Realize that all routers can be broken into if someone really really wanted too.  This is like someone can break into your home if they really really wanted to even if you had the latest alarm system. However we still lock our doors and put an alarm on, we take precautions and make it  hard as possible for people to break into our house without getting caught.  Wireless networking should be taken in the same respect. Also most people do not need to go for the extra security features.  I will list them at the end of the article, but you will be safe enough with the basic precautions.

The first thing you need to do with wireless networking is put a password on your wireless network.  This is making it secure.  Since your computer saves the password most people create the password then forget it.

Tip #1 – Use your phone number.  Ten digit phone numbers including the area code make the perfect password for a wireless network.  That is only if the next steps are taken.  If you use your phone number and no one in the area can link your Network Name with you, then it is easy to remember and secure.

Tip # 2 – Do not use anything personal or the name of your router.  The two most secure things you can do is in naming your router.  Do not keep the defualt name.  You are telling people how to break into your router.  If you just do a google search with your router name and ‘hack’, you will see the tools needed to break into your router.  Also if you use your name, first or last, address or anything that your neighbors can realizie its your router then a bad neigbor can try to break into your router.  Use names that don’t draw attention or look like they aren’t working.  AN example is ‘no-connection’ or ‘none’ or ‘unavailable’.  Most people scanning the network will stay away from these and will not be able to connect the network to you.

Doing the above two will also allow you to give this out easily to friends and guest who come over.  It is also a conversation piece on why you choose that name.  Giving your number and not a personal password allows you to securely give that info to people you wish to use your network.

Tip # 3 – Wireless Router Admin password.  You should change this admin password.  Some adapters force you to change it.  You should keep this password in a safe place. This password you should never give out to anyone.

Just with the above tips your wireless router is more secure.  If someone else is on your wirless router they aren’t only getting free internet from you but with many free tools out on the internet they can see what you are doing online.  They also maybe able to steal information that you are sending through the internet and if you have any shared folders on your network, they might be able to access them.

The above tips should be fine for the average user.  I have heard many people take the wireless secuirty to extrems.  There are not nessarry for most people.

• Turning off SSID Broadcast.  This is turning off your routers name on the drop down list on your computer.  Equivalent to an unlisted phone number.  The problem is its hard to find your router and connect to it from your computer or other devices. It’s not recommended and your wireless should be secure enough with the above tips.
• MAC Address Filtering.  If you don’t know what a MAC Address is (it has nothing to do with an apple Macintosh) then you shouldn’t be filtering for it.  This will limit your computers and devices and is extremely secure but adding a new computer to your network is very time consuming and friends will not be able to connect at all.
• WPA and WEP Differences.  For the average user the difference doesn’t matter.  Many IT people will disagree with me on this one.  As long as your network is locked up 99% of possible break-ins are avoided. Use the one that will work with your password.  Some of the encryption need very long passwords.  However WPA is better and should be used if possible.  Some devices may have an issue.  Using a 10 digit WPA password like your phone number will still take a very long time for someone to crack.  (we are talking years here!)
• Realize that most people will not bother trying to hack or enter your secure network if it is secure and they don’t know who it belongs too.  Why waste the time (it still takes hours and hours to break into a wireless network) when you can still find someone who keeps the network completely open.

Now a computer isn’t like the steak that wasn’t cooked enough, you don’t just send it back to the kitchen.  There is always a learning curve and what is very frustrating out there is not enough people know or want to know how things work.  The problem I see is that the world is convinced that Windows is the only way to go, but that isn’t true.  Like going out to eat, you have your choices.  Windows is more like Sushi, its expensive, a little dangerous and you walk away still a little hungry. While Mac is more like a steak house, you pay a lot for a lot and sometimes its just too much.  While Linux is more like the hot dog stand, you order your beef frank but have to put the mustard and relish on your self and then you might want to buy a side of fries.

There is a lot of places out there for peole to learn how to use linux and openoffice.  There are wonderful open source proudcts out in the world that will not break your bank.  However, when its free, there is usually no hands on support.  No one to call.  This is what makes it harder for people.  We all want someone to hold our hand.

At this point we all have come across Pirated material since it is so easy to find, however, no one seems to realize what copyright really means.  Some will see it like driving in a stolen car. You might get out of the car before the police catch the criminal or you might be thrown in jail.  We are on that thin gray line that the law of copyrighted material hangs, like the metal thread holding a painting.

