blasts emails to all permutations and one of them may be yours. The more legitimate marketers will have an opt out link at the bottom of the email so that you can actually opt out of the list. On the other hand, some of the real offshore spammers have servers in China and Russia so when you do click on the link to opt out, it actually confirms that your email address is working so ironically sometimes it is best to just delete spam rather than reply to it.

5.Free offers Spam is also derived from free offers. When you signup for some online service, there is thing called co-registration where they have many boxes for you to tick. Generally what this means is you are asking the online service to send your email address and name to an online marketer who is going to sell it to others to email to. While this is not spam as you have opted into it, it may become irritating after a while. The better solution that I do personally is to create an email from Yahoo for the sole purpose of free offers so that I can let that email be flooded with spam. So you can get the free offer and not face the possibility of deleting 500 spam emails daily in your personal email inbox. In conclusion, spam can be reduced if you are aware of the reasons and the ways in which online marketers and spammers can get your email. Taking an active step today to prevent them from getting your personal email is a great step forward to reducing in amount of spam you have in your inbox.

Top Five 'Spyware Fighting' Tips

2009-03-26T17:44:00.004+05:00

Top Five 'Spyware Fighting' Tips

Spyware and adware are becoming major problems for onlinesurfers and PC owners. Some highly respected sources such as AOL, Earthlink and Webroot place the rate of infection at 80-90% of all computers. Granted, some of this percentage is taken up by relatively benign tracking cookies, but other types like keyword logging, system monitors, worms and Trojans present a major threat to your privacy and may even do serious damage to your computer.With the occurrences of Spyware increasing daily, chances are high that you will be going into battle against Spyware very soon - so if you need a battle plan - Try these 5 Tips:

1. Go on the offensive. Fight spyware before it even arrives onyour computer. Make sure you have a good 'anti-virus software' program running on your PC. Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers)now offer anti-virus programs or even purchasing a commercial productis to your advantage. Get a program or product that is regularlyupdated to fend off the latest viruses, adware, worms, trojans andspyware.

2. Put up a Firewall. A Firewall should be one of your first lines of defense against spyware. A Firewall is simply a system or gateway designed to prevent unauthorized access to your computer or network PC.

3. Don't open Emails and Attachments from people you don't know. Use common sense, DON'Topen any emails from people you don't know. Especially, do not open any Attachments until they are scanned for spyware andviruses. Many mail servers will do these scans for free.

4. Keep Your Operating System Up to Date. Be aware of what's on your system - do regular spyware and adware scans to see exactly what's on your computer. Know your machine! You may be horrified to learn someone may be monitoring your every 'keystroke' and every 'image' you've viewed on your computer. So scan regularly and also make sure you download the newest updates from your Operating System; these often contain patches or fixes for serious breaches of security of your PC.

5. Back-up Your System. If all the above steps fail, nothing is foolproof, any computer that uses the Internet can be hacked, so you need to back-up your important data. You can use floppy disks, CDs or use a second computer that's not connected to the net just for storage or back-up of your sensitive data/programs. An inexpensive notebook computer can be used to make daily/weekly back-ups of your vital data and programs.

In conclusion, the best defense against any spyware is a strong offense.

Be prepared, be aware, but most of all, be battle-ready: have a system in place that will nuke these spyware agents before they even reach your computer.

Choose your weapons carefully, be merciless, be thorough and take no prisoners! This is one battle you can't afford to lose.