So after you get out of the car, the first thing you do is tell all your friends and write about it in a column for a national media company.  This way your telling the world, how you broke the law and how easy this can be done.  While there currently is a gray line for copyright material, I think that this journalist is currently removing frames from his office that use to hang on a metal thread and placing them in box.  You can bend the law, but maybe you shouldn’t write about it to the world.

After all Microsoft is still a global enterprise, despite a huge disaster of Windows Vista.  Hmmm.  The United States is still a world leader despite the huge disaster of the Iraqi war.  That is only the beginning of the similarities. This country has had its share of poor leadership and buggy software as it glides through a stormy economy and a changing world.  If you look at popularity in the world market, both Microsoft and the United States have been declining in popularity.  Now that the president-elect is making the world take a new look at the USA, is Bill Gates trying to do the same for his founding company?

Bill Gates will never be the president of the United States, but he might hold a political position in the government.  This new face of Mr. Gates will help Microsoft, since he will always be the mascot of his founding company. While he helps the world through his foundation, people will respect that and not mind a blue screen or loosing all there documents to a new virus.  The cost of the software will increase and corporations and individuals will purchase the overpriced bugy software knowing that they are helping humanity.

However, few of us will hold tightly to our Unix based computers systems as we watch the average consumer file for bankruptcy. They will wonder why it costs over $400 to fix there system at Best Buy and other retailers but will be quickly reminded that there continue support of the Microsoft empire has allowed the Gates Foundation to help the world and make Bill Gates a political adviser.

The first one is my personal favorite.

Google is Ten today.  That’s right he’s smarter then a 5th grader too.  Ten years ago Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google Inc. (September 7th, 1998 for those who can’t count backwards!)   Over the years google has brought us many online toys like – Gmail, Google Docs, Google Earth, Okurt and Picasa to name only a few.  However many may have forgeten that the baby-curse word started out as search engine from Stanford University.  More of the boring info is at Wikipedia (google on wikipedia!). But if want to see what they looked like when first launched here’s a peek from the wayback machine: Google 1998.

All over CNN today is Obama’s campaign saying that McCain has voted with Bush 90% of the time.  What they leave out is from the same data Obama voted for bush 40% of the time.  On top of that he has voted for Democrat party vote 100% of the time, while McCain in the past had crossed party lines and has voted on Democrat party issues as well.  It seems that Obama is taking numbers that don’t mean anything since Republicans seem to vote on Republican policies while Democrats vote on Democrat Policies. If you look at who has crossed the party lines more then that is McCain.   What really gets me is that CNN, which I’ve always read, seems to be supporting Obama 100%; Even to the extreme of having an article about Obama’s view on McCain that sports a pro Obama Advertisement. The article in question is titled “McCain is just part of Washington crowd, Democrats say” and spots an advertisement from Obama’s supporters on the page. (The screenshot of the site is posted above.)  I haven’t seen one McCain advertisement over the entire site and to me this is a sure sign that the Obama campaign is buying its news material.

What is wrong with that?  Here I write things about what is Technically Foreign, those little things that don’t make sense for the majority but for a few it might be perfectly sane. What doesn’t make sense to me is why is the Obama campaign keep on repeating McCain’s voting record and not explaining how Obama is going to be able to do what he says while he voted 100% of the time with his Democrat party?  In all politics are messy and numbers and percents never add up.  Why can’t both sides drop the blaming game and explain to us why they will be the leader that we need during these hard times.

Source for records of percentages: http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/is_it_true_john_McCain_voted_with.html

Picture is a screen shot of CNN page that shows the Ad purchased with the Pro Obama article.

Next time your Internet Service Provider (ISP) stops by to fix your computer connection be very careful what you say to him.  Apparently a new policy from ISP’s is: if we can’t fix the problem we will have you arrested.  A Nova Scotian playwright was arrested for threatening an ISP Technician, telling him that she would keep him hostage until her Internet was up and working.  If the technician felt like a hostage then aren’t we hostages to the Internet Service Provider?  When we are cut off from the Internet that is the equivalent of being placed in a cold white cell and feed bread and water.  Now this story is from our wacky northern friends,  referred by some as Maple Lovers or for the rest of the world just Canadians. But I’m sure the Internet Service Provider’s will love to use this Police State policy to arrest anyone who complains about there Service. Next time your talking to the Customer Care Representative over your Cable, Internet or Phone issues just remember to be nice because if they don’t like your attitude they can send you to Jail!

VIA: CTV.CA